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Kia promotes design chief Schreyer

Kia Motors Corp. has promoted design chief Peter Schreyer to president. He's the first non-Korean to attain the position at Kia.

Jaguar F-Type DOES mean next Jaguar XK heading upmarket

Ian Callum has said that the new Jaguar F-Type will give Jaguar the opportunity to push the next generation Jaguar XK upmarket. Autocar has been chatting with Jaguar’s design guru, Ian Callum, who has said pretty much what we said in September, namely that the F-Type’s arrival will allow the next XK to be ‘More special than a GT’. Ian also speculates that the next XK could grow in size too to be a bit more than a 2+2, but it seems pretty clear that Jaguar will be looking to take the next XK firmly in to territory currently held by cars like the Aston Martin DB9 and Vanquish.

Kia Motors appoints Peter Schreyer as President

Kia Motors has appointed the man who changed their design – former VW man Perter Schreyer – as President. When Peter Schreyer left VW in 2006 after a sparkling career that saw him establish the Audi design philosophy – still a hallmark of Audi design – to head up design at stodgy Kia, many in the industry thought it an odd move. But Peter Schreyer seemed keen to prove his worth after VW had passed him over to head up their new design studio, and Kia offered the prospect of turning a budget brand in to a mainstream force with cutting edge designs and, it would seem, a pretty free hand to do what it would take.

Nissan LEAF: Nissan to extend warranty to cover battery capacity loss

Nissan has revealed it plans to extend the warranty on the Nissan LEAF EV to warrant against battery capacity losses. We’ve asked many times why makers of electric cars seem to believe that their batteries will continue to hold the same amount of charge as they age, especially as every battery powered gadget we’ve ever owned loses its ability to hold the same charge as every month passes, and becomes pretty useless after a couple of years hard use. But we’ve never had a sensible answer.

Maserati new model rollout confirmed

Maserati has revealed its plans for a new model rollout over the next few years as it targets 50,000 annual sales. It seems Fiat’s plans for Maserati, and their aim to sell 50,000 cars a year by 2015, is on target with the latest infographic from Fiat clearly showing which Maserati models are planned. The first car on Maserati’s list is the one we’ve already seen – the 2013 Maserati Quattroporte – which had a reveal recently and will get its public debut at the Detroit Auto Show next month.

Qoros GQ3 (2013) first official pictures

New Chinese manufacturer Qoros has shown its new Focus and Golf rival - the GQ3 - ahead of its planned debut at the 2013 Geneva motor show. The first in a string of models planned for launch in China and Europe, the Qoros GQ3 is at first glance a reasonably accomplished design which should be able to compete for showroom appeal with the likes of Skoda and the Korean budget brands. Of course, what has held back Chinese car brands in the past is quality: we can't tell from these first official photos whether Qoros has cracked that or not.

Irwindale, Kern County tracks coming back

Two paved circle tracks in Southern California should be up and racing by spring, good lord willing and the creek don't rise. The two facilities plan to cooperate in order to maximize the chances of success. Irwindale Speedway, now officially to be referred to as The Irwindale Event Center, had no races on its oval tracks in 2012 after the former track operators filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in February.

Toyota to spend $1.1 billion on unintended acceleration claims

Toyota Motor Corp. is setting aside $1.1 billion to settle various U.S. lawsuits and other claims stemming from reports of unintended acceleration that plagued the automaker in 2009-2010.

Top 5 Car Photo Galleries of 2012 – topped by 2013 Range Rover

We take a look at the Top 5 photo galleries viewed on Cars UK during 2012 – a good indicator of the most interesting cars of the year. There have been lots of interesting car news stories on Cars UK during 2012, but are the stories themselves a true indicator of how interested you, dear reader, are in the news that’s happening in the car world, or is it how much additional information you seek out on a story that’s the reality of just how much interest there is? We decided the amount of times a gallery of photos of a new car is viewed is probably more indicative than the story itself, so we’ve dug through our stats to see what floated your boat most in 2012.

2013 Ford Fiesta Van Facelift arrives (+video)

Ford has given their Fiesta Van a facelift for 2013 with much the same changes the new Fiesta gets – including the Aston Martin grill. Ford has decided it’s not just the new Fiesta that’s getting a touch of Aston Martin, it’s the Fiesta Van too. So the 2013 facelift for the Fiesta Van features most of the changes the new Fiesta gets, including that Aston Martin inspired grill on the nose.

