Lowrance Pdt-wbl #106-74 Trolling Motor/shoot-thru-hull Mount Transducer W/ Temp on 2040-parts.com

Ford Mondeo gets Tri-Fuel capability

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. You have to admire Ford. They do so much right and so little wrong (at least in Europe) that they really do deserve enormous success.

Jaguar hybrid cars due in 2013-14

Jaguar will launch its own hybrid vehicles soon after Land Rover, CAR can confirm. Parent company Jaguar Land Rover is developing battery-assisted hybrid versions for both brands but its strategy puts part-electric Land Rovers first on the launchpad in 2013.Hybrid Jaguars – set to include the XJ and XF, but eventually every model – are therefore likely to be on the market by 2013-2014, using a similar eight-speed ZF hybrid transmission to petrol-electric BMWs.The staggered roll-out of battery Jags and Land Rovers makes sense: heavy 4x4s have come in the firing line from green protestors who label them Chelsea Tractors. Hybrid Land Rovers will trim emissions and – in plug-in hybrid mode – enable even big bulky Range Rovers to drive in zero-emissions mode into central urban areas emitting nothing more unsaintly than an electric whir.So which Jaguars will go hybrid first?It's likely that the largest models such as the XJ will receive the hybrid power packs first; large cars reap the greater benefit and can more easily swallow the additional cost, put at around £10,000 in today's money.JLR's Midlands engineering bases in Whitley and Gaydon now employ 100 engineers in the expanding hybrid powertrain business unit launched 18 months ago.

Subaru XV concept preview

The XV crossover os another new car from Subaru, this time set to debut at Shanghai auto show. As with the all-new Impreza, Subaru is being tight lipped on details of the car. However, from what little information is available, it appears that the XV is a small 'lifestyle' crossover, in the ilk of the Ford Kuga.