It’s a good idea to hold a design shootout; the car company is question gets more options to choose from and is exposed to differing intepretations of “how the brand should look”, much like how advertising agencies pitch againts each other for the job. Top Italian design houses Bertone and Pininfarina will each produce an Alfa concept for the upcoming Geneva show, and here are the teasers – Pininfarina’s take is above and Bertone’s is below. Giugiaro’s Italdesign will come up with one as well, according to Inside Line.
“Each of the Turin design houses — Stile Bertone, Pininfarina and Italdesign Giugiaro — will create a version of the new midsize model (the next 159 family) to be shown at their respective stands. The expected breakdown will see Bertone creating the two-door coupe body, Pininfarina the convertible, and Italdesign Giugiaro the four-door sedan breadwinner,” IL’s source was quoted as saying. The design renditions were reportedly commissioned to coincide with Alfa Romeo’s centenary celebrations.
Toyota has found the remedy for its sticky accelerator pedals that could cause unintended acceleration – a steel reinforcement bar! The company will begin contacting its North American customers to to bring in their vehicles for the fix, starting this week. The parts are already being shipped to dealers, which will extend hours to complete the recall campaign as quickly as possible (some even stay open 24 hours a day).
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Porsche Asia Pacific has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to appoint Sime Darby the sole and exclusive importer of Porsche cars in Malaysia. In this role, Sime Darby will assume full responsibility for the importation, distribution, sales, marketing, PR and after sales service for Porsche cars in Malaysia, including the right to appoint dealers and service centres.
Toyota USA, facing a PR nightmare due to a massive recall on sticky accelerator pedals, has released an advisory for its customers, which contains recommendations on what to do should the problem appear in their cars. Here’s the official statement: 
