Bikemaster Btx9-bs Battery 781317 on 2040-parts.com

Jaguar hybrid cars due in 2013-14

Jaguar will launch its own hybrid vehicles soon after Land Rover, CAR can confirm. Parent company Jaguar Land Rover is developing battery-assisted hybrid versions for both brands but its strategy puts part-electric Land Rovers first on the launchpad in 2013.Hybrid Jaguars – set to include the XJ and XF, but eventually every model – are therefore likely to be on the market by 2013-2014, using a similar eight-speed ZF hybrid transmission to petrol-electric BMWs.The staggered roll-out of battery Jags and Land Rovers makes sense: heavy 4x4s have come in the firing line from green protestors who label them Chelsea Tractors. Hybrid Land Rovers will trim emissions and – in plug-in hybrid mode – enable even big bulky Range Rovers to drive in zero-emissions mode into central urban areas emitting nothing more unsaintly than an electric whir.So which Jaguars will go hybrid first?It's likely that the largest models such as the XJ will receive the hybrid power packs first; large cars reap the greater benefit and can more easily swallow the additional cost, put at around £10,000 in today's money.JLR's Midlands engineering bases in Whitley and Gaydon now employ 100 engineers in the expanding hybrid powertrain business unit launched 18 months ago.

Lumma Design tunes the BMW X6

Custom-body designer Lumma Design worked over the fire-breathing BMW X6 to create an even more powerful version bolstered with carbon and aerodynamic enhancements. It's called the Lumma CLR X 650 M, and as always, speed is paramount. It pumps out 670 hp and has a top speed of 193 mph.

SMALL CARS DOMINATE USED CAR SALES

SMALL, FUEL-EFFICIENT cars continue to be the most appealing to used car buyers, research shows. The figures from Experian, the global information service, demonstrated that 285,962 used Ford Fiestas were sold last year making it Britain’s best selling used car in 2010. Even though overall sales for the Fiesta were lower than in 2009 there was more of a pronounced drop in sales of Vauxhall's Corsa, which came in second place to the Fiesta.