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Toyota Auris Hybrid, FT-86, RAV4, Prius plug-in (2010): first official pictures

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 15 February 2010 14:50 Toyota has confirmed its line-up for the 2010 Geneva motor show – and it's fighting back from the throttle recall crisis with a handful of new launches in every which market sector.The Toyota Auris Hybrid Synergy Drive (HSD) gets its world debut in production spec; it's the first mainstream hybrid car to be manufactured in the UK – and you can read all about it in the new March 2010 issue of CAR Magazine on sale on Wednesday 17 February. CAR went up to the Burnaston factory in Derbyshire for a deep dive on the new mass-market hybrid car from Toyota.The second hybrid on show will be the new Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid, which will be exhibited in full production guise for its European debut.It's also the European debut of the FT-86 sports car concept – and the first time we've seen the facelifted Toyota RAV4, which adopts a distinctly grown-up face. Is it just us, or there are equal shades of Toyota Landcruiser and VW Tiguan in the new 2010 RAV4 model?

Maserati Ghibli

Maserati has unveiled the first images of the 2013 Ghibli ahead of its official debut next week at the Shanghai Auto Show. While the Ghibli badge has previously been reserved for coupés – both Giugiaro's 1967 original and Gandini's Biturbo-based 1992 Ghibli II – this is a four-door sports sedan to sit below the larger Quattroporte revealed in January at the North American International Auto Show. It's the first time the carmaker has built a car for the E-segment since the 1994 Quattroporte IV and is set to challenge high end of the Mercedes E-Class and BMW 5-series in AMG and M5 guises respectively.

Smart wins 2011 LA Design Challenge

Daimler's Smart division won this year's LA Design Challenge, the brief of which was to create ‘Hollywood's Hottest New Movie Car'. The entries were judged on how well the vehicle reflected its brand attributes relative to the plot, how the vehicle related to the target audience, and the level of imagination found within the entry. Befitting the ‘Hollywood movie car' theme, the uniqueness of the story concept and the character development of the vehicle were also factors that helped determine the overall winner.