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Beijing Auto Show 2014 – the 15 cars that really matter

With somewhere around 90 world debuts, the Beijing motor show certainly had the numbers – if not the organization – to live up to its billing as one of the world's most important auto shows. The back-story to these figures however is that the majority of these unveils were of lightly-revised versions of existing models – from facelifts to localized versions of cars already on sale in other markets. That's not to say there was nothing of interest to see inside the maze of halls at the China Exhibition Center.

UK car sales reach six-year high

Ford New car sales have reached their highest level since 2007, says the Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Figures for 2013 show an increase in registrations of 10.8% compared with the previous year, to 2,264,737 - most of which was driven by growth in the private car market. Ford dominated the best-seller list, with the Fiesta and Focus winning 200,000 sales between them The UK market’s performance easily outstripped that of the European Union as a whole, with an increase of 9.9% for the 11 months to November compared with a drop of 2.7% for the EU region.

Designer insights: highlights of Auto Design Prague 2014

Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, might not seem the most obvious choice for an automotive design conference. But when one considers the country's history of innovation in the arts and architecture, its long-lived automotive marques like Tatra and Skoda, and Prague's central location in Europe, it makes perfect sense. Conference speakers included the program design director for Citroën DS, Ivo Groen; Volvo vice president of design Thomas Ingenlath; Jaguar advanced design director, Julian Thomson; Gert Hildebrand, head of design for Qoros; and Johann Lemercier, program manager at Ferrari design.