March 2011
10 posts
8 tags
Tragic events in Japan impact car production
Japan is counting the cost to the motor industry after the recent earthquake and subsequent tsunami.
The countries largest car manufacturer Toyota has confirmed that it has suspended it’s Japanese vehicle production until at least 22 March. Nissan is still in the process of repairing plants throughout Japan and the firm’s lwaki engine plant in Fukushima is still suffering from...
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Possible WRC entry for VW
It is rumoured that VW will enter a car in the 2012 WRC championship.
The confirmation is expected to take place either at an event to celebrate its hat trick of wins in the Dakar rally on March 22, or at the start of rally Portugal, which runs from the 24-27 March.
Volkswagen could join Citroen, Ford and newcomers MINI in a limited campaign this year. Its thought Volkswagen have been...
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UK's most expensive Cinquecento?
The Car, that has starred in all three series of the hit channel 4 comedy, The Inbetweeners, is being sold on ebay.
Bidding on the fiat, which most recently featured in the ‘Rude Road Trip’, a one off for Comic Relief, started at £50 and had reached £5,100 by Friday evening.
Cincequentos of a similar age would usually sell for no more than £400.
Read more: Honest John
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Personal injury claims pushing up insurance costs
Personal injury claims are to cause a 30 percent annual rise in the price of motor insurance.
Although the number of accidents are falling and car safety is at an all time high, the number of personal injury claims, and people seeking compensation are rising.
Evidence presented by the EMB suggests that these claims are fuelling dearer premiums resulting in an expected annual percentage rise in...
2 tags
Hybrid for Toyota
Toyota will focus on hybrid vehicles in order to push for Global sales of 10 million by 2015 as part of a new “global vision”.
The company dropped to a first ever loss in 2008 and was afterwards plagued with technical issues which caused over seven million cars to be recalled worldwide.
Toyota wants ten more hybrid vehicles by 2015.
Read more: The Independent
Image courtesy of...
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UK 'relying too heavily' on sat-navs
UK ‘relying too heavily’ on sat-navs
Report by the Royal Academy of Engineers revealed that the UK is ‘dangerously dependant’ on GPS satellite navigation systems.
A study found that sat-navs often come with inadequate back up and there is equipment available to illegally jam systems.
The Global Navigation Space System affects all methods of travel including road, rail and shipping...
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Trees could be alternatives to speed cameras
A study by the Department for Transport found that trees are as effective as speed cameras at slowing traffic down.
Councils are being urged to plant rows of trees as a traffic calming scheme, after a trial in Norfolk found this had a dramatic impact on motorists behaviour.
The experiment in the villages of Overstrand, Martham, Coltishall and Mundersley found that overall average speeds fell...
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Triumph for motorists as CO2 parking scheme...
Richmond, the first UK Council to launch the CO2-linked residents parking permits, has officially scrapped the scheme.
Richmond Council, dubbed ‘the Council that hates cars’, launched the scheme three years ago which forced motorists with bigger engines to pay more for their parking permits.
It has been hailed as a triumph for motorists by the AA, as fees of up to £750 were...
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Growing fury as petrol price reaches £1.40 per...
Campaign group Fare Fuel UK, last night warned of a fuel price ‘crisis’, as the cost of a litre of unleaded petrol rose to £1.40 at a BP Garage in Kent.
It makes a substantial difference to last month’s average price of £1.28 and the instability in the Middle East could see fuel prices rise to a record high of £2.00 per litre.
Chancellor George Osborne signalled he was ready...
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New look for Skoda
Skoda Auto has unveiled a cool new look at the Geneva motorshow alongside a concept of the new Octavia. The sleek looking new logo for the manufacturer coincides with an overhaul of the dealer network, which will undergo a facelift over the coming months.
Full Story: Honest John
February 2011
22 posts
3 tags
Mission iPossible Drives BMW On
This is BMW’s sensational new electric car which offers supercar performance and nearly 90mpg. Tom Cruise will drive the electric/diesel hybrid i8 in new Mission Impossible film The Ghost Protocol.
And it will go on sale in 2013 as part of a radical brand of BMW electric/hybrid cars. The brand, launched this week in Munich, will be called BMWi - with the first models an electric city car,...
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Car buyers not put off by the economic climate
Despite the economic downturn, increases in unemployment and budget cuts; new car broker ‘Drive the Deal’ has found buyers are spending more on their cars. The research found that more was spent on new vehicles in the last 6 months of 2010 than the average for the whole year.
