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Nissan opens new design studio in Beijing

Delayed by the deadly earthquake that hit Japan earlier this year, Nissan Motor Co.'s new design center in Beijing finally received a proper opening this week, when global design chief Shiro Nakamura showed off the studio as a new source of ideas for Nissan and Infiniti. Nissan Design China, as the Beijing-based center is known, "is not a studio to just generate ideas for China," Nakamura said in an interview with Car Design News. It's equipped to handle designs of show cars and production cars for both Nissan and Infiniti brands, aimed at customers in China, as well as around the world.

Peugeot 308 facelift (2011) first official pictures

It's facelift time for the Peugeot 308. The 2011 mid-life fillip  brings a modest refresh, with tweaked engines, the promise of emissions as low as 98g/km of CO2 and a raft of minor styling and spec enhancements. Although this is a minor facelift, the 308 is easily spotted by its new-era Peugeot look.

Porsche considering full factory F1, Le Mans teams

New Porsche CEO and president Matthias Muller is weighing up a review of Porsche’s motorsport activities – and claimed the sports car brand could re-enter Le Mans with a full factory team, or even F1. Muller was appointed on 1 October 2010 and has lots on his plate: he’s a VW veteran and is charged with integrating Porsche smoothly into the Volkswagen business empire as Wolfsburg ratchets up its ownership of Porsche. That integration includes motorsport, he told CAR at the 2010 Paris motor show.