Nissan Serena 2000 Speedometer [0461400] on 2040-parts.com

CAR interviews Karl Schlicht, Toyota and Lexus product chief (2014)

By Damion Smy Motor Industry 07 July 2014 11:07 CAR magazine interviewed Karl Schlicht, the product chief at Toyota and Lexus, to find out how one of the world's biggest car makers is fighting to make its cars more engaging. Japan's biggest manufacturer seemingly has quality and engineering licked, but is keen to inject real desirability on its European range - and products like the GT86 sports car and recently facelifted Yaris suggest that Toyota is making strides in that direction. Read on for our full interview.

Lamborghini Urus SUV – made in SLOVAKIA

The Lamborghini Urus SUV to be made in SLOVAKIA It could be argued that the appeal of Lamborghini stems from its ‘Italian-ness’, but it seems ‘Made in Italy’ is not an honour Lamborghini are going to bestow on their new Urus SUV. Instead, the plan is to build the Urus alongside other VW Group SUVs at VW’s plant in Bratislava, Slovakia. Autonews is reporting that VW are planning to build the Urus alongside the Porsche Cayenne, Audi Q7, VW Touareg and the bodies for the new Bentley SUV (they were planning to build the Bentley SUV in full in Bratislava too, but now it will be just the body to make sure the Bentley SUV is ‘British’).

Car-buying confidence hits new high

THE NUMBER of people who believe they will buy a new car in the next three years has jumped to 71%, according to the latest AA Car Purchase Index; up from 55% last year. Of the 19,786 survey respondents who said they were going to buy a new car, 42% said they would choose a petrol engine, with 38% saying definitely diesel. A further 13% don’t know what fuel type they will opt for, but 7% will choose some kind of hybrid and 1% will go fully electric – a total of exactly 100 respondents.