Skoda Yeti Laurin & Klement adds gloss to the Yeti

Skoda has revealed a range-topping Yeti SUV – the Yeti Laurin & Klement – with extra equipment over the Yeti Elegance. It might sounds like a firm of solicitors, but Laurin & Klement (Václav Laurin and Václav Klement) are the founders of what is now SKODA and Skoda use their names to badge their range-topping cars, hence the Skoda Yeti Laurin & Klement. The Yeti Laurin & Klement starts off as a Yeti Elegance before Skoda bolt on £4,000 worth of extra goodies, and you can have it only as a 4WD with the 1.8-litre TSI 160PS, 2.0-litre TDI CR 140PS DSG or 2.0-litre TDI CR 170PS engines.

Chrysler cuts Viper output amid slow sales, growing inventory

Chrysler Group has cut output of the SRT Viper by a third and will reassign scores of workers to other plants because of slow sales, growing inventories, and the onset of colder weather. Workers at Chrysler's Conner Avenue Assembly plant in Detroit, where the car is assembled, were told of the production moves today. None will be laid off; instead they will be reassigned to other Chrysler plants in the Detroit area, a Chrysler spokeswoman said.

Tesla increases Roadster production

By Nick Eaton Motor Industry 11 September 2008 11:30 Tesla Motors is about to ramp up production of its Roadster, having secured supply of a new single-speed gearbox from BorgWarner. Tesla began producing the Roadster in March 2008, but all 27 cars so far delivered to customers have effectively been interim models because the original two-speed ‘box was deemed too fragile for long-term use. The original thinking was that the Roadster would require two gears to achieve the best possible acceleration, and on that point Tesla was right.