[ad#ad-1] All we seem to have written about recently is the doom and gloom in the car industry. Bail-outs begged for, production shut-downs, low sales and lay-offs. But one manufacturer seems to be defying the odds, and has just posted record sales figures for the year. Rolls Royce sales, in the year to the end [...]
[ad#ad-1] As we reported a few days ago, the Renault Megane succeeded in achieving the joint highest ever score in the Euro NCAP tests. But as we noted then, this was the last bunch of NCAP tests under the existing regulations, and all changes from the New Year. As an introduction to the new tests, [...]
[ad#ad-1] All the big 4x4s are struggling as people perceive them as ‘Devil Cars’ after the recent explosion in fuel prices around the world. And sadly, that sentiment seems to have stuck around, even though oil is now at a price last seen years ago. There’s nought so fickle as folk. So big SUV makers [...]
I think we’re going to have to have a ‘Sign of the Times’ category soon – so many pieces refer to the current economic mess. In yet another ‘Sign of the times’ Skoda has announced that they are now offering ‘VAT Free Octavias’ until the end of the year. No, this is not a tie-up [...]
[ad#ad-1] It’s the trend at the moment, and one that won’t go down very well with our American cousins, who are fond of saying that ‘There ain’t no substitute for cubic inches’, as the three big luxury German Car Companies – Audi BMW and Mercedes – are planning to move away from their big ‘V’ [...]
[ad#ad-1] Audi has really brought the new TT a country mile from the original, cutesy, Audi TT, beloved by hairdressers the length and breadth of the country. And now the news that all Audi TT fans have been waiting for. The super-hot version of the TT – The Audi TT-RS – is to launch at [...]
The Fiat Panda Cross, that mirculous little go-anywhere 4×4, which only came to the UK a few months ago, has won the Top 4×4 Award from 4×4 and MPV Driver Magazine. Well done! Amazingly, the judges put the little Fiat at the top of the pile, praising its affordability and off-road ability, and highlighting the [...]
It’s been a bit of a ‘Mini-Fest’ this week, what with the Mini E in Berlin and the news that the Mini is the least depreciating car in the UK. And now we have the first official images of the new Mini Convertible, due to hit showrooms in Spring 2009. Based of course on the [...]
BMW has decided that as well as running a heap of Mini Es (Electric Vehicles – EV) in California, New York and New Jersey, it is going to do the same in Europe – supplying 50 Mini E to motorists in Berlin, as well as the 500 in the US. The Mini E is by [...]
[ad#ad-1] Ford in Austria has finally let loose some concrete information on the much anticipated 2009 Ford Focus RS, which looks set to be one barn-stormer of a car. With almost 300bhp, a 0-60 time in the high 5 seconds and a top speed of 164mph, the Focus RS looks an enticing package for the [...]
Well, not completely – that would be too much to hope for. But London Mayor Boris Johnson has scrapped the recent extension of the Congestion Charging Zone, which took in most of Chelsea, Kensington and Westminster, and was hugely unpopular. The £8 per day charge was the subject of a public consultation, which found that [...]
The Press in the UK has been full of stories of the last Reventon – #20 of 20 – being delivered to the UK this week. Well, we hate to step out of line, but our sources tell us they’re wrong! Car #20 was in fact delivered to Houston Lamborghini a short while ago. We [...]
Poor old Richard Hammond. First he gets nearly killed playing silly-buggers with a mad rocket car, and now the poor man has nowhere to keep his own cars. Like Clarkson, Top Gear presenter Hammond lives in the sticks, in his case in rural Herefordshire close to the Welsh border, and about 50 miles from his [...]
Those clever chaps over at Car Magazine have managed to get their hands on what they claim to be the first official images of the Aston Martin Rapide, the Aston Martin answer to the forthcoming Porsche Panamera. Not that you’d ever guess where they came from, with all those ‘Car Magazine’ watermarks plastered across the [...]
I’m really not too sure there are any footballers wives or girlfriends who hanker after a classic car. I suppose you’d have to think more along the lines of Audrey Hepburn or Grace Kelly, rather than Posh Spice or Coleen Rooney, for that sort of good taste. But if there is a Wag out there [...]
It’s becoming something of a habit at Renault – 5 star NCAP Ratings. And the Renault Megane has just achieved the equal highest Euro NCAP score of 37 points (shared with the Nissan Quashqai) in the latest round of tests. You’ve got to admire Renault. Their cars aren’t the most expensive in the world, and [...]
Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat, I love you. Yes, I do!! Not since the Jaguar XJ came out in the late 60s, when I was but a slip of a lad, have I fallen in love with a Jaguar. But now, thanks to the renderings released today by Auto Express, I have once again. The image [...]
That vital tool of the used-car trade, Glass’s Guide, has today revealed that the Mini 1.4TD is the slowest depreciating car in the UK. For the second year running, the Mini tops the table, although even it has slipped a bit – retaining 63.2% of its value over three years, a fall of 7.8% since [...]
The last week has seen a raft of reports about the slow-down of sales at the luxury end of the market. Aston Martin is suffering badly, Bentley has serious problems and Jaguar & Land Rover, both owned by Indian firm Tata, are pushing the government for a £1 billion loan. And today comes news that [...]
Mazda has today released the first pictures of the new Mazda 3 hatchback, ahead of the Bologna Motor Show on December 3rd. The pictures come hot on the heels of the recently announced saloon and, just like the saloon, the Mazda 3 hatchback is a much fresher design, with far more sporty pretensions. One of [...]
Many of the major manufacturers have had online configurators for some time. The dreamers can go and dream, and the real punters can go and see what they can live without. The likes of Porsche and Mercedes have being doing this for some time, but Ferrari hasn’t really felt the need to play – until [...]
I’m sure you all saw Top Gear last night, with both the Bugatti Veyron and the Zonda F Roadster on the Top Gear track for the first time. Definitely worth the viewing! The Zonda is relatively new, so you can forgive the boys for not having it on the track before. But the Veyron has [...]
Mercedes Benz has today announced that they will be bringing the C180 Kompressor Blue Efficiency to the UK in January, cutting Co2 emissions of the model and increasing fuel efficiency, and replacing the current C180 Kompressor. Despite a reduction in capacity of almost 200cc (which begs the question, why isn’t it called the C160 – [...]
Volvo is the latest car maker to play tease with concept shots of their new cars, this time with the Volvo S60 for 2010. I’m really not sure that teaser shots work as a marketing ploy (which, let’s face it, is all they are). For a start, 9 out of 10 of the concept shots [...]
[ad#ad-1] Portugal has today committed to building 1,300 recharging stations around the country by 2011, in a deal agreed with Renault to supply Electric Cars (EV). This is a further indication of the global rush to go green, with ‘carbon’ taxes and ‘carbon’ incentives sprouting from the desks of politicians throughout the West. But how [...]
