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Americans plan to keep their cars longer, AutoPacific study finds

In another chilling sign that auto sales are likely to remain stalled, a new study finds that Americans intend to keep their cars longer, indicating a general concern about the industry and the overall economy. The number of new-car buyers planning to keep their rides more than four years has risen to 59 percent, according to a study released Tuesday by California marketing research firm AutoPacific. That's an increase from last year, when about 45 percent of new buyers intended to wait more than four years for their next purchase, and it's up from 2005's tally of 46 percent.

Driven: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

Walking up to the seventh-generation VW Golf, redesigned flip key in hand, you're in no doubt that this is a) new or – perhaps more importantly – b) a Golf. It's the "200 meter test" lead exterior designer, Andreas Mindt tells us and, while we're suspicious of the idea of self-conscious ‘iconic design', you have to concede he's right. In fact the Mk7 Golf's pared-back graphics and a return to a true two-box proportion create a more accurate vision of what we imagine when we think ‘Volkswagen Golf' than either of its two most recent predecessors.

Audi R8 range to grow – and improve

The Audi R8 Spyder V8 - just part of a bigger and improved Audi R8 range Only last week we reported on the likelihood that there will soon be a V8 version of the Audi R8 Spyder. Which makes a whole lot of sense for Audi. Now they’ve mopped up the early buyers on the R8 V10 it really is time to give a more ‘affordable’ option, if any car approaching £100k can ever be considered ‘affordable’.