Show Review: Salon Prive 2009

In the US, Germany and Japan, and in practically all of the world's largest economies, the streets are dominated by cars from domestic brands. Locals may not notice their patriotic automotive landscape, but visitors interested in car design tend to see the consistent aspects of each region's particular car composition - the different sizes, configurations, colors and general aesthetic. But not in the UK.

VW Taigun Compact SUV heading for production

It was a good-looking and appealing effort from VW to tap in to the very compact SUV market, with a real family look (a Tiguan on a boil wash), peppy little 3-cylinder 1.0 litre engine delivering 108bhp and a 0-62mph of 9.2 seconds (with 60mpg economy) and enough room to carry stuff and people thanks to an extra 50mm in the wheelbase compared to the Up! Now it looks like the Taigun is heading for production after VW’s Chief designer, Klaus Bishoff, told Autoexpress that he deeply believed the Taigun would be heading for VW showrooms very soon, and could be sold in the UK and Europe as well as in emerging markets. So you can add the Taigun to the list of VW’s SUV offerings, and with new versions of the Tiguan and Touareg (perhaps based on the CrossBlue Concept) and a Polo based SUV on the way too, it looks like VW are covering all the bases.

Volvo aims for global market with police-spec XC70

Volvo is staking its police-car fleet ambitions in Europe and beyond on a newly upgraded chassis underpinning the Volvo XC70, already a popular choice among police forces across Europe. The Swedish police force recently designated the 2014 Volvo XC70 D5 AWD as the best car in its fleet after carrying out exhaustive tests, with an overall score of nine out of 10. That's right, the diesel XC70 D5 AWD was chosen as the best vehicle in the police-car fleet in Sweden, even though on this side of the pond, the car is still associated more with ownership of multiple golden retrievers and the school run.