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VW pushes upmarket: the new Passat and lessons learned by the Phaeton

By John Mahoney Motoring Issues 07 July 2014 08:02 Logically, it makes perfect sense to push the new 2015 VW Passat upmarket far away from the declining, mass-market D-segment it used to inhabit. After all, how can Volkswagen resist a tasty slice of profit the BMW 3-series or Mercedes C-class dishes out to their makers? Even if it does risk stepping on Audi's toes...

Max Wolff to become Design Director at Lincoln

Ford's luxury nameplate, Lincoln, is set to welcome a new design director, the first dedicated design director for the brand. The role will be filled by former GM designer Max Wolff, who will head the design team in the new year.  Until Wolff's appointment, Peter Horbury and Moray Callum, Ford's Executive Director of Design, The Americas, oversaw Lincoln-Mercury designs – the two brands were paired before Ford decided to kill off Mercury earlier this year. While Gerry McGovern headed Lincoln-Mercury design for a brief period before becoming director of Advanced Design at Land Rover in 2004, Lincoln itself has never had a design director dedicated solely to the brand.  Wolff brings with him extensive global perspective and luxury design experience; his most recent role was with Cadillac, where he was head of exteriors.

New Lexus IS 300h, LF-LC and Lexus F-Sport all at 2013 Geneva Motor Show

We’ll get to see the new Lexus IS 300h at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show together with an Opal Blue LF-CC and extended F Sport range. Probably of most interest – because we’ve not seen it in Europe yet, is the new Lexus IS 300h, the hybrid version of the 2013 Lexus IS – revealed at Detroit last month – which Lexus hope will pick up sales from the diesel competition. Lexus will be adding the F Sport trim to the IS 300h too to show that their cars can look as dynamic as those from Audi’s S Line, Mercedes’ AMG or BMW’s M Sport which, with an expected output of around 220bhp from the electric motor and 2.5 litre engine, isn’t all that incongruous.