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Mini Vision concept: what does it say about the brand's future?

The sight of Mini design head Anders Warming presenting a holographic, 3D projection of the Mini Vision concept as if appearing in his own cartoon was certainly a new one on us, but it captured the quirky, slightly left-field image the subsidiary of BMW Group has cultivated since its relaunch 13 years ago. As the 'Vision' tag suggests, this is billed as a marker of intent for the brand's future design direction rather than a pre-production teaser of the new Mini hatchback (Cooper in most markets) we'll see later this year. However if the third-generation 'new' Mini doesn't look remarkably similar we'd be amazed, such is the level of productionized detailing on this purely digital model.

GM grants Saab a reprieve, CEO Henderson resigns

By Tim Pollard Motor Industry 02 December 2009 15:51 The board of General Motors has granted Saab a lifeline – by extending the deadline for bids on its stricken Swedish patient to 31 December 2009. GM has been trying to sell Saab for the past year, and the Swedish car maker has been under court bankruptcy protection since February 2009.GM chief executive officer Fritz Henderson also announced he was to stand down. His interim successor is hard-nosed GM chairman Ed Whitacre – meaning that GM Europe and the US mothership have both lost their bosses in a matter of weeks.

McLaren celebrates 50th birthday with special edition 12C supercar (2013)

McLaren will build 100 special edition 12C supercars to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2013: 50 coupes and 50 folding hard-top Spiders. The birthday edition cars get bespoke lightweight components from McLaren Special Operations (MSO) and extra accessories, as well as a hefty price bump. You'll pay £196,000 for a hard-top McLaren 50 12C, and £215,500 for the McLaren 50 12C Spider – a hefty £20,000 rise over the standard cars' price tags.