Report: Interior Motives China Conference 2009 – Day 2

After a boat trip down the Huangpo River in the evening of the first day to give delegates and speakers a chance to mix more informally, it was soon time to get back on with the second day of the conference. This saw a speaker and panel line-up including experts from Lotus, Bertone, Geely, the Royal College of Art, Tsinghua University and Art Center Pasadena, covering sessions as diverse as environmental design, better car design education and brand identity. Session 5 - Eco design future This environmentally focused session was kicked off by a thoughtful speech from Nathan Mullinix, VP research and development for leather supplier and conference sponsor Eagle Ottawa.

Jeep Grand Cherokee to get ZF 8-speed auto ‘box

Jeep Grand Cherokee to get 8-Speed ZF Gearbox The latest version of the Jeep Grand Cherokee has only just arrived, but already Jeep are planning improvements with the confirmation that the Grand Cherokee is to get the new 8-Speed automatic gearbox from ZF. The 8-speed ZF auto ‘box should help all round with the new Grand Cherokee, which already offers the promise of an American SUV matching the expectations of European buyers and, more importantly, offering a viable alternative to the offerings in the premium SUV sector from the Germans. Not only does the new Grand Cherokee look able and promising, even with a relatively modest 3.0 litre diesel being the only engine on offer for the mainstream Grand Cherokees, but with a starting point of under £38k (and a top-end price of £44k) there’s a lot on offer.

Sturgess Jaguar is the Franchised Main Dealer of the Year 2013

The dealer experience can make or break your relationship with a car brand, so having a strong, high profile group of main dealers that offers not just a showroom full of cars, but staff who are knowledgeable, helpful and prepared to go the extra mile, makes the difference. So Jaguar will be suitably chuffed that not only did March see them deliver their best sales results ever but that one of their main dealers – Sturgess Jaguar in Leicester – has been named Franchised Main dealer of the year in the Motor Codes Garage of the Year Awards run by Motor Codes, a government-backed operator of codes of practice for the motor industry. Motor Codes had 11,500 garage users rate their experience of of customer service in garages across the UK, and Sturgess came out on top in the Main dealer Franchise gong thanks to its “transparent, customer-focused approach and its all-round efforts to accommodate all types of customer requirements”.