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Diesel Smart to become UK’s cleanest by 2009

By Guy Bird Motor Industry 17 June 2008 10:30 From February 2009 the cleanest conventional-engined car you can buy will be a diesel Smart Fortwo. That’s the date set for the launch of a right-hand drive version of the city car brand’s oil-burning two-seater Fortwo coupe and cabriolet already on sale in Continental Europe. The incredible economy and emissions stats – 85.6mpg and 88g/km of CO2 – are streets ahead of current low emitter champions like the VW Polo 1.4 TDI Bluemotion and Seat Ibiza Ecomotive, both offering 74.3mpg and 99g/km.

NHTSA proposes rules for automakers to add sound to hybrids, EVs

Automakers would need to make hybrids and electric vehicles emit sound under rules that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposed on Monday. The rules, ordered by Congress three years ago, are meant to protect pedestrians and bicyclists from vehicles that make little sound when using electric power. NHTSA says that designing the vehicles to make noise at speeds below 18 mph would prevent about 2,800 injuries over the life of each model year of vehicles.

VW eyes stake in Suzuki, report says

Volkswagen looks to stake an ownership stake in Suzuki Motor Co. by the end of this year, according to a report in Automobilwoche, a sister publication of AutoWeek. "We expect that there will be a basic agreement this year," the German-language publication quoted an unnamed Suzuki executive as saying.