Toyota Oem 04-07 Highlander Second Row Seats-support Panel Cover 7297848020c0 on 2040-parts.com

New Lotus Esprit cancelled? Not according to Lotus

The Interwebs are rife with rumours that the new Lotus Esprit has been cancelled. But Lotus say it’s not and the claims are made up. Dany Bahar was finally ousted from Lotus after the new owners of Lotus managed to remove the flamboyant former Ferrari man from his role at Lotus and ditch his fantasy plans to turn Lotus in to a cross between Aston Martin and Ferrari.

Audi A6, A6 Avant & A7 Black Edition launched

Audi has released Black Edition version of the A6 Saloon, A6 Avant and A7 with extra equipment and cosmetic tweaks. Audi has taken the S Line A6, A6 Avant and A7 and given them a ‘Black’ makeover for a special edition range that starts at £35k and carries on to almost £57k. Cosmetic and equipment additions over and above the regular S Line Spec include rotor-design alloys with a dark titanium finish (20″ on A6, 21″ on A7), black finish for the grill and window surrounds, privacy glass and black roof rails on the A6 Avant. Inside there’s Piano Black trim, black leather seats and black headlining.

MINI Countryman to be built in India

MINI sells worldwide – even in the US – and, despite claims it was a step too far for the brand, the MINI Countryman has been a big hit for MINI, offering as it does most of MINI’s charm but in a bigger, more family friendly package and with the option of All4 4WD for a degree of off-road ability (well, certainly the ability to treat boot sale car parks with disdain). Now, for the first time, BMW is to build the MINI outside Europe with a new MINi assembly facility coming on stream in Chennai, India, where BMW already makes 3 and 5 Series models as well as the X1 and X3. The plan is part of BMW’s plan of ‘Production follows the market’ where BMW aim to make their cars where they’re sold, so with the MINI brand showing strong growth in India since its launch it makes sense to build them there.