Kia is the only brand in Britain’s top ten to improve on market share last year. The ninth placed Korean brand saw a growth of 2.7% with 95,746 registrations while market leader Ford suffered an 11.6% decline, although Nissan sales collapsed 32.1% in seventh place. Honda and Toyota have joined MINI and said they will suspend car production in April for a few days. It follows the car … [Read more...]
Education
Lean and green drive car buyers choices, says report
Environmental factors have become the second most important consideration to prospective car buyers behind only price, according to figures from comparethemarket.com in its latest Premium Drivers report. The new figures show that 25% of people consider environmental impacts, such as fuel, carbon efficiency and alternative fuel, as the most important factor when buying a car. With 24% of people … [Read more...]
Newslines 8 January
Volvo UK sold a record 50,000 cars last year and 9% above 2017 in a market down by 7%. It is part of the 640,000 sold by the Swedish brand in its best ever global year. Asda has further cut pump prices. But the RAC says supermarkets are no longer competing like they did for fuel sales and motorists are losing out on wholesale price cuts not being passed onto them. Sixteen MB models … [Read more...]
Combat Stress gets a lift from Mazda
With demand for veterans mental health support continuing to rise, Mazda UK has strengthened its commitment to the British Armed Forces by supporting veterans’ mental health charity, Combat Stress, with the use of the Mazda6 Tourer as a support vehicle for the charity’s life-saving services. As the UK’s leading charity for veterans’ mental health, Combat Stress offers a range of free services … [Read more...]
Five Mile Lane, Barry partial closure
Commuters have been warned to prepare for an important road closure from monday in the Vale of Glamorgan. The £25M scheme to improve Five Mile Lane, Barry will be finished this summer, but a temporary road restriction for 12 weeks will begin on monday 7 January. It will be closed to northbound traffic from Weycock Cross roundabout, Port Road, Barry but southbound will be able to use it as … [Read more...]
Getting New Year message on drink driving
Motorists could be at risk of driving under the influence on New Year’s Day. A new survey has found that 44% would drive before 11am, despite drinking five large glasses of wine or five pints of medium-strong beer on New Year’s Eve.Over a fifth (22%) would drive before 9am, according to AlcoSense Breathalysers. Just one in six (17%) would wait until noon, which is the time they are … [Read more...]
Pothole problems are deepening, says RAC
More than half a million potholes were reported by members of the public to local authorities in Britain for repair in 2017 – an increase of 44% on two years earlier, according to the RAC. A freedom of information request made to the 212 councils in England, Scotland and Wales responsible for roads found 512,270 potholes were reported last year to 161 authorities compared to 356,432 from 152 … [Read more...]
Better prepare for harsher winters
There is no doubting that car technology is becoming much more advanced and working to better protect motorists while they’re getting from A to B. Just take the Jaguar E-PACE as an example. This car (above) comes complete with All Surface Progress Control — a low-speed cruise control system which works to ensure the vehicle can cope with low traction situations no matter the … [Read more...]
BMW drivers are UK’s worst, says insurer
GoCompare Car Insurance says BMW drivers are the worst in the UK. They are most likely to speed, run a red light or make an at-fault claim, according to data held by the insurer. A study by GoCompare Car Insurance has found that BMW drivers are the most likely to be convicted of an offence and cause a collision on the road. More than one in six BMW 4 series drivers (17.1%) have at least … [Read more...]
Newslines 21 December
The VW Arteon five-seat coupe is now available to order with a new 272ps 2.0 TSi engine and seven speed automatic transmission. The flagship 4WD model comes in two trim levels from £39,065 and £39,850. Only four out of ten UK motorists (41%) would call the Police if they thought a car was being driven by a drunk driver. A quarter would ignore it completely if they saw a car meandering in … [Read more...]