When just 32 cars bearing the four rings found homes in the UK in 1965, it would have seemed improbable that an incredible two million more would follow, but this major milestone has today been reached by Audi UK almost fifty years later.
It was to be the springboard for a range that in 2015 numbers some 51 model types ranging from subcompact city cars to ten-cylinder supercars, and which has recently welcomed the A3 Sportback e-tron, the brand’s first ever plug-in hybrid and the two millionth car to be handed over to a UK customer.
Russian new-car sales are expected to decline by 25 percent to 35 percent this year as a weakening ruble and a sharply declining economy hit demand, accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers said.
Sales could be 1.52 million to 1.75 million units this year, compared to 2.34 million in 2014, when registrations were down 10 percent in annual terms, PwC said in a presentation but Ford will roll out six new models in Russia this year despite the country’s sagging economy and rising tensions over the conflict in Ukraine, CEO Mark Fields told a German business magazine.
A cut price deal has been introduced on Volkswagen Tiguan and Touareg models.
Prices have been reduced and interest rates cut for the two model series before 31 March.
Honda (UK) has confirmed pricing and specification for the world’s biggest selling SUV in 2014, the new British built CR-V, which will be arriving in dealerships in March.
Prices will start from a competitive £22,340 OTR for the entry level 2.0 i-VTEC manual S grade 2WD model and will top out at £35,620 for the new 1.6 i-DTEC 160PS 4WD nine-speed automatic and there are special PCP packages.
The organisers of the Geneva International Motor Show, in collaboration with the Swiss Federal Energy Office, have published a brochure that contains all of the “Green” models exhibited at this year’s event.
Since 2009, the Geneva International Motor Show has been the first to promote alternative propulsion technologies. Initially presented in a pavilion specifically dedicated to these new concepts, the number of new ecological and economical models has grown to the point where today they are now displayed on the majority of manufacturers’ stands.
The hybrid batteries used in Toyota and Lexus models can last longer the vehicles themselves, so often they are only recovered when the cars reach the end of their useful life, or if they have been involved in an accident.
Toyota and Lexus dealers receive a new hybrid battery in exchange for an old one, leading to an average 91 per cent collection rate and Toyota has set itself the challenge to significantly increase this figure to 100 per cent, through its own network and, additionally, any authorised end-of-life vehicle treatment operators.
It may have been abolished last October but it seems drivers are in no rush to remove the tax disc from their car’s windscreen, reports the AA.
According to an AA-Populus poll of 19,887 AA members, only a fifth (22% men vs 15% women) have removed the small perforated disc with more than double (43%) leaving it as a reminder of when the tax is due but the AA’s free app will do that job for them along with a host of other useful motoring tools.
