Exhaust Manifold Eagle/talon/laser; 2.0l A.t. Turbo Platinum# 1390038 on 2040-parts.com

Lexus names its compact hatch CT200h

Lexus has named its new 1-series rival the CT200h. It’s the production version of the LF-Ch concept hatchback – and we’ll see the new CT range properly at the Geneva motor show 2010. This first official photo appears to be of the same car as our spy photos in January 2010 and shows those redesigned tail lights in full.

Video: Jaguar's Julian Thomson on the importance of design values

Jaguar's Head of Advanced Design, Julian Thomson, appeared at this month's PSFK Conference in London giving a talk on design values. Thomson's talk, ‘Concepting Dreams, Making Reality Happen', dealt with questions of creating a design story as well as how Jaguar uses the value of its heritage while keeping things original and new. Thomson – the man behind the 2010 C-X75 and the recently revealed F-Type – said, "You can't get a good design story if you don't look at your heritage, where you came from, where your values came from." He went on to discuss the ‘sad years of Jaguar', from around 1968 to 2004 where Jaguar was too timid to develop and "essentially made the same-looking car." He put this down to a reluctance on Jaguar's part to move too far away from its successful models and, quite interestingly, because "not only did we start doing market research, we started asking Americans what they wanted." Watch the full video on the left.

2014 Michelin Challenge Design finalists announced

Michelin has announced the 15 finalists of the 2014 Michelin Challenge Design, themed ‘Driven/Undriven: The Duality of Tomorrow's Automobile'. Their work will be showcased in January at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. A judging panel of automotive designers and industry experts selected individuals and teams from Italy, China, South Korea, Finland, Serbia, Canada, Brazil, Mexico and Guatemala from over 900 registrants from 74 countries.