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Volkswagen (VW) has been slapped with a record fine by Australia's consumer watchdog to settle lawsuits over the carmaker's global emissions scandal. The A$125m ($86m; £66m) penalty is the highest ordered by a court for breaches of Australian consumer law. VW has been hit with a flurry of legal action since 2015, when it emerged the firm had been cheating emissions tests. Australian regulators have also launched proceedings over VW's consumer loans. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has alleged in a federal court that VW failed to make proper checks into borrowers' living expenses, or to determine if the loans were unsuitable for them. The allegations relate to 49,380 consumer loans made between 2013 and 2016. Volkswagen: UK drivers fight for 'dieselgate' compensation Mopping up Dieselgate: The boss transforming Volkswagen The fine relating to the emissions scandal came from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), which said that VW admitted it had failed to disclose the existence software aimed at cheating emissions tests on 57,000 vehicles imported into Australia between 2011 and 2015. In 2015, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that many VW cars had software in diesel engines that could detect when they were being tested, and then change the performance to improve results. VW admitted 11 million cars worldwide had software that reduced readings of emissions in tests. Globally, VW has been forced to pay out more than $33bn in fines, recall costs and civil settlements globally.

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Tesla has displaced Volkswagen as the world's second most valuable carmaker, after a dramatic rise in share price pushed its market value to more than $100bn (£76.1bn). The milestone sets the stage for chief Elon Musk to collect billions in pay tied to hitting that target. Tesla's share price has more than doubled since October, when the firm reported a rare quarterly profit. Shares rose 4% on Wednesday, making its valuation second only to Toyota. Although Mr Musk's company has some way to go to catch up with the Japanese car making giant. Toyota has a stock market valuation of more than $230bn. Some analysts say the rise in price reflects Tesla's performance in recent months, during which it has opened a factory in Shanghai and met its production goals. This month, Tesla said it had delivered more than 367,500 cars last year - up 50% from 2018. Investors expect the new factory to act as a springboard that will allow it to capture more of the Chinese market. Despite the increase, Tesla's sales remain small compared to those of its competitors. Volkswagen delivered almost 11 million vehicles last year, while Toyota sold more than 9 million in the first 11 months of 2019. Tesla has also never made an annual profit and it is facing investigations after complaints about battery fires and unexpected acceleration. The company is due to report its latest quarterly results to investors this month. If Tesla sustains the $100bn valuation, it could unlock the first piece of a $2.6bn compensation package for Mr Musk. The plans calls for Mr Musk to receive payouts in shares over 10 years, with the first award contingent on the firm reaching $100bn in market capitalisation and sustaining that value over both a month, and six-month average. Tesla also had to reach $20bn in revenue and earn $1.5bn, after adjusting for items like taxes - thresholds the carmaker reached in 2018. Tesla was valued at about $55bn when the pay deal was approved.

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Daimler, the German carmaker that owns Mercedes-Benz, has said it will shed at least 10,000 jobs worldwide as it seeks to fund the switch to electric cars. Daimler personnel chief Wilfried Porth told journalists the number of jobs lost would be "in the five figures". The move comes days after rival Audi said it would cut 9,500 of its 61,000 jobs in Germany for similar reasons. Daimler said the car industry was going through "the biggest transformation in its history". "The development towards CO2-neutral mobility requires large investments, which is why Daimler announced in the middle of November that it would launch a programme to increase competitiveness, innovation and investment strength," the firm said. "Part of this programme is to reduce staff costs by around €1.4bn by the end of 2022 and, among other things, to reduce the number of management positions worldwide by 10%." Electric cars Daimler, which has a global workforce of nearly 300,000 and factories in 17 countries, said it would reduce costs and employment "in a socially responsible manner", including the use of "natural fluctuation". "In addition, the possibilities for part-time retirement will be expanded and a severance programme will be offered in Germany in order to reduce jobs in the administration," it added. Daimler said its plans had been agreed with the firm's works council, which includes union representation. German carmakers have been slow to adapt to new technological trends, including self-driving cars and electric vehicles. At the same time, they have been suffering falling demand in China, while the trade war between Washington and Bejing has also dented growth.

