The motorist and transport industry will pay the price for the Government’s support package for the UK in the Chancellor's Spring Budget, said Howard Cox, Founder of FairFuel UK. Fuel duties which have been frozen in recent years are likely to be substantially increased as HMRC has lost huge income and the Government wants to discourage motoring to save emissions and drive its green … [Read more...]
Sunday drive: Skoda Octavia SE L FE Hatch 2.0 TDI 150hp
The new fourth generation Skoda Octavia Hatch and Estate models are here following the Covid-19 lockdown and UK customers can now take delivery of their new models or now more likely to wait until the new registration plate change month of September, writes David Miles. The Octavia has been a huge global sales success but UK buyers have had a strong association with the models with over 500,000 … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: Skoda Octavia SE L First Edition Estate
We live in a 24/7 world, expect everything to work at any time and not let us down. One guide to choosing a good car is looking at what police, ambulance and taxi companies use because they are on the road 24/7 and one of the most prolific of vehicles is the Skoda Octavia Estate. Without being whincingly expensive to buy and run they fulfill their roles and deliver mile after mile, year after … [Read more...]
Newslines 21 August
Ford has commissioned custom tyres that can leave key water safety messages imprinted on stretches of sand as part of a new initiative with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. The custom tyres have been designed to leave 3 key water safety messages in the sand, including ‘float to live’, ‘no inflatables’, and ‘emergency? call 999’. Each year Brits spend over five and a half million hours … [Read more...]
Sunday drive: Skoda Scala Monte Carlo 1.5 TSI Hatchback
The five door family sized C-segment Scala hatchback was launched towards the end of last year but it’s only now the range-topping Monte Carlo sports spec level is introduced, writes David Miles. The Scala was effectively a replacement for Skoda’s underwhelming Rapid range and sits between the Czech brand’s Fabia supermini sized hatchback and estate models and the highly rated … [Read more...]
Newslines 4 June
Volkswagen has resurrected the name ‘shooting brake’ for an estate version of its heavily revised Arteon model, alongside a new four-door coupe which will both be unveiled on 24 June.VW say they will have new high-technology powertrains and intelligent comfort and driver assistance systems.A new-look KIA Picanato is in Britain later this year.Refreshed GT-Line and X-Line petrol models … [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 and in the news 24 May
With the continued absence of new cars to evaluate or product launches to attend I’m still sifting through newspapers and the dwindling supply of worthwhile press releases to keep readers in the picture as to what might be of interest in the motoring world, writes David Miles. It seems as though getting the country back close to normal life, if it ever will be, has given opponents of the … [Read more...]
Newslines 22 May
Jaguar Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations division sold more than 9,500 high-performance models last year, up 64% on the year before, despite the virus pandemic impacting sales. Extremely strong demand for all seven SV vehicles has driven this growth along with an expansion to 100 SV specialist dealers around the world. Shadow Transport Minister for Wales has questioned how Welsh … [Read more...]
Sunday drive: On the road and in the news 17 May
Another week has gone by and here I am still keeping calm and carrying on despite very mixed messages from our Government about what we can or should do during now it appears slightly relaxed semi lock-down period, says David Miles.But no longer is it the same rules in each of our four domestic countries, so that's really clear.With no sign of new models to road test or press launch events … [Read more...]
