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Car makers to be forced to disclaim ‘Official’ economy figures

We’ve banged on for a long time about the futility of official economy figures, especially as car makers get better and better at ‘gaming’ the official economy tests to produce the results they want. Much of the impetus to create the best headline economy figure for a car is driven by taxation, with car makers well aware that the better the official economy results are, the lower their CO2 will be (CO2 isn’t tested for – it’s just extrapolated from the official mpg) and the more appealing the car will be to buyers, particularly fleet buyers. But a ruling by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) against Audi could at least see car makers having to admit in their adverts that the ‘official’ economy figure bears no relation to what owners can expect to achieve in the real world.

Aston Martin Rapide interior shots surface

This appears to be the first official image of the interior of the Aston Martin Rapide So it’s no real surprise, with the Aston Martin Rapide actually getting to the point of being production ready, that shots (or renderings, probably) have surfaced. We had ‘official’ shots of the Aston Martin Rapide in April, and now we have an interior shot. Not the biggest – or most enlightening – shot, but they do seem to be real, rather than the work of an enthusiastic amateur Photoshopper.

Ford Focus ST & ST Estate arrive at Frankfurt

2012 Ford Focus ST arrives in Frankfurt The 2012 Ford Focus ST has debuted tonight at the Frankfurt Motor Show and came with a surprise addition – a Focus ST Estate, the first time Ford has offered a performance car with a load-lugging ability. Virtually unchanged from the endless images we’ve seen of the Concept ST both on the road and at Motor Shows, the 2012 ST gets a big trapezoidal grill, a big centre exhaust, skirts and out the back a spoiler and new bumper with integrated diffuser. And, as we’d expect, a Screaming Orange paint job.