Straightline Performance 185-110 on 2040-parts.com

Citroën designers: Design students have 'golden opportunity'

Today's car design students "have got a fantastic opportunity in a very different world," say Citroën designers. Though the automotive industry has been suffering in many regions in the current economic climate, the next generation of car designers "have got a fantastic opportunity," says Andrew Cowell, Senior Design Manager at Citroën, in conversation with Car Design News at the Royal College of Art, London. "The industry will evolve quite a lot, and these guys (the students on the postgraduate Vehicle Design course) will come out into a very different world." "They'll start in a very interesting period", says Alexandre Malval, Citroën Design Director and himself a graduate from the RCA course.

Ford follows Hyundai with payment protection plan

Ford Motor Co., taking a cue from Asian rival Hyundai Motor, is offering to make car payments for buyers who lose their jobs. The program, called the Ford Advantage Plan, will cover payments for up to 12 months. The move is aimed at boosting sales, which have fallen 45.9 percent this year through February at Ford Motor and 39.4 percent industrywide as the U.S.

New BMW X4 looks a winner: Geneva Motor Show

The new BMW X4 (pictured) revealed at Geneva The arrival of the new BMW X4 at the Geneva Motor Show isn’t exactly a surprise, and nor is the fact that it’s very much the same as the X4 Concept we saw at the Shanghai Motor Show last year. What is perhaps a bit of a surprise is a price list that appears to price the new X4 about 15 per cent more than the comparable X3; the X4 xDrive 35d M Sport costing £48,990 compared to the X3 xDrive 35d M Sport at £42,900. Still, style comes at a price.