Ford EcoSport, Kuga, Explorer & Focus ST: Beijing 2012

Ford EcoSport debuts at Beijing Ford has debuted the EcoSport, new Kuga and Explorer SUVs as well as the new Focus ST at the Beijing Motor Show. Ford make no secret of their ambitions for the marque in China and have put on a show at Beijing with the Chinese debut of the Fiesta-based EcoSport, the new Ford Kuga, the Explorer SUV and the new Focus ST. The Ford EcoSport is the little urban warrior SUV based on the new Fiesta platform we revealed back in January when it debuted at the Delhi show.

Volvo testing new safety features

Volvo outlined three new technologies that it says will help make the Volvos of the future a good deal safer: autonomous driving, “Intersection Support” and animal detection. Volvo says it's tailoring technologies to the way people drive, by which it means poorly. The company claims that “surveys from three different research institutes in the United States reveal that modern drivers spend 25 to 30 percent of their time behind the wheel doing other things, such as focusing on mobile communication.” Volvo's new technologies are said take this into account and “provide the driver with the right support at all times.” By using a camera and radar, future Volvos will be able to follow the car in front while driving in slow traffic using an autonomous-driving function.

BMW ActiveHybrid X6 introduced

BMW has released details and images of the BMW ActiveHybrid X6 BMW claim the X6 ActiveHybrid as the most powerful Hybrid car in production, with its total power output of 480 horses and 575lb/ft of torque. That’s a bit better than a Prius! All this power comes from the BMW 4.4 litre twin-turbo lump, coupled to a pair of electric motors that deliver 91bhp and 86bhp respectively.