Almost Show Interior Rear View Mirror Base 68-69-70-71 Roadrunner/gtx/satellite on 2040-parts.com

Spied: The 2012 Volkswagen New Beetle looks a bit squished

Volkswagen's upcoming onslaught of new products includes a redesign for the New Beetle. The new New Beetle is expected to arrive in 2011 as a 2012 model, with a convertible version set to arrive a year after the coupe. Recent spy photographs of a prototype being tested on public roads in Europe show that the 2012 New Beetle has a roofline that has less arch than the current model.

Wayne Cherry to receive EyesOn Design Lifetime Design Achievement Award

Wayne Cherry has been chosen by a panel of his fellow designers as the winner of the EyesOn Design 2013 Lifetime Design Achievement Award. Cherry, who spent his entire design career at GM, joined the company in 1962 after graduating from Art Center and was part of the team that designed the 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado and the 1967 Chevrolet Camaro. In 1965 He was transferred to GM's British operations, Vauxhall, and led the design work on the XVR Concept and designed the SRV and the 1978 Equus.

New Skoda Octavia vRS hatch & estate revealed

The 2013 Skoda Octavia vRS has been revealed (vRS hatch pictured) The Skoda Octavia vRS – the latest version of Skoda’s quick and appealing take on the VW Golf GTI – has been unveiled ahead of its debut at the Goodwood FoS in July, and it looks a cracker. Available as either a hatchback or estate – and as a diesel or a petrol – the Octavia vRS manages to repackage the Golf GTI and Golf GTD in to one Skoda, offering good performance (the vRS is a bit slower than the GTI to 62mph at 6.8 seconds but has a 2mph higher top speed), good looks and the promise of prices starting not much above £20k. The petrol vRS gets the Golf GTI’s 217bhp 2.0 litre TSI and the diesel vRS the 181bhp 2.0 litre TFI from the Golf GTD, both with a 6-speed manual gearbox as standard and a six-speed DSG as option, sports suspension, XDS differential, quicker steering and multi-link rear suspension.