Kawasaki New H2 750 Engine Oil Seal Set 11 Pcs on 2040-parts.com

Plans for Smart’s three-seat sports car uncovered in patent drawings

Mercedes-Benz is developing a three-seat sports car for Smart. Depicted here in a series of European patent-application sketches obtained by AutoWeek, the radical new sports car forms part of an extended range of new Smart models planned for introduction by the middle of the next decade, including a more conventional four-seater to be produced in cooperation with Renault. Mercedes-Benz is reacting to increased competition from Toyota in the form of the iQ and the impending arrival of similar urban-based offerings from premium-brand rivals Audi and BMW.

Lincoln C concept

Ford's luxury division revealed a surprise new concept at the 2009 NAIAS: the C-segment, six-passenger Lincoln C design study, aimed at upscale urban consumers. According to Freeman Thomas, director of Ford's Strategic Concepts Group where the concept was created, "the Lincoln C is about efficiency without compromise". The exterior design was concieved by David Woodhouse and Jeremy Leng, and the interior by Andrei Markevich and Matt Edwards.

Lincoln is promised a unique line

Lincoln vehicles will be dramatically different from Ford brand products, Ford Motor Co. executives said last week. "The strategy isn't just new products, but full differentiation from the Ford brand in not only design but in technology," Derrick Kuzak, Ford's group vice president of global product development, told a group of auto analysts at the Detroit auto show.