Dutch factory announced for new Mini

THE NEW Mini is to be built in Holland as well as the UK, owner BMW has announced. The German motor giant said production of the Mini Hatch will be split between its factory in Oxford and a site in Nedcar in Born. Around 1,500 workers will build the new Mini in Holland from this summer at a factory run by BMW's Dutch partner VDL Nedcar.

2012 Suzuki Splash launches

The Suzuki Splash gets a bit of a facelift for 2012 with tweaks to the bumpers, grill and interior trim. If you’re looking for something to potter around the urban landscape – and need a bit more room than the normal city car – the new Suzuki Splash may be right up your street. With its upright driving position and extra room compared to the usual city box, the Swift does a decent job of ferrying families round cities.

Volvo S90, V90 and V90 Cross Country on the way

The Volvo V70 (pictured) will become the new Volvo V90 All the talk for Volvo lately has been the new 2015 Volvo XC90, an impressive offering that really does look like it will take the fight in the ‘Premium’ SUV market to the Germans (and even to Land Rover). But the new XC90 is just the start of Volvo’s new model line-up, and the next couple of years will see more new models arriving with Volvo’s new Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) and the new range of 4-cylinder, 2.0 litre engines. What we now also know, thanks to Volvo’s Dennis Nobelius, is that the replacements for the S80, V70 and XC70 won’t use the current nomenclature but will be given new names to better reflect their upmarket aspirations (and their place in Volvo’s new line-up).