Lexus is upgrading the specification of the IS 200 SE.

The most significant addition is the fitment of the Navigator satellite navigation system. This DVD-based pan-European system includes a seven-inch pop-up screen located on top of the dashboard, with controls positioned in the centre console, alongside the handbrake.

The IS200 SE also now features a rear spoiler, like that on the IS200 Sport and IS300 models, and the manual gearbox version is fitted with an arm rest that provides a cover for the centre console.

The combined value of the new features is £2,500, but the on-the-road price of the IS200 SE has risen by £850. Lexus claims that the new price of £21,620 is over £6,000 less than equivalently specified models from Audi, BMW, Jaguar and Mercedes.

Saab is to launch two new versions of the Saab 9-3 at the Geneva Motor Show in March.

There will be a 9-3 estate (although Saab will give it a more distinctive name than that) and a V6 engine option across the range. The V6 is sourced from Holden in Australia (also part of the General Motors empire). As usual with Saab, the engine is turbocharged and produces 250 bhp, which should give the 9-3 a useful performance boost.

This is the first European application of the engine, but Alfa Romeo is expected to use it in forthcoming models, as a replacement for the current Alfa V6. Enthusiasts will bemoan the passing of one of the best mass-produced engines ever made - especially in 3.0 litre 12 valve and 3.2 litre 24 valve forms - but the company can no longer justify making its own unique V6 engine.

A new database is being introduced to record every car that is crashed or stolen.

Apparently, there has been no single database up to this point, which has enabled criminals to make multiple claims. One trick has been to apply for insurance from multiple companies, then set up an accident and claim for a write-off from each policy.

The Association of British Insurers estimates that fraudulent claims cost £500 million per year.

  Dubai Buys $1bn Stake in DaimlerChrysler

The government of the Gulf emirate of Dubai has bought a $1 billion (530 million pound) stake in DaimlerChrysler, becoming the car maker's third largest shareholder, it says.

The purchase was made through the government's wholly owned Dubai Holding company, which was set up last year to oversee the emirate's ambitious, multi-billion dollar domestic and foreign investment schemes.

"We welcome Dubai as a long-term investor, which shows it believes in DaimlerChrysler's potential," a DaimlerChrysler spokesman said, confirming the deal on Sunday.

Industry sources said that neither Deutsche Bank nor the Gulf state of Kuwait -- DaimlerChrysler's biggest and second-largest shareholders -- had reduced their stakes. Dubai's stake was about 2 percent, the sources said.

"This is a perfect time to acquire shares in DaimlerChrysler as the company begins to bear the fruits of its merger with Chrysler," said Mohammed Al Gergawi, chief executive of Dubai Holding.

He said in a statement that Dubai Holding had faith in DaimlerChrysler's management team. Dubai, the trade and tourism hub of the Gulf region, set up Dubai Holdings in late 2004. The firm is mainly focused on real estate and tourism ventures in Dubai, but it also set up an international private-equity arm, Dubai International Capital, for foreign acquisitions.

Industrial Ambitions

Dubai is one of the emirates in the oil-rich Gulf state of the United Arab Emirates. The emirate is striving to create a diversified, non-oil economy to make up for falling revenues from dwindling crude reserves.

Walid Shihabi, an analyst at Dubai-based investment bank Shuaa Capital, told Reuters the deal may lead to DaimlerChrysler investing in a Dubai-based manufacturing facility.

In 2004, Dubai announced plans to create an industrial hub aimed at attracting foreign and domestic investment.

"It might be in exchange for DaimlerChrysler establishing an industrial presence. This may be similar to the deal in Abu Dhabi, where VW is going to create a production line," Shihabi added.

In November 2004, Volkswagen led a consortium that bought European vehicle-leasing company Leaseplan for 2 billion euros. Mubadala Development Company of the Abu Dhabi government had a 25 percent stake in the deal. In December 2004, Volkswagen announced plans to build an assembly line for heavy trucks in Abu Dhabi, the oil-rich capital of the UAE.

DaimlerChrysler's Middle East headquarters is located in Dubai's Jebel Ali Free Zone, where the company employs around 100 people. In 2004 DaimlerChrysler sold just under 29,000 vehicles in the Middle East, up 14 percent on 2003.

  Faulty Component Affects German Carmakers

German carmaker BMW will stop output at a plant for three days next month due to a shipment of faulty diesel pumps, it says, a problem that has hit at least two other manufacturers.

BMW said on Friday the component -- a diesel fuel-injection pump -- would in the worst case cause the engine to stall.

A spokesman for Volkswagen's premium car division Audi said Robert Bosch, the world's biggest car parts maker, manufactured the faulty pumps.

"We won't comment on what the solution to the problem will be since it isn't our job. For that you'll have to ask Bosch," he said.

He said Audi was not dramatically affected by the problem since it did not involve their main diesel engine -- a four-cylinder -- adding that components have been switched and production continues. Bosch declined to comment.

BMW's Dingolfing plant in southern Germany will be idle from February 7 to February 11, the first two days of which are a scheduled stoppage due to the Carnival holiday.

"The factory builds 1,200 cars from the 5-, 6- and 7-Series every day," a spokesman said, "but we have very flexible working conditions here so we're confident that we can make up for that lost volume."

Another spokesman said there was no urgent need for action, but said the faulty part would not last as long as intended.

"We will be looking into whether cars with this faulty component were delivered to customers, and if so whether it can be replaced during a normal inspection or whether we will ask customers to bring their cars to the garage sooner as a result," he said.

The six-cylinder diesel engines are built into BMW X3 and X5 offroaders and 3-, 5- and 7-Series cars. In total BMW delivered more than 1 million BMW-brand vehicles to customers in 2004. A spokesman for DaimlerChrysler unit Mercedes said its production also continued after it stopped deliveries of cars affected.

Both Audi and Mercedes will exchange pumps for customers that bought a car equipped with the faulty engine part.

Despite a past reputation for engineering excellence, the German automotive industry has been suffering lately from quality problems that have led to a continued decline in dependability ratings for German brands in industry rankings.