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Lotus's glimmer of hope: Proton stands by Hethel

After another painful year of sales for Lotus in the UK – down 58% on 2011 - Norfolk's beleagured sports car brand has kicked off the New Year with the grand unveiling of its new flagship Malaysian showroom, and the thumbs-up from senior Proton company suits that Lotus isn't on its last legs. The announcement comes in the same week Lotus’s sales figures were released for 2012. Showing a substantial 58% decrease in sales and selling just 137 vehicles, Lotus Cars was the worst performer in the UK with a woeful 0.01% share of the market.  Are Lotus's Malaysian owners sticking by the company?

Alfa Romeo at the London motor show 2008

By Guy Bird and CAR reader reporter Jacomoseven Motor Shows 24 July 2008 09:30 Although many journalists – including CAR – have already driven the Mito, the London motor show was the official public world premiere of Alfa’s new small car sensation. Click here for CAR's first drive review of the Alfa Mito. What’s new on Alfa Romeo’s London motor show stand?Pride of place went to a red Mito and an 8C, both – Alfa promises – symbols of the sporty brand getting back to basics in terms of driver focus and quality.

Bentley SUV will create a new niche

The Bentley SUV (EXP 9 F pictured) will create a new market sector. We all saw the Bentley SUV when it arrive two years ago at the Geneva Motor show, and the general consensus was along the lines of ‘What a truck’. But Bentley have taken that reaction on board and are busy redesigning the looks of their SUV (well, the exterior anyway – the interior was lovely) to give it a more appealing look, one probably more biased towards an SUV version of the Continental Series rather than the Mulsanne.