SEAT HASrevealed its new Leon hatchback (pictured) a touch early, gazumped by eagle-eyed internet watchers who leaked the first images last week.
The new five-door keeps a similar silhouette to the current car but adds much crisper, sharper-edged details, and it also gets a very sporty-looking wraparound dashboard.
Engines will range from a 105bhp 1.2 turbo petrol, through the usual 1.6 and 2.0 diesels to a range-topping 250bhp Cupra R version, eventually. It will arrive in Ireland in early 2013 after a public debut at the Paris Motor Show.
PSA PEUGEOT CITROËNhas been warned by the French government that its plan to shut a factory in France and lay off 14,000 European staff would be resisted and the company will have to go back to the drawing board, with new French president François Hollande describing the plan as unacceptable. The outcome is likely to result in government plans to both alter French contract law to reduce labour costs and introduce a range of incentives for purchasing French-made cars.
TO CELEBRATEthe 50th anniversary of the iconic MGB sportscar, you can now buy a limited-edition run of the new MGB LE50. Made by a company called Frontline Developments, it uses newly built restoration MGB bodyshells, an all-new suspension design and a tweaked 215bhp engine from a Mazda MX-5. In a car weighing well under a tonne, that should guarantee some enjoyable 1960s retro fun.
THE MAINunion at South Korea's Hyundai Motor has said it will resume wage talks with management midweek and stage another partial strike on Friday, signalling protracted labour tension at the world's fifth-biggest carmaker and affiliate Kia Motors."The chance is slim for us to seal a wage deal before the summer vacation, which is from July 28th to August 5th," said union spokesman Kwon Oh-il on Monday, adding that the union will hold talks today but refuse overtime work on July 26th and July 27th. Workers at the top automaker in South Korea staged their first strike in four years on July 13th after negotiations collapsed amid disagreements about working conditions.