Ford Mondeo goes green

By Ben Barry First Official Pictures 03 June 2007 01:57 New Mondeo spearheads Ford's ramp-up of bio-fuel models Ford announced an expansion in its flexifuel range. Flexifuel allows a vehicle to run on either regular petrol or E85 – an 85/15 percent bio-ethanol/petrol blend – and automatically offsets any carbon emissions produced because more crops are always produced to meet the demand for fuel. Ford president and CEO John Fleming confirmed that the existing Focus and C-Max flexifuel cars would be joined by Mondeo, Galaxy and S-Max derivatives, which will all come on stream from early 2008.

Toyota talks powertrain plans

After trailing many of its competitors in the recent engine- and transmission-technology wars, Toyota Motor Corp. will launch a swath of powertrains in the next several years, a top powertrain r&d executive said. Koei Saga, senior managing officer in charge of drivetrain r&d, said that Toyota is investing heavily in turbocharged engines, larger displacement Atkinson cycle engines, continuously variable and fixed-gear automatic transmissions, and new hybrid and fuel cell technologies.

Caterham plans to expand lineup under new owner, report says

Caterham Cars is growing its sports-car lineup, fueled by new owner Tony Fernandes, according to the Web site of U.K. car magazine Autocar. Fernandes's Team Lotus Enterprise, which owns the Team Lotus Formula One team, also plans to introduce the existing Caterham Seven and SP.300/R models to new markets.