Central Academy of Fine Arts degree show 2009, China

China's home grown car makers are increasingly ambitious, as illustrated by plans to grow rapidly at home and, in some cases, expand abroad and compete with foreign rivals in cutting-edge technologies. One big impediment they face in taking on their foreign rivals is design. Top dogs in the global auto industry invest heavily in engineers and designers.

Frankfurt motor show 2011: the A-Z guide

Click here for Gavin Greens Frankfurt motor show blog The Frankfurt motor show is in full swing on Tuesday 13 September and CAR has a team of reporters bringing you the news, new car launches and gossip from the IAA. Come back here over the next 48 hours for our handy A-Z list of all the important new cars at Frankfurt - click through on the links below for the pictures, galleries, news and analysis on each launch. And follow Ben Barry's Live Blog here, as he tries to see every car at the Frankfurt auto show.

New SEAT Leon goes in to production

The new SEAT Leon (2013) – revealed at the Paris Motor Show – has started production in Spain ahead of first deliveries in March 2013. SEAT has invested heavily in the Martorell plant in recent years – a shining light of success in a sea of Spanish manufacturing despair – with a £650 million investment in new facilities and R&D making Martorell a modern and efficient facility for the new Leon as well as the Ibiza, Altea and Exeo (and the Audi Q3). Not only has the investment in Martorell secured the jobs of 1600 Spanish workers (and four times as many in the supply chain), it promise more jobs too if the Leon turns out to be as appealing as it looks.