Datsun 240z Seats 70-73 on 2040-parts.com

Aston Martin make Nissan’s Andy Palmer their new CEO

Andy Palmer (pictured) is taking the reins at Aston Martin Lagonda Aston Martin has effectively been without a boss since Ulrich Bez stepped down from the role last year, but that changes with the announcement that Andrew Palmer – until now, Chief Planning Officer of Nissan – is to step in to the role. There’s no specific start date for Andy Palmer at Aston, but Nissan has announced that Philippe Klein will take up Palmer’s role at Nissan on 15 September, so it shouldn’t be long before Palmer holds the reins at Aston Martin. But what exactly has persuaded Andy Palmer to jump from a big corporate behemoth like Nissan to a struggling luxury car maker with owners who either want to tug the operating strings (the Kuwaitis) or are looking for a quick return (Investindustrial)?

Spyker D8 SUV back in 2014 – but when did it become mid-engined?!

Apparently, the Spyker D8 SUV (pictured) will somehow be mid-engined It’s no surprise that Spyker are heading to the 2014 Geneva Motor Show with a ‘new’ version of their ‘Super SUV’ D8 Peking-Paris. That’s because Victor Muller managed to get Youngman to invest €25 million in the D8 project last year (it’s Victor’s speciality) with the plan being to finally take the Spyker SUV closer to a market launch in time to take on the new ‘Super SUVs’ from the likes of Bentley and Lamborghini. But what is a surprise is what Autocar claim Victor said to them about the D8.

New Chinese saloon scores five stars at Euro NCAP

FLEDGLING Chinese car brand Qoros has scored an impressive five-star Euro NCAP result with its first car, the 3 saloon. Bolstering a 95% score in the long-established adult occupant protection and an 87% awarded for child passenger protection is an excellent 77% for pedestrian protection – a high score in what is a developing category. The 95% is, according to Qoros, the highest adult occupant protection score awarded by Euro NCAP in 2013.