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Demise of kei cars on the horizon?

The kei car has long been a staple of the Japanese automobile industry and its car culture. Too diminutive for Western markets, the tiny cars and trucks are a strong influencer of design in Japan. Now, as The New York Times reports, the Japanese government has hit kei cars with increases in sales tax, gasoline prices and has reduced the kei car tax break introduced to make the cars popular in the first place by 50 percent.

Audi A3 g-tron revealed

Audi has revealed the A3 g-tron Sportback ahead of the Geneva Motor Show, an A3 that runs on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and petrol. The A3 g-tron is powered by a tweaked version of Audi’s 1.4 litre TSI petrol engine which can run on both -gas and petrol, with the A3 g-tron normally using the petrol just for start-up and switching over to e-gas as soon as it’s running. Audi has provided two fillers under a common fuel flap – one for e-gas and one for petrol – with the A3 g-tron producing a total of 108bhp with the dual-fuel setup, enough to power the A3 g-tron to 62mph in 11 seconds.

What defines a car’s nationality, Batty asks

Is the Mini German or British? Batty's not so sure – but what do you think? Click 'Add your comment' and let us know By Batty Motoring Issues 04 December 2008 12:41 CAR Online reader Batty ponders what gives a car a national flavour.