Subaru has launched a 24-hour test drive campaign, intended to allow potential customers more time to fully appreciate the benefits of symmetrical all-wheel drive.

Every Subaru model is included in the programme including the high-performance Impreza WRX STi and new Legacy 3.0R spec.B and Forester 2.5 XT turbo. Virtually every Subaru dealer on the UK mainland is operating the free test drive offer which will run for at least 12 months in order to gauge consumer interest.

Most models are available to anyone aged between 25 and 70 years of age and with a full driving licence for 12 months. High performance versions are limited to those aged between 30 and 65 years old and with at least 24 months qualified driving experience.

BMW has announced the first details of the new BMW 3 Series range to be launched in spring 2005.

The initial engine range will be made of the 320i (150 bhp), 330i (258 bhp) and 320d (163 bhp), with a 325i and 330d to follow later. The smaller engines are uprated versions of the previous 3 Series engines, as recently fitted to the 1 Series, while the 330i engine is the brand-new magnesium/aluminium engine recently fitted to the 630i. Both manual and automatic gearboxes are six-speed units.

Features of the new range include Active Steering system, available on the 330i, which provides a speed-proportional steering ratio. In the case of the rear of the car sliding, Active Steering also applies a small amount of positive steering angle to bring the rear of the car back into line. Additionally, when applying the brakes on a surface with differing grip levels such as snow or ice, Active Steering intervenes to stabilise the car more precisely and quickly than the driver is able to do manually.

With the addition of six airbags as standard, including curtain head airbags for front and rear occupants, the car is expected to receive a five-star Euro NCAP rating. Other safety features include Brake Force Display, offering two stage brake lights. Brake lights illuminate normally in average driving conditions but during an emergency stop or when the ABS braking cuts in, the area of brake light illumination increases to warn those travelling behind of the situation ahead.

After John Betjeman ("Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough") and David Brent (The Office), Slough has at last got something positive to talk about.

Ferrari and Maserati are relocating their British HQ to the town. Do they know something lost on the rest of us? Not really; Ferrari in Italy has bought out the UK importer based in Egham (Ferrari's home in Britain for over 40 years) and is moving the whole operation to Slough which is the UK base for Fiat, Ferrari's parent. It will be interesting to see what Ferrari's well-heeled clientele make of a visit to such a widely-ridiculed destination.

VW has introduced a new 3.0 V6 turbo diesel to both the Touareg and Phaeton ranges.

The "new" engine has already been seen in the recent Audi A6. It produces 225 bhp and is fitted with a particulate filter, enabling it to meet Euro IV emissions standards. It is likely to be the best selling engine in both ranges (although that is a strictly relative term in the case of the Phaeton), as the current V10 5.0 diesel is well over-the-top for most buyers and the Touareg 2.5 TDI is a bit underpowered.

The price of the Touareg is £34,200 and, should anyone be interested, the Phaeton costs £41,040.

  BMW's 3-Series to Go on Sale in March

BMW will relaunch its top selling 3-Series model in Europe and parts of Asia on March 5. A successful rollout of the new 3-Series, which competes with the Mercedes C-Class and Audi A4, is critical to the future growth of BMW.

More than half of the brand's car sales stem from the 3-Series, and the previous fourth-generation model of the mid-sized car had sales of 2.9 million units between its launch in 1998 and this past September.

While customers in Japan will be able to walk out of dealerships with a shiny new 3-Series in early March, BMW says the car won't go on sale in the United States - its single largest market - until next summer.

A spokesman for BMW declined to provide sales targets for the new 3-Series on Tuesday, either for next year or for the car's entire life-cycle. The Munich-based carmaker has overtaken arch-rival Mercedes Car Group, a unit of DaimlerChrysler, in terms of vehicle sales through September but it doesn't aim to stop there.

BMW wants to increase group sales, which include the Mini and Rolls-Royce brands, to 1.4 million units by 2008.

While new 3-Series will initially be available only as a saloon, customers will be offered a choice between four different engines ranging in size from a four-cylinder, two-litre to a six-cylinder, three-litre motor. Only one of the four, the 320d, will be a diesel, although BMW said it would later offer a three-litre diesel as well.

The company will successively roll out estate, coupe and cabrio derivatives. A compact version will no longer be produced, with the new 1-Series hatchback replacing it in this smaller segment.

  Toyota Europe Sales Hit Record

Toyota boosted European sales 11 percent in the first nine months of the year to a record 715,438 units, the world's number two carmaker says.

"Our nine-month sales results - supported by our increased European production capacity - give us every reason to feel confident we will attain our European 2004 sales target of over 900,000 vehicles," said Takis Athanasopoulos, executive vice-president of Toyota Motor Europe, in a statement on Monday.

Sales in September alone rose 4 percent in Europe to 86,774 units, the Japanese company said.

It said its market share in 16 western European countries plus Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic rose to 5.1 percent in the first three quarters of 2004 versus 4.8 percent in the year-earlier period.

On the manufacturing side, Toyota boosted output of cars 30 percent in the first nine months to 426,327 units; engines increased 18 percent to 366,912; and transmissions advanced 65 percent to 142,294 at its plants in Britain, France, Turkey and Poland.

Athanasopoulos said Toyota expected an eighth consecutive year of record sales in Europe in 2004, bringing it closer to its 2010 target of 1.2 million units in annual sales in Europe.

Britain was Toyota's largest national market in Europe in the first three quarters with 114,352 units sold, followed by Italy, Germany, France and Spain. Sales in Russia jumped 91 percent to 31,761 units.

Sales of the Yaris model rose 7 percent to 180,088 units in the January-September period, while Corolla sales gained 3 percent to 143,125 units. Turnover of the Avensis rallied 39 percent to 116,815 units and Verso sales climbed 24 percent to 44,744 units, it said.