The AutoWeek List: Top 10 favorite engines available now

1. Audi 4.2-liter V8 Specs: 420-hp, 317 lb-ft Found in: Audi R8 Our take: One the most flexible performance V8s available. 2.

Brazil plant for Jaguar Land Rover

JAGUAR LAND ROVER (JLR) is to become the first UK car-maker to open a manufacturing facility in Brazil. JLR is investing £240 million in the initiative, which will see the development of a plant that will produce up to 24,000 vehicles a year. The factory, based in the city of Itatiaia, will initially employ 400 people, with the first vehicles due to come off the assembly line in 2016.

UK new car average CO2 now under 140g/km

UK motor industry body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) claims 56% of new cars sold in the UK during 2010 boasted carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions figures below 140g/km. New car emissions of CO2 continued to fall at an increased rate year-on-year, dropping 3.5% over 2009’s figures and representing a cumulative drop in new car CO2 emissions of 20.3% since 2000.  The data comes from the release of the SMMT’s annual New Car Carbon Dioxide (CO2) report for 2011, out today. UK vehicle fleet CO2 continues to fall The presence of lower-polluting new vehicles in the overall UK vehicle parc (the total fleet of new and existing vehicles on the roads) has driven parcwide CO2 levels down 7.8% since 2000, and 2.7% since 2009.  This is partly thanks to new vehicles, and also due to reduction of higher-polluting vehicles via legislation and scrappage incentive schemes. The overall reduction also comes in spite of an increased number of vehicles on the road, and greater average distances travelled compared to 2000. Diesel’s rise continues One notable trend has been market penetration of diesel-powered cars. In 2000 petrol powered cars held 85.9% of the market, with 14.1% diesels.