Full story: Honest John
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Classic Rusting Car Found In Jungle Sells For £20K
A rusting car wreck rescued from the jungle in Borneo has fetched £20,000 at auction after being lovingly restored. Snakes were living in the abandoned classic MG when engineer Michael Standen found it while working in the Far East in 1969.
Even though jungle vines were growing through the windows and chunks of the car were missing, it was love at first sight for Michael. He borrowed a truck to...
2 tags
MINI Rocketman Concept Lifts Off
The most frequently heard complaint about the BMW MINI is that it’s not actually very mini these days. The company’s latest concept, called the Rocketman, aims to address this, almost recreating the exterior dimensions of the original 1959 Alec Issigonis design in a package fit for modern motoring.
Due to be unveiled at next week’s Geneva motor show, the Rocketman Concept...
4 tags
Potholes: Councils get extra £100m to fix winter...
The government is to inject an extra £100m into road maintenance and repair throughout the UK following the one of the harshest winters in recent years. Potholes have become a major concern for motorists, damaging vehicles and causing dangerous driving as many drivers swerve across the roads to avoid them.
However, campaigners are saying the cash injection is not enough and that the overall...
4 tags
Nine out of ten parking tickets quashed
More than 8million parking tickets are issued every year in the UK with over half of that figure coming from London. However, a new survey has actually found that 9 out of 10 appeals are successful which has risen from two thirds in 2009.
The research, complied by Which? has questioned whether tickets are being issued correctly in the first place after so many appeals are now being successful.
...
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Cars Give Economy Jump-Start
THE UK motor industry is driving a manufacturing revival that is creating thousands of jobs.
The UK now has one of the most efficient motoring industries in the world, with Rolls-Royce, Bentley and Aston Martin once again highly sought after cars across the globe. New figures yesterday showed production at British car plants was up by 8.9 per cent in January - and a large number of the 110,179...
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Porsche celebrates 1,000,000 Facebook fans
To celebrate reaching a million Facebook fans, Porsche have unveiled a 911 GT3 Hybrid with a special Facebook themed wrap, featuring names of 27,000 of their fans from the social networking site.
Full Story: Auto Express
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The Highest Celebrity Speeders
MSN Cars have pulled together a list of celebrity speeders following the news that Newcastle United Captain, Kevin Nolan, has been banned from the roads for 60 days after being caught speeding at 65mph through a 30mph zone in his Range Rover.
The list of celebrities with a heavy right foot includes racing drivers, singers, footballers, and presenters.
Image from: Telegraph.co.uk
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Celebrating 100 Years Of Rolls-Royce's Famous...
Red Cross, Statue of Liberty, dove of peace: in their startlingly different styles, these symbols conjure a veritable picture library of powerful images for the viewer. And while it would be crass to claim that any commercial logo is imbued with quite that resonance, perhaps there is one almost as well known: no, not the dreaded “golden arch” of McDonald’s, nor even the interlocking “CC” of...
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Auto Windscreens Goes Into Administration
Auto Windscreens - the UK’s second-largest windscreen replacement company - has gone into administration, placing 1100 jobs at risk.
Administrators from accountacy firm Deloitte placed a statement on the firm’s website, stating: ”Regrettably due to the Administration of the Company all operations have been temporarily suspended. We hope to resume shortly.
Auto Windscreens...
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Ford Focus is Britain's most discussed car
Ford’s Focus is Britain’s most discussed car, according to Auto Trader, operator of one of the UK’s most heavily used motoring websites. The site, which combines classified advertising for used, nearly new and new cars with editorial content on motoring subjects, was recently opened up to users in order to allow them to provide their own reviews of different models.
Read more:...
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Police Told To Put Drink Driving Samples On Ice
Police investigating drink driving have been told to refrigerate all samples from suspects after forensic scientists being axed in spending cuts withdrew their services. Forces across the country have been told that the Forensic Science Service (FSS) has stopped processing motoring cases as of yesterday.
All blood and urine taken from drivers will have to be temporarily stored until the...
2 tags
Reducing speed cameras has resulted in road deaths...
Road deaths have reduced by 14% in three months as local councils have been switching off their speed cameras, according to new statistics from the Department of Transport.
In a bid to save money during the economic downturn, almost half of the UK’s 6,000 speed cameras are being switched off by local councils. Road safety campaigners have praised the move claiming the cameras have been...
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Price Of Petrol Falls In Europe, But Climbs In UK
Petrol retailers were accused of profiteering yesterday as new figures showed that the price of petrol in Britain has hit a new high while prices had fallen substantially across the rest of Europe. While British petrol has climbed, data from the AA, the motoring group, showed that the price of unleaded petrol in The Netherlands had fallen five per cent since the middle of January, fallen 6.5 per...
