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EV maker Coda trims staff

Not much more could go wrong for electric-car maker Coda, which has struggled to sell its four-door EV in the United States since officially launching it here in March. But Web reports, first seen at www.plugincars.com, say the company laid off 50 employees, or 15 percent of its workforce, last week, mostly in the sales and marketing departments. Efforts by Autoweek to contact Coda have not been successful.

Land Rover Defender reprieved

Land Rover Defender reprieved until 2017 - and maybe beyond It’s the news that all die-hard Land Rover Defender fans – and there are still plenty of them – wanted to hear; the current Defender has won a reprieve until at least 2017. It had originally been thought that the iconic (that word again, but it’s justified in the Defender’s case) Landie would be forced in to the annuls of motoring history by Euro emissions rules. But thanks to plans to endow the current Defender with a version of JLR’s 2.2 litre diesel, it now means that the Defender as we know it can keep on trucking until at least 2017 with its new, Euro5 compliant engine.

Mercedes S63 AMG Coupe: OFFICIAL

The new Mercedes S63 AMG Coupe (pictured) get 577bhp The production version of the Mercedes S-Class Coupe only arrived last month, but Mercedes has already moved the S-Class Coupe forward with the reveal today of the Mercedes S63 AMG Coupe ahead of its debut at the New York Auto Show next month. Looking, perhaps for the first time, real competition for the Bentley Continental GT, the S63 AMG Coupe has proper presence and looks set to the the benchmark in its class, something the old CL63 AMG never really managed. Power comes from AMG’s twin-turbo 5.5 litre V8 with 577bhp – up 37bhp on the CL 63 AMG – and 663lb/ft of torque, enough to hit 62mph in 4.3 seconds, despite which it comes with an official economy rating of 27.4mpg.