Renault's four electric Frankfurt stars: the teaser

Renault will show off four electric cars at the 2009 Frankfurt motor show By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 10 September 2009 17:18 Renault today trailed its electric car debutants for next week's Frankfurt motor show – revealing the four battery cars that will hog the limelight in Germany. The Renault zero-emissions cars will be shown in full on Tuesday 15 September 2009, but this image gives us a taster for what's to come.Carlos Ghosn, Renault's chief exec, will unveil four new electric cars, seen here for the first time. This overhead shot confirms that Renault will unveil a range of EVs – from a tiny city car through a supermini and van all the way up to what looks like an electric saloon car.Electric cars: the theme of FrankfurtPlenty of manufacturers will be showing off electric or petrol-electric cars at Frankfurt's IAA this year: there's an electric Merc SLS and Hyundai i10, plus more hybrids than you could shake a socket at – including debuts from Lexus, Peugeot and BMW.

Vauxhall Astra GTC gets new 1.6 litre 197bhp engine

Vauxhall Astra GTC gets new 1.6 litre 197bhp engine If you want a quick Vauxhall, you’d normally opt for a VXR. But the new 1.6 litre turbo petrol Vauhall has fitted to the Astra GTC may make you think otherwise. Vauxhall has taken the 1.6 litre petrol turbo from the Cascada and planted it in the Astra GTC where it manages to be 30 per cent more powerful than the old 1.6 litre and still manages to improve economy and emissions.

Volvo to skip Tokyo Motor Show

Volvo, the Swedish unit of Ford Motor Co., will not participate in the Tokyo Motor Show this fall. "We have evaluated our participation at motor shows for 2009 to see how we can make the most out of our resources, and this year we decided not to participate at Tokyo," Volvo spokeswoman Maria Bohlin said today in an e-mail. Ford Motor Co.