New Skoda Rapid Official

The new Skoda Rapid – designed to sit in between the Fabia and Octavia – has been revealed ahead of a UK launch in November. We can’t complain that the new Skoda Rapid hasn’t been well and truly flagged up by Skoda as a new Skoda to fill a gap between the Fabia and Octavia. The Skoda MissionL from Frankfurt last year was the concept for the new Rapid and the Rapid itself got a preview at the Beijing Motor Show in April.

Citroën designers: Design students have 'golden opportunity'

Today's car design students "have got a fantastic opportunity in a very different world," say Citroën designers. Though the automotive industry has been suffering in many regions in the current economic climate, the next generation of car designers "have got a fantastic opportunity," says Andrew Cowell, Senior Design Manager at Citroën, in conversation with Car Design News at the Royal College of Art, London. "The industry will evolve quite a lot, and these guys (the students on the postgraduate Vehicle Design course) will come out into a very different world." "They'll start in a very interesting period", says Alexandre Malval, Citroën Design Director and himself a graduate from the RCA course.

Chrysler, VW, Kia and Toyota set March sales pace

U.S. light-vehicle sales--aided by Chrysler Group, Volkswagen Group, Hyundai-Kia and Toyota Motor Corp.--rose 13 percent in March to 1.4 million units, with demand for smaller, fuel-efficient models, redesigned vehicles and pickups driving the gains. Even with gasoline prices exceeding $4 a gallon in many parts of the country, the seasonally adjusted sales rate for March hit 14.4 million units.