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The Frankfurt Motor Show, which gets under way later this week, will showcase some of the most exciting new models the car industry has produced in years. Yet even the organisers admit the event is not quite what it used to be. Inside the vast exhibition halls, an array of high-tech new electric designs will certainly be attracting plenty of attention. But outside dark political clouds are looming, and behind the scenes the legions of be-suited executives are likely to be worried - about trade tensions, falling sales in key markets and, of course, Brexit. The Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung, or IAA, remains one of the biggest motor shows in the world. There will be more than 800 exhibitors from 30 countries, spread across an area the size of 24 football pitches. Yet although the major German carmakers - VW Group, Daimler and BMW - will be determined to put on an elaborate display at their home event, other big names will be missing, among them Toyota, Nissan, and Fiat Chrysler. This has been a trend for a number of years now, and not just at Frankfurt. Exhibiting at car shows is expensive, while manufacturers are investing huge sums in developing new technologies, such as electric cars and autonomous systems, and their budgets are under pressure. While major events like the IAA do attract a lot of publicity, there's also a great deal of competition for headlines. Small wonder then, that carmakers are increasingly becoming choosy about where and when they show off their wares. The American manufacturer Ford, for example, often prefers to hold major product launches at in-house events. "We believe such events provide a more focused environment where we can take the time with our audiences rather than in the busy arena of an auto show", says spokesman John Gardiner. Meanwhile the German automotive industry association, the VDA, which organizes the Frankfurt show, is well aware the world is changing. It wants to focus more attention than ever on new technologies, such as electrification, automated driving and connectivity. As the VDA president Bernhard Mattes put it at a press conference ahead of the event, "we have recast the IAA - as the international platform for the individual mobility of the future". Against that backdrop, it is no surprise that many of the biggest attractions at the show will be electric. hey include the new Porsche Taycan. Officially unveiled last week, it is the first all-electric model ever to be produced by the Stuttgart manufacturer, and goes into production at a brand new factory today. It has a top speed of 161mph, and is capable of accelerating from 0-60mph in 3.2 seconds, while it has a range of 279 miles between charges. This makes it a bona-fide sportscar, although critics have been quick to point out that in performance terms it still has some way to go to match its closest rival - the well-established and cheaper Tesla Model S. But arguably more significant in industry terms is the new ID.3, a battery powered hatchback which will be unveiled in Frankfurt. In the wake of the 2015 diesel emissions scandal, Volkswagen announced it would invest tens of billions of euros to develop an entirely new generation of electric cars, using a toolkit of common components in order to keep costs down. The ID.3 is the first of those new models to go into production, and its launch is a highly symbolic moment for the VW Group. The point is being reinforced by a rebranding exercise, which will also see the company unveil a new logo at the show. That will probably ensure the VW Group hogs the headlines. But its rival Daimler will be hoping to claim at least a share of the limelight. The company has been badly affected recently by falling sales of diesel cars, the effects of global trade tensions, and the need to recall and fix tens of thousands of cars which were allegedly fitted with emissions cheating software. Under its new chief executive Ola Källenius, Daimler has launched a major cost cutting drive in an effort to boost its profits. It is also working with other manufacturers to pool the costs of developing new technologies. It is planning to show off a new electric people carrier, the EQV, as well as a concept for an electric saloon, the EQS. BMW will use the show to put its all-electric mini on display. The new model will be built at its plant in Oxford, with production beginning next year. Jaguar Land Rover, meanwhile, is also hoping to make an impact with a new take on an old favourite. The company will reveal its new Defender - a replacement for the rugged off roader that first rolled out of the factory in 1948, and remained in production for an astonishing 67 years.

