Continental Conti Twins K112 Rear Tire Mt90-16 on 2040-parts.com

Lotus to create 100 new jobs (2013)

Lotus is bouncing back from the five-car plan debacle that saw its CEO Dany Bahar dismissed for professional misconduct, and an ambitious plot to launch a Porsche-slaying five-car range go up in smoke without so much a test mule spy shot. The Norfolk-based outfit has announced today the creation of 103 new jobs to meet rising demand not just for its cars, but the brand’s legendary car set-up skills too. It follows a £100m investment from parent DRB-HICOM earlier in 2013.

Koenigsegg Agera at Geneva

The new Koenigsegg Agera will be at the Geneva Motor Show We did warn you last week that Koenigsegg were taking ‘Something New’ to the Geneva Motor Show. We had had a chat with them as things had been very quiet, and we did say to them we wondered if Christian had lost focus on Koenigsegg and been side-tracked with the whole Saab-Saga. The response was pretty clear “Christian never lost focus on Koenigsegg and secondly there are many new developments within Koenigsegg.

Volkswagen Golf GTE Plug-in Hybrid UK debut

The VW Golf GTE (pictured) gets its UK debut at the NEX next week The Volkswagen Golf GTE – which VW see as a plug-in hybrid Golf GTI – was revealed in February ahead of its debut at the Geneva Motor Show last month and is now heading for the Gadget Show Live at the NEC next week for its UK debut. With a 1.4 litre TSI petrol turbo producing 148bhp and a 101 bhp electric motor, the Golf GTE promises decent performance – 0-62mph in 7.6 seconds – daft official economy figures of 188 mpg and the ability to run on electric power only for up to 31 miles. It’s an appealing combination for a Golf that can offer city running benefits with a turn of decent performance when the mood takes, although at a price likely to be north of £30k it’s not exactly a budget buy.