Volkswagen XL1

This, remarkably, is the production version of the Volkswagen XL1, the most fuel-efficient production car in the world, a car we'll see in Geneva in a little over a week. Barely changed from the concept version shown at the Qatar motor show two years ago, the production XL1 is the first production result of VW's 1-liter project – to design a car that uses less than 1l/100km (282.5mpg imperial) – that started with the lozenge-shaped, tandem-seat 2003 1L and the later L1 of 2009. The XL1 actually beats that by sipping just 0.9 liters with CO2 emissions of 21g/km.

New Ford Mustang for Europe gets 500 orders in first 30 seconds

The new Ford Mustang (pictured) was much in demand. The new Ford Mustang effectively went on sale in Europe at the UEFA Champions League final at the weekend, and it was an overwhelming success for Ford. Not only did Ford get the first 500 registrations – enough for the entire initial European offering – in the first 30 seconds,  it ended up with a total of 9,300 registrations during the match, and Ford say the lucky 500 ‘winners’ – 130 of them in the UK – will be notified in the next few weeks if they’re getting a new Mustang.

GM disbands unit that creates high-performance vehicles

General Motors, focusing on mainstream products in a battle to survive, has scrapped a unit that produced high-performance vehicles. GM on Wednesday disbanded High Performance Vehicle Operations, which is based at the company's suburban Detroit technical center, and redeployed its engineers, spokesman Vince Muniga said. "All high-performance projects are on indefinite hold," Muniga said.