The first official photos of Pininfarina's Cambiano concept car are out in the open ahead of its world premiere at the Geneva Motor Show thanks to the folks over at Italian car magazine Quattroruote.

When Pininfarina first announced the Cambiano, it made word of a sedan model but the teaser pictures that followed clearly showed a two-door coupe. As it turns out, the Cambiano study is both a coupe and a sports sedan.

To elaborate, on the driver's side, the concept has one large door while on the passenger's side Pininfarina opted for a suicide door solution and also eliminated the center pillar to afford better entry and exit to all seating positions.

If you weren't content with the patent images of Infiniti's new supercar concept that we showed you earlier this month, you'll be happy to know that the first official pictures of the study…emerged on the internet today, less than two weeks before its public debut at the 82nd Geneva International Auto Salon.

We will admit that we weren't exactly wowed by the patent renderings, but our opinion change after we laid eyes on the real photos of Infiniti Emerg-E concept.

The Japanese premium brand's study is an impressive looking supercar with what we could even dare to describe as an Italian finesse in its styling. Of course, you'll find Infiniti's latest styling cues such as the pinched rear quarter window and the bulbous front grille, but it all works out nicely.

Infiniti has said that the Emerg-E will be propelled by a mid-mounted range-extender drivetrain comprising an electric motor and an internal combustion engine.

In order to encourage carpooling and decrease traffic congestion, the State of California came up with the idea of creating the so-called High Occupancy Vehicle lanes or HOV for short, which could only be used by cars with two or more occupants.

Last July, however, the Golden State altered the regulations allowing single-passenger vehicles to use them as well, provided they were all-electric or powered by hydrogen fuel cells or natural gas.

Despite being a hybrid, the Volt was excluded from the list specifying the vehicles allowed to use the HOV lanes, which span more than 1,400 miles and reduce driving time by an average of 36 minutes each day, because of its emissions.

We will get our first opportunity to see the production version of the Yaris Hybrid at the 82nd Geneva Auto Salon in March, but prior to that, Toyota today announced pricing for the UK market and also gave out details on its fuel economy and emissions levels.

The new Yaris Hybrid is available for pre-order from Toyota showrooms in Britain now with an on-the-road price of "less than £15,000" with customer deliveries to commence from July 1.

In comparison, pricing for the regular, 99hp 1.33-liter gasoline powered Yaris ranges from £13,260 to £15,385, while the 90hp 1.4-liter diesel from £14,260 to £14,760.

Reports of the death of the internal combustion engine have been greatly exaggerated. In 2011, hybrids and EVs like the Nissan Leaf and Chevy’s Volt made many headlines, though not always for the reasons the automakers would prefer.

The truth is that, despite all the publicity and the tax incentives, sales so far have been abysmal with Edmunds reporting that hybrids account for just 2.46 of the market and electric cars not even reaching one percent.

There are many reasons why new car buyers are not willing to shell out a lot of cash for zero-emissions vehicles. First of all, they are expensive and the gains from fuel costs come in the long-term, while the sticker price is immediately visible and clearly understood by everyone.

We have a long way to go before the world adopts electric vehicles as the primary mode of transportation - if it does, that is, as we may see different technologies taking over down the road, but for now, both the industry and governments around the globe are making moves to promote their use with the masses.

And while mainstream consumers remain hesitant to accept electric vehicles, many people believe that they could at least provide a viable solution in certain segments.

A team from Romania consisting of automotive journalist Dan Scarlat, designer Marian Cilibeanu and engineer Cristian Ionescu, came up with an idea to create a modular hybrid concept vehicle called the SCI hyMod.

In theory, the vehicle would allow the driver to choose between two different propulsion systems, depending on his or her needs.

We now have a slightly better view of Toyota's brand-new FT-Bh Concept, as the Japanese automaker published the first real life teaser photos and a slightly more revealing video. The name of the prototype model is an acronym for Future Toyota B-segment hybrid.

Toyota says that it designed the FT-Bh for maximum fuel efficiency while using economically viable methods and materials for its construction.

It's amazing how fast people react these days. While campaigning in Suwanee, Georgia, a couple of days ago, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich attacked President Barack Obama on his plans to increase subsidies for alternative fuel-powered cars.

Gingrich started by making fun of the green car lobby. "How dare we go out and drive vehicles bigger than their bicycles!" said the former House Speaker before he aimed his guns on the Chevrolet Volt.

"You know the Volt is an interesting experimental car," said Gingrich. "The average family that buys it earns $170,000 a year. This is Obama's idea of populism. And in this new budget he wants to increase the amount given to every Volt buyer to $10,000. Which is an amount which a lot of people would by a decent second-hand car, but it wouldn't be an 'Obama' car."

President Barack Obama is determined to make cars in the U.S. as clean as possible. After reaching an agreement with major manufacturers about the 54.5 mpg CAFE target set for 2025, he now plans to increase the federal income tax credit for alternative fuel-powered cars.

The proposal, which is included in the 2013 budget, raises the maximum credit by as much as US$2,500 for certain plug-in models. Currently, the maximum tax credit is US$7,500.

Under the provision, vehicles with a MSRP of US$45,000 and above would received up to US$7,500, while models below that price would be eligible for the full US$10,000 credit.

Even though you may know the name and perhaps even seen one of its models, chances are that you were either too young to remember or not even born yet when the Studebaker Automobile Company closed shop in 1966.

Fast forward to today and the company may have a second chance in life - hopefully with better designs than the official CGIs you see here... According to a report from FoxNews, Ric Reed, who bought the rights to the Studebaker brand in 2001, has revealed new plans to resurrect the famous nameplate.

