Nissan Cima 1996 Trunk Panel [8515300] on 2040-parts.com

Acura's bargain birth introduced Japanese luxury to the U.S. 25 years ago

The idea seemed almost ludicrous to Tom Elliott back in 1982, but there it was, in black and white, on Honda Motor Co.'s strategic product plan. Elliott's bosses in Japan had decided to sell a car priced at more than $20,000 in the United States, taking the Japanese brand dramatically upscale. And Elliott, Honda's U.S.

Mercedes-Benz scores double wins at German Design Council awards

Mercedes-Benz took home two design trophies from the 2014 German Design Council awards, winning Special Mentions for the 2014 Mercedes-Benz S-class and the Ener-G-Force concept vehicle. The German Design Council traces its history back decades, and every year dozens of experts evaluate more than a thousand entries, with just a fraction of them being automotive designs. This year 30 well-known design experts judged approximately 1900 submissions, assessing a variety of design elements in picking their top choices, and this year a duo of Mercedes-Benz vehicles won the praise of design gurus.

Seat Leon ST wins five-star safety rating

SEAT'S SPACIOUS Leon ST has been awarded a five-star safety rating by car safety assessment body Euro NCAP. The estate version of the already-popular Leon goes on sale in the UK in October for January 2014 first deliveries. The rating is the result of exceptional scores in all areas of the industry-standard Euro NCAP test, but particularly the adult occupant safety and child occupant safety sections, for which the Leon ST scored 94% and 92% respectively.