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Renault Twingo and Clio Grand Tour

By Ben Whitworth Motor Shows 08 March 2007 10:12 French but sans le funky look A busy show stand for Renault – as well as unveiling its new Twingo city car, the French manufacturer pulled the wraps off a thinly disguised version of its upcoming Clio estate to take on its Fabia and Peugeot 207 wagon rivals. After the funked up coolness of the Twingo concept car shown at the Paris Motor Show last year, we are more than a little underwhelmed by the production Twingo. Renault is keen to move away from the utilitarian look and feel of the original model – it will leave cheap and cheerful sales to the Clio Campus – and pitch the new model at sharper-suited rivals like the Mini.

Who's Where: Karim Habib joins Mercedes-Benz

Karim Habib, former Team Leader for Advanced Design at BMW, joined Mercedes-Benz earlier this month, becoming Head of Advanced Design at the German automaker's Stuttgart studio. Habib will work under newly appointed Mercedes-Benz Head of Design, Gorden Wagener. Habib, who celebrates his 38th birthday today, was born in Beirut, Lebanon and attended elementary school in Iran, France and Greece before moving to Montreal, Canada in 1982.

Jaguar XJ sedan revealed, reaches U.S. showrooms in December

With entertainer Jay Leno acting as host, Jaguar has taken all of the cloaks off the redesigned XJ sedan. Jaguar said the new XJ will go on sale in the United States in December and will carry a base price of $72,500, including shipping charges. The new XJ will be sold in standard- and long-wheelbase versions.