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The Discovery will be 11 this year, but one of its rivals is older still. Launched in Japan more than 15 years ago, Mitsubishi's biggest SUV has just had yet another facelift.

There are lots of ways to gauge really good years in the auto industry, but here's one of the best: how many brands set sales records.

General Motors provided a sneak peek at the 2016 Chevrolet Volt -- which will be quicker, quieter and have a longer range than its predecessor -- Sunday night at International CES in Las Vegas.

Jaguar sales are set to surge following the arrival of the new XE midsize sedan and updated large premium XF. Jaguar Land Rover's global head of sales, Andy Goss, spoke about the brand's future with Automotive News Europe.

Jaguar is poised to have a record 2015 and to increase global sales to well above 200,000 vehicles this decade as a massive investment in products, plants and underpinnings starts to pay dividends.

Honda dealer Greg May decided to follow American Honda Motor Co.'s advice and add service bays and make other improvements to his service department.

In an increasingly digital, on-the-go world, Dale Snow's challenge was to devise the most effective way to update millennials on car repairs.

Moray Callum, Ford's global design chief, is coming off a frenetic year when Ford introduced a bevy of crucial products including the global 2015 Mustang and aluminum 2015 F-150 pickup, both generally well-received by critics.

Mercedes-Benz could become the first luxury carmaker to launch new models in China before rolling them out in Europe and the U.S.

With gasoline selling for less than $2 a gallon in some states, it's fair to ask whether the industry's investment in electric vehicles has been an expensive blunder.

Most car companies don't worry much about the cost of parking, but in a garage under a San Francisco overpass, a group of BMW employees is figuring out how to factor those costs into a new business model.

To boost Mini's prospects of long-term profitability, parent BMW Group has decided the British brand needs to shrink its lineup to four nameplates from seven.

Just in time for cheap gasoline, automakers will show high-performance cars at next week's Detroit auto show. But pickups and hybrids will get their share of attention.

From press release

A record 95-car on the grid for this week's tenth anniversary edition Hankook 24 Hours of Dubai, January 8-10.

Within a decade, the Hankook 24H DUBAI is not only acknowledged as the first major endurance race of the new calendar year for GTs, touring cars and 24H Specials, but has also become firmly established as one of the classic 24-hour races.

The tenth anniversary edition marks the start of a new era as the 2015 Hankook 24H DUBAI also serves as the season opener of the 2015 24H SERIES powered by Hankook, with full FIA International Series status for the first time. A record 95 cars with over 400 drivers will be on the grid for this week's race.

The main contenders for overall honours are most likely to come from the A6 class, the playing field for GT3 cars. Here, last year's Dubai race winners, Stadler Motorsport, are aiming at repeating their success, but the Swiss Porsche team will be facing strong opposition, among others from Abu Dhabi Racing Black Falcon, that won the Dubai race in 2012 and 2013 with its Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3.

In total, there will be twelve Mercedes-Benz gullwing race cars on the grid. AMG Customer Sports pool drivers Thomas Jäger, Bernd Schneider and Lance David Arnold will be racing, just like Jeroen Bleekemolen, the most successful driver in history of the Dubai race.

Other classes
The SP2 class includes MARC Focus V8 and GC Automobile silhouette cars, a Maserati Gran Turismo and an Audi R8. The SP3 class is dominated by GT4 cars, including six Ginetta G50s.

The CUP1 class for BMW M235i Cup cars will be competing in Dubai for the first time with an expected total of six cars. BMW is also the preferred brand in the A5 touring car class with five entries.

The A3T class includes SEAT Leon Supercopa cars plus a Volkswagen and a BMW while the A2 class has a variety of touring cars with Honda, MINI, Peugeot, Renault, SEAT, Toyota and Volkswagen each represented by one or more teams.

From GMM

As ever in formula one, the future is always just around the next bend.

On Tuesday, at Bernie Ecclestone's behest, representatives of the four engine manufacturers - Mercedes, Renault, Ferrari and newcomer Honda - will get together in Geneva.

The F1 supremo wants them to talk about a new beginning for F1 in 2016, having briefed them to consider a new, more powerful, cheaper and louder engine formula.

According to Germany's Auto Motor und Sport, Ecclestone also wants more aggressive-looking cars that are more difficult to drive and exciting to watch.

But Niki Lauda, team chairman at new world champions Mercedes, urges against haste.

"Something sensible can really only be done if we give ourselves until 2017," he argues.

"And Honda would not have built this new engine for one season only. You need some stability, otherwise everything is insanely expensive," Niki Lauda added.

Before 2016 dawns, however, the 2015 world championship will be run and won, and at present it is not even clear how many cars will be on the grid.

Marussia and Caterham, for instance, are under administration, and Caterham is not committing even to the opening test at Jerez in 27 days time.

"Talks with interested parties continue," joint administrator Henry Shinners told the BBC on Monday, "but if a buyer is not found before the test, we will not put up the money to go."

Veteran Verizon IndyCar Series' driver Marco Andretti will make his FIA Formula E Championship debut on Jan. 10 in Argentina in the No. 28 Andretti Autosport-prepared car.

Formula E is the FIA spec series for electric single-seaters.

