Curved Glass Boat Front Windshield Off A 1997 19 ' Regal on 2040-parts.com

Michelin Challenge Design 2007: The not so ugly truth about rising vehicle safety standards

Can cars be safe and beautiful at the same time? That may not have been the case a few decades ago when automakers were forced to hang those big, ugly so-called federal bumpers off the ends of their vehicles.  With vehicle safety standards on the rise around the globe are designers today feeling a little '70s deja vu when it comes to meeting the challenges of making cars safe as well as more fuel efficient? "(Back then) we said it was the end of automotive styling," says Patrick Le Quement, senior vice president for corporate design at Renault and one of the world's most influential automotive designers.

New Ford Kuga production increased to meet strong demand

Ford has revealed that it having to increase production of the new Kuga by 10 per cent at its Valencia Plant to meet strong demand. We reported in February that Ford were chuffed with sales of the new Kuga - especially as almost all buyers were opting for ‘premium’ versions – with orders for almost 2,000 in the UK just weeks after the Kuga went in to production in Spain, and sales across Europe for the Kuga up 27 per cent year on year. So Ford is now doing the only thing they can to deal with the burgeoning sales of the Kuga and are upping production in Valencia by 10 per cent, and now expect to build 100,000 new Kugas this year for Europe alone.

Skoda confirms two new models

Skoda Vision D at Geneva - Skoda's new design direction It’s now got to the point with Skoda where the skip-on-wheels reputation of the ’70s and ’80s – and even the ‘Cheap’ VW tag of the ’90s and ’00s – has been completely eclipsed by the perception of Skoda as quite simply the maker of some crackingly good cars. Cars like the brilliant little Skoda Fabia vRS – which we’d take over the Polo GTI (much more character) – and the equally brilliant Skoda Yeti which, although it might not quite live up to Clarkson’s recent tongue-in-cheek assertion as the best car in the world is, nonetheless, exceptionally good. That change in perception is clear in the confident model range on offer from Skoda and the clever way in which it’s marketed.