Dorman 615-149 Spindle Nut Retainer on 2040-parts.com

Skoda number one for customer service

There’s seemingly no end in sight for the rise and continued rise of the Skoda brand. Fresh from the Superb and Yeti being named as the UK’s top two most satisfying cars to own, Skoda has now been named the number one automotive brand for customer service. The company topped the automotive tables in July’s UK Customer Satisfaction Index Summary (UKCSI), produced by the Institute of Customer Service.

New Toyota Auris, Auris Tourer Estate & new Verso MPV at Paris

Toyota will reveal the new 2013 Auris, Auris Tourer Estate and Verso MPV at this month’s Paris Motor Show. We’ve already had the reveal of the new Toyota Auris ahead of the Paris Motor Show, but it won’t just be the new Auris that’s on Toyota’s stand. For the first time we are getting a Toyota Auris Tourer (Estate) added to the Auris range and aimed straight in to the firing line of the new Ford Focus Estate and Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer.

Mercedes CLA Shooting Brake on the way

Mercedes’ design boss Gordon Wagener has revealed to WhatCar that they are planning to go exactly the same route with the CLA as they did with the CLS, and create a coupe estate. The CLS Shooting Brake (pictured below) has been very well received, and with much of the world downsizing its cars a CLA Estate is a very sensible way to go, offering all the good design elements of the CLA – which already looks like a CLS on a boil wash – in a car that has more practicality. Wagener gave no idea of time scale for the CLA Shooting Brake, but with the first CLAs expected to hit customers in June it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a concept CLA Shooting Brake arrive by the time of the Frankfurt Motor Show in September before going on sale in 2014.