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Chrysler is crushing 93 pre-production Dodge Vipers

Chrysler has ordered 93 first-generation Dodge Vipers to be crushed, including what is believed to be the fourth Viper ever made. A Chrysler representative sent a letter to South Puget Sound Community College, which currently owns the Viper with VIN# 4, informing them that they must crush the car within two weeks. Automakers regularly donate unsellable non-street legal vehicles to automotive-engineering programs at colleges and universities, reserving the right to order the vehicles destroyed for insurance purposes.

Ikuo Maeda to replace Laurens van den Acker as General Manager of Design at Mazda

Ikuo Maeda has been appointed General Manager of Mazda Motor Corporation's Design Division. He replaces Laurens van den Acker, who has decided to leave Mazda to pursue other interests. Following on from the successful tenure of van den Acker, Maeda will lead the Japanese automaker's global design team and be responsible for the overall design and styling of Mazda's global products.

Volvo makes breakthrough in battery tech

Volvo has developed a new way of ‘storing’ energy for its future electric vehicles. The Swedish firm is exploring the concept of lightweight structural energy storage components made from carbonfibre, containing “nano structured batteries and super capacitors.” This technology is said to offer a lighter, more compact solution to the problem of energy storage, potentially removing the need for the heavy, bulky batteries used in current electric vehicles. On Bing: see pictures of the Volvo S80 Find out how much a used Volvo S80 costs on Auto Trader The investigation into the new technology is part of an EU-funded research project, undertaken by Volvo – the only major car manufacturer involved – and nine other organisations.