Toyota proposing $1.1 billion unintended acceleration settlement in US

Toyota are setting aside an additional $1.1 billion to settle claims in the US of unintended acceleration in their cars. In the ongoing saga of unintended acceleration in the US caused by floor mats, Toyota has revealed it is to set aside an additional $1.1 billion to settle claims and fit new equipment to cars affected by the floor mat problem. Toyota are going to install a brake override system in 3.25 million vehicles, set aside $250 million to compensate owners who have already sold their cars, another $250 million for affected owners whose cars can’t get the brake override system, throw in a care plan  for parts related to unintended acceleration and throw $30 million at research in to car safety.

Alfa Romeo 4C: Tease begins ahead of Geneva 2013 debut

Alfa Romeo has begun the tease for the production version of the Alfa 4C – calling it the ‘Car to end all cars’. Geneva 2013 debut planned. The first tease from Alfa for the 4C – which is a ‘Car to end all cars’, according to Alfa – has now arrived and, although it doesn’t mention the 4C by name, it’s clear it’s the 4C that’s being trailed.

Lexus needs excitement in post-LFA era

Lexus' 552-hp V10 halo car, the LFA sports coupe, drives into the sunset at an awkward time for the luxury brand. During the LFA's two-year production run, which ended Dec. 14, it was positioned as the ultimate expression of Lexus quality and performance -- and carried a $375,000 sticker to match.

Autoweek's top-12 most read stories of 2012

From an infamous Texas house fire, to the death of one of the greats, autoweek.com's top-12 most read stories of 2012 offer a look back at a wild year. This year while we tested some of the best enthusiast vehicles, ran around auto shows and spoke with automotive movers and shakers, we kept track of what piqued your interests. What, you thought we weren't paying attention?

Ferrari F150 / F70: Details confirmed

Ferrari has confirmed more details of the Enzo successor – the Ferrari F70 / F70 – in the Ferrari Magazine and their web site. As we’ve already reported today that the McLaren P1′s design is almost the same as the concept P1, we thought we should also report on the latest news on the McLaren’s biggest rival – the Ferrari F70 / F150 – now Ferrari has confirmed more detail. Most of what Ferrari has revealed on their web site (and in the latest edition of the Ferrari Magazine) has already been speculated upon, but now we know from the (prancing) horse’s mouth some of the technical details, as well as the look of the new Ferrari from the recent tease of the F70/F150.

McLaren P1 Concept is 97% production design (video)

At a private reveal of the new McLaren P1 Supercar in New York, McLaren has confirmed that 97 per cent of the P1′s styling will remain. McLaren has said that 97 per cent of the styling of the P1 Concept is exactly as the production version will look, with the only changes being some vents in the bumper to let hot air out and a tighter mesh on the grill at the back. The fac t that the P1 will stay faithful to the concept’s design already seemed evident after we had spy photos of the P1 visiting a McLaren supplier in Norfolk recently (and spy video of the P1 too), where we struggled to find anything different from the concept cars.

Merry Christmas 2012 from all at Cars UK

Happy Holidays, Seasons Greetings, Merry Christmas (or any felicitation that suits you) from all at Cars UK. Cars UK is all about the latest car news and reviews, so our own little elves don’t really get a day off. But we do make an exception for Christmas Day, so this is the only car news ‘story’ today.

Mercedes-Benz CLA

This is the Mercedes-Benz CLA, the four-door sedan version of the latest C-segment A-Class although the Merc marketing department would rather we call it a 'four-door coupé'. Previewed by the Concept Style Coupé at the Beijing auto show earlier in 2012, the CLA will join a growing band of C-segment premium sedans including the new Audi A3. At around 4,600mm long it's over 300mm longer than the hatchback.

New Mercedes CLA: First photos

We have the first photos of the production version of the new Mercedes CLA due to debut at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show. The photos are quite stylised, but they do look like the real deal. They also look like they’re a version of the new CLA sporting the AMG Styling Packs rather than photos of the CLA 45 AMG (the CLA 45 AMG won’t arrive until Frankfurt 2013).

2013 Bentley Continental GT Speed Convertible: First Photos

We have the first photos of the 2013 Bentley Continental GT Speed Convertible ahead of a reveal at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show. Bentley hasn’t done the official reveal for the GT Sports Convertible yet, so all we have are the first photos in all their purpleness (although the DVLA thinks this particular Bentley is black). Under the skin we expect the same W12 with 616bhp and 590lb/ft of torque which is enough, certainly in the tin-top GT Speed, to get the monster Bentley to 62mph in 4.2 seconds and on to 205mph.

Happy Christmas to all CAR magazine readers!

Here's wishing all CAR magazine and online readers a very happy Christmas. Thanks for your support in 2012 - we're grateful for your contributions and posts, insightful letters and forum blogs over the past year. CAR Online will continue to operate over the Christmas period, so come back daily for more motoring news, reviews, blogs and scoops over the next week.

