Lexus sales rising strongly in Europe – up 33 per cent in Western Europe

The new Lexus IS (pictured) is leading Lexus’s sales growth in europe There’s lots to like about the Lexus range (even if we would like to see proper gearboxes proliferate), and it seems buyers across Europe are getting more and more enamoured of Toyota’s luxury brand. Lexus are reporting soaring sales in Europe so far in 2014, with sales up by 25.4 per cent over the same period in 2013 (and by 33 per cent in Western Europe) and the Lexus IS leading the way. Lexus IS sales were up to 6,923, followed by the Lexus RX SUV and the compact Lexus CT, with even the massively expensive Lexus LS chipping in 265 sales in the first six months of the year.

CDN and Opel/Vauxhall launch Interactive Design Competition

Opel/Vauxhall today asks students: "What do you think is our lounge style?" as part of a new, interactive design competition being launched with Car Design News. The competition is for students studying at design schools (of any discipline) in Europe, and will be in two stages: Stage 1 is the interior, and then Stage 2 the exterior. It culminates in a display of the work of the finalists and announcement of the two winners at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2011.

Lincoln shoots for a happier ending after troubled MKZ launch

How far off track did the launch of the redesigned Lincoln MKZ get? The car, whose chassis bears the burden of a once-thriving luxury brand now trying to prove it's still relevant -- originally was supposed to start arriving at dealerships last fall, around the same time Steven Spielberg's movie Lincoln was hitting theaters around the country. But by the time many customers who had ordered an MKZ actually got their cars, Lincoln already was out on DVD.