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Final second-generation Mini leaves production line

THE FINAL Mini hatchback of the current generation has left the production line in Oxford, after more than a million were made for customers around the world. There’s no time for production staff to rest, though, with assembly of the new Mini hatchback already under way alongside the many other Mini model derivatives. In total, more than 1.8 million hatchback Minis have been built at the factory since 2001, of which 1,041,412 were the currently outgoing model.

CAR interviews new Renault design chief Laurens van den Acker (2009)

By Guy Bird Motor Industry 15 October 2009 10:29 CAR: How did you get the top design job at Renault? LvdA: From what I’ve been told [outgoing design boss] Patrick le Quément was asked to come up with three candidates, two internal and one external, and somehow I bubbled to the top of the external candidates. I think the criteria included international experience, being relatively young and having a good record.

BMW reveals ferocious new M3 and M4

IF YOU’RE no fan of Top Gear-style wheel-spinning, tyre-smoking oversteer, then it’s probably best to look away now, because BMW has unveiled the new M3 and M4. Essentially the same car underneath, the main differences come in the number of doors and the suspension settings, with the M3 built as a four-door, slightly more forgiving saloon and the M4 as a harder-edged two-door coupe. But both will go very sideways, if that’s the sort of thing that revs your engine, thanks to a shared 425bhp six-cylinder engine that sends all that juicy power to the rear wheels.