UK 2011 car sales analysis: winners and losers

The UK car market fell 4.4% in 2011 to its worst year for at least a decade. Brits bought 1,941,253 vehicles last year as private motorists put off that new car purchase and stuck with their existing wheels or went secondhand. Retail sales took the brunt of the fall, with a 14% collapse on 2010's figures.

Kia and BMW claim 2012 Red Dot Design Awards

Kia and BMW have been recognized by the 2012 Red Dot Design Awards judging panel, picking up the ‘best-of-best' awards in the transportation product design category. The awards, handed out March 15, single out the best-designed products from over 4,000 entries across a variety of categories. Kia's A-segment Picanto and B-segment Rio were both winners in Red Dot's ‘Product Design' category, fighting off competition from over 4,500 products entered by 1,800 manufacturers from 58 countries.

New Volvo XC90 (2014) previewed by Volvo designers

Volvo's view on the 2014 XC90 The Volvo XC90 is still a capable cross between a luxury SUV and a Crossover (as we discovered recently when we played with the XC-90 R-Design for a week), but it is now very ancient. Launched in 2002, the XC90 has soldiered on essentially unchanged (bar some tweaks and the R-Design options), yet despite that it’s still a credible option with some very appealing traits. But it’s well past time to reveal a new XC90.