There was "no guarantee" of a settlement, they said. "The common goal of VZBV and Volkswagen is a pragmatic solution for the benefit of the customer," they declared, adding that they had agreed to keep the talks confidential. The class action case is among the first of its kind in Germany. Because of a new draft law in 2018, consumer rights groups became able to represent customers taking companies to court - and to bear their costs. VZBV, an umbrella group of consumer associations, is state-financed and represents a wide range of members, from building owners to workers to the German cycling federation. Proceedings began in September 2019 in a local court near the VW factory, the Higher Regional Court of Brunswick. Deliberations had to be moved to a town hall, as so many attended, according to a Reuters report. VW disclosed in 2015 that it had used illegal software to mani[CENSORED]te the results of diesel emissions tests. UK drivers fight for VW 'dieselgate' compensation US sues Volkswagen over 'massive fraud' At the time, the company said that about 11 million cars were fitted with the "defeat device", which alerted diesel engines when they were being tested. The engine would then change its performance in order to improve the result of the test. Since the scandal broke, the carmaker has spent more than €30bn (£25bn) in legal costs and fines. Volkswagen has faced a flurry of legal action worldwide, including the UK, where the High Court in London has begun hearing a case brought on behalf of tens of thousands of motorists. The carmaker's current and former senior employees are facing criminal charges in Germany. In May 2019, the company, which also owns Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, Seat and Skoda, said in its annual report that it had set aside a further €1bn (£847m) in legal provisions which included this case.

The 40-year-old suffered the fatal accident after 276 kilometres (171 miles) of the seventh stage. A statement from organisers said he was pronounced dead in hospital having earlier been found unconscious after suffering a cardiac arrest. "The entire Dakar caravan would like to extend its sincere condolences to his friends and family," it said. The event, once known as the Paris-Dakar Rally, is being held in Saudi Arabia for the first time, having spent a decade in South America following a switch from its original Saharan African route because of security concerns. Scores of riders, drivers and crew - including two-time Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso - are competing in various vehicles over 12 stages. Goncalves, the 2013 cross-country rallies world champion, was taking part in his 13th Dakar Rally and was runner-up to Marc Coma five years ago. Riding for Hero Motorsports Team Rally, he had been in 46th place overall going into the seventh stage from Riyadh to Wadi Al Dawasi. A helicopter arrived with the rider eight minutes after organisers were alerted to the crash, but he was pronounced dead at Layla Hospital. Goncalves is the first competitor to die in the gruelling endurance event since Polish motorcycle rider Michal Hernik in Argentina in 2015. Last week, British motorcyclist Sam Sunderland retired injured after injuring his back and shoulder in a crash on the fifth stage. Sunderland, 30, became the only Briton to win any class in the 42-year history of the Dakar rally on the bike in 2017.

Aston Martin, the luxury British carmaker famed for kitting out James Bond, has issued a profit warning after a "very disappointing" 2019. Shares in the 106-year-old firm plunged by as much as 16% after it said annual earnings were expected to fall by nearly half from a year earlier. But the fortunes of BMW-owned rival Rolls-Royce were very different. Rolls-Royce, the car of choice for those who like to be chauffeured, sold a record 5,100 vehicles last year. Profits stall In a trading update, Aston Martin said the "challenging trading conditions highlighted in November continued through the peak delivery period of December resulting in lower sales, higher selling costs and lower margins". It said core retail sales - which covers sales from Aston Martin dealers to consumers - were up 12% from a year earlier. However, wholesale volumes - which covers how many cars the dealers are ordering from Aston Martin itself - were down 7% to 5,809. "From a trading perspective, 2019 has been a very disappointing year," said Aston Martin chief executive Andy Palmer. The company said it was expecting earnings of between £130m and £140m, well below the £247.3m it reported last year. When Aston Martin listed its shares on the London Stock Exchange in October 2018, its shares were priced at £19 each. However, the latest bad news has now dragged the share price down to about £4.50. "It is remarkable that a company with such a strong brand can consistently issue bad news," said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell. "Aston Martin has been one of the biggest flops on the stock market in living memory and today's trading update does nothing to improve its tarnished reputation. "The big question is why wealthy people aren't buying its luxury cars. Working for this company should be a marketeer's dream, but the team responsible for attracting customers clearly haven't got the formula right." Global appeal Rolls-Royce boss Torsten Müller-Ötvös told the BBC that a big driver of its higher sales was the launch of the Cullinan SUV, which he said now had "very stable, robust" orders. But he said sales were not expected to grow at the same rate in 2020. Part of the difference between the successes of the two brands could come down to how they define themselves. "We are not really in the car business, we are in the luxury goods business," Mr Müller-Ötvös said. "We are famous for bespoke, so you can basically customise a Rolls-Royce to build your own masterpiece, and I think that has attracted quite a lot of clients worldwide."

