News in brief

Ford tried to bin the combination locks on the new Ford F-150 pickup, but customers demanded that they stay. The push-button lock allows owners to leave the key in the ignition when they depart. Many like it because it means they can leave the engine running when it’s cold outside and they want to come back to a warm car. Only in America…

WITH Land Rover about to be sold, Ford’s designers have plundered some of its design language for their new cars. Take a look at this Ford Flex, which goes on sale in the US in the summer. It features the ‘floating roof’, clamshell bonnet and square headlights that were all once the sole preserve of the Range Rover.

THERE was an intriguing Swift on the Suzuki stand at Detroit. Where the regular 1.6-litre engine normally sits was a 250bhp turbocharged 2-litre, while to reinforce the link to the company’s motorbike heritage there were handlebars rather than a steering wheel inside. Don’t expect to see it in a Suzuki showroom anytime soon…

IF YOU'VE always liked the look of the Merc CLS but not the price, help is at hand from VW. The curvy Passat CC is the company’s latest niche model and goes on sale this summer priced from £19,000.