“Having never been in the car, it's a bit of an unfamiliar situation for me but the team's pace looks solid enough for a great result," said Andretti, whose last seat time in a race car was the Verizon IndyCar Series 2014 season finale in August at Auto Club Speedway. "I like unknown situations; I'm up for the task.”

The third-generation racer will be the only American competing on the 12-turn circuit at Puerto Madero in Buenos Aires.

Former Toro Rosso F1 driver Jean-Eric Vergne will pilot the No. 27 car for the team, which is fifth in the championship standings through three rounds.

Marco Andretti replaces Franck Montagny at Andretti Autosport after the French racing driver was suspended from competition after testing positive for cocaine use.

From GMM

Sahara Force India has set a firm date for the launch of its 2015 car, the Mercedes-powered VJM08.

After finishing the 2014 season a career-high sixth in the constructors' championship, the Silverstone based team renewed with its major backer America Movil.

It means the Sergio Perez-linked Telmex, Telcel and Claro branding will also appear on the 2015 car, just as they also will at Ferrari, where Mexican Esteban Gutierrez has become the fabled Maranello team's new reserve driver.

Sahara Force India will reportedly herald its continuing Mexican link by launching the new car at the Soumaya museum in Mexico City on January 21.

"I wish to thank Telmex, Telcel and Claro for their support in making this event possible," said team boss Vijay Mallya.

Sahara Force India, VJM07-Mercedes. (Photo: WRi2)

From GMM

At least two top teams will enter the 2015 season with fundamentally different colour schemes, it has emerged.

Spain's El Mundo Deportivo reports that new reigning champions Mercedes intend to switch from silver to a striking mirror-like chrome paint-job this year.

The report said the special chrome paint for the 2015 livery is called 'Kromo', and will also be supplied to wheel supplier OZ for the title-defending W06 raced by world champion Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

The same Spanish sports newspaper reports that with Mercedes stepping up its iconic silver look, Woking based McLaren is tipped for a complete livery U-turn in 2015.

McLaren turned silver in 1997, at the height of its works collaboration with Mercedes, but now the famous British team is kicking off its new era with Honda.

Mercedes W05 vs McLaren MP4-29-Mercedes. (Photo: WRi2)

El Mundo Deportivo reported: "Honda does not want (McLaren) to continue with silver because it is a colour immediately associated with Mercedes and the 'Silver Arrows'.

"There are rumours the (2015) car could be orange, McLaren's traditional colour, for testing. But it could also be white, in a double-tribute: to Honda and also because McLaren's first F1 car was that colour" in 1966.

"The final choice could depend largely on whether McLaren has a major sponsor in 2015 or not," the report added.

Williams Formula 1 team announced Monday an updated Race Operations structure to further bolster the engineering department ahead of the 2015 FIA F1 season.

Andrew Murdoch, previously Race Engineer to Felipe Massa, has been promoted to Senior Performance Engineer.

Murdoch will lead the Performance Group at the factory, developing new techniques and processes within the engineering team to ensure continual performance improvements are brought to both cars throughout the season. He will also remain part of the trackside team with a focus on Valtteri Bottas' car on event.

Photo: Williams Martini Racing

The team is further strengthened by the appointment of Dave Robson, who has joined to take on the role of Race Engineer to Massa and will work under Head of Vehicle Performance Rob Smedley. Robson joins from McLaren, where he had been working with Jenson Button since 2010, most recently as his Race Engineer. Jonathan Eddolls continues as Race Engineer to Bottas.

As part of this process, veteran Carl Gaden has been promoted to Senior Car Systems Engineer.

Gaden joined Williams in 1988 and has spent the last 22 years as Chief Mechanic on the Race Team. With his vast hands-on experience working across the cars, he will now increase the capabilities of the team within this area focusing on ensuring systems continue to be reliable.

Mark Pattinson, previously Number 1 Mechanic to Massa, will step up to take on the role of Chief Mechanic.

From GMM

Carlos Sainz insists his famous name alone did not power his 20-year-old son all the way to formula one.

Carlos Sainz jr, the new reigning Formula Renault 3.5 champion, will make his debut for Toro Rosso in 2015, having emerged as the cream of Red Bull's famous driver development programme.

Nonetheless, a famous surname was also a help, Sainz's father and namesake, the Spanish rallying legend, admitted to the sports daily Marca.

"There have been times when the surname has benefited him," he admitted ahead of the famous Dakar rally, in which Sainz snr will race a Red Bull-sponsored Peugeot.

"But at the end, you don't get to formula one because of a surname, even less on a team such as the Red Bull junior team."

Carlos Sainz Sr aboard the Peugeot 2008 DKR. (Photo: RedBull.com)

Carlos Sainz, 52, said his son comes to F1 at a "very young" age, but nonetheless "prepared and having won one of the preceding championships to formula one with very good results".

"I sincerely believe that he arrives ready to do a good job," he insisted. "He has an exceptional talent, more than people think, and I hope he can prove it."

Sainz said he will be merely a "spectator" of F1 in 2015, admitting he cannot given his son much advice because "he knows more than I do!"

Carlos Sainz Jr, Red Bull RB10-Renault, in Abu Dhabi. (Photo: WRi2)