The vehicle is a prototype designed to show off the firm's sensors and in-car entertainment technologies. The dashboard is flanked by an ultra-wide panoramic screen "for driving information and entertainment". However, Sony did not indicate that it had any plans to sell the car to the public. "We will accelerate our efforts to contribute to the future of mobility," said Sony's chief executive Kenichiro Yoshida as he revealed the surprise. Bob O'Donnell, from Technalysis Research, was at the press event. "It was quite a shock to be honest with you," he told the BBC. "It highlights how the company is reinventing itself." Among the internal features of the car is sensing technology that can detect occupants of the vehicle and recognise them, in order to allow for gesture control of the entertainment systems. In total, Sony has included 33 sensors in the Vision S prototype. The Japanese firm is known to have developed powerful image sensors that can be used to analyse the road in front of a vehicle. Mr O'Donnell said that such technology could perhaps aid assisted-driving systems in future vehicles, helping judge when to apply the brakes or adjust the steering but still leaving most decisions up to the motorist. "Assisted driving could be as useful, in fact, in some ways even more useful than autonomous driving," he added. Also unveiled at CES was a concept car from Mercedes-Benz, which has teamed up with the creators of science-fiction film Avatar to develop the Vision AVTR (Advanced Vehicle Transformation). The car has no steering wheel or engine but features movable reptilian "scales", a wooden floor, transparent doors and an "infotainment" system operated by gesture. Avatar director James Cameron joined Mercedes-Benz chairman Ola Kallenius on stage.

On my first run, I'm an assassin, backstabbing enemies and slinging shuriken. Then I'm a jock, barrelling through walls and swinging a baseball bat. Next, I'm a gorilla, flanked by three other primates, tearing scientists apart with my bare hands in the middle of downtown. Somehow, I avoid the patrolling cops on that last one, probably because I’d injected two of my companions with an invisibility serum—plus, there was a riot in the streets, turning the level into a mosh pit of gang fights, enraged shop owners, and firefighters whacking office workers with axes. In the brilliant, bananas 2D roguelike Streets of Rogue, you play as one of 26 characters, killing targets and stealing macguffins from guarded buildings. After you finish all your missions you take the elevator to the next procedurally-generated floor, and keep going until you die or reach the end. Missions are formulaic and repeat often, and the world doesn’t feel all that different between stages despite a few new buildings and NPC types, but what makes Streets of Rogue special, and unpredictable, is the unique traits of each character, which constantly create new, surprising interactions with the world. Streets of Rogue is designed in the style of an immersive sim, in that each character has multiple ways to approach any given situation. As the hacker, I’m asked to kill a member of the blue gang, the Crepes. He’s surrounded by buddies, and as a scrawny nerd I’m no good with my fists or a pistol. There are no nearby turrets I can program to target him and no computers to blow up in his face, which are two of my usual tricks. Instead, I hire him as a bodyguard for the rest of the level, walk to the other side of town, and dive into a den of red gang Blahds, who gun him down without blinking. Job done. After a zombie infestation special event cuts that run short, I choose the cannibal, who regenerates health by munching corpses. On the third floor, I have to steal a wallet from a chest in the back room of a bar. But bartenders don’t like cannibals, and if I try to walk in I’ll be bounced out by him and his customers. I could blow a hole in the wall with a grenade, but everyone outside will see. Instead, I pour a vial of a mystery liquid into the air filtration system, which saps their strength. I burst through the door and beat them bloody, gorge on their bodies, and help myself to the wallet, ignoring the wailing camera on the wall. As well as randomised missions, each character has their own optional ‘big quest’, and if you complete its task on each of a run’s 15 levels you receive a new permanent ability for that class. They’re often the highlight of a run. The bartender has to make and serve three drinks to different NPCs on each level, and each recipe has its own effect on the drinker, enraging them, poisoning them, or making them super fast. The firefighter’s big quest is to extinguish fires set by arsonists, who only appear if you choose that character. These quests, and the unique traits of each character, make picking a new class feel like playing a completely different game. With the assassin, who can go invisible and chain stab enemies, I’m playing a slow-burn stealth game. With the soldier and their machinegun, it’s a top-down shooter. Streets of Rogue is not groundbreaking as either, but being able to choose between 26 different playstyles makes it hard to stop playing. I still have a handful of characters to unlock, including a vampire who must kill a hidden werewolf on each level. And after 15 hours, I’m still finding new ways to use characters I thought I’d mastered. I only just realised, for example, that hackers can hack fridges to make them literally ‘run’ (geddit?), flattening anyone in their path and then bursting open to reveal the food inside, which restores HP. I also just discovered eating burnt bodies restores more HP as the cannibal, so I buy a flamethrower whenever I can. Even if you stick with one character, each run takes on its own personality thanks to the items you find in shops, chests and safes, as well as the traits you pick up between levels. Finishing a floor lets you choose a trait from a list of three, and you can push for a specific playstyle by picking traits that match. I pair a trait that lets me recruit extra followers with one that gives followers more health to start a roving gang that can win almost any fight. Streets of Rogue also boasts a huge list of custom rules, called mutators, that you can toggle on and off, and you can decide exactly which traits and items appear in the unlock pool. It’s a build-your-own roguelike, basically, and you can make it as hard or as easy as you like. After a series of slower runs I turned on bigger bullets, exploding bodies, and faster move speed. It’s utter chaos. There are a few things I find bothersome. Commanding your companions is fiddly, but if you don’t micromanage them they’ll run off and get themselves killed. It’s too easy to get into buildings by knocking on the door, waiting for the person to answer and ducking inside as soon as they turn around. As I mentioned, the levels are uninspiring—each three-floor stage has a different skin, but the changes never really affect the action. And the four-player co-op isn’t much fun with strangers because distractions scatter players in different directions. The inclusion of slavery feels entirely out of place, too. Most levels have slavemasters that you can buy slaves from, and you can unlock the slavemaster as a playable character. In a game with a caricatured world where chicken nuggets are a black market currency, the inclusion of slavery is jarring, especially when the slaves make jokes (“Hey, remember when you literally owned me? Wow, those were the days…”). Those sticking points aside, Streets of Rogue is absolutely worth playing, and once you start, it’s hard to stop. It gives you more freedom than almost any roguelike, and its varied cast of characters, combined with the randomness of traits and mutators, mean no two runs play out the same way. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to see how exactly how much damage a comedian can do if you give them a rocket launcher, infinite ammo and an inventory full of bacon cheeseburgers.

