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Maserati Quattroporte (2013): the first official pictures

Maserati has unveiled the new 2013 Quattroporte – the luxury sports saloon which has been the mainstay of Modena since the current car's launch in 2004. The new Maserati Quattroporte will be shown at the 2013 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, with left-hand drive sales starting in spring 2013. However, right-hand drive UK sales of the new QP are unlikely to begin before June 2013.

BMW Concept ActiveE at Detroit motor show 2010

BMW has unveiled this rolling testbed for its electric car strategy - the new Concept ActiveE - at the 2010 Detroit motor show. It's a fully electric BMW and a hint of what's to come through the long-range visionary Project i plan which will reshape BMWs for the 21st century.No prizes for guessing it's based on an existing BMW production car, the 1-series Coupé. But the hardware underneath is designed to percolate across the lower echelons of the BMW range, starting with some exciting new bespoke electric cars.The ActiveE is the first fully electric BMW and follows in the treadmarks of the Mini E. Like the Mini, this battery BM will be used as a pilot test programme where it will be driven by selected private and fleet motorists.BMW ActiveE concept: how it worksThis is a rear-drive BMW with the internal combustion engine ditched in a Munich scrapheap.

UK electric car sales hit record high

While electric cars may not have taken off as quickly as the likes of Renault and Nissan had hoped, the latest figures from the government’s £5,000 electric car grant scheme show that sales have leapt 25% in the last quarter. A total of 1,149 electric cars were registered in Q3, not only a 25% improvement over Q2, but the most successful quarter since the government scheme began back in January 2011, indicating that consumers are starting to understand the technology and its limitations rather better. On Bing: see pictures of electric cars in the UK Find out how much an electric car costs on Auto Trader This news comes as the Renault-Nissan alliance has been forced to admit it is not going to reach its self-imposed target of 1.5 million electric car sales by 2016.