Reed, who runs the Denver, Colorado-based Big Kahuna apparel company, told the news site that he wants to revive Studebaker's classic monikers such as the Lark, President and Hawk for the new model series, adding, however, that the cars themselves will be 21st-century hybrids.

The new generation of Lexus' GS sedan is gradually making its way to most markets around the world. Today, the Japanese automaker released pricing for the UK market where the GS is available for order now with first customer deliveries to take place in mid-June.

The range starts from £32,995 for the GS 250 while the full hybrid GS 450h starts from £44,995. The GS 250 is powered by a 2.5-liter V6 petrol engine delivering 206bhp while the GS 450h combines a 3.5-liter Atkinson-cycle V6 petrol engine with the Lexus Hybrid Drive for a total system output of 338bhp.

Up until now, we weren't sure if BMW would keep the supercar-like scissor doors seen on the original Vision EfficientDynamics concept and the evolved i8 study on the production model as the company's engineers avoided opening up the car in front of our scoop photographers.

However, being the diligent spy shooters that they are, they managed to snag the first pictures of the final production prototype with the passenger-side door wide open, and as you can see from the pictures, the i8 will indeed keep the concept's swiveling doors fixed to the A-pillars.

The photos you see here are scans from a leaked brochure of the Japanese market 2012 Lexus RX that has received a mid-life facelift, three years after its market launch in early 2009. The updated RX will be available in North America as a 2013 model.

Following in the footsteps of its bigger brother, the 2013 Lexus LX 570 that was introduced in January, the refreshed RX gains a new fascia featuring Lexus's new trademark spindle grille along with revised headlamps sporting LED daytime running lights and a redesigned front bumper.

Also new are the tail lamp graphics and the alloy wheel designs.

The interior gets a news steering wheel design and refreshed trim options while as Carscoop tipster Leopaul pointed out; Lexus will also be offering a new optional rear-seat entertainment system on high-range models.

BMW aims to establish itself as a manufacturer of premium green vehicles through its new "i" sub-brand starting with the i3 hatchback in pure EV and extended-range EV flavors in 2013 and shortly after the i8 hybrid sports car, which is obviously the more interesting proposal of the two.

Following up on the spy pictures of the camouflaged production version of the i8 that we showed earlier in the week, our scoopsters also snagged a video of the test car quietly (perhaps too quietly for a BMW coupe) running around on the snow which you can watch after the break.

Remember how Infiniti's M Hybrid beat the Porsche Panamera S Hybrid in a quarter mile duel for a new commercial that aired last month? Well now, the Japanese carmaker is gining a behind-the-scenes look at what went on during the filming of the spot.

Aside from seeing the M Hybrid burning some rubber the only other interesting bit in this video is the blacked out Mercedes-Benz ML film car - which, of course, goes unmentioned by Infiniti. Watch the two-and-a-half minute long clip after the break.

Just a little over two months after Mitsubishi teased the new Outlander with the second iteration of its Concept PX-MiEV at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show, the Japanese company lifted the wraps off the production model that will make its world premiere at the forthcoming Geneva Motor Show in early March.

Even though we only get a single picture from Mitsubishi, it's easy to see that the all-new Outlander is almost a carbon copy of the PX-MiEV II right down to the design of the alloy wheels.

This doesn't mean that there aren't differences over the study but that they are limited to details such as the conventional headlamp units, exterior mirrors and door handles while Mitsubishi also added a pair of fog lamps up front.

The last time we showed you a prototype of the BMW i8 hybrid sports car it was in May of 2011 with a scoop video of the car undergoing cold-weather testing. Now, our spy photographers captured another prototype of the i8 being driven on the snow.

So what's new about this test car? Well, a lot actually, as whereas the previous prototype was based on BMW's second concept for an i8, the car featured here is the final production version.

The design of the i8 has progressed with BMW moving the exterior mirrors from the window to the corner of the doors and refining other details such as the door handles, headlamps, bumpers and even the alloy wheel designs.

But while the Bavarians have made some necessary changes, the overall shape of the car along with the aerodynamic details like the rear wings and air channels in front of the rear wheel arches remain unchanged. We still don't know if the production model will keep the concept's butterfly-style doors.

Making yet another pun with Fisker and its Karma is easy. After all, the California based carmaker has faced several problems with its extended-range hybrid luxury sedan over the past couple of years. However, its latest issue is quite serious.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has frozen Fisker’s access to the federal loan it was awarded for engineering of the Karma (US$169 million) and production of the midsize Nina sedan (US$359 million), which will be priced much lower than the $100K Karma.

Lately, fuel economy figures are becoming something of a hot issue in the U.S. After the Consumer Watchdog-Hyundai Elantra debacle we told you about earlier today, we have another case of a car manufacturer accused of misleading customers about one of its model’s fuel economy claims.

Heather Peters, a former lawyer who lives in Southern California, took Honda to a small-claims court. She accused the carmaker of lying about her 2006 Civic Hybrid's fuel efficiency as she never managed to reach the estimates advertised by Honda.

And guess what? Peters won the case and the court awarded her US$9,867. LA Superior Court Commissioner Douglas Carnahan wrote a 26-page decision, which included a long list of misleading statements made by Honda and identified by Peters, such as “amazingly little fuel” and “save plenty of money of fuel with up to 50 mpg during city driving.”

Infiniti has been trickling out information on the new sports car concept it plans to reveal at the 2012 Geneva Salon bit by bit these past couple of months. Today we learn that the electric sports car model will be called the "Emerg-E".

"The INFINITI EMERG-E will be the first car from the brand to have not only a range-extender drivetrain offering vivid performance with zero emissions capability but also one mounted in a mid-ship package for optimal handling," the company said in a short statement.