C320 2004 Dash Bezel 1000670 on 2040-parts.com

Audi announces 2015 A3 pricing

The last A3 we drove, an Irish-spec model with cloth seats and a 1.4 TSI engine paired with Audi's S-tronic twin-clutch gearbox, retailed for $54,495. Thankfully, American buyers won't face that sort of out-the-wazoo payment when the new sedan arrives early next year. Audi's announced a price that takes a direct shot across the bow of rival Mercedes-Benz' CLA: $29,900.

An Audience with Syd Mead at CCS

"Visual futurist and concept artist." Like some sort of Transformer, those words combine to create an ideal job description for many an industrial designer. With the world of design becoming more varied, and our jobs becoming more demanding of diversity, it's no surprise that many of us venture into adjacent professions. Industrial Design has adapted especially well recently to Hollywood, bringing our experience to recent films like Avatar and Prometheus, but the trend actually goes back several decades.

MINI Countryman / Crossman – the camouflage tease

MINI Crossman/Countryman Camouflage Tease Here we go again – more teases. This time it’s the MINI SUV – either MINI Countryman or MINI Crossman – which is the new MINI 4×4 we can expect to see at the Geneva Motor Show in a few weeks. We had the MINI Brachcomber Concept at Detroit last week which was the first real ‘In the Metal’ clue on the new MINI SUV, admittedly without doors or a roof.