GM sells Suzuki shares to raise emergency funds

By Tim Pollard Motor Industry 17 November 2008 15:24 GM is flogging its entire stake in Suzuki to pump cash into its survival funds. The General owns a 3% holding in Suzuki Motor Corporation and will sell 16,413,000 shares on the open market tomorrow. Based on today’s values, GM will raise an estimated £154 million through the sale, although Suzuki will exercise an option to buy back an equivalent number of its own shares in treasury stock.

Mini names BMW's Warming to succeed Hildebrand as design chief

Mini has named Anders Warming to succeed Gert Hildebrand as head of design by the end of the month. Hildebrand will leave the BMW AG subsidiary on Dec. 31, ending a 10-year run that saw him create a new look and feel for the Mini brand following its relaunch under BMW, the company said in a statement without providing details on the designer's future plans.

IED collaborates with McLaren to create the crossovers of 2020

Students from the Istituto Europeo di Design, Turin have collaborated with British super car manufacturer, McLaren Automotive, to design an off-road, hybrid two-seater for 2020. The 33, third-year post-diploma Transportation Design students were briefed by McLaren Automotive design director, Frank Stephenson, to create a car capable of 'combining sports excellence, driving thrills and the McLaren performance characteristics both off- and on-road'. "McLaren Automotive's plans are wholly based on two-seat, mid-engined performance cars," explained Stephenson.