Hard Shoulder

A round-up of today's other stories in brief...

A round-up of today's other stories in brief...

Mercedes prepares baby CLS

Mercedes-Benz is preparing the way for a completely new four-door saloon/coupé, a baby CLS, based on the next-generation A-class and due in 2013 or 2014.

The car is believed to be named the CLA and it’s going to become an entirely new four-door coupé model.

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The CLA will be a front-wheel drive and based on the platform shared with the upcoming next-generation A-class and B-class models.

The prototype we see here is dressed in a heavy camouflage but we can make out the basic contours of this compact four-door coupé.

As this is basically an A-Class hatchback, engine options will be shared with that sister model and include a 2-litre with 200bhp and a 2.2-litre diesel engine with 170bhp.

Public warned of illegal fuel sources

Maxol has estimated that 12 per cent of all diesel fuel purchased is from suspicious sources and has set up a quality assurance scheme.

Named "Fuels you can trust", it is hoped the initiative will protect Irish motorists from the hazards of purchasing illegal fuel or "washed" diesel which can have disastrous effects on engines, as we pointed out here in The Irish Timesrecently.

Fraudsters use chemical agents to remove markers and dye contained in agricultural diesel fuel to make it difficult for the Revenue Commissioners to detect that it is illegal. These chemicals can remove the lubricants in the fuel and cause injector damage.

Under the new scheme, Maxol retailers will participate in a traceability programme, commit to purchasing their fuel exclusively from Maxol and permit the testing of fuel sampled by it.

Those participating in the scheme will have an assurance seal added to all pumps and the scheme will be backed up by a full merchandising campaign.

Peugeot reveals luxury 508

Peugeot has revealed a new flagship luxury version of its 508 model. The 508 RXH will fill the gap left by the 607 and will be powered by a 2-litre HDi hybrid unit putting out 200bhp and 450Nm of torque.

The four-wheel drive RXH will have emissions of just 109g/km and fuel economy of less than 4.2 l/100km (70.6 mpg) thanks to the diesel-electric hybrid drive unit which can offer 100 per cent electric mode over short distances. The car will go on sale in Spring 2012 and will make its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September of this year.

It follows on from the introduction of the hybrid version of the 3008.