Bristol Cars put into bankruptcy protection

U.K. carmaker Bristol Cars was placed into administration on Thursday, the British equivalent of bankruptcy. Officials now running the company said several people were laid off but that it was keeping the sales and service operations open.

Volvo picks up Red Dot Design Award for new connectivity system

Volvo's Sensus Connected Touch connectivity system with the world's first voice-activated integrated Spotify connection has been awarded a 2013 Red Dot Design Award. The Sensus Connected Touch accessory turns the integrated 7-inch display into an infrared, beam-scanned touch screen that can be used even when wearing gloves. The system can be controlled using the touchscreen, the steering wheel or the center stack, while you can also voice-activate all music sources. Alain Visser, senior vice president of marketing, sales and customer service at Volvo, says, "The Red Dot Design Award confirms that this approach to an intuitive, human-centric user experience fulfils modern car owners' desire to remain constantly connected also when driving." The WiFi connection can be made using either a car-mounted 3G/4G-dongle or the driver's mobile phone, and the data is transferred by the WiFi between the phone and the Sensus Connected Touch.

Audi A5

By Tim Pollard Motor Shows 08 March 2007 09:57 Audi A5 heralds new A4 Audi's new A5 coupe will form the basis for the new A4 due to be launched at the Frankfurt Motor Show this autumn. Expect to see the two-door's sleek look transferred to the regular saloon, with the taut waistline and nose treatment essentially carried over. The A5 is Audi's new mid-sized coupe and it's aimed squarely at the likes of the BMW 3-series coupe and Mercedes CLK.