Suzuki is sizzling this summer, write Robin Roberts & David Miles. While the rest of the UK market is warning of cloudy days, Suzuki sees rays of opportunity as it prepares to launch the updated and revised Swift series. Britain is the top market in Europe for Suzuki and last year they registered 38,500 cars, their second highest total helped by very favourable fleet and retail … [Read more...]
News
Newslines 14 June
Cardiff drivers hate people leaving rubbish in their car. About 64% of Cardiff drivers questioned for an ATS Euromaster survey criticised the litter louts but the thing Cardiff drivers are most okay with were passengers calling other people & sleeping on long journeys, 5%. Two petrol engined models won classes in the Towcar Awards this week but the best overall newcomer was still a … [Read more...]
Chaos predicted over suggested pavement parking ban
A blanket ban on pavement parking could lead to a need for thousands of new car parking spaces that towns and cities are simply not equipped to provide, warns IAM RoadSmart. The warning has come after the House of Commons Transport Committee launched an enquiry into pavement parking and invited comments from interested parties in April, to which IAM RoadSmart has delivered its conclusions. All … [Read more...]
St Athan build first Aston Martin DBX models
Aston Martin Lagonda has started car building at its new multi-million pound St Athan plant. They are pre-production models of the carmaker’s first SUV, the Aston Martin DBX, and have been assembled by the mostly locally recruited workforce and will be used by the luxury brand for engineering, testing and special projects. The 90-acre, former Ministry of Defence site at St Athan in Wales was … [Read more...]
Memorial fund launched for Tom Pryce on 70th birthday
A £50,000 fund has been launched to create a permanent memorial to Welsh Formula 1 driver Tom Pryce in his hometown of Denbigh. Launched on what would have been Pryce’s 70th birthday last Tuesday, the money will be used to erect a statue as a lasting memorial to the rising star who died in a tragic accident in the 1977 South African Grand Prix. The launch ties in with the build up to the … [Read more...]
Green drive threatens to push makers into the red
Alternatively fuelled vehicles, pure electric, petrol-electric hybrids and plug-in hybrids saw a 21% increase in UK new car sales last year to 141,270 units but only 15,474 of those vehicles were pure electric models, writes David Miles. So far this year only around 2,000 battery electric cars were sold in the first five months of the year. Still small steps might lead to big strides as … [Read more...]
Local AM to oversee Ford Task Force aid
Welsh Government has set out the aims it wants a task force to work towards following the “devastating” closure announcement last week of the Ford Bridgend Engine Plant. After 40 years on the Waterton site east of Bridgend, Ford will close by autumn 2020 and make 1,700 people redundant. Ken Skates, Minister for Economy and Transport, said local AM and former First Minister Carwyn Jones, who has … [Read more...]
Newslines 11 June
Traffic jams on the M4 around and west of Swansea are 78% worse over two decades than South East Wales, says analysis. Work by transport consultant Mark Berry suggests it’s down to the rise in housing estates close to motorway junctions and with still more planned the situation will get far worse without major public transport investment. Half of regular drivers say they are suffering more … [Read more...]
Solar car-port puts rivals in the shade
A Welsh company is launching a high technology car-port which puts rivals in the shade, using advanced solar power panels. BiPVco of Newport also produces flexible panels for the roofs of boats, motor homes, caravans and commercial vehicles and its product is being used on the latest patient transport vehicles ordered by the Welsh Ambulance Service Trusts as part of a £13.5M transport … [Read more...]
Future on wheels is not what you think
From driving to the nearest shop to get some essentials, commuting to work by train or flying to your dream holiday destination, getting around the world has never been easier in 2019. In the last 200 years especially, transport has completely transformed. With the first steam railway built in 1804, the first credited automobile created by Karl Benz in Germany in 1885-1886, to the first powered … [Read more...]