VW Group planning 10-speed DSG, new powerful diesel engine & more plug-in hybrids

The end of the internal combustion engine is nigh, they say, as the world tries to clean up its environmental act and works towards a goal of electric motors to power our personal transport. But car makers are fighting that belief by extracting more power for less fuel from ICE engines, and there’s still a very long way to go before the ICE engine is consigned to the history books. Volkswagen has already reduced the fuel consumption of both their diesel and petrol engines by 30 per cent since 2000 and plan a further reduction of 15 per cent by 2020.

Volvo C70 Inscription to debut at L.A. Motor Show

Volvo C70 Inscription We know that the Volvo C70 – Volvo’s four-seat, tin-top convertible – is not long for this world, so perhaps the news that there’s to be a limited edition C70 – the C70 Inscription – bowing in at the LA Motor Show is the C70′s swansong. Volvo are keen to point out that the C70 was the world’s first four seat convertible with a three piece folding metal roof as standard, which made the C70 a proper all year round convertible; open-topped motoring when the weather permits, and all the joys of a coupe when the skies darken. The C70 Inscription is to be limited to just 2,000 cars worldwide, and you can grab one of those coming to the UK from £33,855 for the D3 SE Inscription.

Volkswagen Santana

The Volkswagen Santana is a motoring icon in China. Visit Shanghai and the streets are clogged with scores of the sedans doing duty as taxis and official cars almost unaltered from the original 1980s design. Over 4 million have been sold in the last 29 years.