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2014 Subaru XV – less choice, more refinement

The 2014 Subaru XV (pictured) gets a bit of a tweak The Subaru XV arrived in the UK in 2012, and it’s a perfectly able and reasonably-priced compact crossover from Subaru. But within a year of launching the XV Subaru decided to inject a bit more appeal in to the XV with a price cut of £2,300 across the range and now, not more than six months later, they’re fiddling with the XV range again. The 2.0 litre petrol XV gets new valve-train components to cut engine noise and revised suspension, with extra soundproofing improving NVH levels across the range, a revised power steering system for added stability and feel  and thicker and reshaped suspension lower arm and extra reinforcement around the base of the A-Pillar for better crash performance.

Ford testing self-parking cars – with or without a driver (video)

Ford testing self-parking cars – with or without a driver It seems we’re heading to the point where cars can do more and more for the driver, and fully autonomous cars seem to be less than a decade away. On the way to the fully autonomous car, car makers will be offering stages on the way as the ability of cars to be self-controlling moves along, and Ford are heading in that direction with their new systems for parking and obstacle avoidance. Ford are running prototypes with Fully Assisted Parking, a system that manages to sense a space, control the steering, gearbox and brakes to park the car at the touch of a button, even if the driver isn’t actually in the car.

Callum: JLR needs design studios in China and US

Jaguar and Land Rover are to open design studios in China and the United States as the two British brands look to better understand local tastes, according to Ian Callum, Jaguar Design Director in an interview with Automotive News Europe. The United States is currently the carmaker's second-biggest market after the UK, closely followed by China in third. To further tap into these markets is key for the long-term success of JLR and so it is following its competitors in opening up foreign design studios.