Concept Car of the Week: Honda J-VX (1997)

In 1997, in an effort to preserve its sporty image, Honda needed to bring new exciting models in its showrooms, to park alongside its mainstream Civics and the excellent but slow-selling NSX. The 1995 Integra Type-R proved a fun car to drive but lacked in personality compared to older models of the brand such as the bold CR-X. At the Tokyo motor show, Honda unveiled a prototype of what could be the sports car of the 21st century while also capturing the essence of the iconic CR-X.

Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) starts European sales

The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV (pictured) now on sale in Europe The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV landed officially at the Paris Motor Show in 2012 – preceded by a number of concepts before Mistubishi was happy – as a plug-in hybrid from Mitsubishi. Mitsubishi had promised the Outlander PHEV would go on sale in 2013 so, by the skin of their teeth, they’re starting to roll it out in European markets with the Netherlands up first followed by the Nordic countries – and the UK somewhere down the list. With 12,000 orders for the Outlander PHEV in Europe already, Mitsubishi are assured of a decent level of sales for their PHEV SUV, although those sales are driven by the daft tax breaks on offer for ‘green’ cars more than anything else.

BMW Megacity Vehicle (MCV)

BMW's Project i – an internal codename for a possible sub-brand dedicated to green urban driving – has been in the works for some time. The Vision EfficientDynamics concept, unveiled at the 2009 Frankfurt Show, showcased some of the lightweight technological advances and design thinking behind the forthcoming zero-emission cars. Recently the firm held a Project i event, where it released teaser sketches of the first vehicle to result from the project, the Megacity Vehicle (MCV) – a four-seater electric car with a rear-mounted engine and rear wheel drive.