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Aston Martin and Mercedes 'to strike €300m deal'

By Georg Kacher Motor Industry 22 October 2008 21:25 CAR Online today lifts the lid on the secret deal – codenamed Romeo and Juliet – being hammered out between Aston Martin and Mercedes-Benz. We have sensational details of the alliance, including a plan for hybrid Aston Martins, the full range of proposed Lagonda models and even a possible DB10 and 4x4 from the Aston Martin Lagonda stable. Back in August 2008, we revealed how the British sports car maker was in talks with the German giant over future cooperation (read our original Aston-Merc scoop here).

BMW-Toyota partnership may yield hybrid Z4, new Supra

The BMW-Toyota sports-car lash-up has been reported on for a couple of years now, but new information from a report in the U.K.'s Autocar sheds more light on the future of the BMW Z4 and what this year's Toyota FT-1 concept will ultimately herald. Like the current Z4, its predecessor and the Z3 before it, as well as every generation of Supra, the new platform will feature a front-mounted gasoline engine. From there, things look to be diverging wildly as technology marches forward.

Jaguar to build more R-S and R-S GT models

Not only that, but Jaguar has also replaced the XJ Supersport with a more focused XJR that offers proper dynamics and a more clearly defined appeal than the Supercpsort. All opf which points to Jaguar’s plans to offer cars in their range that have true performance credentials to take on the might of BMW’s M Division and Mercedes AMG. That has been made even clearer by Jaguar’s Wayne Burgess who has told Edmunds that Jaguar will be pushing the envelope further and deeper across the Jaguar range with more R-S models in the planning as well as More R-S GT models too.