Kia Cee'd Estate (2007): first official pictures

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 15 February 2007 02:59 Kia Cee'd Estate: the lowdown Kia is rapidly making inroads into European markets. This new Cee'd estate is light years away from the shonky Kias of old - and it'll go on sale in August for around £500 more than the hatchback. At 4.5m long, it's 235mm longer than the hatch and has a marginally stretched wheelbase to free up some more space for family clobber.

Seat Altea Freetrack unveiled

By Tim Pollard Motor Shows 08 June 2007 10:56 Seat Altea Freetrack: the lowdown Bandwagon alert! Seat is the latest manufacturer to join the soft-roader club, with the Freetrack version of the Altea XL, unveiled at this week's Barcelona Motor Show. It joins a growing list of Skoda Scouts, Volkswagen Dunes and Renault Conquests as mass-market makers toughen up their regular models with the 4x4 look.

Michelin design contest inspires young minds

The College for Creative Studies in Detroit held its 24th Michelin Design challenge, in which Michelin sponsors a design and development project for one of CCS' transportation design classes. The competition works like this: CCS and Michelin get together to develop a theme, then CCS picks which transportation design class will work on the project. The idea, Michelin says, is to celebrate and promote the kind of vehicle design that highlights original thinking and innovation.