Volume sales of plug-in Toyota Prius to begin in two years

Toyota will start leasing 150 of its Prius plug-in hybrids in the United States this winter and plans retail sales of tens of thousands in two years. The North American arrival, scheduled for around February, is part of a global rollout of 600 units. With a longer electric-only cruise range than the standard Prius, the plug-in is Toyota's answer to the Chevrolet Volt extended-range hybrid being launched next year by General Motors Co.

Ariel's Atom returns faster than ever

BRITISH firm Ariel has announced an upgraded version of its sensational Atom sportscar that is faster than ever, making it one of the quickest cars on sale today. The Atom 3.5R showcases a number of upgrades over the outgoing model which contribute to the sensational performance. The 2.0-litre Honda V-TEC engine has had its supercharger revised to give 350bhp and over 240lb.ft of torque, while the gearbox is now a six-speed paddleshift system that can manage five downshifts in less than a second.

Subaru Forester tops small SUVs in new crash test

The Subaru Forester and Mitsubishi Outlander Sport have won top honors from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, becoming the only small SUVs to ace the group's new "small overlap" crash test. The Forester, which Subaru redesigned for the 2014 model year, earned Top Safety Pick+ accolades by scoring a "good" rating on the small overlap test, in which the front corner of the vehicle on the driver's side strikes a five-foot-tall barrier at 40 mph. "With the redesigned Forester, Subaru's engineers set out to do well in our new test, and they succeeded," Joe Nolan, vice president for vehicle research at IIHS, said in a statement.