Yamaha 701 61x 62t Electric Box on 2040-parts.com

How the Nissan Qashqai reinvented the family car

The 2014 Nissan Qashqai (above) arrived in showrooms this week, but will the second-generation model be as groundbreaking as the first? Inevitably, the all-new Qashqai looks very similar to the outgoing model, but why change a winning formula? The original Qashqai was, arguably, the most successful new family car launch since the original Volkswagen Golf from 1974. And it came out of the blue, because Nissan was perhaps the last company anyone would have expected to come up with such a revolutionary design.

Bugatti Veyron Limited Editions at Dubai Motor Show

Buhgatti has revealed three Limited Edition Veyrons at the Dubai Motor Show We’re back to yet more Bugatti Veyron Limited Edition cars to add to the 300 already out there (sorry, that’s the number of Veyrons in total – but it’s close to the number of ‘Special’ Veyrons) with the reveal of the Veyron Nocturne, the Veyron Sang d’Argent and the Veyron Soleil de Nuit at the Dubai Motor Show today. The Veyron Nocturne is a limited run of five cars costing €1.65 million each. Bugatti wax lyrical about “…extraordinary partition of surfaces never used so far, giving the car a new dimension of lateral length” and “…galvanized side windows continuing the line of the polished aluminium upper body parts to the rear of the car and contrast vividly with the uni black of the side- and door-panels and the roof.” So much as with every other Veyron Limited Edition it’s about setting the car apart.

Peugeot 408 GT Coupe planned for 2016

Peugeot 408 GT Coupe planned for 2016 based on the 308 (pictured) The market for smaller four-door coupes has grown in recent years, and it looks like the Mercedes CLA – the four-door coupe version of the Mercedes A-Class – is a runaway success. That seems to have given Peugeot the idea that it should revive the ’40-something’ badge a couple of years after they dropped the 407 and 607 in favour of the 508 and build a new coupe, this time a four-door. The Peugeot 407 was a larger two-door coupe – the not quite as convincing update for the very good 406 coupe – which had an old-world coupe feel and was very much a niche product in Peugeot’s range.