2001 Yamaha R6 Passenger Seat on 2040-parts.com

Lotus to invest £500 million to build Esprit, Eterne, Elite & Elan. 1900 new jobs

The new Lotus Esprit Dany Bahar – Lotus boss – revealed plans at last year’s Paris Motor Show to turn Lotus in to an East Anglian Aston Martin. Those plans included one car we knew about – the new Lotus Esprit – and a number we didn’t – the Lotus Eterne, Lotus Elite, Lotus Elan and a new Lotus Elite. But the plans seemed to be nothing more than a wish list, and although it was intimated that Lotus owners Proton were going to provide a war chest of £770 million to fund the development, that later appeared to be an intent to provide Lotus with funds to develop a new range of cars, rather than an actual commitment.

Mercedes C Class BlueEfficiency – now even more efficient

Mercedes C Class BlueEFFICIENCY now has new, more frugal engines And the new engines Mercedes has announced for its C Class BlueEfficiency are quite remarkable. Already available in the new Mercedes E-Class, they offer remarkable economy whilst still producing a very drivable car. The new Mercedes C220 CDi Blue EFFICIENCY delivers 170bhp and a 0-60mph of 8.4 seconds, but averages nearly 59mpg and only emits 127 g/km o2.

New Lexus RX 450h Facelift costs from £44,495

The Lexus RX 450h F Sport joins the 2012 range The 2012 facelift for the hybrid SUV Lexus RX 450h will cost from £44,495, with the new RX 450h F Sport costing £51,995. The Geneva Motor Show in March was the debut for the facelift of the 2012 Lexus SUV offering – the RX 450h – with a new, sharper, sportier option added to the range in the guise of the RX 450h F Sport. Actually, to call the changes to the 2012 RX 450h is probably to exaggerate; they’re more a bit of botox than actual surgery.