Volvo creates Inflatable Child Seat

Volvo is a brand famously associated with safety, so let’s hope its latest effort doesn’t turn out to be a load of hot air: the Swedish brand has come up with a concept for an inflatable children’s car seat. Called the Volvo Inflatable Child Seat Concept, this does exactly what it says on the tin – it’s a child seat that instead of being made of rigid material can be deflated and folded away for easy carriage when not required. On Bing: see pictures of the Volvo Inflatable Child Seat Concept Find out how much a used Volvo costs on Auto Trader Noting that “children’s car seats are historically bulky, hard to move and tedious to mount,” Volvo says its new rear-facing inflatable alternative weighs just 5kg – half the weight of an equivalent conventional model.

2012 Mercedes A-Class AMG to get 350bhp & 4WD

Mercedes Concept-A gets unveiled in Shanghai It’s rather hard to imagine the current Mercedes A-Class coming with 350bhp running through its front wheels. It may have managed to pass the Elk test to make it safe, but 350bhp would be enough to tear the steering wheel from your hands and roll you over in a brisk bend. But this isn’t the current A-Class we’re talking about, but the 2012 Mercedes A-Class based on the very fine-looking Mercedes Concept-A we reported a couple of weeks ago, and which bowed in at Shanghai this week.

Honda introduces dual-clutch hybrid transmissions

Honda explained its three new hybrid transmission options on Monday. There's one for small cars, one for plug-ins and one high-performance unit, which we assume will be in the next Acura NSX. Amazingly, none are continuously variable.