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Who's Where: Martin Smith joins Ford Europe design team

Martin Smith has been appointed as Executive Director of Design at Ford Europe. Smith, a native of Sheffield, England, brings a wealth of design experience to Ford, having held positions at Porsche, Audi, and most recently as Director of Design for Opel/Vauxhall. In his new position, he will report to product development chief, Derrick Kuzak and to Ford's global group vice president for Design, J Mays.

Honda loses case over Civic hybrid mileage

Honda was ordered to pay $9,867 in a Los Angeles Small Claims Court lawsuit to a woman who says her Civic hybrid didn't get the fuel mileage that was advertised, according to Bloomberg News. “I am absolutely thrilled at the reports that I won, even though I won't see the actual judgment until it comes in the mail,” Heather Peters said in an e-mailed statement on Wednesday to the wire service. “It's a victory for Civic hybrid owners everywhere.” Peters opted out of a class action and filed her own case in small-claims court, where plaintiffs and defendants represent themselves.

New Vauxhall Astra – the Race

The new Vauxhall Astra will be launched in September at Frankfurt This sixth generation of the Astra is a good looking car, and has taken a lot of its design cues from the very good Vauxhall Insignia. And it has in its sites the Ford Focus, the VW Golf and the new Mazda 3. So what better way to show its prowess than to produce a ‘viral’ video – without giving away too much detail – showing the new Astra mullering the Focus and the Golf on the track at Millbrook?