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Chill out: coolest truck ever made of ice

Just as humans find it difficult getting out of bed on a cold morning, cars often don’t like starting when temperatures are below freezing. Not only is there more pressure on car batteries in the winter as we rely on them for heating and lighting, but they also struggle to hold their charge. So, in a bid to prove that their batteries are unbeatable in the cold, a Canadian company has built a pick-up truck out of ice.

Doomed Saturns, Hummers make assembly-line curtain calls

Two doomed General Motors brands--Saturn and Hummer--are getting their last hurrahs on the assembly line. GM assembled 1,037 Saturn Outlooks last month after not making any Saturns since October. “We are building out a few Saturns to utilize existing material,” GM spokeswoman Kim Carpenter said.

Finalists announced in Car Design News-Opel/Vauxhall interactive competition exterior design phase

Car Design News is pleased to announce the finalists in the exterior design phase of the Car Design News – Opel/Vauxhall interactive design competition. Pierin Giacomo and Victor Uribe of IED school of design in Turin (who are finalists in the interior phase) are joined by Jadir E Minutti, from IAAD in Turin, Italy and Lina, from Creapole school in Paris, France. The approaches of the students to the exterior design phase differed greatly, and because of this the judges felt that four, rather than three, students merited being invited to Geneva where the winner of the exterior design phase will be announced, together with those for the interior phase which closed in December 2010.