Hard shoulder:This is Suzuki's new family saloon, the Kizashi, due to launch in the next 18 months.
Aiming to take on the likes of the Ford Mondeo and Opel's new Insignia, it was caught testing on the Nürburgring race track in Nürburg, Germany.
Shown in concept form earlier this year, this largely undisguised version shows the strong design of the new model.
Less evident at this stage is the engine range, which will feature a 2.5-litre petrol but will have to include several diesel derivatives if it is to stand any chance of competing in the European car market.
Site to promote UK car imports
A new website has been launched to encourage Irish motorists to import used UK cars, writes Daniel Attwood.
With the fall in the value of sterling against the euro, importing used British cars has become more popular.
Some 55,000 used cars are imported from Britain each year.
Even with import and VRT costs, significant savings can be enjoyed, especially when buying cars costing over €18,700 (£15,000).
Now online used car dealer, Autoquake, wants to tempt more Irish motorists to buy British on its new site, autoquake.com/ireland. The company has been selling used cars online since 2005 and only features ex-lease cars, which are usually under three years old with service and maintenance histories.
Already 10 per cent of its customers are in Ireland, buying and importing 600 cars a year. But Autoquake's founder Fredrik Skantze says he expects this to rise to 20 per cent by this time next year. For now, though, buyers still need to calculate the cost of collecting or transporting the car, as well as adding VRT, road tax and insurance and converting the cost into euro.
Buyers also need finance in place, as there is no credit facility for Irish customers.
US sales fall to lowest for 25 years
Sales of light vehicles in the US sank to their lowest level in a quarter of a century last month, with generous discounts failing to offset evaporating consumer confidence and scarce credit.
"This is clearly a severe, severe recession in the US auto industry," said Mike DiGiovanni, General Motors' sales analyst. "We're much more concerned than we were a month ago."
According to New Jersey-based Autodata, sales plummeted from an annual rate of 12.5 million in September to 10.6 million, the lowest level since early 1983.
Sales in October 2007 totalled 16.1 million units. Each drop of 200,000-250,000 units equates to the output of an assembly plant in a year.