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News watch April 2010: today's auto industry news

Welcome to CAR's news aggregator as we round up the daily stories in the auto industry. Top tip: news summaries are added from the top hour-by-hourThursday 29 April 2010• The European Commission has published a document outlining plans to encourage the take-up of electric cars. It includes a strategy for a common charging socket (Financial Times)• BMW has leapfrogged Toyota as the world's most valuable automotive brand, according to the BrandZ Top 100 survey.

Porsche Boxster: First official photographs

Fresh from revealing the latest 911 cabriolet at the Detroit auto show, Porsche has issued these first official photographs of its third-generation Boxster. Photos and information about the Boxster appeared on the Internet ahead of the Porsche's planned release time set for early Thursday morning. Set to get its first public airing at the Geneva motor show in March, the thoroughly re-engineered roadster gets a lightweight aluminum body, a roomier 911-style interior and the choice of two heavily upgraded versions of the German carmaker's classic horizontally opposed six-cylinder--both now boasting direct injection, slight gains in power and, thanks to a host of new fuel-saving features, impressive reductions in combined-cycle fuel consumption.

Mazda Minagi concept

Mazda is set to reveal a new concept at the 81st Geneva motor show in March. Called the Minagi, the concept previews a new entry-level compact crossover, which will likely be called the CX-5 when it makes its production debut in Frankfurt later this year. The compact SUV is alleged to 'fully embrace' both Mazda’s Skyactiv technologies as well as the Kodo design language that debuted on the Shinari concept late last year.