Here are live pics of Volkswagen at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show, and a gallery of the 2010 Volkswagen Touareg after the jump. Much like its German counterpart, BMW at Geneva, Volkswagen is focussing on its green credentials for the environment, or blue in this case, with its Bluetec models. The new Touareg Hybrid was on display, for example, which weighs 208 kg less than the original version. With its V6 333 hp engine combined with an electric motor of 47 hp, it should compete directly with the BMW X6 hybrid, and the Audi Q5 hybrid.

Other models on show at the 2010 Geneva motor show from Volkswagen include the Amarok pick-up and the Polo GTI, which is more economical than the previous version despite an increase of 30 hp. The CrossPolo also debuted, which can only be described as a hatchback soft off-road model.

Below is a full gallery of the 2010 Volkswagen Touareg, which could be quite a successful model for the brand in the future. It is roomy, with more luxury internal finishings than the previous generation, and large boot capacity. The Touareg is already available on the German market, costing 50,700 euros for the entry level model, and 73,500 euros for the top-of-the-range Touareg Hybrid. The 4.2-litre TDI V8 costs 70,800 euros. Click on the galleries for more pics.

Continue reading: Volkswagen live at Geneva and new Touareg pics

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These videos show some close-ups of the Mercedes GL 350 BlueTEC version. The diesel SUV is the ecological effort for this segment from Mercedes, presented at the New York show in a slight restyling.

The BlueTEC version is based on the 320 CDI with the same V6 three-litre engine with 211 hp. The car is equipped with a special filter system, with DeNox system that reduces NOx values by 80 percent, reducing consumption to 9 l/100km.

Continue reading: Mercedes GL 350 BlueTEC videos

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Auto Motor und Sport writes that at the next Frankfurt auto show Mercedes-Benz is going to show a hyper-efficient version of the S-Class with a fuel consumption of only 6.6 liters/100 km (15 km/liter).

By rights, a 4-cylinder, “cheap” version of the S-Class should be an unacceptable image risk for Mercedes-Benz, but the drawbacks should be more than balanced by the “green” kudos that such a model will garner. This S-Class should also be the first to have a Bluetec version of the 2.2-liter CDI engine, with a dual stage bi-turbocharger that should result in a maximum power of 204 PS. This engine should be coupled with a mild hybrid system of which nothing is yet known. The Bluetec S-Classs will probably already be Euro6-compliant.

Attentive readers will probably have noted the “magical” number of 204 horsepower: BMW and Audi have already announced 2-liter engines with the same power (BMW with a bi-stage turbocharger that will debut on the 123d, Audi with a single turbo-charger, seen on the Cross Coupè Quattro Concept).

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