The Welsh car industry has been boosted with the creation of a new manufacturer, MST Cars of North Wales. The motor-sport orientated bespoke builders of Ford Escort Mk1 and Mk2 road, race and rally cars in various specifications from £69,000 to over £100,000 has evolved from its competition parts' business. That was itself a development of its hardware, engineering and automotive … [Read more...]
Driving in Europe post-Brexit
Britain's departure from the EU has prompted a flurry of information and advice from the Department for Transport, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency and the DVLA on rule changes affecting Britons driving in Europe from this month, writes Dave Moss. Here we round up some important changes affecting British drivers and vehicles intending to use European roads in coming months, with links to … [Read more...]
Tradelines 6 January
Sales of electric cars have overtaken petrol and diesel in Norway. Tesla has also been knocked off the top spot by Volkswagen as BEVs collected 54.3% of registrations in 2020. As it eased into its second century, luxury Bentley sales soared to their highest ever despite the pandemic last year. The Crewe-based company saw 11,206 registrations around the world and the new Flying Spur was a major … [Read more...]
Newslines 22 December
The Welsh Government will allocate £20 Million next year for more cycleways. Its Active Travel investment is in addition to £274.7M for Transport for Wales rail and metro services. Public Health Wales said 352 cases of Covid-19 were identified at the DVLA centre at Swansea since September. Sixty-two cases have been identified at the call centre since the beginning of December … [Read more...]
Learning to drive is breaking the bank for some
Cost is putting the brakes on learning to drive. A study by Comparethemarket shows almost a third (31%) saying the cost of lessons put them off from learning, and a further 31% of people say that they can’t afford to purchase a car or its running costs. Nearly a quarter (24%) of Brits have said they simply don’t want to drive, and the fear of getting behind the wheel was another determining … [Read more...]
DVLA extends outdated licences
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency has further extended the period for renewing out-of-date driving licences to help ease a backlog of work. Drivers whose licence expires between 1 February and 31 December 2020 will automatically receive a 11-month extension. Drivers affected by the temporary extension do not need to apply to renew their licence until they receive a reminder which will be … [Read more...]
Newslines 18 September
The M4 is one of the best motorways to use if you have a pure electric car, according to analysis of charging points by CarGurus. It has 21 charging units spread over its 189-miles, and motorists only have to cover 17.2 miles between power-points, while worst is the M8 Scotland without any ev hook-ups over 60 miles. Europe's car registrations dropped in July and August but not as steeply as … [Read more...]
Newslines 27 July
Safety organisations and police fear a rapid rise in riders' injuries and deaths after seeing up to 50,000 motorbikes a weekend on Welsh roads after lockdown ended. It is thought to be a reaction against cuts to public transport and the rising costs of using cars, trains or buses. Police have towed away cars illegally parked in Snowdonia while owners went into the mountains. Civil enforcement … [Read more...]
DVLA talking point is taxing for some
Motorists are asking some unusual questions when they want to retax a vehicle, says the DVLA. DVLA’s services on Google Assistant and Amazon’s Alexa allow motorists to ask DVLA when their vehicle tax is due by providing the registration number. These services have been used over 47,000 times by more than 20,000 unique users since they launched 2 years ago. While most people have asked … [Read more...]
Welsh sale sees £287,792 paid for registration
Retired businessman Ian Guest from Barnard Castle stunned all during the second day of DVLA Personalised Registrations’ 30th Anniversary auction at The Vale Resort, near Cardiff by successfully securing IG 1 for £222,000. With fees taking the total sum to be paid to £287,792, IG 1 becomes the Agency’s third highest-selling personalised registration behind 25 O and 1 D which went under its gavel … [Read more...]