Mercury Mercruiser Propeller 832830a45 19p on 2040-parts.com

Aston Martin make Nissan’s Andy Palmer their new CEO

Andy Palmer (pictured) is taking the reins at Aston Martin Lagonda Aston Martin has effectively been without a boss since Ulrich Bez stepped down from the role last year, but that changes with the announcement that Andrew Palmer – until now, Chief Planning Officer of Nissan – is to step in to the role. There’s no specific start date for Andy Palmer at Aston, but Nissan has announced that Philippe Klein will take up Palmer’s role at Nissan on 15 September, so it shouldn’t be long before Palmer holds the reins at Aston Martin. But what exactly has persuaded Andy Palmer to jump from a big corporate behemoth like Nissan to a struggling luxury car maker with owners who either want to tug the operating strings (the Kuwaitis) or are looking for a quick return (Investindustrial)?

New Nissan X-Trail starts at £22,995. But it’s FWD

The new Nissan X-Trail (pictured) falls in price The styling of the new Nissan X-Trail, which arrived last year at Frankfurt, has eschewed a lot of the boxiness of the old X-Trail and taken on many of the styling cues from the new Nissan Qashqai. And in the process it’s perhaps become ‘softer’. The old X-Trail was more rugged than most modern compact SUVs, but the new X-Trail has arrived with a choice of Front Wheel Drive versions – no doubt aimed at keeping the price down – as well as cuddlier looks.

Old is new again: Will a floor-hinged throttle pedal be in your future?

If you think that every little nut, bolt, switch, gear or widget in your new car wasn't scrutinized by a team of highly educated, overworked car geeks (read: engineers), think again. A couple of recent conversations with automotive engineers confirmed that virtually nothing that goes into a car today is taken for granted. During the recent Pebble Beach weekend, I had the pleasure of spending time with an engineer for Jaguar, and the subject turned to materials used for various switches in the cabin.