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Audi A1 – the design tease

Audi are teasing the design of the new A1 in this latest video (below) If you’ve been living in a cave for the last few months you may have missed the news that Audi is about to launch what it hopes will be a MINI-bashing offering – the Audi A1. The A1 is actually destined for a public launch at the Geneva Motor Show in March – and Audi has threatened full disclosure for next month – but in the meantime it’s on a ‘Teaser’ blitz. We haven’t reported on every tease (we didn’t bother with the ‘Look – the new A1 has headlights’ one last week), but we have covered some, like the graffiti advert.

Ford electrifies the Focus

Don't be fooled by the Aston Martin-like grille and the stretched headlights--the Ford Focus electric has some serious green-car ethos. The Focus five-door hatch will be Ford's first-ever all-electric passenger car when it launches in late 2011. It can travel at speeds up to 84 mph and takes three to four hours to charge on a 240-volt outlet.

Call for ban on on vehicle-side advertising

ALL ADVERTISING and promotional banners on commercial vehicles should be banned as they are distracting to other drivers and tempt them to use mobile phones while driving. This is the call from Flexed, a car leasing company, which has carried out a survey that shows a quarter (23%) of drivers admit to trying to type a website address into smartphone after seeing an advert on a lorry. A further 10% of drivers admitted they had tried to take a camera phone photo of an advertisement on a commercial vehicle to use later.