Volkswagen Jetta Speedometer Cluster; (cluster), 2.8l (6 Cyl), Glx, Mph 00 on 2040-parts.com

Driven: Fisker Karma

Even top-flight car designers are usually not known for their business acumen. So Henrik Fisker's announcement that he would build the "the world's first luxury plug-in hybrid" was met with some cynicism as he stood next to his Fisker Karma concept at the 2008 NAIAS in Detroit. Three years on and CDN is one of the first to get to drive Fisker Automotive's production Karma, a car so hot of the press this model is number three or four off Valmet Automotive's production line in Finland.

Toyota Auris Hybrid – Frankfurt debut

The Toyota Auris Hybrid will be at Frankfurt Toyota are calling this the first application of their Hybrid Synergy Drive in a mainstream model. Which makes us wonder if Toyota don’t consider the Prius a mainstream model. They’re also calling this a concept, but we know that Toyota will be producing the Auris Hybrid in the UK next year, so take this as a pretty much production-ready car.

New 2014 Mercedes S-Class order book opens – price from £62,650

The New Mercedes S-Class (pictured) costs from £62,650 The all new Mercedes S-Class was officially revealed last month, and went in to production last week, and now the order book opens for Mercedes new technological tour de force in the UK. At launch you’ll have a choice of three engine options – diesel, hybrid and V8 petrol – and a choice of standard wheelbase or long wheelbase (which adds £3,000) with the cheapest model being the S 350 BlueTEC. The S350 BlueTEC SE gets the 3.0 litre Mercedes diesel V6 with 255bhp and 146g/km emissions and the promise of 51.4mpg, with the AMG Line models getting the same engine but costing from £67,685.