PICTURES of Toyota's next-generation Prius have been posted unofficially on the Internet ahead of its unveiling at the Detroit motor show in January.

The world's best-selling hybrid car will be roomier and more fuel-efficient, despite being about the same size as the current model, the company said. Prius sticks with nickel-metal hydride batteries rather than lighter, more powerful lithium-ion, but has a bigger electric motor.

CHRYSLER is in crisis but the muscle car lives on with one of its brands, Dodge, producing an impressive looking one-off, pictured, for the US SEMA show. The aftermarket and tuning event prompted Dodge to fit an 8.4-litre V10, which develops 447kW and 758Nm, into the Challenger SRT10 Concept. It features carbon fibre panels, Bilstein shock absorbers and a "shaker" bonnet so that the engine -- from a Dodge Viper supercar -- can breathe. The Challenger, a modern day interpretation of a classic US muscle-car, isn't sold in Australia.

MAZDA has begun trials of a hydrogen-powered RX-8 in Norway, in collaboration with the country's Hydrogen Road (HyNor) project. The single-vehicle trial heralds a test involving 30 RX-8s next year, and marks the first time Mazda has run its hydrogen rotary on public roads outside Japan. The HyNor project aims to establish hydrogen filling stations along the 580km route between Oslo and Stavanger as the basis for a hydrogen-powered transport system. The first hydrogen filling station was opened in 2006 and the eventual goal is to revolutionise all road transport in Norway.

BRITISH performance car magazine Evo claims to have smashed the production-car lap record at the Nurburgring in a Maserati MC-12. The time of 7:24.29 minutes was achieved during a comparison run against a Ferrari Enzo, Koenigsegg CCX, Pagani Zonda F Clubsport and Porsche Carrera GT. The driver, American Le Mans Series racer Marc Basseng, matched the time set by Porsche legend Walter Rohrl in the Carrera GT, but that was only enough to finish fourth, ahead of the Koenigsegg. The MC-12 wasn't the quickest in a straight line but beat the Pagani into second and Enzo into third. The MC-12 is powered by a 465kW 6.0-litre V12.

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John McCain is down in the polls but can he make a comeback to win the election?

THE Dutch government said today it would inject 10 billion euros ($19.6 billion) into ING, one of the world's 20 biggest banks.

Fran Foo FRESH charges have been laid against former Woolworths CIO David Wills for allegedly receiving almost $4 million in kickbacks.

Lara Sinclair ADVERTISERS have warned media agencies that moves to double the standard commission internet publishers pay them to 20 per cent.

Matthew Knott ACADEMICS named as militant left-wing ideologues in a federal parliament list claim they are victims of a Young Liberals 'witch-hunt'.

REPUBLICAN John McCain evoked the prospect of his own defeat but said he would not be "feeling sorry for himself" if he lost.

Lex Hall THE award-winning cartoonist Bill Leak is in a serious but stable condition in an induced coma in Sydney's Royal North Shore Hospital.

Glenn Milne KEVIN Rudd's gung-ho approach to outdoing the Opposition Leader could be his undoing.

AUSTRALIAN fathers spend just six minutes alone with their children from Monday through Friday, averaging slightly over a minute a day.

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