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Learner Drivers Need Help Reading English Road...
TENS of thousands of motorists could pass their driving tests unable to understand British road signs, it has emerged. More than 90,000 candidates last year needed help to translate signs from English into languages including Polish and Kurdish.
The Driving Standards Agency supplied language voice overs for the theory part of the test and offered translators to speakers of less common languages...
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Number of Potholes in the UK Doubles
There has been a 90 per cent increase in the number of potholes on UK roads since the severe winter weather struck in December, according to a survey today.
As many as 72 per cent of motorists also said potholes had affected their driving in the last 12 months, the poll by insurance company More Than found. A total of 33 per cent of the 1,478 drivers questioned said potholes had caused them to...
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Australia's Answer To The Goodwood Revival
One of the most remote and unlikely Grand Prix venues in the world will roar back to life in April. It’s 42 years since the chequered flag last fell at the Longford circuit in Tasmania, on public roads normally rumbling with sheep-laden lorries, but a group of enthusiasts is using it to launch Australia’s version of the Goodwood Revival.
Legendary names including Jim Clark, Graham Hill and...
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UK new car sales fall 11.5% in January
Sales of new cars in the UK fell for the seventh month running in January, according to the Society of Motoring Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
New car registrations last month were 128,811, down 11.5% from a year ago.The fall was in line with the SMMT’s forecast, and was partly due to the ending of the car scrappage scheme.
Read more from the BBC Image from: telegraph.co.uk
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Top tips for economical driving
Amid increasing petrol and diesel costs on UK forecourts motorists are once again being encouraged to make their money go as far as possible by following some green driving tips.
The latest to offer advice on economical driving is road safety and breakdown organisation GEM Motoring Assist. “We have never seen such a significant increase in fuel prices largely due to the VAT increase as well as...
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Mexico Angered By Top Gear
The Mexican ambassador to Britain has complained to the BBC over “offensive, xenophobic and humiliating” comments on the motoring programme Top Gear.
Eduardo Medina-Mora wrote to the BBC after the show’s presenters Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson and James May compared the characteristics of a Mexican sports car to those of the country’s citizens.
Hammond said of the...
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What really drives you all mad on the roads
Tailgating, speeding, using mobile phones while driving - the list of misdemeanours that exasperate readers is as long and detailed as the Domesday Book, but a constant gripe, running through submissions, is the failure to give signals on roundabouts.
Lorries and HGVs drive hordes of readers up the wall, especially when overtaking slowly on motorways. A similar, if faintly implausible, fear of...
January 2011
24 posts
2 tags
AA Rescues Rivals BSM
A deal is expected to be done this week to save the UK’s largest, oldest driving school, the British School of Motoring (BSM).
For a nominal undisclosed sum, the AA will take on BSM’s liabilities of several million pounds and double the amount of instructors. Despite having its own driving school, the BSM brand will be kept. More information can be found here. Image from housepr.com
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Euro NCAP Announces safest cars of 2010
The top-five safest cars of 2010 have been announced by the crash test organisation, Euro NCAP. All the highest achievers in their respective categories achieved consistently high scores in each test to earn a 5-star safety rating. The winners were:
Executive category: BMW 5 Series
Small family category: Alfa Romeo Giulietta
Supermini category: Honda CR-Z
Small off-road 4x4 category: Kia...
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Britons Spend More Time Driving Than Socialising
Despite rising petrol prices, the average motorist now clocks up a record 7,413 miles per year, new research shows. Britons have become so reliant on their cars that most spend more than one working day (10 hours) every week driving.
This compares to just 3.7 hours spent walking, 2.7 hours showering and 4.6 hours socialising with friends and family. The yearly total of 7,413 miles is the...
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Traffic Wardens Take £50,000 In Parking Fines On...
Traffic wardens have taken almost £50,000 in parking fines on a side street in just 12 months. Lorne Road, a quiet street in Crosby, near Liverpool, has become a parking ticket hotspot, with 1,343 fines issued to drivers in 12 months.The figures show around 26 tickets are given to motorists each week on the street.
The road is split into different parking zones for residents, permit holders,...
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Customers' New Year Motoring Resolutions
Exchange and Mart has revealed that 38% of visitors to its site have made motoring-themed New Year’s resolutions. The survey offers dealer an insight into consumers motoring aspirations for 2011, and buyers trading their current car for a greener vehicle topped the list. In addition, the survey also revealed 30% of buyers are looking for a smaller car.
