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Man-made Modern Luxury Materials in Cars

Luxury, within the context of a car interior, has been closely related to the use of wood and leather for over a century. These natural materials have a familiar organic, tactile quality that are intrinsically desirable attributes for most people and, in today's mass manufactured plastic world, they also assume a luxury or premium quality. Throughout the last century, metal, leather and wood have also been progressively supplanted by bakelite, vinyl and then polymer-based plastic materials in car interiors as well.

Jaguar tells design story behind new XF Sportbrake [w/video]

Jaguar has released a walk-through of the design of its new XF Sportbrake, which debuted at last week's Geneva motor show. The video features Jaguar design boss Ian Callum and Studio Director Wayne Burgess explaining how the design team managed to keep the company's first official estate car in line with the sportiness and luxury nature of Jaguar brand. Callum says, "I know it's a very practical car, there's an amount of pragmatism in it, it is functional, but at the end of the day it is we call a Sportbrake, it has to look to sporty.

Vauxhall: Ellesmere Port plant saved – 700 new jobs created

Vauxhall Ellesmere Port - Saved General Motors is to keep Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port open, move to three shift working and create 700 new jobs. The overcapacity of mainstream car manufacture in Europe as the market becomes ever more polarised between premium and budget cars – squeezing the middle – means car maker having to rationalise their output. Many thought that could mean the end of Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port as GM sought to stem its European losses (around £2 billion in the last three years), especially as it is easier to close plants and lay off workers in the UK than in mainland Europe.