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Planning continues for driverless cars

OFFICIALS in California have been looking to the future as they bid to legislate for the arrival of hi-tech driver-less cars. A law passed in 2012 set a deadline of the end of this year for the state's Department of Motor Vehicles to decide how to legally integrate the so-called autonomous vehicles - which were once the stuff of science fiction but could be commercially available by the end of the decade. The latest talks on the matter among roads officials focused on how the vehicles will record actions so the data can be used to reconstruct an accident in an effort to trace the cause.

New Nissan Juke revealed: Geneva Motor Show

The 2014 Nissan Juke revealed at Geneva A new Nissan Juke has been teased by Nissan over the last week or so, and although the idea that this is a ‘New’ Juke is way off the mark, Nissan has managed to make the 2014 Juke better by offering more of the same. Sensibly, Nissan has kept the Juke’s quirky ‘Ugly is appealing’ looks intact and the new Juke is very much a Juke but it does get the usual facelift fodder of restyled bumpers and lights, front and back, with LED running lights and LED tail lights and a new grill. New personalisation options come in to play for the Juke too, with three levels offering coloured splashes to the front and rear bumpers, alloys and cabin, all of which can be retro-fitted in case subsequent owners aren’t thrilled with how it looks.

Porsche announces new Weissach design center and wind tunnel

Porsche is to invest around €150m into its Weissach development facility, including a new design center. The plans also include an electronics integration department and a state-of-the art, on-site wind tunnel, which is hoped will allow the company to realize an holistic approach to efficient design, with a strong focus on aerodynamics. When we spoke with head of Porsche design, Michael Mauer, at this year's Paris motor show, he also alluded to the fact that the Volkswagen Group's – and, more specifically, Walter de'Silva's – recent influence on the German manufacturer was shifting its attitudes: "The Volkswagen Group has a very good understanding of how much freedom a brand needs to keep its characteristics and with [Walter] as 'conductor', I feel a lot of support with design issues within the company," explained Mauer.