Road Kill

CAR OWNERS have raised a stink after driving on a road littered with meat in upstate New York. Dozens of chunks of meat were discovered on the road in front of a shopping centre in Queensbury, about 60 miles north of Albany, the Post-Star of Glens Falls reported. Police believe the meat fell off a truck that might have been heading from a farm or slaughterhouse to a rendering plant, but no one has come forward to claim it.

Merc to revive straight six, plus 4cyl and smaller V8s

Mercedes has just signed off a new engine family which will see most full-sized Mercs in future run four-cylinders, downsized V8s and… straight sixes. A friendly Mercedes engineer recently met CAR to disclose the engine plans for future models, including the surprise disclosure that Merc plans to switch to straight sixes, like its rivals over in Munich.  It's fair to say I almost choked on my breakfast croissant when I found out the details of the next MB engine generation which has just been signed off for release in 2015. Mercedes' future four-cylinder engines Again, there will be a family of new low-cost fours, and the big-bore V8s will be replaced by a series of downsized turbocharged 4.0-litre units.

Renault announces new six-year strategy

Renault today announced a new six-year strategy dubbed Renault 2016 – Drive the Change. A typically naff marketing-led title, but there’s some interesting detail on CEO Carlos Ghosn’s vision for Renault between now and 2016. Like how he wants to build 1.5 million electric cars in the next five years.