Aston Martin drops Cygnet city car

Autocar is reporting that the diminutive Aston Martin Cygnet has been dropped from the company’s portfolio. The automaker, now owned by Prodrive and private equity firm Invenstindustrial, will focus on its “core product range,” also known as “good cars.” Autocar posits that the justification for the Cygnet was to continue producing V8 and V12 cars, while keeping its average CO2 emissions down. The Cygnet shared bones with the Toyota iQ city car and used a 97-hp, 1.3-liter engine and got 58.9 mpg using the U.S.

FCA issues warning on logbook loans

VULNERABLE people who use their car as security to take out a loan are finding themselves squeezed even harder financially and even threatened, the City regulator has found. The Financial Conduct Authority warned it will put firms offering logbook loans out of action if they do not "dramatically" improve their standards, after finding evidence of poor behaviour including little or no affordability checks being carried out and some applicants being encouraged to manipulate details of their income. It said lenders are failing to properly spell out exactly how expensive such debts will be, with the true cost often masked by an emphasis on "low" weekly repayments and key terms and conditions buried in small print.

BMW 3-Series Coupé and Convertible facelift (2010): first official pictures

By John Burton First Official Pictures 17 January 2010 00:01 BMW is pepping up its 3-series Coupé and Convertible ranges in March 2010 – including the M3 – to bring them into line with the current Saloon and Touring. As well as a range of cosmetic pick-me-ups, there will be a reinvigorated range of cleaner, more powerful engines. The new 2010 BMW 3-series Coupé and Convertible: a light touch The updates to the 3-Series Coupé and Convertible are subtle.