Gauge Set 4 Seasons 69347 on 2040-parts.com

Five reasons to celebrate the end of the paper UK driving licence

From January 2015 Britain’s much-derided paper counterpart driving licence is being phased out. This is A Good Thing, ending an annoying bi-partite arrangement that’s blighted drivers’ pockets for 16 years. Driving licences have been with us since 1903, when they were first mandated – but the current, annoyingly two-part licences have been in use since 1998, with a bank card-sized photocard accompanied by a printed sheet of A4.

Daihatsu Sonica

Daihatsu launched the Sonica yesterday, a small hatchback for Japan. Designed in Osaka, the Daihatsu Sonica furthers the goal of parent company Toyota Motor Corporation to make the brand synonymous with small affordable cars. Distinguished by a long wheelbase and short overhangs, the one-box Sonica should live up to its description of having a 'spacious and comfortable' interior.

Who's Where: Brett Patterson and Rohan Saparamadu join Geely’s Shanghai studio

Brett Patterson and Rohan Saparamadu have joined Geely as chief designers, based in Shanghai. They will both report to the company's design director Ken Ma. Patterson most recently worked as a contract designer at GM Europe's Design Center, Rüsslesheim, and has worked for GM for total of 14 years on a wide range of vehicle development programmes in Australia, Germany, Sweden and USA.