McLaren MP4-12C launches into production

It's finally happening. Perhaps the most anticipated British sports car in at least a decade--the McLaren MP4-12C--has gone into production. McLaren announced the news on Wednesday, and as many as 1,000 copies of the potent speedster will be built this year.

Design Services: Artware Concept and Dassault Systèmes

Concept cars are the creative work and the car manufacturers' future vision as expressed by their in-house design studios, but the physical sculpture, the one we see under the spotlight at motor shows, is often the work of design consultancies. It is at these independent studios that the conceptual study, sometimes even a simple sketch, is visualized into a life-size, running prototype. Artware Concept is not a novice in the field.

Mercedes plans electric version of SLS AMG supercar

Huge news at Mercedes-Benz: Engineers from its AMG performance-car offshoot are developing a plug-in electric version of the upcoming SLS supercar as part of a broad-based efficiency program to place the automaker at the leading edge of socially acceptable performance-car motoring. Tentatively planned for production in 2015, the new zero-emission supercar draws heavily on the production version of the yet-to-be-fully-revealed SLS scheduled to get its first public outing at the Frankfurt motor show on Sept. 15.