Auto News 5

Volkswagen has shown several crossovers concepts with plug-in hybrid powertrains at recent auto shows, including the seven-passenger CrossBlue at Detroit and the five-passenger Cross Coupe TDI in Geneva. The latest is the CrossBlue Coupe, which makes its debut at China's Shanghai Motor Show and is claimed to influence future Volkswagen production models.

We might have picked somewhere warmer than northern Wales for the Jaguar F-Type's first meeting with its sports car rivals, but despite the chill of a winter that had overstayed its welcome, this frigid clime did offer some benefits: barren rolling hills; traffic consisting of little more than the postman in the morning and a farmer or two in the afternoon; and mother nature's own special driving stages laid out long before man invented the automobile. Here, three high-performance driving machines gathered for the young season's first roadster shoot-out. In one corner, we have the Audi R8 with the 430-hp V-8 engine and an S tronic automatic transmission. In the other corner is the 400-hp Porsche 911 Carrera S with a seven-speed manual. At center stage is the top-of-the-line, 495-hp Jaguar F-Type V8 S with an eight-speed automatic.