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Aston Martin Virage dropped – to be replaced by new DB9

Less than eighteen months since it debuted – and after just over 1,000 cars – Aston Martin is dropping the Virage. The Aston Martin Virage always seemed a bit of a stretch too far for Aston Martin, and so it has proved. After a lifespan of no more than eighteen months – and with just over 1000 cars built – Aston Martin has decided that there are just too few buyers who feel the Virage is enough of a step up from the DB9 to warrant the extra cost.

'Get tough on killer drivers' call

DRIVERS who cause death on the roads should be jailed for at least five years, according to the majority of motorists. Eighty-two per cent reckon sentences should be higher for those drivers who kill, a survey by road safety charity Brake and insurance company Direct Line found. Brake said the latest Government figures showed 62% of those convicted of killing someone through risky driving were jailed and only 9% got sentences of five years or more.

Mercedes-Benz axes Maybach

High ranking Mercedes-Benz sources have confirmed to Autoweek that the underperforming Maybach brand will be officially killed off in 2013. The decision to disband Mercedes-Benz’s upper luxury marque comes after a decade of disappointing sales for the Maybach 57 and 62 and a recent decision from the German car maker’s chairman Dieter Zetsche not to push ahead with the development replacement models – the likes of which were tentatively due out in 2014 – owing to what one insider describes as a “positive move to focus greater attention on the Mercedes-Benz brand” . “We’ve come to the conclusion that it is better to cut our losses with Maybach than to continue into an uncertain future with a brand that has failed to live up to original sales expectations," the insider said.