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Volvo S80 Executive & V70 R-Design launched

The Volvo V70 gets a bit of added butch with the launch of the V70 R-Design The last news we had from Volvo was that the S60 & XC60 R-Design were going to get more get up and go. Sadly, the extra oomph was reserved for the US. Today’s news, however, applies to Volvos on both sides of the Pond, with a new top-end S80 being revealed – the Volvo S80 Executive – and a butch take on the V70 – the Volvo V70 R-Design.

Paris bans some cars to cut smog

PARIS is taking drastic measures to combat its worst air pollution in years, banning around half of the city's cars and trucks from its streets in an attempt to reduce the toxic smog that has shrouded the French capital for more than a week. Cars with even-numbered licence plates were prohibited from driving in Paris and its suburbs today, following a government decision over the weekend. Around 700 police were patrolling the morning rush-hour, handing out tickets to offenders.

New Mercedes A45 AMG has 105 years of 4WD on its side

With the new Mercedes A45 AMG on the horizon – complete with 4WD – Mercedes chart the history of all wheel drive on their vehicles. We tend to think of 4WD road cars as a modern innovation, and certainly very few 4WD road cars hit the road in a mainstream way much before the 1980s (the Jensen FF was hardly mainstream before someone points out that was in the 1960s). But the history of 4WD goes back, certainly in the case of Mercedes, a surprising 105 years when Daimler built the Dernburg-Wagen, a 4WD vehicle that not only got all-wheel drive but all wheel steering too.