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Aston Martin Rapide S arrives with 550 horses

Aston Martin is replacing the four-door Rapide with the Rapide S, which gets minor styling tweaks and extra power. Just as they did with the new DB9, Aston Martin has made the new Rapide S a more aggressive car, with small styling tweaks like a new grill and a small spoiler at the back, some minor trim tweaks with the addition of Piano Black trim and a new duotone black and red leather trim, and an optional carbon fibre pack for exterior highlights. Under the skin, the Rapide S is still based on Aston’s VH platform, but it does get the latest Gen 4 tweaks including new adaptive dampers with Normal, Sport and Track modes, tweaked dynamic stability control (DSC) and the latest AM11 engine dropped by 19mm for a lower centre of gravity.

Porsche Panamera plug-in hybrid set for 2014

Porsche AG will build a plug-in hybrid version of the Panamera sedan starting in 2014, sources familiar with the situation said last week. The plug-in hybrid likely will come to the United States, but the timing is unclear, a source said. Volkswagen AG, which owns 49.9 percent of Porsche's sports car business, will roll out plug-in hybrid versions of the Audi Q7 crossover and European-sold VW Passat starting in 2014 or 2015, a source said.

Toyota Auris Hybrid & Yaris Hybrid sales up. Prius sales down.

Toyota is reporting strong sales for September, with the Auris Hybrid and Yaris Hybrid performing well. But Prius sales are down. Toyota are reporting strong sales for September – with the launch of the new 62 plate – with an 18.6 per cent jump in sales for a market share of 4.41 percent.