RISING CONCERNS ABOUT the risks near-silent hybrid vehicles pose to pedestrians, in particular the vision-impaired, has prompted Japan’s Transport Ministry to seek views on how to best remedy the problem.

With hybrid vehicles now the top sellers in Japan, the Ministry has called on consumers, police, vision-impaired groups, and automakers to discuss adding a mandatory sound-generating [...]

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HYBRID TECH is increasingly the flavour of the month; now, even the most un-green marques such as Ferrari are contemplating their own petrol-electric high-performance models.

Not wanting to be left out of the game, it appears McLaren is looking to establish a hybrid vehicle program of its own.

The British supercar maker has advertised a job vacancy [...]

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PORSCHE HAS made a big thing out of its four-door Panamera, and now news has come through that the German supercar manufacturer will offer V6 and hybrid versions of the currently V8-only super saloon in 2010.

Porsche is working to bring a hybrid version of the Cayenne SUV to market, using an Audi-sourced 3.0 litre V6, [...]

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SINCE 1984 BMW has built a legacy of high-revving naturally-aspirated M5s powered by a range of six, eight and now ten-cylinder engines.

For the new M5, due to appear in 2010, that looks set to change. BMW’s M division is rumoured to be working on a twin turbo V8 engine for the M5, which - in [...]

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ORIGINALLY UNVEILED last year at the Detroit Auto Show, the Land Rover LRX offered a stunning looking at how far the British manufacturer can take the brand’s iconic styling, maintaining its traditional design elements while pushing it toward an ultra-modern look.

Now, according to UK magazine Auto Express and thanks to a £27 million loan from the [...]

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CODE-NAMED INTERNALLY as Project i, BMW is planning to launch a family of ultra-efficient electric vehicles by 2012, according to US magazine Car & Driver.

Despite recent talks that BMW and Fiat would form a joint project to develop a range of electric vehicles, the German manufacturer is understood to be devoting a significant chunk of its [...]

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AS AUSTRALIAN CAR BUYERS gradually warm to the idea of diesel engines, and Peugeot, Citroen and Volvo forge ahead with their plans to bring diesel-electric hybrids to market, Toyota, the world’s current hybrid-car leader, has reportedly nixed the idea of an oil-burning hybrid.

Toyota currently produces a diesel hybrid truck for the Japanese market, but it [...]

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HONDA’S FRESH NEW Insight has been going gangbusters in Europe, where the hump-backed hybrid has been flying out of showrooms.

According to figures from industry data analysts JATO Dynamics, the Insight comprehensively outsold every other vehicle in the hybrid and alternative fuel segment in its first month of European sales.

The news isn’t entirely surprising however, as [...]

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THE PORSCHE CAYENNE HYBRID has been a long time coming, but now Wolfgang Durheimer, a board member with the German supercar manufacturer, has told German newspaper Rheinische Post that the Cayenne hybrid will finally hit the road in the second half of next year.

Details of the Porsche Cayenne hybrid have been thin on the [...]

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WITH THE 2010 JAGUAR XJ just around the corner, the British luxury marque is looking to give its all-new flagship that little extra edge in the market, and the company believes hybrid technology is the key.

Courtesy of a £307 million ($636m) loan from the European Investment Bank, Jaguar and Land Rover are working on [...]

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WORD IS CIRCULATING in Germany that Mercedes-Benz is contemplating a plug-in hybrid variant for its upcoming next-gen M-Class SUV.

According to German car mag Auto Bild, the next-gen ML may feature a 60kW electric motor mated to a twin-turbocharged 3.5 litre direct-injected petrol V6, with a plug-in system allowing an electric-only range of some 30km.

By plug-in [...]

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PROVIDING GREEN POWERTRAIN options is fast becoming a key strategy for the world’s automakers. Not every solution fits every market though which is why Audi is preparing a petrol-electric hybrid version of its Q5 SUV, targeted principally at North American ‘green’ buyers.

Set to launch in 2011, the Q5 Hybrid is aimed squarely at markets that [...]

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