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Aston Martin DB9 1M: Aston’s Facebook celebration

To mark reaching one million followers on Facebook, Aston Martin invited its fans to help design a car – the Aston Martin DB9 1M. Just like every other car maker, Aston Martin is beginning to embrace the web as perhaps the best way to get their message across and showcase their products. Yesterday we had Aston Martin trumpeting its website traffic on the back of the launch of the new Vanquish, and now we get an Aston designed with the help of Aston’s Facebook Fans.

End of the road for Mercury

Mercury has stood for hot-rodding, performance, style and even feminine appeal during various points in its 72-year history. But ultimately, the failure to stand alone in the Ford Motor Co.'s family of brands spelled its demise. Mercury, a brand founded by company scion Edsel Ford, will be shuttered as Ford concentrates its efforts on the core Ford brand and luxury-level Lincolns.

Who's Where: John Puskar and Liz Wetzel appointed to new roles at GM Design

As part of an ongoing strategy at General Motors, this past month has seen a series of moves taking place within the company's design organization in Europe and the US. Two of the key changes have been the appointment of John Puskar to the role of Director of Cross-Brand Strategy, C&T and Components in North America, and that of Liz Wetzel, who has been named Director of GME Design Interior – effectively filling Puskar's role. Puskar, who until recently headed the Opel/Vauxhall Interior Design at the European Design Center in Russelsheim, Germany, majored in Industrial Design at the Cleveland Institute of Art and worked at Ford in both the USA and Germany before joining General Motors as a creative designer at the GMC Brand Center in 1999.