Firebird Trunk Lock Bird Emblem on 2040-parts.com

30 years of Seat Ibiza, yet the design compromises sound familiar

Over four model generations and thirty years, the Seat Ibiza's design has been overseen by some influential people; Giorgetto Giugiaro, Walter de Silva and Luc Donckerwolke shaped the Ibizas of the past, while the facelift of the most-recent model is the first to receive input from current Seat design director, Alejandro Mesonero-Romanos. Volkswagen has been the majority shareholder of Seat since 1986, taking full control in 1990. In that time, despite the designers who have passed through its doors, the brand has struggled to find its position within the Group.

Suzuki Swift (2011) at Frankfurt motor show

Back in 2006, the Suzuki Swift took CAR Magazine’s Car Of The Year gong ahead of some pretty accomplished opposition. But, since then, it’s rarely featured in our pages while the Renaultsport Clio has stolen our small-car affections. Suzuki’s star of the Frankfurt show, the Suzuki Swift Sport, hopes to put the model back on the radar.

Radical new group-based car insurance scheme

REX Innovation and car insurance aren’t entirely strange bedfellows. After all, the concept of ‘black box’ insurance that uses a device to monitor you as you drive has taken off so fast it could well become mandatory in the future. But it’s still unusual to come across something truly revolutionary.