Amc 304 Fender Emblem on 2040-parts.com

Mercedes shows the future of crash protection

By Mark Nichol Motor Industry 09 June 2009 10:00 It might look familiar, but the Mercedes ESF 2009 concept is about as futuristic as they come. Ostensibly an S400 Hybrid, the car showcases the very latest Mercedes safety technology, some of which will be in mainstream models soon, and some of which is, frankly, pure fantasy mollycoddling. The concept will be officially unveiled next week, but CAR has already been to the company’s Stuttgart base for a sneak preview.

Aston Martin wants the Le Mans title

Aston Martin will challenge for the overall Le Mans Champion in 2009 Aston Martin won the overall title in 1959 – 50 years ago with the DBR1 driven by Caroll Shelby – and are aiming to bring the title back to the UK with the new car, which is based on the 2008 Charouz Racing System Lola, and powered by the same V12 engine seen in the title winning DBR9s of the last two years. The car will carry the famous Gulf Oil colours, and is being funded in partnership with Lola, Michelin, Koni and BBS. And this is a good time to pick to challenge for the title.

Jaguar XF CKD assembly starts in India

Jaguar Land Rover has started assembling the Jaguar XF at its plant in Pune, India, in a move to reduce XF retail prices in India. Lower taxes on cars assembled in India from CKD kits produced in the UK  (although not as low as they were), rather than importing complete cars from the UK, mean assembling the Jaguar XF in India will give the XF  - already Jaguar’s best-selling car in India – a more attractive headline price. That means the 3.0 litre Jaguar XF dropping in price from 5.8 million rupees (around £68k) to 5.1 million (around £60k) and the newly introduced 2.2 litre diesel XF will come to market at 4.5 million rupees (around £53k).