Jaguar Land Rover is safeguarding around 2,000 jobs in the West Midlands by the production of its new XJ model, it has been reported.

Every Jaguar job in the region supported five other local ones, car industry group Accelerate told the BBC.

Jaguar has employed 400 staff to work on the production of the new model, saying the XJ was "vital" to helping the manufacturer survive during the recession.

The car will be produced and assembled at Castle Bromwich in Birmingham. Coventry-based firm, Lear, will also benefit from the XJ.

It already makes seats for a number of Jaguar models and the XJ has secured 90 jobs at the site.

Advantage West Midlands regional development agency has funded Accelerate, which is committed to helping the automotive industry in the region during the economic downturn.

Since it started, the group has been hosted by Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, and has been trying to provide the industry with support packages to help it survive the current economic climate.

The new Volkswagen TSI engine has gained environmental commendation from TUV Nord.

Awarding of the commendation is based upon a Life Cycle Assessment, which confirmed that the TSI engine has significantly improved environmental characteristics compared with its predecessor models throughout their life cycle.

TUV Nord, which provides the automotive industry with monitoring, training and certification services, also previously awarded a commendation to the new DSG dual-clutch transmission by VW.

VW TSI engines now boast lower fuel consumption thanks to their smaller engine size, yet they have higher driving dynamics too.

The engine is the second of three technologies used in the VW BlueMotion range to receive the commendation.

To obtain the certification from TUV Nord, the environmental characteristics of the vehicle or technology are tested from the manufacturing stage of the product until it is recycled at the end of its life cycle.

Overall performance of the new development has to be better than that of its previous model in order to be awarded the environmental commendation.

The Clean Energy Partnership (CEP) has just added to its members with Toyota being the first international auto manufacturer to join.

Responsible for the development of sustainable mobility, the partnership is mainly receiving funding and support from Germany.

The German government has invested around €2 billion (£1.8 billion) in the CEP initiative, which is committed to developing hydrogen fuel cell and electric vehicle technologies.

By 2011, Toyota will introduce five of its new hydrogen fuel cell vehicles to the German car market.

The FCHV-adv models will be introduced as part of the third stage of the CEP strategy.

Between 2011 and 2016, the partnership will be outlining the technical, political and organisational or logistical goals of meeting a 2016 target for the commercial hydrogen-powered vehicles market being prepared.

Hydrogen and CO2-free filling stations are being set-up by other CEP partners to be installed at key locations between Berlin and Hamburg.

Honda has launched an Accident Repair Programme (HARP), which manages the repair of a car after an accident.

The brand’s new programme offers additional benefits such as a guaranteed replacement car regardless of the type of accident and will raise the industry benchmark for customer service in this area.

As HARP uses a unique mobility insurance policy, it is not reliant on Honda dealers or bodyshops to provide the cars or credit hire or courtesy hire programmes, which would normally increase the cost.

The nationwide network of approved bodyshops used by Honda has been audited to guarantee that customers are provided with a service that exceeds industry standards, due to the stringent testing procedure they went through.

Honda has also introduced a training scheme for HARP, which will ensure its entire repair network is repairing to exact standards and that staff are wholly competent.

The new programme strongly supports the Japanese manufacturer’s mission statement, that it is committed to supplying products of the highest quality to obtain worldwide customer satisfaction.

UK motorists have nominated their top 50 garages in the country for car servicing and repairs.

The top five in each of the UK’s ten regions will go through to the final stage of voting in the nationwide competition to find the UK’s best garage.

More than 4,000 motorists have voted for the best garage in the Golden Garages competition and the overall winner will be selected by a panel of experts chosen by Motor Codes.

The competition was started by Motor Codes, established as a self-regulatory body for the automotive industry, in order to allow motorists to feel more confident about their choice of garage.

It was also hoped that reputable garage owners would also benefit from the competition and it would entitle them to well-deserved recognition.

Research from Motor Codes found that more than 14 million motorists felt short-changed by their local service and repair garage.

However, those using a garage recommended by Motor Codes were satisfied more than 90 per cent of the time.

The demand for used cars is expected to increase after the scrappage scheme has ended, it has been claimed.

According to online retailer Carsite, consumer demand for second-hand cars will increase as new cars become less value for money.

