Audi A6 Dome Light 2003 on 2040-parts.com

Toyota Auris facelift (2010): first official photos

Toyota is attempting the impossible: to make its Golf challenger more interesting. The new-for-2010 Toyota Auris receives a facelift inside and out, engineering tweaks to nudge CO2 downwards and a sportier model to lure in younger drivers. Good luck, Toyota… Forgive us for sounding harsh, but CAR has never seen eye to eye with the Auris, dubbing it the ‘magnolia’ of the hatchback segment when we first drove it in 2007.

Toyota & Lexus: Hybrid sales in Europe hit 20%

The ‘Green’ evangelists want to get us all driving electric cars to save the planet, but in the real world car drivers want a car that offers them all the practicality of a normal ICE car, but without the penalties of the poor range, high cost and inconvenience of an EV. So, with ever-rising fuel costs, it’s no wonder car buyers are willing to pay a little more for a car that offers better economy at the pumps – which plays straight in to the hands of Hybrid pioneers Toyota. The result is that Toyota and Lexus now see a full 20 per cent of their sale in Europe being hybrid cars in the first quarter of 2013, with sales of hybrid cars up a massive 82 per cent year-on-year.

BMW i3 EV takes to the race track (video)

BMW i3 EV takes to the race track (video) The BMW i3 EV City Car finally got revealed in July in production guise, and it’s a clever car if not exactly a looker. With a lightweight inner body made from carbon fibre and an electric motor that offers 168 bhp and an instant 184lb/ft of torque it has more than enough power to keep up with traffic in any city. Sadly, the i3 hasn’t done particularly well in Euro NCAP tests but that hasn’t stopped orders for the i3 exceeding anything BMW could have reasonably expected.