Radiator Hose (upper) - Crown# 5290804ab on 2040-parts.com

Design a steering wheel for Ford and win a trip to its Cologne studio

Ford UK, and product development publication DEVELOP3D, have announced details of a new competition, asking designers to create a concept for a future Ford steering wheel. The competition is open to UK-based designers from all industries, and submissions should be emailed in the form of digital sketches or hand-drawn images. The deadline is 7 November, 2014.

Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid: Production to double to cope with demand

It’s particularly appealing if you like a car with a decent turn of speed – the V60 will do 0-62mph in 6.1 seconds – like the reassurance and practicality of 4WD – the V60′s electric motor drives the back wheels – drive in to London on a regular basis – the 48g/km emissions are congestion charge free – and get taxed as BIK from your company. If all those apply – and you already appreciate the Volvo V60 is a very good car to start with – then the V60 plug-in hybrid is a bit of a no-brainer, even with a headline price of nearly £50k (which gets within £6k of an equivalent non plug-in after the taxpayer has chipped in). It seems that many buyers agree, and Volvo is being inundated with orders.

First of five free Suzuki S-Crosses collected

SUZUKI has come over all charitable with the news that it has given away the first of its free S-Cross models that are up for grabs. Entrants to the competition had to nominate someone they knew to receive a free S-Cross car – and well-equipped models, too – with a brief explanation of why the nominee deserved it. The first to pick up their free new 14-plate crossover were a ‘very surprised’ Phillip Southward and wife Sue, who collected their SZ4-spec S-Cross at Suzuki’s RRG dealership in Stockport.