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Volvo’s new VEA family of four-cylinder engines starts production

As a result, Volvo has been planning a new range of four-cylinder engines to power their range in the future – the new Volvo Engine Architecture (VEA) – and has spent the last couple of years readying their design – and their facility in Skövde – to start production. And now it’s underway. Together with Volvo’s Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) the new VEA engines will be a core part of every new Volvo before too long, and will replace the five and six cylinder engines Volvo currently uses and will provide more power than current six-cylinder engines with economy and emissions better than current four-cylinder engines.

Buick Encore video gives us a proper look at the Opel / Vauxhall Mokka

Buick Encore video previews the new Vauxhall Mokka The Vauxhall/Opel Mokka may not arrive until Geneva 2012, but we get a good look at what’s on offer in this Buick Encore video. The whole ‘World Car’ phenomenon that’s sprung out of the mire of the financial woes of the US car industry does lead to a few anomalies. Like the Buick Encore being revealed in the States whilst Europe has only had a couple of photos of the Opel / Vauxhall Mokka ahead of its debut at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show in March.

Lexus RX 450h Advance added to RX range

The Lexus RX 450h Advance (pictured) added to the RX range Lexus has added a new version of the hybrid RX 450h to their range of offerings in the UK – the Lexus RX 450h Advance – but they’re not exactly pushing the boat out to promote it. The details we got from Lexus tell us that the Advance is based on the RX Luxury, but with the addition of extra kit and just one photo (above). Those extras amount to a new front bumper that’s half regular R and half RX F-Sport for a slightly more butch look, LED headlights and Lexus’s I-AFS auto-adaptive system that makes the lights move according to steering input.