Longacre 22613 Aluminum Shifter Stick on 2040-parts.com

Driven: BMW 6 Series convertible

Every large BMW coupe – from the E9 3.0 CS, through the shark-nosed E24 6 Series, Claus Luthe's beautiful E31 8 Series, right up to the outgoing, Bangle-era E63 6er – has had an exoticism beyond every other car in the brand's range. We drove the latest from the most southern point of Europe back to our London office to find out if it too is a truly Grand Tourer. Stepping off the 'plane in Gibraltar, greeted by a Deep Sea Blue 650i with Ivory White leather, 19-inch rims and Shadow Line exterior trim under the early summer Mediterranean sun, it's clear that the right colorway and a more appropriate setting certainly help the F12's cause after our disappointment with the car at its debut in Detroit earlier in the year.

Mercedes GLA crossover (2013) at Frankfurt motor show

This is the new Mercedes GLA crossover, an A-class in combat trousers and hiking boots. Previewed by the Concept GLA displayed at Frankfurt earlier in 2013, the production GLA is available with two- or four-wheel drive, manual or twin-clutch transmissions, and a range of four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines shared with the A-class hatch. Mercedes GLA: the styling In principle, the GLA is an A-class on stilts, and in the metal, that’s exactly what it looks like.

Audi to build cars in Mexico

Volkswagen Group has settled on Mexico as the location for a factory for Audi. The Audi supervisory board decided in favor of Mexico over a site next to VW's factory in Chattanooga, Tenn., which opened last year to build the VW Passat. The Mexico plant will provide a boost to the VW Group’s sales prospects and manufacturing operations in North America, where its light vehicle output rose 25 percent in 2011 to a record 542,363 units.