Qoros GQ3: Chinese rival for the Ford Focus revealed

The first of a new range of cars from the Chinese Qoros brand – the Qoros GQ3 – has been revealed ahead of a debut at Geneva 2013. Three months ahead of that reveal Qoros has jumped in with a reveal of their first offering and some details about what it has on offer. Unsurprisingly, the reality is somewhat less exciting to look at than the dynamic-looking teaser image we saw last month. Planned to go on sale in both China and Europe during 2013 the Qoros GQ3 is aimed at young buyers, although why any car company would build a C-Segment saloon and expect young buyers to lap it up in Europe is beyond us.

VW Scirocco GTS & VW Beetle Fender arrive in the UK

Volkswagen has announced two new limited edition models for the UK – the VW Scirocco GTS and the VW Beetle Fender – with cosmetic tweaks. But, despite revealing the Scirocco GTS in Europe in October, it still seemed that VW had no plans to launch the Scirocco GTS in the UK. We did ask VW why, but they didn’t bother to respond.

Lexus Hybrid sales top half a million

Lexus has revealed that they’ve sold more than 500,000 hybrid cars, with the Rx 450h the top seller and the CT 200h catching fast. Unsurprisingly, as it was the first Lexus hybrid to be introduced in 2005, the biggest seller - accounting for half of all Lexus hybrid sales to date (259,000) – has been the RX 400h / RX 450h, but the CT 200h, which was only introduced in 2011, is catching up fast with sales to date of 122,000 to date. During the last seven years Lexus hybrid sales have risen from 26,000 to 113,000 a year and 25 per cent of those Lexus hybrid sales now happen in Europe, even though we don’t get cars like the HS 250h (56,000 sales) and the ES 300h (8,000 sales).

Hyundai integrates Smartphones in to their cars

Hyundai is harnessing the power of the Smartphone to make in-car information and driver settings integrate seamlessly. For those of us old enough to remember the first mobile phones – and the first home PCs – the realisation that we’re all walking round now with Smartphones that have more processing power than it took to put a man on the moon is almost mind boggling. Sadly, most of us use just a fraction of the capabilities of our phones, but the fact we have all that clever tech tucked in our trouser pockets gives car makers the opportunity to harness it to provide more functionality for their cars.

Video: Toyota teases Furia concept

Toyota has released a teaser a teaser video to promote its new Furia concept, set to be unveiled at the 2013 North American International Auto Show in Detroit next month. From what we can tell, the orange sedan concept features some carbon fiber accents – check out the rear lip spoiler – and there appears to be the standard next-generation lights we see on every concept. The world debut of the Furia Concept will be broadcast live online via Livestream on 14 January.

Year-end discounts on 2012 models

Dealerships are working to get rid of the remaining 2012 models as the year comes to an end, so there are plenty of incentives on 2012 cars, pickups and SUVs. Here are our picks for the best deals: Chrysler 300 Chrysler is offering up to $5,500 cash back to buyers of select 2012 Chrysler 300 models. The most steeply discounted models include both the rear-wheel and all-wheel-drive versions of the 300C, 300C Luxury Series and 300S V8, as well as the 300S Mopar 12 rear-wheel-drive model.

Toyota Furia Concept teased ahead of Detroit Auto Show (video)

Toyota has revealed a short video teasing a new concept car for the Detroit Auto Show - the Toyota Furia Concept. Toyota are intent on convincing us they’re heading in a sportier direction with their cars, and it’s true that dynamics and styling seem to be coming to the forefront in new models. That intent is demonstrated with the latest concept from Toyota – the Toyota Furia – which gets a tease ahead of a Detroit Auto Show reveal and appears to offer a sporty-looking saloon and a name that could have come straight from a video game – cue explosions and fire to demonstrate the Furia.

MG6 Diesel launches – price from £16,995

The much needed diesel version of the MG6 has launched, offering a diesel engine in the new MG for the first time. Priced from £16,995. The now Chinese-owned MG hasn’t had overwhelming success with its MG6 so far, but much of that can be put down to the lack of a diesel-engined offering in a marketplace that has become diesel obsessed.

Fiat 500X SUV & new baby Jeep confirmed

Fiat has confirmed it is extending the 500 range with the Fiat 500X SUV and will build a new small Jeep crossover on the same platform. We’ve just had the first extension of the 500 range arrive in the UK in the guise of the Fiat 500L (complete with 500L ‘Motherhood’ rap), but the 500L range isn’t going to end there. Following on from a sneak peek at a probable future Fiat 500X SUV back in July, Fiat has now confirmed it is going to put the rufty-tufty version of the 500 in to production and will build it alongside a new baby Jeep crossover – based on the same underpinnings – at its Melfi factory in Italy.