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Daimler-Renault alliance to delay new Smart and Twingo models, report says

Renault SA and Daimler AG, who are sharing technology to build the new Smart ForTwo and Renault Twingo cars, will delay the introduction of the models by a year, according to a French newspaper. The cars will now come to market in 2014 instead of 2013, La Tribune said, citing industry sources. The next ForTwo and the third-generation Twingo will be built on Renault's A platform, with ForTwo production continuing at Smart's plant in Hambach, France, and Twingo output at Renault's Novo Mesto factory in Slovenia.

Europe trailing on ESP safety

NOT ENOUGH new cars in Europe are being specified with an electronic stability programme (ESP) that is proved to be most important safety system in prevent collisions. Research by Frost and Sullivan has found Europe is lagging behind North America, where there is almost 100% success with fitting news cars with ESP. Despite ESP being included in the European New Car Assessment Programme since 2011, the study shows there has been only a minimal increase in the number of cars sold that have ESP.

General Motors Europe announces new European Design Center

General Motors' global Design organization is a multi-national team with eleven design centers around the world. The offices are linked via virtual reality studios and projects are shared around the globe. The organization is led by Ed Welburn, GM's global vice president of design.