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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.

Vauxhall to launch sub-£7k city car

Vauxhall is believed to be working on a budget city car to rival the Toyota Aygo, Peugeot 108 and Citroen C1 trio unveiled earlier this month at Geneva. According to Auto Express, the new small hatchback will be based on the Chevrolet Spark platform and will start at less than £7,000 – undercutting the firm’s current Adam model by over £4,000. On Bing: see pictures of Vauxhall city cars Find out how much a used Vauxhall costs on Auto Trader If you’re expecting a bland box on wheels like the Agila, don’t fear – as Vauxhall has reportedly said the new car will “have its own distinct personality”.

Mark Adams on the Past, Present and Future of Opel Design

Back in 1938, GM showed the world's first concept car: Harley Earl's Buick Y-Job. Twenty-six years later, GM's Opel division became the first mainstream carmaker to design and build a concept in Europe. That car was the Opel Experimental GT, designed in 1964 and launched at the Frankfurt motor show in 1965.