Seat Ibiza gets bigger
Seat's new Ibiza hatchback is significantly roomier than its predecessor. Its body is 87mm wider and its wheelbase 60mm longer. Boot space has grown by 22 per cent to 355 litres.
The fifth-generation Ibiza is also edgier and sportier in design, featuring more sculpted, accentuated and streamlined surfaces.
Built on Volkswagen's new modular platform, it is available only as a five-door. It could arrive in Singapore in the fourth quarter - after the Ateca sport utility vehicle and new Leon ST estate in April.
GM, Honda in venture to make fuel-cell systems
General Motors (GM) and Honda are setting up the car industry's first joint venture to mass produce an advanced hydrogen-fuel-cell system that will be used in future products from each company.
Fuel Cell System Manufacturing will operate within GM's battery- pack manufacturing facility site in Brownstown, Michigan. Mass production of fuel-cell systems is expected to begin in 2020 and create about 100 new jobs.
Both sides are making equal investments totalling US$85 million (S$120 million). They have more than 2,220 fuel-cell patents between them, according to the Clean Energy Patent Growth Index.
Fuel cells are batteries which generate electricity via a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen. They have a shorter refuelling time and longer range than lithium-ion ones in electric cars.
C4 Cactus gets six-speed automatic gearbox
Citroen has added a six-speed automatic gearbox to its C4 Cactus range. It replaces the funky car's current robotised manual - an option that has proven to be increasingly unpopular with consumers everywhere.
Last of the seventh- generation Phantom
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has produced its last seventh- generation Phantom limousine after a 13-year run. The current production line has been decommissioned, paving the way for the introduction of the eighth-generation model.
The next car will be underpinned by an all-new aluminium architecture.
Volvo's S90 and V90 top European safety tests
The latest European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) has awarded the new Volvo S90 saloon and V90 wagon the maximum of five stars in its crash tests. Ford's Mustang, however, scored only two stars.
The S90 and V90 results surpass the best overall score of any model tested last year and now make Euro NCAP's top three best-performing cars ever.
In contrast, Ford's iconic muscle car, the Mustang, has scored a two-star rating for overall safety, with concerns about its crash protection of adult and child occupants and a worrying lack of safety equipment commonly available on the European market.
Christopher Tan
