Audi has announced changes to its Q7 range, with new engines, a new transmission and improved economy promised.

There will be two supercharged 3.0 TFSI petrol engines to replace the 3.6 V6 and 4.2 V8, and they will boast greater speed and lower CO2 emissions, WhatCar.com reports.

With the 268bhp version, the Q7 can achieve zero to 60mph in less than eight seconds, but the 328bhp is a second quicker. Both engines have CO2 emissions of 249g/km.

Also on the way to the range is a new eight-speed transmission, allowing drivers to switch between Drive and Sports modes for enhanced performance across a variety of driving scenarios.

Prices start at just over £40,000 and initial deliveries are expected in June this year, the car buyer’s guide said.

In late 2009, the German car manufacturer announced that its A3 2.0 TDI model was the greenest of its kind the industry.

The Ford Fiesta is Europe’s best-selling car in 2010 so far, according to figures from JATO Dynamics.

In March, the Fiesta led the way from the Volkswagen Golf to be the month’s bestseller, taking it to the top of the charts for year-to-date sales.

In total, 140,496 Fiestas have been sold this year, meaning the Ford model has edged ahead of the Golf, which has seen sales figures of 135,048.

Last month, 68, 630 Fiestas were sold, representing a 25.8 per cent rise on the previous year, while 56,845 Golfs were sold during the same period, the automotive date and intelligence provider revealed.

David Di Girolamo, head of JATO consult, said: "Fiesta has been closing the gap to Golf through 2010 and there are a number of factors behind this. The buoyant sales markets so far this year are those where Fiesta is popular and are also scrappage-influenced markets, driving purchase of small cars."

The Fiesta was also the strongest selling used car during the last quarter of 2009, according to data from Experian Automotive.

Motorists could soon have their speed measured from space, according to a report in the Telegraph.

The Home Office is testing new speed cameras which can track the average speed of a vehicle over long distances by using satellite technology.

A combination of number plate reading technology and a global position system allows the cameras to work efficiently and accurately from a remote distance.

Two sites are currently being tested, one in Southwark, London, and the other on the A374 between Antony and Torpoint in Cornwall.

American-owned company PIPS Technology Ltd has developed the ‘SpeedSpike’ system to calculate average speed between any two points in a network, the news provided states.

An AA spokesperson told the Telegraph: "It is a natural evolution of the technology that is out there."

Earlier this year, the Sustainable Development Commission, advisor to the government, suggested average speed cameras should be installed on all UK motorways.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has praised a Scottish campaign to highlight the importance of wearing a seatbelt.

Called Have You Clicked?, the campaign was launched today (April 19th) by the Scottish government, Road Safety Scotland and the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland.

A survey conducted by the Department for Transport in 2009 found that five per cent of car drivers in Scotland did not wear seatbelts, and among bus, coach and minibus drivers a shocking 77 per cent admitted they did not wear them.

Van drivers fared better, with only 18 per cent failing to buckle up, but only 58 per cent of lorry drivers said they took the precaution of wearing a seatbelt.

Kathleen Braidwood, RoSPA Scotland’s road safety officer, said: "Nearly a third of people killed in cars are not wearing seatbelts and it has been estimated that at least half of those would have survived had they been strapped in."

Motorists who normally use glasses or contact lenses were recently urged to wear them when driving in order to protect their safety and that of other road users.

British motorists seeking ways to combat the sharp rise in fuel prices can take advantage of some expert advice.

The website PetrolPrices.com gives drivers the chance to search for petrol stations within a certain postcode to find the cheapest place to fill up their tanks.

Prices have hit as much as £1.20 per litre in some places during recent weeks, but there are ways to limit the expense by focussing on fuel efficiency.

Avoiding regular changes of gear, thus reducing engine revs, is one way to make a tank of petrol go further, while opting for the highest possible gear on quiet roads also helps.

If possible, motorists should avoid weighing the car down with extras such as roof racks and other heavy equipment.

Average petrol prices reached an all-time high of 119.9p in March, an increase of 10.02p on prices at the beginning of the year, breaking the previous record set in 2008, according to the AA.

Nissan’s new Micra model will be very competitively priced, reports Autocar.co.uk.

