New 2015 Skoda Fabia revealed – well, sort of

The design sketch of the 2015 Skoda Fabia We’re not entirely sure we can consider the design sketch of the new Skoda Fabia (above) as a reveal of Skoda’s supermini, but it is a clue to what we can expect when the new Fabia arrives in the coming weeks. Skoda tell us that the new Fabia will be taking its design cues from the Vision C Concept we saw at Geneva – and the new Octavia –  and that is a new direction for Skoda  with added width and a flatter body creating, say Skoda, more harmonious proportions. Of course, the design sketch of the new Fabia has the usual artistic license to make it more dynamic than the reality will be, with the end product when it arrives likely to look much like a smaller version of Skoda’s latest efforts.

Diesel joins Porsche Panamera lineup

Porsche has put forward some eye-catching fuel-economy figures for the Panamera diesel--although we may never see the car in the United States. Set to go on sale across Europe in August, the four-door is claimed to return a combined city/highway driving fuel economy of 36.2 mpg in standard guise under European testing procedures. When fitted with optional low-rolling-resistance tires, the fuel economy climbs to 37.3 mpg on the European test--a figure that gives the Panamera diesel a theoretical range of 800 miles on its 21-gallon fuel tank.

2011 VW Phaeton: Prices announced

The 2011 VW Phaeton starts at £46k We did wonder whether it was actually worth running the news that the 2011 VW Phaeton will cost from £46,195, as it’s probably only a relevant story for about three people a year in the UK. Which might be an exaggeration. But only just.