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Mercedes-Benz to cut production time, halve number of vehicle architectures

Mercedes-Benz is restructuring its global production network to cut the average production time for its models to 30 hours by 2015 from 43 in 2008. "We have increased productivity by 2 percent a year over the last few years. We will be accelerating our productivity efforts," Mercedes production boss Wolfgang Bernhard said during an investor conference that was part of the automaker's plant opening in Kecskemet, Hungary, on Thursday.

BTCC stars arrive at race meet... with a race-insipred caravan

BRITISH Touring Car stars Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden arrived at their most recent race weekend with something a bit out of the ordinary in tow. The pair arrived in a Honda Civic Tourer, liveried up to look just like the racing versions the pair are more used to thrashing around. What’s more, they were towing a caravan just as covered in Honda Yuasa Racing graphics as the car, having meandered across the country stopping only for picnics and barbecues – although they did enjoy a spot of mountain biking too.

Manzoni, Ingenlath and Hildebrand to speak at Auto Design Prague

The fourth annual Auto Design Prague conference will take place on 18 September at the National Technical Library in Prague-Dejvice. The event is open to professionals and the wider public, and will include a program of 10 presentations by designers including vice president of Ferrari design, Flavio Manzoni; Volvo design director Thomas Ingenlath; Jaguar's advanced design director, Julian Thompson, and Qoros head of design, Gert Hildebrand. Flavio Manzoni, Ferrari In addition to the talks, visitors will also be able to sample the wares of conference partners that supply a host of design tools and services, including virtual prototyping software, 3D printers, and prototype construction.