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Scion considers moving upscale

Toyota's struggling Scion brand may move upscale to challenge entry-level luxury models coming from European automakers. The new lower-luxury niche includes Mini, the front-wheel-drive Mercedes-Benz CLA arriving this fall and Audi's compact A3 sedan shown last week on the eve of the New York auto show. Scion has gone after young entry-level buyers since its inception 10 years ago but has lost its early momentum.

C'est si bon: Mullin Automotive Museum celebrates the best of the Art Deco era

The French supposedly have a word for everything, but we couldn't muster any in English let alone the remnants of high school language lab upon first entering the new Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard, Calif., just west of Los Angeles. All we could do was grin giddily at the sparkling array of Bugattis, Voisins, Delages, Delahayes and other unique examples of French automotive masterpieces from the 1920s and 1930s in an exhibition hall evocative of the salon that housed the 1936 Paris motor show and similar exposition halls of the Art Deco era. The collection is an immersion into the excitement and optimism of Art Deco design, especially in terms of automotive design.

Toyota announces winners in design competition (w/ Video)

Toyota has announced the winners of a sponsored design competition hosted by London's Royal College of Art. Based on the theme of ‘Intelligent Urban Living', the winners include a simple but effective vertical storage system to keep bikes out of reach of thieves and a keyboard display that makes life easier for two-fingered typists. Inspired by the design of Toyota's innovative iQ city car, which addresses many of the challenges of modern city living with its compact dimensions, the contest generated inspiration that gave a new twist to some familiar household objects and produced innovations to make modern life easier and more environmentally responsible.