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Volvo S60 L plug-in petrol hybrid heading for Beijing Motor Show

The Volvo S60L Plug-in (pictured) heading for Beijing The Volvo V60 Plug-in is already doing good business for Volvo – despite a price tag of £50k – but the V60 plug-in is a diesel hybrid which doesn’t suit all markets. So Volvo are ploughing ahead with a petrol engine based plug-in hybrid with the debut at the Beijing Motor Show next week of the Volvo S60 L Plug-in, a petrol hybrid version of the long wheelbase S60. At first glance the S60 Plug-in looks just like its regular ICE sibling, but under the skin sits a 2.0 litre Drive-E petrol engine with 238bhp and 258lb/ft of torque – which drives the front wheels – and a 68bhp electric motor with 147lb/ft of torque that can drive the rear wheels, which can be recharged in 4.5 hours.

McLaren Automotive Company created as an independent

The McLaren P11 will be the first of McLaren Automotive's new cars in 2011 The whole road car business at McLaren is to be made an independent company – McLaren Automotive – and is aiming to produce 1,000 cars a year by 2011 and 4,000 a year by 2015. McLaren plans that the cars they produce will be more exclusive, and more expensive, than the competition from Italy. The ball will start rolling with the McLaren P11, a car aimed squarely at the F430/Gallardo market.

BMW launches mobile app for gaming, social media

BMW is launching a multipurpose mobile application called the "Ultimate Drive" for social-media users and gamers. The app helps users find the best roads to drive in more than 50 countries. It enables them to then rate those roads and comment about them via Facebook, e-mail or other GPS devices.