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Car Designers Blackmailed

A London court has found former design student Guy Lloyd-Parker guilty of blackmailing US car designers. The London College of Fashion graduate had claimed that 95 car design sketches were stolen from him by two college lecturers in 1994, eventually resurfacing as final designs in the form of the Audi TT, BMW Z3, Mazda RX-8 and the Volvo XC90. Lloyd-Parker, having failed to successfully sue the college, began sending menacing letters to California-based Volvo Design Director Geza Loczi, former BMW and Aston Martin designer Henrik Fisker, and ex-Mazda designer Tsutomu Matano demanding £90,000.

Swedish court rejects Saab creditor-protection plea; Saab will appeal

A Swedish court on Thursday rejected an application by ailing carmaker Saab for protection from creditors to give it breathing space to solve a cash crisis and get funds from Chinese investors. The Vanersborg district court in western Sweden said in a statement on its Web site that there was no reason to believe a new creditor protection process, known as a reconstruction, would work. Saab said in a statement that it is disappointed with the ruling and will appeal the decision.

Vauxhall Mokka, Astra VXR, Insignia BiTurbo & RAD-e concept at Geneva 2012

Vauxhall's line-up for the 2012 Geneva Motor Show Vauxhall will be debuting the new Vauxhall Mokka compact MPV, the Astra GTC-based Astra VXR, Rad-e concept and Insignia BiTurbo at Geneva 2012. It’s interesting to get the heads-up on new models ahead of their actual public debut, but that can take away the impact for new cars. Which is just what Vauxhall’s stand at Geneva will suffer.