In an attempt to catch potential customers in a more relaxing atmosphere and a less confrontational setting than regular dealerships, the BMW Group has opened its first BMW Brand Store on Avenue George V in Paris.

Long regarded as a global leader in the area of automotive safety, Volvo has announced the world's first pedestrian airbag system will be fitted as standard equipment on its new V40 model.

Jaguar chose the relatively unknown Clerkenwell Design Week in London to showcase its C-X16 concept car, but not as you might expect. Rather than wheel out the finished concept, skilled clay modellers will instead be working on a full size model to reveal the artistry involved in sculpting the cars of the future.

Anybody who’s bought, or is planning to buy, the new F30 3 Series Sedan will be pleased to hear it’s scored top marks in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety tests.

Sorry to mention an American car here, but Chevrolet offers Corvette buyers the chance to go to the factory and build their own engines. Now AMG, the performance division for Mercedes-Benz, is offering a similar kind of deal. Engines from AMG are renowned not only for being powerful, each one is also assembled by hand. A technician wheels a cart down a line of parts, adding each component until the end of the line is reached and the engine is complete. The finishing touch is a plaque bearing the tech’s name. From this summer, a buyer may make the trip to AMG’s facility in Affalterbach, Germany, and wheel the cart down the line themselves, under the supervision of an AMG worker. So far, this program is only open to V8 builds, but the company plans to extend it to include V12 engines.

Regarded by many as the definitive sports SUV, the Range Rover Sport enters the 2013 model year with a number of updates including a new five-spoke wheel design in Sparkle Silver. This will become standard fitment on the Range Rover Sport Supercharged.

Following the success of its Ferrari edition, a new Abarth limited edition model will be displayed in the Piazza della Loggia in Brescia, Italy to coincide with the historic revival of Mile Miglia.

Following the rather inauspicious introduction of Ferrari to China recently, when an driver decided to burn-out on one of the country's historic landmarks, the Italian company was hoping to put the controversy behind it when opening the Ferrari Myth exhibition at the Italian Center of the Shanghai Expo Park.

As Ducati makes final preparations for World Ducati Week 2012, the Italian motorcycle manufacturer has revealed the companies that will partner at the Misano Adriatico circuit on June 21-24.

The famous Bentley Blowers represent one of the most iconic vehicles from the early days of motoring. Yet the cars' ability to effortlessly cover hundreds of miles will be tested again on the 2012 Mille Miglia. For this legendary feat of endurance, two 41/2-liter Bentley Blowers will take on the classic 1000-mile race.

Brit company Morgan is working on an electric car, called the Plus E concept (naming convention in the past has included Plus Eight for eight-cylinder engines). Unusual for an electric car, this one has a manual transmission to multiply the torque. Morgan claims supercar-like performance as a result. “If there’s enough public interest, it will go into production,” said a spokesman for Zytek, the company supplying the drivetrain. Considering Morgan occupies a cozy little niche already, how much public interest qualifies as “enough”?

To maintain interest in its revolutionary new sports car, Porsche offer several magazines the opportunity to drive a prototype version of the 918. Unfortunately, it received a rather mixed reception so it appears Porsche is attempting to appease potential buyers with news that the development of its plug-in hybrid supercar is continuing unabated.

Following the introduction of the 335is model for the 2011 model year, BMW is announcing an “is” version of the compact 135i Coupe. This car will also be available in both hard top and Convertible versions, scheduled to arrive at BMW showrooms this fall. The prices will be $44145 and $48845 respectively (including $895 destination and handling).

For several years, Honda has been developing a range of prototypes aimed at personal urban mobility. Finally, the testing and development is complete and the U3-X personal mobility concept from 2009 has morphed into the UNI-CUB.

Having started from pole position in the ALMS GT race, Aston Martin Racing led the GT class at Laguna Seca until the first refueling stops.

In addition to the first details and photos of the new BMW 3 Series Sports Wagon, the German company has also confirmed the model will again be coming to the US. Unfortunately, we won’t be seeing it until Spring 2013, following its European introduction later this year. Powertrain details for the US as well as pricing, specifications and standard/optional equipment will be announced at a later date.

Only 2000 examples of the most powerful street-legal Mini will be built following completion of its final test phase. This has included laps of the Nürburgring’s Nordschleife circuit, where the new Mini John Cooper Works GP set the fastest lap of the ever achieved by a Mini: The JCW GP lapped the Grand Prix course in 8min 23sec, beating its predecessor by almost 19sec.

American audiences can look forward to seeing the first examples of the new Lotus Evora GTC. Following the completion of testing at the on Lotus Test Track, the car is on its way to McMahon Raceworks with Condor Motorsport, who will enter the Evora in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car series.

The automotive legend was a longtime partner to Ford Motor Company and Edsel B Ford II, great-grandson of Henry Ford, made the following statement: “Today, we have lost a legend in Ford Motor Company’s history, and my family and I have lost a dear friend.

Regarded as perhaps the toughest production car race of the year, the ADAC Zurich Nürburgring 24 Hour race takes place next weekend on 19/20 May. More than 170 cars will compete on the 15.5-mile circuit that combines both the fearsome Nordschleife circuit and the modern Grand Prix track.

Factory Porsche driver and ALMS champion, Patrick Long doesn't often get time to relax, never mind running errand. However, this delightful video captures the three-time ALMS GT2 Driver's Champion, Le Mans winner and Porsche's only American Factory Driver on his way back from getting coffee. He was taking part in the Porsche Sport Driving School at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama, delivering Hurley Haywood's morning coffee.

Seen by millions of viewers around the world, the last thing anybody want to see is the legendary Olympic torch extinguish during its lighting ceremony. So to help avoid a catastrophe and prepare for the worst kind of weather, BMW's Energy and Environmental Test Center (ETC) in Munich was used to test the torch ahead of its 70-day Olympic Relay around Britain.

The Jaguar Performance Driving Academy might not be familiar to many enthusiasts, or Jaguar owners for that matter, however, it's free to owners of Jaguar XFR, XKR, XKR-S and XJ Supersport models and now includes a new advanced course.

At the 2012 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event on 28 April, Land Rover issued a challenge to owners of its cars. They were looking for the best tailgate spread to discover who took their horse racing and entertainment seriously.

Jaguar Land Rover employees at the company's Halewood Operations celebrated an important milestone following the production of the 300,000th Land Rover Freelander 2, known as LR2 in the US market.