Suzuki Katana 600-700 1998 Tank Cover on 2040-parts.com

Mercedes CLS Shooting Brake by Brabus (2012)

Mercedes tuning specialist Brabus has unveiled a raft of packages for the new CLS Shooting Brake. A range of tune-ups, body addenda, alloy wheel designs and sports exhaust packages are to be offered, but the real headline act is the 611bhp option for the flagship CLS63 AMG variant. It's not just a mad-cap power struggle though; Brabus offers a three-year/62,000-mile warranty on all its power upgrades, so bear that in mind if the other half isn't convinced your new family estate needs McLaren 12C-chasing poke.

Jaguar Land Rover – Clever Finance Deal

JLR releases £170 million by financing cars in transit Car makers have been begging lines of credit from wherever they can in the last year as the recession has bitten hard in to their finances. Jaguar Land Rover started off down the Government Loan route, but it soon became clear that the strings attached to any Government sourced finance where unacceptable. But in a sign that the future of JLR looks pretty rosy JLR managed to secure £175 million in private financing back in August as part of a bid to raise £500 million, and Tata have refinanced the loans used to acquire JLR.

Renault-Nissan and Mitsubishi to join forces

MITSUBISHI and the existing Renault-Nissan alliance are set to work together on a series of new cars. Discussions aren’t finished but as part of the deal Mitsubishi will get hold of a Renault chassis large enough to use as a base a full-size saloon for the North American market. The firms will also further develop an electric version of a Japan-only ‘kei car’.