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Renault Dezir concept (2010) first official pictures

These are the first pictures of the Renault Dezir, a sporty Clio-sized electric concept set to be unveiled at the Paris motor show in September 2010. This is the first car produced under the watch of new design director Laurens van den Acker, who's charged with reinvigorating the Renault range after Patrick le Quement's departure. The Dezir concept car heralds a new design language for Renault, which has seen the small car market become increasingly chic (think Citroen DS3) yet it's soldiered on with just the Clio and, now, the Wind Roadster.

Bugatti sell their 400th Veyron – just 50 left to go. But what next for Bugatti?

The 400th Veyron – a Grand Sport Vitesse Jean-Pierre Wimille Special Edition Bugatti may have come to rely on ‘Special Edition’ Veyrons to keep making sales, but they’re now getting close to the end of their production run. The Veyron – which debuted in 2005 – is limited to a total of 300 coupes and 150 Roadsters, and all the coupes are long gone with just the Roadsters left to finish their run, and only 50 of are those left to sell. Not surprisingly, the 400th Veyron to be sold – the latest Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse Jean-Pierre Wimille Special Edition – went to a client in the Middle East at a hefty €2.14 million which, at a rates of around one a week sold for the last eight years, means the Veyron will be consigned to the Bugatti history book by the end of 2014.

Mercedes GLA goes in to production in Germany

The Mercedes GLA (pictured) goes in to production The new Mercedes GLA – Mercedes’ latest spin-off from the A Class – arrived at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September as an urban SUV come Crossover, extending Mercedes reach in the premium compact sector with a serious competitor in the urban SUV market. With the growing fondness for high-riding cars – and something that’s a bit butch too – the SUV/Crossover take on the Mercedes A Class is a sound way to go and now, with production starting in Germany this week of the new GLA, Mercedes is getting close to having the GLA in customers’ hands. The first GLAs to get in to the hands of customers will probably be the GLA Edition 1 – a launch model with plenty of toys – but the model that will perhaps be most interesting is the GLA 45 AMG, with the promise of the same rufty-tufty compact SUV goodness as the rest of the range but with the 4WD platform and high performance 2.0 litre Turbo from the A 45 AMG.