Mazda Rx2 Rx3 *factory-gear-shift* on 2040-parts.com

CAR Magazine South Africa launches ‘Design a Car’ competition

CAR Magazine in South Africa has announced its ‘Design a Car' competition, in an attempt to encourage aspiring South African designers. Entrants are asked to submit designs for a compact, environmentally friendly four-seater Jaguar that stays true to the brand's premium/sporty image for market introduction in 2015. Luma, the digital content creation company, will turn the winning design into a three-dimensional animation and it will also feature in a short promo film with a vehicle designed by CAR's own staff.

MG CS SUV Concept heading for Shanghai Motor Show

MG are still struggling to make much of an impact on the car landscape, but one car that could change that is a funky urban crossover / SUV to give cars like the Nissan Juke a run for their money. That looked to be on the cards last year when MG turned up at the Beijing Motor Show with the MG Icon, an SUV.Crossover Concept that took the ‘Ugly but Cute’ style cues from the Juke but grafted on a nose that looked like it could have come from MG’s sports car past. The Icon was a decent effort – and even won an award for ‘Best Concept’ at Beijing from Autoweek – but it looks like MG has decided the design of the Icon was just a bit too radical, so they’ve toned it down with a new concept heading for this year’s Shanghai Motor Show – the MG CS Concept.

BMW gets new North America boss

Veteran BMW executive Ludwig Willisch, who has led sales operations in Europe and Japan, will take over as CEO of BMW of North America on Oct. 1. The 54-year-old German will replace Jim O'Donnell, 61, who is retiring.