Nissan unveils new generation 'black cab'

NISSAN has unveiled its new ‘black cab’, adapted specifically for London and designed to win business from cabbies looking for a more reliable, more functional and less polluting vehicle. This year, emissions legislation will force many older taxis off the road, and noting the financial struggles of Manganese Bronze, the makers of the traditional black cab, Nissan has seen the opportunity to muscle in on the market. The famous London taxi design has come in for much criticism from cabbies for its unrefined drive, patchy reliability and questionable cabin ergonomics.

Nissan Juke Nismo: Price from £19,995

Nissan has announced that their sport take on the Juke – the Nissan Juke Nismo – will cost from £19,995 and is the first of a new Nismo range. For your £20k you’ll get a new sporty Juke with an extra 10 horses thanks to a tweak or three to the 1.6 litre petrol engine in the Juke DIG-T, which means a total of 197bhp, 0-62mph in 7.8 seconds and 135mph. Not exactly up there with the Juke R, but more than enough to blat properly round an urban landscape.

ICEM Style creative design software launched

ICEM Ltd, known for its ICEM Surf Class A surface development software, has launched ICEM Style, a new software product developed specifically for use by creative designers in the transportation design and industrial design industry. The launch presentation highlighted the integrated workflow from concept development in ICEM Style, through to refinement in ICEM Surf, enabling designers and engineers to share the same model data throughout the design process. According to ICEM, it is now possible, for the first time in a concept design tool, to design in a photo-realistic modelling environment, without using third-party visualisation products, or to wait for a static rendering to be generated.