SEAT

Cupra, performance wing of Spanish marque Seat, will debut its new range of beefed-up Leons at the 2020 Geneva motor show. The Cupra Leon will be available in a five-door or Sportstourer wagon body. Models of the sportier Leon will be available in front-wheel drive layout or 4Drive all-wheel drive. All models of the Cupra Leons will come equipped with a six-speed DSG transmission.

Germany's three major automakers, the BMW Group, Daimler (parent of Mercedes-Benz) and the Volkswagen Group, have been fined a total of €100 million ($163 million) for forming a cartel to buy certain steel products. The Bundeskartellamt, Germany's competition commission, says the three car companies met twice a year with steel makers between 2004 and 2013 to set uniform surcharges for the long steel they purchased. Illegally set prices were in use until 2016.

Cupra has been snapped testing a hotter version of the next-generation Seat Leon ST, likely with all-wheel drive and more than 220kW. The most noticeable differences between the Seat Leon and the Cupra model come at the back, where there's quad exhaust pipes and a racy diffuser-style insert.

Martin Winterkorn, former Volkswagen Group CEO, was last week charged for offences related to the company's Dieselgate saga. Prosecutors claim Winterkorn didn't inform customers about the company's emissions cheating software and failed to stop the company from using such software at the earliest possible instance. Due to the company's delayed reaction, it was hit with large punitive fines by both German and American authorities.

Volkswagen Group's leadership has announced a ramping up of its already ambitious electric vehicle plans at its 2019 annual press conference. The German automaker now plans to launch 70 new electric cars by 2028, up from the 50 it had previously committed to. It now predicts it will make 22 million electric vehicles in the next decade, up from the previous forecast of 15 million. If all goes according to plan, 40 per cent of the group's sales will be electric by 2030.