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Slump in new car sales is worst since February 2006

By Nigel Wonnacot Motor Industry 07 July 2008 12:42 It’s finally happened. The new car market has succumbed to the economic slowdown and punters are staying away from showrooms in droves. Latest figures from industry trade body SMMT showed an 11.9 per cent fall in private sales in June to 83,425 cars.

General Motors names Mary Barra to head global product development

General Motors named Mary Barra head of global product development on Thursday, succeeding Tom Stephens, who was named global chief technology officer of the automaker on Wednesday. An engineer, Barra, 49, is the first woman to hold the top product development job at GM. Since 2009 she has served as vice president of global human resources for GM--a key post as the automaker restructured and emerged from bankruptcy protection.

Frank Stephenson on the importance of color in design

During the announcement of the McLaren Automotive's partnership with paints and coatings company, AkzoNobel, Car Design News took the opportunity to discuss the importance of color in design with design director Frank Stephenson. According to Stephenson color's ability to invoke emotions and communicate with viewers, he described just how big a part it has to play in the design process and how it inspires designers when developing products. "The first thing color does is influence the brand – it gives the customer an identifiable element to what we're talking about.