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Skoda Vision C Concept is a stylish 5-door coupe

The Skoda Vision C Concept could be heading for production as an Octavia Coupe The rise and rise of Skoda since it was a Soviet skip maker has been dramatic under the banner of the VW Group, and many of its cars are the pick of the VW Group offerings. But now Skoda look to be heading in a new design direction which looks set to produce far more stylish and dramatic cars than they have to date – just like this Skoda Vision C Concept. The VisionC – seen in the design sketch from Skoda above – is a swoopy five-door coupe with a low roofline, shallow glass area and a steeply-raked windscreen; it looks like a Skoda take on the VW CC or Mercedes CLA.

Mini Beachcomber Concept at Detroit motor show 2010

This funky beach-biased concept car has just appeared at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show in January. Called the Mini Beachcomber Concept, this flight-of-fancy Moke-inspired show car gives us our first glimpse of how Mini's production-spec 4x4 crossover will look at launch - we'll see the real car at the Geneva motor show in March 2010 ahead of an autumn UK launch. This four-seater, four-wheel-drive machine has been designed without doors or a conventional roof, so that its occupants are not cut off from the outside world.

Volkswagen takes stake in Suzuki

VW takes a 19.9% stake in Suzuki We’re back on the co-operation and rationalisation path again, this time with Volkswagen and Suzuki, with the announcement that VW is to take a 19.9% stake in Suzuki, with Suzuki in turn re-investing up to half of the proceeds in to Volkswagen shares. This deal has been on the cards for some time but has obviously been pushed in to reality by the changing landscape for car manufacturers, where they seek to find a more secure future with takeovers, mergers and partnerships. Which is all very logical, even if it will inevitably lead to less choice for the car buyer in the long term.