Hummer License Plate on 2040-parts.com

UK car production hits six-year high

The British car industry continued to boom in 2013, with production topping the 1.5 million unit barrier thanks to a resurgent Toyota, Jaguar and Land Rover. It means that last year, a car was built in the UK every 20 seconds! 20 reasons why the British car industry is booming UK car sales reach six-year high 1,509,762 cars produced was a 3.1% rise on 2013 – and, in further good news for Britain, it was revealed that 79.6% of them, or 1,201,395 cars, were exported to overseas markets.

Scuola Politecnica di Design announces Chris Bangle workshop

Italy’s Scuola Politecnica di Design has announced a seven-day workshop with former BMW Group design boss Chris Bangle at its campus in Milan. Themed ‘Future Personal Emotional Mobility’ and scheduled to run from 18 to 24 September 2009, the workshop invites design degree graduates and experienced car designers to take part in a project to create a new breed of sustainable shared transportation for the year 2050. Based on the concept that the mass migration of people from the countryside to cities will in the future create even more social, economic and ecological differences between population zones, this event will see attendees work closely with Bangle towards designing systems that engage on an emotional as well as an economic level, satisfying the personal transportation needs – and desires – of a disparate global population while minimising impact on the environment.

All-new MINI dashboard goes mainstream (spy photo)

The all-new MINI – the third generation of the new MINI – is due later in 2013 and will be getting a more mainstream dashboard. Whatever you may think of the ‘new’ MINI – the one BMW make – it’s been a huge success. And it’s been a huge success because it’s managed to evoke the spirit of the original Issigonis Mini without being a pastiche.