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Nissan IDx concepts bring back budget racers

Nissan channeled its inner Datsun for the Detroit auto show on Monday. The Japanese brand showed off its IDx Freeflow and IDx Nismo concepts, which we first saw in Tokyo. The brand cited the new ways people buy and customize cars as the reason for the classic yet eye-catching style.

Fiesta grabs Women's World Car of the Year prize

THE FORD FIESTA 1.0 Ecoboost has been crowned the Women’s World Car of the Year 2013. A panel of 18 women judged the car on factors such as colour, sex appeal and ease of driving. Beating off competition from Audi and Range Rover, the Fiesta was praised by the all-women panel and the awards chairman Sandy Myhre said: ‘It was clear from the outset the Fiesta struck a chord with our panel of women as it has features which clearly chime with the needs of female drivers.’ Barb Samardzich, chief operating officer, Ford of Europe, said: ‘The success of the new Fiesta, both in terms of this award and impressive sales, has been achieved with a car which is sharp looking, better connected and even more fuel efficient and fun-to-drive.’

Tesla asks NHTSA to investigate fires

In response to concerns following a recent accident which appeared to result from road debris damaging the underside of a battery compartment of a Tesla Model S, causing a fire in the engine compartment, the company has announced that it has requested that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration conduct a full investigation into the fire incidents. In a blog post, Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote the following about the investigation: "While we think it is highly unlikely, if something is discovered that would result in a material improvement in occupant fire safety, we will immediately apply that change to new cars and offer it as a free retrofit to all existing cars. Given that the incidence of fires in the Model S is far lower than combustion cars and that there have been no resulting injuries, this did not at first seem like a good use of NHTSA's time compared to the hundreds of gasoline fire deaths per year that warrant their attention." Tesla has also released a software update to the cars which will maintain their standard ride height at highway speeds, preventing the air suspension from lowering the car an extra inch at highway speeds for greater aerodynamic efficiency.