Lotus V8: the new engine plan in full

Lotus has confirmed details for its new inhouse V8 engine family, which will make its first road car appearance in the 2013 Esprit. Responding to feedback which said the 'New Era' plan to launch five new models was weakened by its reliance on Toyota engines, the new management team decided last Christmas to design and develop its own engine. 'The feedback from customers was "how can you justify a £100,000 car with a Toyota engine?",' said chief executive Dany Bahar.

2012 Mercedes A-Class: The Concept-A Videos

Mercedes Concept-A Video We had the first proper details on the Mercedes Concept-A earlier this week, which points the way – as a slightly tamed-down version – to the 2012 Mercedes A-Class. That Mercedes A Class will not just arrive as a hatch but will – in cojunction with the new Mercedes B-Class that will also utilise Mercedes new MFA platform – spawn models as diverse as a shooting brake, crossover, coupe and cabriolet. It seems – with all the derivatives that appear to be planned – that Mercedes are looking to out-MINI MINI in the variations on a theme game.

News watch November 2010: today's auto industry news

Welcome to CAR Magazine's news aggregator as we round up the daily stories in the auto industry. Top tip: news summaries are added from the top hour-by-hour Tuesday 30 November 2010• Fiat and Opel have signed an agreement whereby Fiat will supply vehicles comprising of several variants to Opel, commencing December 1 (Fiat)• Electric cars will make up 20 per cent of UK car sales by 2016, according to National Grid CEO Steve Holiday (Automotive News Europe)• Toyota has said it will repair 650,000 Prius models worldwide because of a fault with the coolant pump (BBC News)• Porsche look likely to succeed in persuading preferred shareholders to support a €5 billion stock sale becuase the deal may offer the chance to buy into Volkswagen at a discount rate (Bloomburg)• China will become Rolls Royce's biggest market, surpassing America as early as 2011 (Automotive News Europe)  Monday 29 November 2010• Bentley has appointd a new CEO to succeed Franz-Josef Paefgen, who's retiring. Porsche R&D director Wolfgang Dürheimer, 52, is now chairman and chief exec of Bentley Motors and Bugatti (Bentley)• In return, Porsche has replaced Dürheimer with Wolfgang Hatz, an internal appointment.