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Toyota and Lexus secret hybrid cars revealed

By Georg Kacher Motor Industry 03 September 2008 11:50 CAR Online has compiled a secret dossier of all the hybrid petrol-electric cars under development at Toyota and Lexus. Today we can reveal a new wave of eco-friendly plug-in hybrids – with confidential details of the next Prius and all the new models that will build on the success of Toyota and Lexus battery cars. There will be a new family of Prius hybrid models, as previously reported in CAR, as well as a new Lexus RX hybrid, sportier batter-powered cars and a top-secret petrol-electric Lexus hatchback.

Who's Where: Satoshi Wada to open independent design studio

Satoshi Wada, former Senior Designer at Audi AG and Nissan Design Japan, is set to open his own design studio. Called SWdesign TOKYO, his ambitious plan follows on from a growing line of design managers who have left successful OEMs to establish their own design practices. Wada, who resigned from Audi AG in Ingolstadt earlier this month, told CDN he is aiming "to create a new vision with my own independent design studio in Tokyo".

Ecclestone wants to bring the noise

FORMULA ONE supremo Bernie Ecclestone has vowed to address growing concerns surrounding the sport's lack of an appealing noise. Following Sunday's season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Ron Walker, chairman of the organising company that stages the race, complained to close friend Ecclestone about the lack of sound. The piercing scream of the old V8 engine has gone, and in its place we now have a huskier tone, complete with whistles and whirrs from the 1.6-litre V6 turbo as F1 tries to become greener.