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Lincoln gets own design studio

Ford is creating a dedicated design studio for its luxury brand Lincoln in an ongoing bid to rejuvenate the brand and position it further apart from the core Ford offering. The new design studio will be situated in the Product Development Center in Dearborn, Michigan, with Max Wolff – recruited from Cadillac last year – charged with leading the brand in its revival efforts. Ford has also announced that it will be increasing spending on the brand, giving it unique interiors and powertrains.

GM returning to leasing with luxury vehicles

General Motors will return to the leasing business focusing on luxury vehicles, but not on a broader basis, Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said. "We will get back into leasing, but we are not going to use massive subsidized leasing to drive volume because it's volume without profitability," Lutz said July 29 in an interview with Automotive News. "We'd rather sell less at higher profit than sell more at lower profit." Lutz said it still would make sense for GM to do more leasing on its luxury vehicles.

Concept Car of the Week: Volkswagen Microbus (2001)

The turn of the millennium seemed to induce a feeling of nostalgia among car manufacturers and with it a plethora of heritage/retro designs, including the new Mini, new Ford Mustang and Nissan Z. Following the runaway success of its New Beetle, which probably started the trend, VW asked itself whether it could enjoy the same success with a modern interpretation of the legendary T1 Microbus. Designed at the surf-central design studio in Simi Valley, California, the Microbus Concept took ample inspiration from its distant ancestor, but was modernized in every way.