Vehicles connect at Michigan International Speedway

The Michigan Department of Transportation and Michigan International Speedway have joined forces to help in the development of a connected-vehicle system. In the future, it will help cars communicate with each other on the road to avoid crashes and increase safety. The speedway, located in Brooklyn, Mich., will allow organizations such as the Connected Vehicle Proving Center and the Center for Automotive Research to use the track as a test road for the new technology.

Vauxhall Astra tweaked & Astra GTC BiTurbo diesel

The Vauxhall Astra Hatch and Sports Tourer (Estate) have been given a bit of a facelift and the Astra GTC BiTurbo diesel has arrived. It’s probably a bit of a stretch to call what Vauxhall has done to the Astra Hatch and Astra Sport Tourer a facelift, but it’s enough of a tweak for those who’ve just bought a new Astra to be less than thrilled. The main changes to the hatch and estate are a new grill, new indicators and new fog lights; a minor rhinoplasty.

Ford B-MAX off to a strong start in UK

The new Ford B-Max compact people carrier is off to a strong sales start in the UK, with 1,000 already delivered to customers. And that eye-catching advert (we’ve posted it below – Ford in Europe need all the help they can get to garner sales!) will no doubt raise awareness of the long-awaited replacement for the old Fiesta-based Fusion MPV and help make the B-Max a success for Ford in a segment they once dominated, but which they’d left to wither on the vine. But eye-catching  advert for the new B-Max or not, the B-Max is already selling well with over 1,000 cars delivered to customers in the last few weeks and orders for 2500 cars received by Ford in the UK before the B-Max even appeared in showrooms.