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Aston Martin's Race plan

By Ben Pulman Motor Shows 17 October 2007 15:36 It’s only just over a week since Aston Martin was sold, but today it confirmed plans to race at Le Mans.The DBR9 will return to the famous La Sarthe circuit in June. Perhaps this was inevitable, since Aston’s new non-executive chairman is David Richards - the chairman of Prodrive, which develops the DBR9 and its FIA GT3-spec sister car, the DBRS9. The team will face a tough challenge, though, as the 24-hour Le Mans is the only race that Aston Martin Racing will compete in this year.

Toyota's global design chief Tokuo Fukuichi appointed president of Lexus

Toyota's global design chief Tokuo Fukuichi will be the first designer to sit on the company's board of directors when his appointment comes into effect on 1 April. Fukuichi will retain his position as global head of design for the Toyota, Lexus and Scion brands and will join the board after the general shareholders' meeting. His influence on Toyota's design direction over the last few years has been noticeable, particularly with Lexus, as the company strives to make its traditionally very conservative products a little more exciting.

Seat IBL concept

Seat has unveiled its new IBL saloon and sports coupe crossover concept car, announcing that it is the next evolution of its design DNA. While the exterior of the IBL is understated, much emphasis has been placed on the design of the interior. Technology within the car displays information in three programs – ‘Travel' for relaxed driving, ‘Sport' for concentrated driving or ‘Efficiency' for focused fuel-efficiency of the plug-in hybrid drive.