Ford Explorer--- Mercury Mountaineer--- Name Plate...new...sealed on 2040-parts.com

Audi announces 2015 A3 pricing

The last A3 we drove, an Irish-spec model with cloth seats and a 1.4 TSI engine paired with Audi's S-tronic twin-clutch gearbox, retailed for $54,495. Thankfully, American buyers won't face that sort of out-the-wazoo payment when the new sedan arrives early next year. Audi's announced a price that takes a direct shot across the bow of rival Mercedes-Benz' CLA: $29,900.

Gorden Wagener on how Mercedes is "moving from a traditional luxury brand to a modern luxury brand"

Mercedes' 'home' design studio in Sindelfingen, Germany is housed in an expansive 30,000-square meter building designed by Renzo Piano. The lobby is unassuming, but we're soon through into what Mercedes' grandly calls 'the Vision Room.' It's here that strategic meetings are held with the firm's board, and where we meet Gorden Wagener, Mercedes' head of design since 2008. It's in the Vision Room that Wagener convinced the Mercedes board of the merits of his overarching design philosophy: 'sensual purity'.

More drivers opt for speed awareness course

Drivers caught speeding are now more likely to take a driver education course than accept points on their licence, according to the latest government statistics. 953,428 motorists took a speed awareness course last year – a hefty increase over the 500,000 that took part in 2010. New so-called ‘stealth’ speed cameras: don’t panic “Black box” drivers hit by speeding fines from insurers This is partly down to the rise in speeding fines from £60 to £100 – taking a speeding awareness course usually costs around £85 (depending on the area), which means it’s now less rather than more than the cost of a fine.