It’s been a frenetic week at Autocar. We started on Saturday (15 July) by setting the London Speed Record.On Monday Ford started motor show week by announcing that it was putting £1billion into UK facilities to develop greener cars.
The Blue Oval was also playing the green card at ExCeL with its Focus CC biofuel concept. But it couldn't disguise the fact that its Premier Automotive Group, which includes Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo, lost £66.5 million in the second quarter of this year. At least the new XK is selling well, and with the unveiling of the gorgeous new XKR at the motor show sales should continue to rise.
Other motor show highlights were our interviews with BMW’s M Division boss Ulrich Bruhnke; Jaguar design boss Ian Callum and Citroen designer Leighanne Earley.
Mazda impressed with its folding hard-top version of the MX-5, the RC, and we found out Lotus’s plans for its circuit car.
Away from the show, we spied the next Mitsubishi Lancer and Nissan Almera on test. And at the famous Bonneville salt flats, Honda got its F1 car to 400kph but only in one direction.
Next week we’ll have video of JCB’s Dieselmax speed record car in action, first drives including the Audi RS4 Cabriolet and Seat Leon FR, plus GM boss Rick Wagoner on the future of Cadillac in Europe.
If you go to the motor show, don’t forget to log on to our forums and let everyone know what you thought.
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