Mercedes to give free SatNav map updates

Mercedes COMAND SatNav gets free Mapping updates Car makers have done pretty well out of SatNav. For a long time it was the ‘Must Have’ extra and car makers charged through the nose for it. They still do.

Ford Figo – Cool for India

The Ford Figo - made in India For has spent a few bob – around £300 million – expanding its car making facilities in India at Chennai to make the plant capable of producing 200,000 cars a year which, as Alan Mullaly, Ford’s CEO said, does show how serious Ford are about the Indian market. The Figo – which is apparently colloquial Italian for ‘Cool’ – shares Ford’s small car platform, which means that under the skin it’s a Fiesta. It looks like a Ford too, with the usual ford ‘Kinetic’ design cues written all over it.

Audi recruits German and Mexican students to design A0 monocycle

Audi has teamed up with German and Mexican engineering and design students for a project that has resulted in the A0 electric monocycle. Resembling a seated Segway with a hubless wheel, information about this project follows hot on the heels of the Urban Concept, and suggests Audi following the lead of BMW in seriously looking at new ways of improving mobility in cities. The project, conducted by the Technical University of Munich and National Autonomous University of Mexico, was sponsored by the Audi Design Research Center Munich, and conducted under the supervision of Klemens Rossnagel, Head of Audi Design Research Center.