Vibrant Performance 10302 4-1 304 Stainless Steel Merge Collector on 2040-parts.com

Toyota & Lexus: Hybrid sales in Europe hit 20%

The ‘Green’ evangelists want to get us all driving electric cars to save the planet, but in the real world car drivers want a car that offers them all the practicality of a normal ICE car, but without the penalties of the poor range, high cost and inconvenience of an EV. So, with ever-rising fuel costs, it’s no wonder car buyers are willing to pay a little more for a car that offers better economy at the pumps – which plays straight in to the hands of Hybrid pioneers Toyota. The result is that Toyota and Lexus now see a full 20 per cent of their sale in Europe being hybrid cars in the first quarter of 2013, with sales of hybrid cars up a massive 82 per cent year-on-year.

Interior Motives China Conference to explore new design directions

Chinese consumers are driving new design directions, and CDN's Interior Motives China Conference in Beijing next week is set to explore how. Titled ‘New brands and the search for a design identity', the conference features an impressive speaker line-up that blends the international (Chris Bangle and VW's Wolfgang Muller Pietralla) with the regional (GM PATAC's Friedhelm Engler, Ford China's Chelsia Lau and PSA-Peugeot/Citroën China's Robert Walker), with the domestic (Shan Wei of the Beijing Automotive Technical Center (BATC), and Ken Ma of SAIC). The annual conference is the third in China to be hosted by CDN's magazine Interior Motives, and will be held on Wednesday 21 April, and Thursday 22 April, just in advance of the opening of Auto China 2010 in Beijing on Friday (23 April).

Coventry students embark on interior project for GM's Opel/Vauxhall division

Designers at GM's Opel/Vauxhall division have tasked students at Coventry University with creating the vehicle interior of the future. Championed by Richard Shaw, Chief Designer at Opel's Advanced Design Studio in Germany, students will be charged with creating innovative and visionary interior concepts for the next decade, taking into account future needs of consumers but also the brand's values. Judges from GM Europe Design and Coventry University will then select the winning entry.