Toyota Platz 2001 Condenser [4560600] on 2040-parts.com

Ssangyong getting bullish with the Korando SX

The new Ssangyong Korando SX is to feature in a £1 million TV advertising campaign comparing price and spec with its rivals. It’s almost exactly a year since we reported Ssangyong’s return to the UK market with the Ssangyong Korando, a competitive budget compact SUV they hoped would set them on a path to sales success in the UK. Ssangyong ramped up their Korando offering in June by launching the Korando SX 4×4 at a very reasonable £18,795, although you did have to sacrifice kit – and a lump of power – to achieve the new 4×4 entry price.

SAIC Leaf concept

The Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) will unveil this futuristic concept at next week's Beijing motor show. Called the Leaf, the new concept has no relation to Nissan's concept car shown in Tokyo last year. It is a much more fanciful two-seat concept car whose design is entirely open to the elements, and it also features a slew of environmentally-friendly technologies.

Wild weather forecast to herald 2014

PARTY-GOERS out celebrating the new year may well avoid a drenching tonight, but further rain and gales are expected to herald the start of 2014. Thousands of people across the UK are still recovering after storms last week caused widespread misery, with power cuts and flooding ruining Christmas for scores of families. And forecasters say there is more bad weather to come, with the Met Office issuing a severe weather warning for rain on New Year's Day, affecting southern England and western Scotland.