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New concepts to be revealed at Pebble Beach

The international auto show in Frankfurt is but a few weeks away, yet for important new cars in the American market there's further proof that traditional auto shows such as Detroit are being shunned as launch venues in favor of more exclusive and pretigious events. That's because Cadillac, Infiniti, Lexus, Lotus and possibly a few others are set to reveal new production and concept cars at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance later this week. Lexus is set to unveil its production GS350 (previewed by the Lf-Gh concept in New York earlier this year), the fourth generation of its luxury sports sedan, on August 18, while Cadillac's 2013 ATS will also be revealed.

New VW Golf GTI: Price from £25,845

Volkswagen has revealed that the 2013 Golf GTI MK 7 will cost from £25,845 – £195 up on the old GTI – with the GTi Performance from £26,825. For the first time you’ll get a choice of power levels for the GTI, with the regular GTI getting a 2.0 litre TSI with 217bhp and the GTI Performance coming with 227bhp, gets bigger brake discs and a limited slip diff. Performance from the regular GTI is 0-62mph in 6.5 seconds and a top speed of 152mph, whilst the GTI Performance cuts that time by 0.1 seconds with both versions offering 44.1mpg official consumption with the six-speed manual ‘box.

Mercedes GLA SUV UK launch down a salt mine in Cheshire

The new Mercedes GLA down a salt mine in Cheshire Trying to find an unusual venue for new car launches is something that taxes the brains of car PR teams, and Mercedes came up with somewhere a little left field for the launch of the new GLA Compact SUV – the UK’s biggest salt mine at Winsford in Cheshire. The Winsford Rock Salt Mines – 130 miles of salt mining tunnels running under Cheshire – are the result of salt mining since the 19th century and now comprise of 130 miles of tunnels some 189 metres below ground, a void beneath the earth of 23 million cubic metres. Still a working salt mine, Winsford is also home to a massive storage facility for, among others, the National Archive, where constant temperatures of 14C make for an ideal storage environment.