Between February and March, trade values of used cars in the £4,000 to £6,000 bracket, have risen by almost £2,000 on some models.

Once the scrappage scheme finishes at the end of this month, Carsite expects more demand for well-equipped, better value used cars, particularly in this price range.

Last year, when the scheme was implemented, it was more financially attractive to buy new cars as the price of second-hand models was rising and buyers could receive discounts on new models.

However, when the government-funded initiative ends, the cheapest new car on the market is expected to be around £6,500.

The scrappage scheme began last May and it was hoped it would provide a short-term boost to the car industry during the economic downturn.

A British eco-friendly car is the last European contender in the X-PRIZE competition to find the most environmentally-friendly car.

Delta Motorsport, an all-British company, has created an E-4 coupe, which brings innovation in design and technology to a zero-emissions four-seat road car.

The first example of the car will be complete in April and it has been manufactured with support from the East Midlands Development Agency, which provided £235,000 towards the research and development of the car.

One of 28 entries, the E-4 coupe will take part in the safety inspections and dynamic evaluations to compete for the $10 million (£6.6 million) prize fund, courtesy of American car insurance company, Progressive Insurance.

Unlike other electric vehicles, the E-4 has acceleration comparable to a Porsche 911 Turbo, zero to 60 mph in less than five seconds, and can reach a maximum speed of more than 100 mph.

The X-PRIZE foundation is a not-for-profit organisation committed to creating breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity, by fostering innovation through competition.

Ford is expanding its global electric vehicle market to Europe and will have introduced five new all-electric and hybrid models by 2013.

It will be launching two full-electric zero-emissions vehicles first. A Ford Transit Connect Electric will be on the market in 2011 and a Focus Electric model will be available from 2012.

In 2013, three other vehicles, two petrol hybrid and one plug-in hybrid, will join the low-carbon fleet.

The Focus Electric, which will be launched in the US next year, will be based upon a next-generation Focus model and will be part of the company’s C-car platform.

Ford is currently developing a whole range of environmentally-focussed features for its vehicles, including advanced electric power steering, weight reduction and aerodynamic improvements in its models as well as bio-fuel capable vehicles, hybrids and plug-in hybrids.

Longer-term advancements from the brand include the creation of a new EcoBoost global engine family with turbocharging and direct injection technology.

By 2012, the European Union hopes all new cars on the road will be producing carbon emissions of less than 120g/km.

New hybrid and all-electric vehicles from Ford will help achieve this target in Europe.

Advice on how to drive safely and comfortably while pregnant has been issued to mothers-to-be by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM).

The law requires everybody to wear seatbelts. Wearing a seatbelt during pregnancy will not cause any harm to the baby and, if involved in a crash, the risk of injury is reduced by 70 per cent.

To make driving both safe and comfortable, pregnant women are advised to wear the lap strap below the bump, as low down as possible.

The seat of the car can be pushed back, as long as the mirrors on the car are adjusted accordingly, and the driver needs to make sure she can reach the brake and accelerator pedals.

After-market pedal extenders are available to ensure the pedals can be reached and the leading road safety charity advises that being an extra three inches away from the steering wheel can make a big difference in a crash.

President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Professor Sir Sabaratnam Arulkumaran, supported the advice from IAM, which is committed to helping save lives on the roads.

He added that "pregnant women should use three-point seatbelts above and below the bump, not over it".

Britain is set to be at the epicentre of hybrid car production, it has been reported.

Toyota and Honda have already announced their UK-based production plants will be manufacturing hybrids for Europe.

Honda has been producing hybrid cars since last year, with its environmentally-friendly Insight going on the market then.

Nissan is expected to look to the UK for its hybrid production too, with UK managing director Trevor Mann telling the Daily Telegraph that the company has "an understanding of where we want to go" with electric vehicle production.

He also told the newspaper that he was "hopeful" that production of Nissan’s all-electric car, the Leaf, would take place at the UK’s largest car plant in Sunderland.

The UK government is keen for motorists to start purchasing ultra-low carbon cars in the near future.

A new incentive for buyers, the Plugged-in Car Grant, will be available from next January.

They can receive £5,000, the equivalent of around 25 per cent of the car value, off ultra-low carbon models.