Full story: Car Dealer Magazine Image...
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Some say... the new Stig is actually a woman?!?
The new series of BBC Top Gear began on Sunday night and revealed the new Stig. Rumours have already begun about who the mysterious racer in the white suit could be as Clarkson dropped a couple of hints ‘The Stig comes up to my legs and makes Richard Hammond look like a giant. All the good racing drivers these days are very small.’ The hint has sparked debate about the possible...
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She's Electric: The 139mph Eco Car
Made in Norfolk, driven by battery and 0-100mph in 8.5 seconds. The only catch? It’s £100,000 (oh - and if you want to go further than 150 miles, you’ll have to plug it into the recharger). This summer, an eco car aims to smash the 139mph land speed record set by Don Wales, nephew of Donald Campbell, in Bluebird Electric. Called the Nemesis, it is emblazoned with a monochrome...
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Motor Insurance Rises 34pc
Car insurance policies have jumped by an average of £215 in a year fuelled by soaring levels of fraud and dubious whiplash claims, new figures are expected to reveal next week.
The AA will say the drivers can now expect to pay £845 for their annual policy, up 34 per cent from £630 last year. It is the biggest jump since 1994. Almost half of the average insurance policy now goes to cover the cost...
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More 20mph Zones Planned
More 20 mph zones and bus lanes could be put in place in towns across the country under Government plans to cut carbon emissions. The proposal will form part of the Local Transport White Paper which will be unveiled by Norman Baker.
Mr Baker, the local transport minister, will invite councils across the country to bid for a share of a £560 million pot put aside by the Government for sustainable...
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It's Pot Luck On Britain's Roads
Four-in-ten British motorists have taken dangerous evasive action in the past 12 months to avoid hitting a pothole, according to new research from Kwik-Fit. And one-in-five drivers have swerved towards oncoming traffic to dodge one of the estimated three millioncraters that are now blighting our battered roads.
In spite of these dodgem car tactics, research found that 7.6million motorists...
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Misaligned Wheels Waste Fuel
Owners of approved used cars could be wasting up to £100 million a year by driving with misaligned wheels. According to research from Protyre, driving with vehicles that are not correctly aligned can increase fuel consumption by 3.5 percent.
In addition, potholes caused by the recent harsh winter weather and the ever escalating cost of fuel are only likely to increase the problem facing road...
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Cost of Fuel Is Hitting Profits
Struggling firms are turning down work because of the high cost of fuel, it was revealed yesterday. Bosses say petrol and diesel is now so expensive that it is not cost-effective to take on delivery work.
One haulier said last year he paid £6.2million in fuel duty – 20 per cent of his £30million turnover. And he warned that the Government’s next planned fuel duty increase – 1p a litre plus...
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Car industry looking to eliminate use of Rare...
Neodymium, terbium and dysprosium might be elements you have never heard of before, but these Earth Metals are key components in the production of motor vehicles. China export around 90% of these metallic elements around the globe, but plan to cut exports by 35% during 2011 which will add to the 75% reduction in exports which came into effect from 2010.
China is planning to develop and build-up...
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A Car That Parks Itself
Car designers have come up with the perfect solution for all those motorists tired of traffic jams and lack of parking spaces.
The two-seat EN-V (Electric-Networked Vehicle) is designed to alleviate those common driver concerns - as well as address environmental issues, energy consumption and affordability.
The EN-V from General Motors can rotate 360 degrees and be driven in manual mode with...
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Do Your Duty
The Sun has launched a campaign and petition to encourage Chancellor George Osborne to freeze the price of petrol. The petition follows the news that Britons are forking out £12milliion more a day to fill up than a year ago.
All the details of the Keep It Down campaign can be found here. Image from autotrader.co.uk
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Insurers Could Get Access to DVLA Database
Motor insurers could be given access to Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency records, Mike Penning, the road safety minister, has told MPs.
Appearing before the Transport Select Committee, Mr Penning said the Government was looking at giving insurers greater access to motorists’ driving record. However due to data protection laws, a driver’s consent would be required before the DVLA opens its...
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Search for the UK's worst pothole
MCN (Motorcycle News) is on the hunt for the UK’s worst pothole as the publication aims to increase pressure on local authorities to maintain roads through this winter’s freezing weather.
Full Story: MCN
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Uninsured cars could be crushed
Uninsured drivers face the risk of having their car crushed if new plans go ahead. The radical measures are targeting the estimated one million uninsured drivers in Britain and help reduce the £30million bill in insurance premiums on responsible motorists.
Full Story: Daily Mail