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Lord Charles March takes the 2013 Aston Martin Vanquish up the Goodwood Hillcimb (video)

Lord Charles March – he of the Goodwood Festival of Speed – takes the 2013 Aston Martin Vanquish up the Goodwood hillclimb. The Hillclimb is a 1.16 mile road course, starting at the bottom corner of the Goodwood Estate where you take off on a tree-lined avenue before sweeping right and up past the main house before you enter a steep and narrow estate road, past unforgiving flint walls and woodland, before ending up by Goodwood’s racecourse at the top of the South Downs. It’s a thrilling run in almost any car (yes, we’ve been privileged to do it more than once) and now, with the ‘Moving Motor Show’ part of the Goodwood Festival of Speed, many more are getting the chance to try the hillclimb in car makers’ latest offerings - admittedly not usually at full tilt.

Aston Martin make Nissan’s Andy Palmer their new CEO

Andy Palmer (pictured) is taking the reins at Aston Martin Lagonda Aston Martin has effectively been without a boss since Ulrich Bez stepped down from the role last year, but that changes with the announcement that Andrew Palmer – until now, Chief Planning Officer of Nissan – is to step in to the role. There’s no specific start date for Andy Palmer at Aston, but Nissan has announced that Philippe Klein will take up Palmer’s role at Nissan on 15 September, so it shouldn’t be long before Palmer holds the reins at Aston Martin. But what exactly has persuaded Andy Palmer to jump from a big corporate behemoth like Nissan to a struggling luxury car maker with owners who either want to tug the operating strings (the Kuwaitis) or are looking for a quick return (Investindustrial)?

Lexus tops J.D. Power survey in the UK

Lexus tops the UK J.D. Power Survey for the ninth year running People who buy a Lexus are buying in to something very specific. They are willing to pay a premium price for a well-built car that doesn’t go wrong and which is quiet and compliant.