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Ford bets customers will pay premium prices for the Fiesta

Ford Motor Co. will charge more than $23,000 for a fully loaded Fiesta, a new car smaller than the Focus. Ford thinks consumers are ready to pay premium prices for small cars, which long have been dominated by budget shoppers.

Brian Wilson to perform at Petersen fundraiser

The annual Petersen Automotive Museum's fundraising event on May 7 promises to be fun, fun, fun when Beach Boy Brian Wilson and his band take the stage. The rock-'n'-roll icon is scheduled to play for an hour as part of the museum's largest charity event of the year, proceeds from which benefit the 501(c)(3) institution. The Beach Boys had a lot of car-themed hits, including "409," "Little Deuce Coupe" and "Fun, Fun, Fun." (AutoWeek trivia: The Deuce Coupe featured on the cover of the album of the same name belonged to Clarence "Chili" Catallo, whose son, the successful and powerful advertising executive Curt Catallo, once was a lowly editorial assistant at AutoWeek).

Jaguar to end XK production after 18 years

Jaguar will this summer cease production of the XK 2+2 GT car after 18 years at the top of the Coventry firm’s model range. The decision to stop making the XK comes after the hugely successful launch of the F-Type – which, say analysts, has led to a big fall in XK sales as thousands of buyers queues up to buy the F-Type. Jaguar XK review (2009 onwards) Jaguar XKR-S Coupe review (2011 onwards) Some estimate Jaguar could triple its sports car volumes with the F-Type over the XK.