The car news provider quoted an unnamed Nissan source as saying the supermini would be "priced to be extremely competitive against the competition".

Having already been tested in Japan, the new model has been developed and built on Nissan’s global V-platform and should be on sale in Europe in the autumn.

"The firm is eager to position its all-new supermini as an affordable choice for new drivers," Autocar.co.uk stated.

When the car goes on sale here, it will offer a choice of two engines – a 79bhp 1.2-litre petrol option, with CO2 emissions of 115g/km, or a 97bhp 1.2-litre direct injection petrol engine, which emits 95g/km of CO2.

Further optional extras include reverse parking sensors, a touch-screen satellite navigation system and speed sensitive audio, the automotive news website added.

British-built Nissan models accounted for 81 per cent of the total car sales for the brand in March this year.

Renault is now offering its fully integrated satellite navigation system on six of its models, across four trim levels, reports Carpages.co.uk.

The Renault Carminat TomTom is to be included on the Renault Clio, Kangoo, Megan, Scenic and Laguna ranges, as standard on the Dynamique, Dynamique S, Privilege and Initiale trim levels.

With 50 countries mapped, the new and improved system now includes IQ Routes technology, Advanced Lane Guidance and Map Share.

These features allow drivers to follow the best routes, with the system taking real-world traffic flow speeds and the time of day into account.

Further improvements are being applied in addition to the integrated TomTom; the Dynamique trim level of the Clio now comes with cruise control and speed limiter as standard.

The introduction of the satnav was named by the most significant motoring moment of the previous decade by Carsite.co.uk. Satnav systems are even available on mobile phones now.

New figures from Clean Green Cars have revealed the most environmentally-friendly car manufacturers, and there’s good news for Toyota.

The Japanese carmaker fared well in the list, compiled by the independent automotive analysts, based on average CO2 emissions across the first quarter of 2010.

Surpassing the target figure of 130g/km, set by the European Union, Toyota’s mean average across its model range was 124.55g/km.

But there was huge disparity between its best and worst performing models. While its eco-friendly Prius registered 91.26g/km, the Landcruiser model was found to emit an average of 223.77g/km.

With an average of 393.2g/km, the Bentley Continental GT was the worst offender for emissions, followed by Land Rover’s Range Rover model, which recorded figures of 305.51k/gm.

The list also compares this year’s first-quarter performances with those of the final quarter of 2009, and the Mercedes CLS showed the highest increase in emissions, going up by 17.83 per cent.

But the Lexus RX showed a 25.17 per cent improvement, reducing its emissions from 197.85k/gm to 148.05k/gm.

Pop star Lee Ryan was left red-faced when he stalled his sports car just before driving it down the red carpet for a film premiere, reports Contactmusic.com.

The 26-year-old Blue singer was eager to make an impression as he arrived to the premiere of The Heavy, a British gangster movie in which he makes his screen debut.

Driving a TVR, which appears in the film, the Chatham-born warbler admits he was only meant to be a passenger in the car, but couldn’t resist the urge to take the wheel.

He told BANG Showbiz: "I was meant to get in the car and be driven, but I was like, ‘I want to drive it.’ But I’ve got a confession to make – up the road I stalled it. It was in the middle of the road and I had five buses coming towards me and I was panicking."

The film, directed by Marcus Warren, also features ex-footballer Vinnie Jones.

Fernando Alonso says his Ferrari’s engine failure during today’s (April 16th) practice for the Chinese Grand Prix was expected, Reuters reports.

The two-time world champion saw his engine go up in smoke while on a practice lap of the circuit in Shanghai, a fortnight after the same thing happened in Malaysia.

Alonso won the opening race of the season in Bahrain after his team replaced the Ferrari’s engine, but that was put back in for this practice session and that appears to have back-fired.

"We lost an engine today, which is never a good thing, we would like to have all the engines perfectly okay," the Spaniard told reporters.

"We knew that this engine was a little bit damaged after Bahrain, it was the one we replaced in Bahrain before the race so we are not too worried."

The 28-year-old driver is currently second in the championship standings, two points behind his Brazilian teammate Felipe Massa.