Interested customers can now schedule a test drive of the Nissan Kicks online as per their convenient time and location, and the car will be brought to their doorstep. The test drive can be scheduled between 9 am to 7 pm, during any day of the week. Nissan India has announced starting an Anywhere, Anytime test drive programme for its compact SUV Kicks. So, interested customers can now schedule a test drive of the Nissan Kicks online as per their convenient time and location, and the car will be brought to their doorstep. Currently, the company has started this initiative only for customers in Delhi-NCR and Mumbai. To schedule a test drive, all a customer needs to do is log on to Nissan India's official website and click the 'Home Test Drive' tab and enter the preferred time and venue to schedule the test drive. The test drive can be scheduled between 9 am to 7 pm, during any day of the week. For this new 'Anywhere, Anytime Test Drive' programme, Nissan has partnered with leasing and transportation solutions firm Orix. The company will provide Nissan customers end-to-end support, from test driving a vehicle without visiting the showroom to superior sales and after-sales experience. Commenting on the launch, Rakesh Srivastava, Managing Director, Nissan India said, "Nissan is committed to offer innovative and exceptional sales and after-sales services to its customers. This is yet another unique step from Nissan to make car buying more convenient by giving them the first experience of Nissan Kicks at their doorstep." The Nissan Kicks comes in four variants - XE, XL, XV, and XV Premium and is offered in both petrol and diesel engine options. In addition to its bold looks, the SUV also comes with several premium and a few segment-first features. Including the 360-degree camera view, or as Nissan calls it 'Around View Monitor'. Currently, the Nissan Kicks is priced from ₹ 9.55 lakh to ₹ 13.69 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). For the latest auto news and reviews, follow CarandBike on Twitter, Facebook, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.