MINI Yours made its debut at the 81st International Motor Show on March 03, 2011.
Allows the customer to customise the Mini making it truly yours.
Allows the customer to customise the Mini making it truly yours.
Friday, 11 March 2011
ECJ Ruling Set to Hit Young Female Drivers Hardest
A new ruling by the European Court of Justice could hit female young drivers in the pocket as car insurance companies will no longer be able to use gender as a factor in calculating risk.
The new ruling, passed on March 1, will come into force in December 2012 and from that time onwards, women will cease to benefit from cheap car insurance premiums, despite the fact that they are statistically less likely to have a crash than men.
Car insurance expert Steve Sweeney from MoneySupermarket, believes the new ruling will have long-lasting, wide ranging implications for the car insurance industry.
He said:
My wife and some of our lady friends are quite unhappy with the ruling. So what do you think?
The new ruling, passed on March 1, will come into force in December 2012 and from that time onwards, women will cease to benefit from cheap car insurance premiums, despite the fact that they are statistically less likely to have a crash than men.
Car insurance expert Steve Sweeney from MoneySupermarket, believes the new ruling will have long-lasting, wide ranging implications for the car insurance industry.
He said:
"The ruling will no doubt hit female drivers the hardest with premiums rising in line with male drivers. If your car insurance is due for renewal in the next couple of months then you should shop around and buy your new cover as soon as possible before any new rules come into force."
My wife and some of our lady friends are quite unhappy with the ruling. So what do you think?
The Electric Car Wars
Edited from the press release by Dr Peter Harrop, Chairman, IDTechEx
Toyota announced today that their global cumulative sales of hybrid vehicles have reached 3.03 million worldwide. They entered the market with the Coaster Hybrid bus in August 1997 followed by the original Prius in December of the same year.
The Toyota Prius, now made in still drives almost all of its hybrid car sales. It is now joined by the hybrid version of the Auris, global production being in the UK. Other electric versions of all its car models are being rapidly introduced. Toyota is not very keen on pure electric cars at present levels of battery performance and focusses on the hybrid versions of their model.
Many car companies only realised the potential too late and the only way they had a chance of competing with Toyota from a position a long way behind, was to form alliances with other car companies.
Now the BMW cooperation with PSA Peugeot Citroen is being solidified into a 50:50 joint venture, functioning in the second quarter, to share the formidable cost of developing hybrid powertrains and seek early volume.
Before that, Daimler AG, bought 10% of Tesla, and developed electric Smart and Mercedes models. They have struck a partnership with Renault Nissan to develop small cars, notably pure electric ones. Renault Nissan also partners with Mitsubishi on this. Mitsubishi promises electric versions of all new car models. Like Nissan and Fiat, it seems to prefer the pure electric small car route.
Wednesday, 2 March 2011
VW unveils New Passat
Volkswagen has unveiled the new Passat BlueMotion at the Geneva Motor Show. The car is said to be the most fuel-efficient production Passat to date and has a combined consumption of 67.3 mpg for the saloon, while CO2 emissions are expected to be just 109 g/km (114 g/km for Passat Estate).
The car is powered by a 1.6-litre 105 PS common rail TDI engine with manual six-speed gearbox and with the 70-litre fuel tank capacity, the Passat BlueMotion has a theoretical range of 1,035 miles.
The car comes standard with Stop/Start and battery regeneration systems.
High tech features available as options include the fatigue detection system, city emergency braking function, Park Assist II, High Beam Assist and Easy Open boot.
The new Passat is due to go on sale in the UK in June and the first models are expected to arrive in August. Prices will be announced later.
The car is powered by a 1.6-litre 105 PS common rail TDI engine with manual six-speed gearbox and with the 70-litre fuel tank capacity, the Passat BlueMotion has a theoretical range of 1,035 miles.
The car comes standard with Stop/Start and battery regeneration systems.
High tech features available as options include the fatigue detection system, city emergency braking function, Park Assist II, High Beam Assist and Easy Open boot.
The new Passat is due to go on sale in the UK in June and the first models are expected to arrive in August. Prices will be announced later.
Sunday, 27 February 2011
CPP Global Holdings to buy Spyker
A few days ago I carried news about the Spyker C8 Aileron moving to Coventry from Holland. According to recent news reports, Spyker has already signed a provisional deal to sell it's sportscar arm to CPP Global Holdings for around 32m euros (approx. £27mil).
The Coventry based firm is owned Russian businessman Vladimir Antonov and employs 250 people.
As part of the deal Spyker Cars would have to change its name. This would enable the company to focus on the Saab brand.
The Coventry based firm is owned Russian businessman Vladimir Antonov and employs 250 people.
As part of the deal Spyker Cars would have to change its name. This would enable the company to focus on the Saab brand.
Thursday, 24 February 2011
Euro NCAP starts testing electric vehicles
Euro NCAP has published the results of tests on seven new vehicles, including its first test of a fully electric car- the Mitsubishi i-MiEV. The car received a credible four star rating.
The cars were tested in the same test conditions as the other cars in the programme. They paid special attention to post-crash battery integrity and the proper functioning of the battery cut-off switch that isolates the high-voltage battery in the event of a crash. The news release mentioned that no electrical or fire hazards were detected during the testing of the i-MiEV.
Regarding the test results of the other cars, the small off-road 4x4 Dacia Duster didn't do well with an overall rating of only 3 stars. In contrast, the Mitsubishi ASX and the Nissan Juke achieved the coveted 5 star overall rating. Furthermore, the small MPV Hyundai ix20, also received a 5 stars Euro NCAP rating.
The cars were tested in the same test conditions as the other cars in the programme. They paid special attention to post-crash battery integrity and the proper functioning of the battery cut-off switch that isolates the high-voltage battery in the event of a crash. The news release mentioned that no electrical or fire hazards were detected during the testing of the i-MiEV.
Regarding the test results of the other cars, the small off-road 4x4 Dacia Duster didn't do well with an overall rating of only 3 stars. In contrast, the Mitsubishi ASX and the Nissan Juke achieved the coveted 5 star overall rating. Furthermore, the small MPV Hyundai ix20, also received a 5 stars Euro NCAP rating.
Wednesday, 23 February 2011
Production of the Spyker C8 Aileron moves from Holland to Coventry
Found out that there is more good news for Coventry. It looks like the home of the car industry in the UK is seeing a resurgence.
The production of the car has moved from Zeewolde in the Netherlands to Coventry, creating 40 new jobs in the city. Coventry Prototype Panels (CPP) will start producing the car on the Seven Stars Industrial Estate in Whitley. The car is expected to cost about £200,000.
The car will be powered by the GM V8 engine, the same engine in the CTS-V and the Corvette ZR1.
Check out the Smoking Tire review:
The production of the car has moved from Zeewolde in the Netherlands to Coventry, creating 40 new jobs in the city. Coventry Prototype Panels (CPP) will start producing the car on the Seven Stars Industrial Estate in Whitley. The car is expected to cost about £200,000.
The car will be powered by the GM V8 engine, the same engine in the CTS-V and the Corvette ZR1.
Check out the Smoking Tire review: