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Mandelson to announce help for car makers

Lord Mandelson is the man charged with finding ways to fund UK Car purchases (yes, he of the dodgy mortgage debacle – at least he should know a few tricks!) as the credit crunch has dried up funding, leading to an unprecedented drop in new car sales in the UK. Mandelson is due to make a statement in the Lords just after 3pm today, outlining the help the government is going to offer to ailing car makers. Central to this package is expected to be a funding channel directly from the Bank of England to inject liquidity in to the car financing sector.

First Sight: Daimler-BYD electric car design renderings leak out

Computer renderings of an electric car, being jointly developed by BYD Co., a Chinese battery and car producer that began making cars only less than a decade ago, and Daimler AG with more than a century of experience - were leaked for the second time this year. The car marks a critical juncture for the young Chinese carmaker based in the south China industrial hub of Shenzhen, just a stone's throw away from Hong Kong. It is also a key initiative in China, now the world's biggest auto market, for Daimler.

Plans for Smart’s three-seat sports car uncovered in patent drawings

Mercedes-Benz is developing a three-seat sports car for Smart. Depicted here in a series of European patent-application sketches obtained by AutoWeek, the radical new sports car forms part of an extended range of new Smart models planned for introduction by the middle of the next decade, including a more conventional four-seater to be produced in cooperation with Renault. Mercedes-Benz is reacting to increased competition from Toyota in the form of the iQ and the impending arrival of similar urban-based offerings from premium-brand rivals Audi and BMW.