Subaru Pleo 2002 Intercooler [0752050] on 2040-parts.com

Kia Sportage and Soul recall – affects 7000 UK cars

5,787 UK Kia Sportage models (pictured) are being recalled. Recalls are a fact of life for car makers, but at least the industry now tries to respond to problems as they arise, and before they cause damage to people of vehicles. This latest recall comes from Kia in the UK, which is recalling a total of 5,785 Sportage models and 1.432 Soul models to address a problem that ha been identified with the seat belt pre-tensioner mechanism.

Porsche mulls smaller SUV, sports car

Porsche may develop a small SUV and a sports car smaller than the Boxster as it aims to double worldwide sales in the next three years. Bernhard Maier, head of sales and marketing at Porsche AG, confirmed that the company is looking into smaller and less expensive models “but we have taken no decision so far.” The small SUV has been code-named “Cajun”--short for Cayenne Jr. The success of the Cayenne SUV has given Porsche confidence to “investigate if there are other opportunities,” Maier said.

New Mercedes S-Class Plug-in Hybrid to debut at Frankfurt Motor Show

The new Mercedes S-Class (pictured) will arrive with a plug-in hybrid version in September We’ve known Mercedes were planning a plug-in hybrid version of the new S-Class as far back as 2009, and it now appears it will debut – as a 2014 model – at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show in September. When Mercedes revealed the Vision S500 Plug-in Hybrid Concept at Frankfurt in 2009, they had fitted it with a V6 petrol engine mated to a 44kw motor and a bank of lithium-ion batteries, and promised the hybrid S-Class would do 90mpg, have emissions of under 75g/km and manage 18 miles in EV mode. That means the hybrid S-Class would have performance comparable to the V8 petrol-engined S500 but attract no BIK or VED in the UK.