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Video: Buick's lead color and trim designer, Heather Scalf on the new Encore SUV

Buick's lead color and trim designer, Heather Scalf, talks us through the Buick Encore's interior as part of General Motors' ‘Faces of GM' series of short videos. The video series, which recently featured CDN and GM's joint interactive design contest, offers an insight into the lives and duties of the team at GM. Unveiled at the 2012 NAIAS, the Encore is a compact SUV that must fit into the Buick house style of mature luxury despite is relatively small size.

2012 Volkswagen Beetle Spied

The 2012 Volkswagen Beetle looks almost production-ready Yes, the next generation of the ‘New’ VW Beetle us upon us, certainly if the spy shots we’ve got of an almost undisguised 2012 VW Beetle are anything to go by. And we did report that VW should debut the 2012 VW Beetle in 2011 before a 2012 launch as long ago as October 2009. So it all adds up Not surprisingly, this 2012 Beetle has been snapped pounding round the US – the one place it’s sold really well.

Mercedes-Benz unveils 'golf cart of the future' design study

Designed at its Carlsbad studio in California, Mercedes-Benz presented its ‘Vision Golf Cart' to the golfing world during this year's Open Championship in Scotland. Having called upon car fans and followers of the sport to submit their ideas for a future Mercedes buggy, a jury then went about sifting through all the submissions until they found the best entries. Electrically driven and powered by a battery kept continuously charged by solar panels on the roof, the buggy is controlled by a joystick mounted on the center console allowing either passenger to drive.