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Ignore the marketers: There's nothing new under the technological sun. Cost and reliability concerns may have hindered the early adoption of these auto-tech breakthroughs, though you'd never know it based on their present-day ubiquity.

Thought all the medium-sized frame-platform SUVs had been replaced by front-wheel drive ones? Glenn Brooks reacquaints himself with the latest Suzuki Grand Vitara, a proper old-school 4x4.

Ongoing sovereign debt crises across Europe are continuing to have a major impact on the Continent's automaking development, with 2007 production levels not expected to return until 2017, says analysts, LMC Automotive.

News 10 May, 2013

Smart has created a special-edition Fortwo BoConcept, which has a starting price of £22,315

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Tata Motors' Jaguar Land Rover has awarded contracts worth GBP2.8bn (US$4.3bn) to companies worldwide to supply parts for the new F-Type, with over GBP1.5bn ($US2.3bn) placed with suppliers here in the UK.

Back in the 1970s, a car seat was a functional component with few or no added value features. Nowadays, with drivers spending more time in their car on longer commutes, they expect a comfortable ride. Matthew Beecham caught up with three top executives of Lear Corp to hear how the seat has become an integral part of the car's overall design and appeal in the showroom. Here, Ryan Burns, Lear's Vice President of Global Seat Engineering led the discussion with contributions from Karl Henn, Director of Seating Engineering and R&D and Mandy Sarotte, Vice President of Global Trim Sales.

After leading the successful expansion of Porsche in China since 2007, Helmut Bröker is to take over as head of the region covering the Middle East, Africa, India, South-East Asia, Australia/New Zealand, Japan and Latin America from 1 July.

Nissan's CEO Carlos Ghosn said today that while he expects the carmaker's annual global retail sales to reach a record this year, he doesn't see any growth in Europe before 2016.

ASSOCIATE EDITOR GRAHAM KOZAK: I had been in a Hyundai Azera once before this car arrived in our fleet.

Honeywell has named Terrence Hahn president and CEO of its Transportation Systems division, which is a leading maker of turbocharges that counts on Europe for more than half its sales. He starts May 20.

News 10 May, 2013

A one-off MINI Paceman designed by Roberto Cavalli has been revealed

Facebook is in talks to acquire Israeli mobile satellite navigation start-up Waze for US$800m to US$1bn, according to the business daily Calcalist.

News 10 May, 2013

New Lexus IS 250 price: £26,495. Leuxs IS 300h price: £29,495. On sale now

While visiting Brazil recently, Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne told president Dilma Rousseff the automaker would spend an extra US$4.5bn in her country in 2013-2016, much of it to relaunch the Jeep brand.

Paul Philpott, Kia UK President and CEO, believes that the integration of offline and online 'customer journeys' is the key to meeting future customer demands.

News 10 May, 2013

Small Maserati sports car looks increasingly likely, according to its chief

Nissan today reported a 46.1 percent rise in its quarterly net profit to 110 billion yen ($1.11 billion).

Nissan today reported a 46.1 percent rise in its quarterly net profit to 110 billion yen ($1.11 billion). The automaker forecasts global retail sales will rise to 5.3 million vehicles in the current business year that ends in 2014, up from 4.

With about two solid shopping days left to secure the best possible gift for Mom for Mother's Day, we thought we'd contribute a few ideas to get the ball rolling.