Top 5 news stories of the week
The Auto Express round-up of the five biggest news stories this week
Monday - Lexus RC Coupe
Lexus has just unveiled its attempt at a BMW 4 Series and Audi A5 rival, with the RC Coupe. The svelte coupe will make its debut at the Tokyo Motor Show later this month. No performance figures have been released but the RC 350 shown in the link provided, is fitted with a 3.5-litre V6 petrol engine. This is unlikely to make its way over to the UK but a hybrid RC 300h variant, with the powertrain from the IS 300h is likely. The range-topping V8-powered RC Coupe will be made available in the UK first, towards the end of 2014. Power should be around 450bhp.
Tuesday - Toyota's Fuel Cell Vehicle concept
Toyota is set to unveil the future of modern motoring at the Tokyo Motor Show later this month, by revealing a near production-ready version of its Fuel Cell Vehicle concept. The FCV runs on hydrogen, with the only waste product from the exhaust being water vapour. Toyota claims it has a range of up to 300 miles on a single tank and a refill takes only three minutes. It will arrive in the UK in 2015 but in very limited numbers, priced from around £50,000.
Wednesday - Jaguar F-Type Coupe
There have been vicious Internet rumours about the Jaguar F-Type coupe, then we saw the spy shots. Happily, Jaguar has now officially announced the F-Type coupe will debut at the Tokyo Motor Show in the coming weeks. It’ll use all the same running gears and platform as the convertible model but with the addition of a beautifully crafted panoramic glass roof. It’s estimated it’ll cost from around £60,000 when it goes on sale, challenging the likes of the Porsche 911 Targa for customer orders.
Thursday - Second-generation Nissan Qashqai
The Nissan Qashqai is one of the most popular cars in the UK and the Japanese manufacturer has just launched the eagerly anticipated second-generation model. The new Crossover is bigger, more stylish and more practical than the model it replaces and Nissan has promised it will offer the quality and technology to rival Audi. However, there will be no +2 model this time around. Customers wanting an extra two seats will have to move up the range and opt for the bigger X-Trail SUV. The Qashqai will go on sale in January, pricing is yet to be announced.
Friday - Mercedes S65 AMG
A new flagship Mercedes S-Class has been unveiled, the S65 AMG. Instead of the 576bhp 5.5-litre twin-turbo V8 in the S63 AMG, the more powerful S65 is fitted with a 612bhp 6.0-litre twin-turbo V12, which develops a whopping 1,000Nm of torque. Unsurprisingly, fuel economy isn’t great at only 23.7mpg, but the new model has a new head-up display and touchscreen interface. It’ll be on display at the LA and Tokyo Motor Shows this month before going on sale early next year, priced from around £170,000.