09 Ds 450 Taillight on 2040-parts.com

LA Motor Show: Subaru WRX gets downsized engine

SUBARU has revealed a production-ready version of the WRX concept first seen earlier this year. The latest edition of the performance saloon may not be coming to the UK at all, but Subaru has finally given the 268bhp machine the go-ahead for Japan and North America. A new 2.0-litre ‘boxer’ engine carries on the brand’s tradition, bringing with it the same low centre of gravity as the old 2.5-litre unit but with greater environmental credentials.

New Land Rover Discovery Sport to get 7 seats – and they’re (almost) revealed

The Land Rover Discovery Sport shows it 7-seat layout We already know that the Land Rover Discovery Sport will be replacing the Freelander in Land Rover’s range next year as the first in a family of Discovery models from Land Rover. It seemed likely that the new Discovery Sport would come with five seats as standard but with as even seat option to add another dimension, but Land Rover has decided it is going to offer 7 seats as standard, setting it apart from the competition in the ‘Premium’ sector. Land Rover are busy running prototypes of the new Discovery Sport, and to ram home the point that the new Discovery Sport is more flexible than its competition they’ve covered it in camouflage that looks like the skin of the car has been peeled back to show the 7-seat (well, 5+2) arrangement inside.

VW will build small run of XL1 plug-in hybrid

Volkswagen will begin production of its XL1 plug-in hybrid in two years. "We want to go into series production with this car starting in 2013," VW chairman Ferdinand Piech told Automotive News Europe on Tuesday at an event in Doha, Qatar, ahead of the 2011 Qatar auto show where VW unveiled an XL1 prototype. (a href="http://www.autoweek.com/article/20130221/GENEVA/130229972">Read the latest update here announcing the XL1 hybrid's Geneva Auto Show debut).