Williams Fj44-2a Turbofan 1,223 Tsn // 900 Csn on 2040-parts.com

BMW M5 (2011) the first official video

BMW has started its hype generator for the upcoming M5, with this first online teaser video. I'm at the office and can't watch the footage right now – what can we see of the new BMW M5?  It's officially called a 'first glimpse', and in and amongst shots of a partially-camouflaged prototype M5 roaring through a tunnel and powersliding along a snowy test track, M Division boss Dr Kay Siegler appears talking about the new car in the workshop of M HQ. Segler introduces the new M5 as 'a bold business car, which at the touch of a button, becomes a sports car'. The new BMW M5 - the lowdown The new F10M-spec M5 is downsizing from the E60's 5.0-litre V10 for the same 550bhp 4.4 litre twin-turbo V8 found in the X5M and X6M. But rather than the torque convertor autos used by the SUV pair, the new motor is mated to a beefed-up version of the the seven-speed M-DCT double-clutch transmission currently serving in the M3.

Electric car sales DOWN 20% in 2012 – time to scrap subsidies for EVs?

The SMMT are reporting that sales of electric cars in the UK have fallen by 20 per cent in the year to date (2012). Despite every green evangelist proclaiming that electric cars are the way to save the planet from imminent doom, UK car buyers obviously disagree. Despite a taxpayer bribe of £5000 to buy an over-priced electric car, car buyers have not exactly taken to the EV in droves.

Video: Jan Kaul explains Mercedes-Benz A-Class' interior

Mercedes-Benz has released a video exploring the interior of its new A-Class featuring the designer who headed the project. Jan Kaul explains in the video how the inspiration behind the interior was the subject of aviation, the same inspiration that produced the Concept A-Class show car. "The theme running through the design of the A-Class was definitely ‘less is more,'" says Kaul.