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Who's where: Luc Donckerwolke named Design Director at Bentley

Luc Donckerwolke has been named Design Director of Bentley in the latest round of moves within the Volkswagen group, replacing Dirk van Braeckel. Donckerwolke moves from Head of VW Advanced Design, a post he has held for little over a year. He is perhaps most renowned for his work at Lamborghini, overseeing the designs of both the Gallardo and Murcielago – two of the most successful and enduring Lamborghinis ever – during his time in Sant'Agata.

CAFE standards set to rise to 54.5 mpg for 2025

President Barack Obama on Friday revealed ambitious plans to raise the corporate average fuel economy standard for cars and light trucks to 54.5 mpg by the 2025 model year, a landmark move that will dramatically remake carmakers' product portfolios and consumers' buying habits. Unlike the first CAFE standards passed by Congress in 1975, the Detroit automakers now publicly support the high requirements and have begun retooling their fleets to adapt the changes. “[This] represents the single most important step we've ever taken as a nation to reduce our dependence on foreign oil,” Obama said in a morning press conference.

Land Rover Defender reprieved

Land Rover Defender reprieved until 2017 - and maybe beyond It’s the news that all die-hard Land Rover Defender fans – and there are still plenty of them – wanted to hear; the current Defender has won a reprieve until at least 2017. It had originally been thought that the iconic (that word again, but it’s justified in the Defender’s case) Landie would be forced in to the annuls of motoring history by Euro emissions rules. But thanks to plans to endow the current Defender with a version of JLR’s 2.2 litre diesel, it now means that the Defender as we know it can keep on trucking until at least 2017 with its new, Euro5 compliant engine.