Mercedes, Audi, Kia, Nissan, Mahindra, Saab, VW, Volvo.

B-Class ED bargain: Mercedes announced a new deal for leasing the B-Class Electric Drive in the States through December 31, 2014. New rates of 299 dollars per month would mean a price decrease of about 4,000 dollars. The deal does not include the Range Package which is optional for the 2014 series.
insideevs.com, mbusa.com

New crash test ratings: EuroNCAP put the Audi A3 e‑tron and Kia Soul EV literally up against the wall. The German plug-in hybrid received a five star rating while the Korean EV got a satisfactory 4-star rating. Interestingly, the Soul EV was deemed safer than its combustion engine counterpart.
transportevolved.com, youtube.com (Audi), insideevs.com, youtube.com (Kia)

Nissan hybrid convertible? Apparently, the successor of the 370Z is to become the ‘Nissan Z,’ a topless hybrid, according to insiders. However, it will not come with a plug but likely be designed as a mild hybrid, similar to Hondas IMA system.
motoring.com.au, worldcarfans.com, topspeed.com

New Mahindra EV: The Indian company is planning to introduce an all-electric version of its Verito in mid-2015 and place it in the taxi and commercial car-rental space. Mahindra hopes to sell about 100 units of the Verito electric a month, possibly in Europe too.
thehindubusinessline.com, indianautosblog.com

Mahindra to save Saab? It looks like rumours have been true for once as Nasdaq reports that Mahindra & Mahindra is to invest in Saab. The information is deriven from a document filed to the Swedish court by one of the creditors of NEVS. The latter refused to comment.
nasdaq.com

VW electrifies Asia: At an event in Kuala Lumpur, Volkswagen introduced the Passat B8, Golf GTE and e-Up to the Asian market. In Malaysia, the Golf GTE and the Passat are set to launch next year.
therakyatpost.com

Meet the Volvo S60L PHEV: Built at Volvo’s plant in Chengdu, China, the Swedish brand plans to throw its limousine on the U.S. market by 2015. At a first drive by Frank Markus (in Sweden), the plug-in hybrid performed “admirably” in all three drive modes.
motortrend.com