Mercury-mercruiser 37-13488a89 Decal Set Black 80 on 2040-parts.com

Hot seats: from design to delivery [sponsored]

As the user demands on car interiors are increasingly influenced by their growing design consciousness, so suppliers like Lear strive to bring better-engineered seating to satisfy. 2013 was another big year for Lear, as Jeanette Puig-Pey, its global fabric & leather design manager, enthuses: "At our ‘Design2Perform' event we celebrated the unveiling of our brand new collection, with special emphasis on color and texture and our TeXstyle Enhance product, perfect for customization. Laser etching is part of this offering, it is exclusive to Lear Corporation and can be used to add refined design elements to cloth and leather." A mix of fabric and leather in seating is not new but is often seen by the consumer as a cheaper alternative to full leather.

BMW X7 confirmed – but will it take on the Range Rover?

BMW today confirmed it will produce an all-new X7 model at its Spartanburg, US plant – reinforcing the American factory’s position as BMW’s largest production facility in the world. The new X7 is expected to be a large seven-seat range-topper that will appeal to the US market; it will probably be a rival to the Mercedes-Benz GL – and thus potentially be a premium alternative to the luxury Range Rover. BMW X4 revealed BMW X5 Plug-In Hybrid review (2014 onwards) BMW hasn’t confirmed anything other than the fact it will be ‘larger’ than the X5 and X6.

VIDEO: Classic-car driver training encourages teens to pilot vintage iron

Thirty lucky kids learned to drive classic cars at the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, Mich., on Friday in celebration of Collector Car Appreciation Day. Hagerty Insurance partnered with local classic-car owners for the inaugural event, which aimed to foster an interest in vintage cars among young drivers and to introduce them to manual transmissions. Hagerty said today's teens rarely have access to manuals, since about 90 percent of new cars have automatic transmissions.