Lotus appoints Swizz Beatz as Vice President of Creative Design and Global Marketing

We've become accustomed to surprising and – at times – bizarre news stories emerging from Lotus since Danny Behar became CEO. But judging from reaction in the world of social media this afternoon, even by Lotus's recent standards, the news that it has appointed American rapper Swizz Beatz as its vice president of Creative Design and Global Marketing, came as something of a surprise. Kasseem Daoud Dean, otherwise known as Swizz Beatz, has a broad creative background, having a portfolio that includes music producer, rapper, designer and painter.

Aston Martin V12 Vantage S arrives – the quickest production Aston ever (video)

The new, more powerful, Aston Martin V12 Vantage S arrives Aston Martin has been teasing something ‘Coming soon’ for a few days, and here it is – the new V12 Vantage S. The new S replaces the V12 Vantage (which we knew Aston Martin had stopped building) and gets Aston’s latest AM28 version of the venerable V12 with 565bhp and 457lb/ft of torque thanks to new engine management, combustion chambers and camshafts resulting in more power and a much flatter torque curve. The extra power has pushed the V12 S beyond the 200nph barrier, with the top speed now 205mph and, we assume, a quicker sprint to 62mph, but Aston Martin aren’t letting on how much quicker the V12 S is.

The Goods set to irritate car dealers

Auto dealers take a beating--again--in The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, a movie that opens on Aug. 14. Whether they will be outraged or merely annoyed will depend on their sense of humor.