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Volkswagen's de'Silva aims for positive influence on Porsche styling

Volkswagen Group design director Walter de'Silva hopes to add "something positive" to the design of Porsche's new models, beginning with the Cajun SUV. Porsche AG is set to become Volkswagen AG's 10th brand and Porsche design director Michael Mauer now reports to de'Silva, along with the heads of the styling centers of the other VW group brands such as Skoda, Seat, Bentley and Lamborghini. De'Silva said he has just started working with Mauer and their relationship is off to a good start.

Volvo celebrates the seatbelt’s golden anniversary

By Freddie Fulton Motor Industry 12 August 2009 10:11 Today marks the 50th anniversary of the three-point seatbelt. It was patented by Volvo engineer Nils Bohlin in 1959, but the Swedes magnanimously opened up the tech to other car makers as they saw the real-world safety benefit of seatbelts in all cars. The design was so effective that in Germany the patent registrars listed it in the top eight inventions which have made an impact from 1885 to 1985.

Aston Martin V12 Vantage Roadster leaks ahead of official debut

The new Aston Martin V12 Vantage Roadster has leaked ahead of an official debut later this week. At the end of 2011 Aston Martin boss Ulrich Bez let slip that a Roadster version of the V12 Vantage was on the way, and the expectation was it would arrive at the Geneva Motor Show in March. But it didn’t.