Hyosung 250 Gt Gt250 2011 11 Front Fender 134280 on 2040-parts.com

Nissan X-Trail N-TEC+ launched

Nissan has launched a new X-Trail model – the X-Trail N-Tec+ – with ‘Sporty’ looks and extra gadgets. Last year we got the Nissan X-Trail Platinum Edition with all the options ticked and a price of almost £30k, and now we get the sporty version – the Nissan X-Trail N-Tec+ – with more gadgets and extra kit at £27,790. Nissan are trumpeting the X-Trail N-Tec+ as the ‘Sporty’ X-Trail (if that’s not an oxymoron) and pitching it between the Acenta and Tekna versions.

Opel leaving China, but planning a car for the US

General Motors' Opel is withdrawing from China after several years of declining sales, with the last vehicles slated to be exported from Germany in January 2015. Opel managed to sell only 4,365 cars in China in all of 2013, compared to a staggering 810,000 Buicks, GM's most popular division in China. The lackluster sales and the planned withdrawal from China highlighted the unique demands of the Chinese domestic market, where Buick now offers almost twice the number of models as in the U.S.

New Jaguar XE OFFICIALLY launched – price from £27,000

The new Jaguar XE arrives After months of teasing, years of planning and huge sums of money spent, it’s here – the new Jaguar XE. Looking like a slightly smaller version of the XF, with an upright nose, longish bonnet, coupe-like profile and stubby tail, the XE is clearly a Jaguar – and a fairly conservative one at that – which is probably sensible when  entering such a competitive sector as the ‘Premium’ compact saloon market. But the new XE isn’t just a punt for a few sales in a new sector for Jaguar, but a car that could take Jaguar from an interesting maker of relatively low volume cars to a global ‘Premium’ car maker; nose to nose in a very competitive sector with, principally, Audi and the A4, BMW and the 3 Series and Mercedes and the C-Class.