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Audi A1 E-tron, A8 Hybrid at Geneva motor show 2010: first official pictures

Audi’s A1 was only officially unveiled at the 2010 Geneva motor show, but such is the plethora of new Ingolstadt product on the way that an A1 E-tron electric concept shared the stage with the production supermini. Also on display was the new A8 Hybrid. Yes, after the R8-based concept and the R4-previewing show car, and Audi wants E-tron to become a zero emissions brand in its own right, just as the Quattro tag is inexorably linked to its four-wheel drive models.

VW Race Touareg 3 (2011) first pictures

You might usually associate the Volkswagen Touareg with school-run mums whose furthest foray off-road is up the kerb and onto a wet field – this is something different, this is the new VW Race Touareg 3. That there is, and it’s the Race Touareg 2 that’s taken the chequered flag at the last two Dakar rallies, becoming the first diesel-powered winner in 2009. And after 2010’s 1-2-3 finish, the VW board decided it was onto a good thing and commissioned Volkswagen Motorsport to update its Touareg racer for the January 2011 race.

White House pushes automakers toward 54.5-mpg target by 2025

The White House is pushing automakers to agree by Wednesday to a corporate average fuel economy target of 54.5 mpg by 2025--a figure 1.7 mpg less than the 56.2 mpg standard it floated earlier this month. The easing of the White House plan stems from a concession to makers of light trucks and SUVs, and particularly larger vehicles in that segment, such as Ford's F-150, sources said. The latest White House proposal, the most definitive of any it has put forth, calls for a 5 percent annual mileage increase for cars from 2017-2025, said industry and congressional officials who asked not to be named because their discussions with the White House are confidential.