03 04 05 06 Mitsubishi Lancer Center Console on 2040-parts.com

Designer insights: highlights of Auto Design Prague 2014

Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, might not seem the most obvious choice for an automotive design conference. But when one considers the country's history of innovation in the arts and architecture, its long-lived automotive marques like Tatra and Skoda, and Prague's central location in Europe, it makes perfect sense. Conference speakers included the program design director for Citroën DS, Ivo Groen; Volvo vice president of design Thomas Ingenlath; Jaguar advanced design director, Julian Thomson; Gert Hildebrand, head of design for Qoros; and Johann Lemercier, program manager at Ferrari design.

Just one new Ferrari sold in Greece in 2012 – and it came to the UK!

Just one new Ferrari was sold in Greece in 2012 in the depths of Greece’s austerity, and it seems even that lone Ferrari came to the UK. None of which is particularly surprising considering the mess Greece has got in to since its tied itself to monster economies like Germany when it joined the Eurozone. There’s no doubt there are still plenty of gazillionaires in Greece, but how many of them would want to risk parading their wealth in a brand new Ferrari when Greece is in such a financial mess, more than one in four are out of work and soup kitchens are springing up as normal Greeks struggle to even feed themselves?

Toyota will compete at 2012 Le Mans with a hybrid

Toyota today announced it would compete at the 2012 Le Mans 24-hour race with a hybrid sports car in the LMP1 class. This single rendering has been issued of the new Toyota hybrid race car. The Japanese giant has not competed at Le Mans in a factory team since the late 1990s with the GT-One, which set a lap record in 1999.