Steve Davies

The DS3 put Citroën back on the shopping list of drivers looking for something with a bit of flair and the joie de vivre that the French brand became so famous for. The mid-sized DS4 offered a less funky interpretation of Citroën's joie-design range, looking more like a re-skin of the humble C4 than an innovative new design - but now with the DS5, Citroën have turned the funk back up to ten.

Mazda announced today that its all-new compact crossover SUV, which is scheduled to launch in the UK in 2012, will be called the Mazda CX-5. The new CX-5 is based on Mazda MINAGI concept car, which debuted at the Geneva Motor Show in March this year and will be shown at the New York International Auto Show that opens in a few days time (April 20, 2011).

World Champion Sebastian Vettel started his Chinese Grand Prix weekend with a gentle drive through a Shanghai car park in a couple of Infiniti road cars.

Next week's motor show at the Auto Shanghai 2011 will feature a new concept model from Peugeot, designed entirely in China and which looks likely to form part of a plan to launch at least one new model per year in the Chinese market.

Aston Martin Racing have revealed a new race car based on the V12 Vantage road car - the Vantage GT3 will be ready for competition in 2012 and will replace the the DBRS9 which has been the mainstay of Aston's GT3 racing programme since 2006.

It used to be so simple - 4x4's were big, clumsy goliaths, driven mostly by mums on the school run, with few redeeming qualities apart from their use as rescue vehicles during Britain’s recent mini Ice Age. Just a few years ago the Urban 4x4 (or SUV/SAV as car makers like to call them) were considered an endangered species as organisations sprung up - The Alliance Against Urban 4x4s - devoted to its demise.

The celebrations continued well into the evening yesterday, as guests of MINI's WRC Team launch were treated to an exuberant display of hooning by factory drivers Kris Meeke and Dani Sordo.

If you happen to see this particular white van on the road, you might want to think twice before attempting to blow it away at the lights. You see, this is Ford's one-off Transit SuperSportVan (SSV) - the mutant offspring of engineering project designed to showcase what's possible after rummaging around in the Ford parts bin.