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CAR interviews Karl Schlicht, Toyota and Lexus product chief (2014)

By Damion Smy Motor Industry 07 July 2014 11:07 CAR magazine interviewed Karl Schlicht, the product chief at Toyota and Lexus, to find out how one of the world's biggest car makers is fighting to make its cars more engaging. Japan's biggest manufacturer seemingly has quality and engineering licked, but is keen to inject real desirability on its European range - and products like the GT86 sports car and recently facelifted Yaris suggest that Toyota is making strides in that direction. Read on for our full interview.

MINI Speedster back on the cards

Mini Speedster from 2001 - looks set to form the basis of a new MINI Speedster Based on the MINI platform, the Speedster version was talked about as long ago as 2001, but never made it to production on the first MINI platform. But perhaps having now covered just about every variant they can think of, BMW has decided that now is the time to revive the car and get it in to production. Small Roadsters, in the vein of the old British open-topped 2 seater ( and its modern ‘Homage’ version – the MX-5) will, I’m sure, see something of a renaissance in the next few years as people start to turn away from big, profligate cars, but still seek some fun motoring.

Paramount Marauder – yep, the one from Top Gear

The Marauder lays waste a wall We knew the Hamster was off to South Africa to play with a vehicle that made the Hummer look like a Tonka Toy. And we knew – because they ‘hinted’ at it when we spoke to them last week – that the whole Top Gear segment had more than a little to do with the Paramount Group in South Africa, purveyors of innovative armoured vehicles. So, as suspected, we were treated to Richard conquering the Urban Jungle of Johannesburg in the Paramount Marauder, an aptly-named, go anywhere, seemingly indestructible piece of military hardware made street-legal.