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New Land Rover Freelander will actually be a Discovery

It seems – as we expected – that Land Rover are looking to make more sense of their range of off-roaders as new models are launched, and are going to concentrate on three core brands – Range Rover, Discovery and Defender – instead of the current mish-mash where many models really overlap with others (the top end Discoverys are really a cheaper Range Rover). So the next Freelander will become an entry-level Discovery with underpinnings borrowed from the Evoque (which is itself based on the current Freelander platform, a development of the Ford Galaxy’s platform), and arrive in both 5-seat and 7-seat guise, with the new Discovery ’5′ getting a platform based on the new Range Rover and perhaps spawning two models. The new Discovery range will be targeted as a ‘Lifestyle’ core range for Land Rover (much as the original Disco was) and the Range Rover range will be both sporty and luxurious, with a 7-seat Grand Evoque XL joining the current Evoque, Range Rover Sport and Range Rover.

New Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Convertible revealed

The soft top version of the new Stingray has been revealed – the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Convertible – ahead of a debut at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show. But aside from issuing the two photos of the new convertible Stingray, Chevy isn’t giving anything away ahead of its debut at Geneva in a few days. But it’s not much of a stretch to expect the same 444bhp 6.2 litre under the bonnet as the regular Stingray, enough to get the Stingray to 62mph in under 4 seconds and no doubt the convertible just a shade behind.

Ken Ma appointed VP Design at Chang'an

Former Shanghai Automotive Technical Center (SATC) design director Ken Ma joined Changan Automobile Group as vice president of the firm's Engineering Research Center late last year. Ma's new role puts him in charge of the Group's global design department, reporting directly to Changan group chairman LiuPin Xu on all design matters. But the move also effectively places him in the highest design position at any mainstream automotive company in China – a breakthrough for the country's automotive design industry.