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Lorenzo Ramaciotti to head Chrysler and Lancia design

Lorenzo Ramaciotti, current head of design at Fiat Group, has been tasked with leading the design of future Chrysler and Lancia products in a bid to more than double the sales figures of the newly collaborated brands. The 63-year-old former Pininfarina designer – credited to some of the most beautiful Italian machinery of the modern era – has been asked by Sergio Marchionne, chief executive of Fiat and Chrysler Group LLC, to create a common styling language for the two brands that wouldn't look out of place in Detroit or Milan. Ramaciotti has made it clear that badge-engineering isn't going to be the future for the two brands and is hoping to inject a unique, but global flavor, into the two brands.

Capitol Hill notebook: Obama defends autos, Akerson defends the Chevrolet Volt

Less than 10 hours after President Barack Obama wrapped up his third State of the Union address, manufacturing and automobiles continued to command the spotlight on Wednesday in Washington. The day began with General Motors CEO Dan Akerson defending the Chevrolet Volt before a U.S. House committee hearing, saying he didn't want it to become a "political punching bag," according to testimony provided by the company.

Cars Land comes alive

It's like stepping through the movie screen—or the looking glass, or maybe the windshield—and right into your favorite animated car movie. After five long years of painstaking work and three years of construction, Disney and Pixar have finished a splendid collaboration to bring the town of Radiator Springs to full-size, three-dimensional life at Cars Land, opening June 15 at Disney California Adventure next door to Disneyland. Now you can take a stroll down the main drag of Radiator Springs, which, you'll recall from the movie, is “the cutest little town in Carburetor County.” The 12-acre attraction has every building and bauble from the movie, from Flo's V8 Caf