Lexus CT 200h F Sport arrives in the UK. Starts at £27,850.

Lexus CT 200h F Sport arrives in the UK It’s been a whole year since the Lexus CT 200h F-Sport hoved in to view with its add-on sporty bits and bobs, and now it’s finally arrived in the UK. In case you didn’t read the headline properly – or the original story – the CT 200h F-Sport isn’t a fire-breathing ‘F’ version of the Lexus take on the Prius, but is instead a ‘sportified’ version, with add on bits and a tweaked suspension. But despite the lack of extra horses, the CT 200h F-Sport does go part of the way to addressing the problems of the CT 200h.

First Sight: Mini

The first 'New' Mini was launched just five years ago, replacing the original Mini that had changed only in detail since its 1959 debut. Designed by Frank Stephenson, now head of design at Fiat, the current design has been a sales success and most significantly has been very influential in demonstrating how small cars need not be explicitly functionalist, smaller versions of larger car types or feel cheap. The new 'New' Mini, designed under the direction of Gert Hildebrand at Mini, is announced today with exterior design by Marcus Syring, interior design by Marc Girard and colour and trim design by Annette Baumeister.

Carlos Ghosn's automaker mantra: Go big or you'll go away

Size matters in auto company survival, Renault and Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn told an audience in Detroit on Tuesday. To cope with the escalating costs and scope of a global industry, successful automakers must complete a trifecta--be able to compete in every technology, every market and every segment, Ghosn said during a luncheon speech at the Detroit Economic Club “No 3 million-unit carmaker can make it,” Ghosn said, explaining why his Renault-Nissan alliance forged an alliance with Germany's Daimler AG. Competency in one or two of the three skills is not enough, and only very large companies can afford all three, he said.