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Mini Vision concept: what does it say about the brand's future?

The sight of Mini design head Anders Warming presenting a holographic, 3D projection of the Mini Vision concept as if appearing in his own cartoon was certainly a new one on us, but it captured the quirky, slightly left-field image the subsidiary of BMW Group has cultivated since its relaunch 13 years ago. As the 'Vision' tag suggests, this is billed as a marker of intent for the brand's future design direction rather than a pre-production teaser of the new Mini hatchback (Cooper in most markets) we'll see later this year. However if the third-generation 'new' Mini doesn't look remarkably similar we'd be amazed, such is the level of productionized detailing on this purely digital model.

Mercedes SLK-Class

The third-generation Mercedes SLK (now 'SLK-Class') will make its world debut at the Geneva motor show next month. While this all-new, third-generation model retains the overall proportions of the outgoing model, its design language is very different. Soft, subtle forms are out, particularly around its DRG, were a brutal grille, complete with bold chrome bar and star, takes center stage.

Chevrolet Code 130R, Tru 140S at 2012 Detroit show

Chevrolet's press conference at the 2012 North American International Auto Show was all about youngsters: namely the millennials, or 11-30-year-olds who hold increasing consumer power. GM reckons there are 80 million of them in the US, and they account for $1 trillion of spending power. So it's worth taking them seriously.