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Aston Martins voted 'best status symbol'

AN ASTON Martin is the car to be seen driving if you want people to believe you've 'made it', according to an offbeat new study. Research carried out by Auto Trader among 1,024 drivers showed that the British brand's cars are, perhaps unsurprisingly, the ones that most Brits think highest of, beating the likes of Ferrari, Lamborghini and Bentley down the order. In fact, the top three positions in the survey were filled by British car makers, with Bentley and Rolls Royce second and third respectively.

Mahindra XUV500 heading for Europe

Mahindra & Mahindra – India’s biggest SUV maker – is heading for Europe with the Mahindra XUV500 SUV. Mahindra & Mahindra are India’s biggest maker of SUVs, but are perhaps best known in Europe for the Ssangyong brand, but they’re on a quest to be major car player in the rest of the world, not just India. That quest is behind their acquisition of failing Korean car maker Ssangyong and the attempt to grab what was left of Saab from the liquidators.

Mercedes GLA 45 AMG (2014) first official pictures

By Ollie Kew First Official Pictures 07 January 2014 10:00 This is, at last, the Mercedes GLA 45 AMG. We’ve seen Visions of the GLA, and a ghastly stickered-up ‘concept’ version, but this is the surprisingly handsome production version of Merc’s super-crossover. Prices are expected to top £43k, outpunching the Audi RSQ3’s ask, and Merc’s other four-pot rockets, the A45 and CLA 45, which start at £38,190 and £42,265 respectively.