The UK new car market fell almost a third last year with registrations dropping 29.4% to 1,631,064 units, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders today. A -10.9% decline in December wrapped up a turbulent year, which saw demand fall by 680,076 units over 12-months to the lowest level of registrations since 1992. Against a backdrop of Covid restrictions, an acceleration of … [Read more...]
More families shifting towards used cars
In a year shaped by a pandemic and strict social distancing restrictions, drivers have still been able to get their hands on the car they wanted, said Seán Kemple, Managing Director of Close Brothers Motor Finance."In fact, a new-found reticence to use public transport has shifted attitudes toward car ownership, a trend likely to grow even further in 2021. "Smaller models remain … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: MINI John Cooper Works GP3
Following the success of the two previous MINI GP models introduced in 2006 and 2013, the new limited edition MINI John Cooper Works GP3, is the most powerful and fastest production MINI ever sold, writes David Miles. Just 3,000 of these models will be built at MINI Plant Oxford for global sales with 575 of them available to UK customers. They are priced from £35,345 on-the-road … [Read more...]
Magic of The Moke returns
The Moke is making a come-back. The automotive icon of the 1960s became a fashion statement for celebrities and played a role in the evocative tv series The Prisoner, made in Port Meirion, will go into production with a price tag of around £20,000 for the first UK exclusive models. UK customers will be able to order one of 56 limited edition MOKEs, an allocation selected to signify the … [Read more...]
Newslines 27 August
About 400 jobs are going at the MINI plant, Cowley, Oxford. The company said it’s halving its contracting force following a slump in demand for the models in the coronavirus lockdown. Learners have to contend with another collapse of the DVSA on-line driving test booking system. It failed within hours of being restarted after the lockdown and then again this week when it was restored after … [Read more...]
Cars are growing and some drivers struggle to cope
Cars are getting bigger and it seems UK infrastructure can’t keep up with our ever-growing vehicles, leaving drivers in a spot of bother on the roads. To find out just how much cars are expanding, Zuto analysed 14 of the UK’s most popular cars to see the difference in size in comparison to the original versions. From the 14 models analysed, nine have almost doubled in size, meaning there is … [Read more...]
Sunday drive: MINI Electric Cooper S Level 2
The original Mini designed by Sir Alec Issigonis came about because of the Suez crisis and the subsequent petrol rationing creating a demand for affordable motoring, David Miles reminds us. In an answer to that call the first petrol powered Mini rolled off the production line in Oxford in 1959 and so the global success story of Mini started. Today with a world facing new social and economic … [Read more...]
Sunday drive: On the road & in the news 30 May
Although the lockdown measures are easing it will take time for the wheels of society to return to something like normal life, writes David Miles. But from tomorrow, after the bank holiday week, English schools for certain age groups will open where they can and more employees should be returning to work and that includes the motoring industry. So hopefully it won’t be too long before we get back … [Read more...]
Sunday drive: On the road & in the news 10 May
I’m still keeping calm and carrying on sifting through the latest automotive news items and press releases pinging into my Inbox, writes David Miles. Whilst the COVIC-19 news is not good there are some brighter worthwhile snippets of information worth passing on. New life goes on - Toyota Corolla proves reliant for Robins We motoring journalists during the lockdown period are without test cars … [Read more...]
Sad loss of Welsh ambassador for motor sport
Welsh & UK motorsport lost a great ambassador on Saturday 29 February when Alun Morgan passed away after a long illness, writes Ken Davies. Widely known within the Welsh motorsport community, Alun had spent a remarkable lifetime in the sport. In 1942, David Alun Thomas Morgan was born in Gorslas, Carmarthenshire and after LLandybie Secondary Modern School, went to Ammanford Technical College … [Read more...]
