Summit Racing Sway Bar 720208 on 2040-parts.com

Ford puts Volvo up for sale

Having spent most of the last twenty years carefully building up a portfolio of Prestige European car makers, including Jaguar, Land Rover, Aston Martin and Volvo, the last of these, Volvo, has now been put up for sale by Ford. This hardly comes as a surprise when you see the precarious state of Ford. It’s busy going cap-in-hand to the US government looking for a bail out, and selling off Volvo could add several hundred million pounds to its decimated balance sheet.

Ford S-Max concept

Ford has released details of its S-Max concept ahead of its official debut at the Frankfurt motor show next month. Building on the success of the current-generation S-Max, the concept (surely more a pre-production show car than a true concept) continues the low, long and sporty twist on the SUV recipe that has made it such a hit in Europe. So it retains the monovolume outline with a soft transition from hood to windscreen and the tapered roofline.

Jeep’s ‘Ugly is the new appealing’ Cherokee costs from £25,495

The new Jeep Cherokee (pictured) is now on sale in the UK The new Jeep Cherokee debuted at the New York Motor Show in 2013, giving Jeep a new, smaller SUV with ‘good to be ugly’ looks to mop up the still growing demand for SUVs of all sizes. And now it’s going on sale in the UK. Based on the same underpinnings as the Alfa Giulietta, the new Cherokee comes in at a more affordable price than its big brother, but if you want the entry-level  2.0-litre Longitude 140 you’ll have to make do with front-wheel drive.