2007 China Automotive Design Conference

The 2007 China Automotive Design & Independent Innovation Conference marked the first gathering of independent Chinese (vs. joint venture) automakers getting together to discuss automotive styling. Taking place at the end of August, more than 140 design professionals from First Auto Works (FAW), Dongfeng Motor, Chery, Brilliance, Chana, Guangzhou Auto, Nanjing Automotive Corp.

Mercedes Concept Style Coupe (2012) - aka CLA

Mercedes will show the Concept Style Coupe at the 2012 Beijing motor show next week. It's a thinly veiled look at a compact coupe spun off the Merc A-class architecture - likely to wear the CLA badge. In essence this is our first look at the shrunken, baby CLS Daimler plans to launch in 2013 - and the CLA production version will be priced around £20,000.

Ford puts Volvo up for sale

Having spent most of the last twenty years carefully building up a portfolio of Prestige European car makers, including Jaguar, Land Rover, Aston Martin and Volvo, the last of these, Volvo, has now been put up for sale by Ford. This hardly comes as a surprise when you see the precarious state of Ford. It’s busy going cap-in-hand to the US government looking for a bail out, and selling off Volvo could add several hundred million pounds to its decimated balance sheet.