New Nissan Note production starts in Sunderland

The New Nissan Note goes in to production The new Nissan Note arrived at the Geneva Motor Show in March, and has turned in to a proper compact hatch – with plenty of kerbside appeal – instead of the rather bland small MPV it used to be. With better looks, some nice styling detail and lots of technology on offer – like Blind Spot Monitoring, Lane Departure Warning and Moving Object Detection, the new Note looks set to have much more impact when it arrive’s in Nissan’s showrooms than the old Note ever did. That point of view is given extra credence by the 14,000 orders Nissan has received for the new Note in Europe since it went on sale in July, and now the first Notes are ready to start rolling off the production line at Nissan’s plant in Sunderland.

Smart Forspeed concept signals new design direction

Smart will unveil a new concept at the forthcoming Geneva motor show that signals a new design direction, hints at future product and confirms parent company Daimler's renewed commitment to the brand. Car Design News was granted early access to the concept, baptized Forspeed, at a secret photography studio in Stuttgart last week and heard the head of advanced design, Steffen Kohl, explain how the two-seat, electric-powered vehicle prefaces design themes in both the next Fortwo and the revived Forfour, which will be launched in 2014. "The fullness of this concept's exterior surfaces is important and will be reflected in future production models," said Kohl, "Smart will still be short, spacey, agile, and with wheels at the corners of the car, but with an added sporty and emotional design and without losing all the brand's iconic elements like its ‘plastic fantastic' aspect and the safe and hi-tech modular tridion shell assembled with all these changeable body parts.

New 2015 Honda NSX – Made in America

The new Centre – costing $70 million, stretching to 184,000 square feet and housed inside Honda’s old logistics facility – will employ 100 of Honda’s most skilled workers in Ohio to bolt the new NSX together, and even the engine will be assembled at Honda’s engine plant in Anna, Ohio. Not only has Honda revealed where the US-designed NSX will be built, but they’ve appointed their R&D chief engineer, Ted Klaus, to lead the team developing the new NSX and Clement D’ Souza, associate chief engineer at Honda USA, to head up production. Ted Klaus said: This new plant will be as unique as the vehicle we will build here.