WITH A NOD to its earliest incarnations, the next generation MX-5 will be both smaller and lighter than the current model, according to British magazine Autocar.

Takao Kijima, the MX-5’s project chief, has reportedly said in the past that the next incarnation of the iconic roadster will be at least 10 percent lighter, which would bring it down to less than 1000kg.

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FERRARI HAS LAUNCHED an astonishing attack on the FIA following the announcement of Toyota’s exit from Formula 1, blaming former President Max Mosley for sparking the mass departure of car manufacturers from the sport.

BMW, Toyota and Honda have all withdrawn from motorsport’s ultimate category over the last 12 months, citing the pressures of the Global Financial Crisis, while Renault may be poised to follow.

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DEVELOPED IN partnership with researchers at MIT’s SENSEable City Lab, Audi has revealed AIDA (Affective Intelligent Driving Agent).

Designed to convey information in a "socially appropriate and informative way", AIDA is intended to be a dash-mounted ‘companion’ for drivers.

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THE CITROEN C5 is set to gain a pair of new Euro V-compliant engines in 2010, one a diesel and the other a small turbo-charged petrol engine.

It is unclear whether these engines will make it to the Australian C5 line-up, although the more powerful 3.0 litre V6 is expected to arrive early next year.

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DESIGNED TO ENHANCE rear passenger safety, Ford has today unveiled the first passenger-car seatbelt airbags, due for production late next year.

In the event of a front or side impact, the seatbelt airbag will inflate in 40 milliseconds, distributing the force across an area five times greater than a regular seatbelt.

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WITH LESS THAN a month until the Los Angeles Auto Show, Porsche has unveiled its new lightweight 2010 Boxster Spyder.

Porsche has shaved 80kg from the Boxster’s weight and increased the 3.4 litre boxer six’s output by about 8kW, making for a 1275kg, 240kW weapon.

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 V8 SUPERCAR STALWART Cameron McConville has announced he will retire from driving full time at the end of the season after a 10 year career in Australia’s leading motorsport category.

Following a frightening crash at Phillip Island, which saw the Holden driver catapult across the track backwards and narrowly avoid clashing with oncoming cars, speculation has mounted that McConville may hang up his helmet at season’s end.

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MERCEDES-BENZ is expected to issue a number of engine and cosmetic refinements to its volume-selling C-Class late next year, updating the bumper, wheel and lamp-cluster designs.

Our renderings of the C-Class sedan and C-Class coupe offered a look at the updated Merc’s potential styling, and our newest rendering (above) looks at the C-Class estate.

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HAVING PLACED ITS FUTURE in the hands of new partner Fiat, Chrysler has a new ‘five year plan’ recovery plan, revealed in a six-hour presentation today.

The plan, led by new CEO Sergio Marchionne, forecasts sales figures doubling by 2014, and more than a dozen new models built on Fiat-developed platforms.

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PIRELLI HAS RULED itself out of the running to replace Bridgestone as the official tyre supplier to Formula 1 after the Japanese manufacturer announced it would withdraw from the category at the end of 2010.

The Italian company has previously been involved in Formula 1 during three separate stints between 1950 and 1991, making 200 starts and winning 44 races.

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FIGURES RELEASED by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries today show that October marked the first year-on-year sales increase in 16 months.

Growing 2.2 percent over the same period last year, 80,813 new passenger cars, SUVs and commercial vehicles were sold in Australia last month.

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WITH ONE MAJOR styling update since its debut in 2005, the current generation E90 BMW 3 Series is due for retirement in the next couple of years.

Despite wearing some of the heaviest camouflage that we’ve seen on a BMW, new spy photos obtained this week show that development of the next generation 3 Series is well underway.

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