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Toyota Prius 10th Anniversary special edition (2010)

The Toyota Prius might be more normally associated with sandal-toting eco saviours, but to mark its tenth birthday Toyota is launching a blinged-up Prius 10th Anniversary special edition with a bad-boy bodykit and blacked-out windows. Yes, this is one of the stranger creations of the year. The Prius 10th Anniversary special edition marks a big shift for normally cautious Toyota, but remember this is just a UK edition marking a decade of British sales.

Mazda Verisa

Mazda has refreshed the Verisa, a B-segment car sold in Japan. Based on the same platform as the Ford Fiesta, the Verisa is a tall hatchback that parallels the (European) Ford Fusion in concept, if not aesthetics. The Down-Road-Graphic has a clean contemporary look, with minimal grille area and restrained use of brightwork, while surfaces are given greater volume and a more substantial feeling than the Fusion.

Alan Mulally spells out the future

Ford CEO Alan Mulally is famously on-message, handing out business-card-size versions of his business plan to all and sundry, including his “One Ford” mantra. “One Ford” covers a lot of ground, but it's shorthand for Ford becoming a single entity where the right hand knows what the left hand is doing. It's close kin to the concept of building global product platforms that spread costs for product development and parts over the greatest possible volume.