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Range Rover Sport SVR takes on the Nurburgring – and wins (video)

Range Rover Sport SVR takes on the Nurburgring – and wins (video) We’re not sure at what point a car actually becomes a ‘production’ car, but that’s a tag Land Rover are putting on the new Range Rover Sport SVR as it takes to the Nurburgring and comes away with a time of 8 minutes 14 seconds – the fastest by a production SUV. Land Rover are keen to tell us the lap by the RRS SVR was in a standard production car, by which we assume a car that’s built to the specification announced for the Sport SVR when it arrives next year. That means the full fat 542bhp from its 5.0 litre V8 and performance that is clearly impressive, although Land Rover still hasn’t given us specific performance figures, and certainly enough - together with suspension tweaks – to make it very impressive on road.

EV car maker Aptera shuts down

Automotive startup company Aptera Motors, promoter of the weirdly styled, three-wheeled 2e electric car, shut down on Friday, saying it was out of money. The company said it was unable to raise funds from private investors that would have kept it going until it received a $150 million loan from the Department of Energy's Advance Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program. "This is a difficult time for everyone connected with our company because we have never been closer to realizing our vision," CEO Paul Wilbur said in a statement.

Alfa again delays U.S. return as European debt crisis deepens

Alfa Romeo has delayed the U.S. introduction of several key models by at least another year and has canceled plans to build a mid-sized SUV at Chrysler Group's factory in Toledo, Ohio. Alfa Romeo CEO Harald Wester, in a presentation to financial analysts in Frankfurt on Wednesday in connection with the Frankfurt auto show, said Alfa Romeo was scaling back its global expansion plans.