Chevrolet Keyless Remote on 2040-parts.com

Who's Where: John Puskar and Liz Wetzel appointed to new roles at GM Design

As part of an ongoing strategy at General Motors, this past month has seen a series of moves taking place within the company's design organization in Europe and the US. Two of the key changes have been the appointment of John Puskar to the role of Director of Cross-Brand Strategy, C&T and Components in North America, and that of Liz Wetzel, who has been named Director of GME Design Interior – effectively filling Puskar's role. Puskar, who until recently headed the Opel/Vauxhall Interior Design at the European Design Center in Russelsheim, Germany, majored in Industrial Design at the Cleveland Institute of Art and worked at Ford in both the USA and Germany before joining General Motors as a creative designer at the GMC Brand Center in 1999.

News watch July 2012: today's auto industry news

Welcome to CAR Magazine's news aggregator as we round up the daily stories in the auto industry. Top tip: news summaries are added from the top hour-by-hour Tuesday 31 July 2012•Porsche SE recorded a first half profit of €1.15bn, in comparison with €149m for the same period in 2011. The enormous jump has come not from directly selling cars, but from the group's investments in Porsche Zwischenholding GmbH and Volkswagen AG (Porsche SE)•Reuters suggests Germany's car market is in recession, but few outside the industry would know it, thanks to a controversial sales practice that inflates official statistics and paints a flattering picture of demand.

Land Rover Freelander

Land Rover has released pictures of the new Freelander (LR2), due to be launched at the British Motor Show in July. Harder edged than its predecessor, the chiselled exterior has simpler surfaces that update the same overall styling theme. The profile of the new car is more dynamic, borrowing cues from Range Rover Sport, though the stepped roofline has been diluted.