March 10th, 2010
Smart has launched a special version of the for two city car and named it edition urban style, it is finished with a dark grey matt and of course has the 15″ five spoke alloy wheels, inside it boasts heated black nappa leather seats with a matt silver trim and yellow accents and comes with an integrated audio/navigation system.
The price commences at £11495 for the 71bhp and they will only be building 160 with a build of 70 for the turbocharged 84bhp. They all come as coupes but you can have the cabriolet but only on a factory order.
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March 8th, 2010
For the eighth month in a row the Society of Motor Manufacturers has reported growth in car sales, 68686 cars were registered in February which is a 26.4% improvement on the same time last year with the scrappage deals accounting for about a fifth of the sales.
Leading the market is the Ford Fiesta who is miles ahead of the field with 12121 registrations with the Focus behind with 9988 and following these two are the Vauxhall Corsa Volkswagen Polo Vauxhall Astra and Volkswagen Golf.
Obviously Ford lead the field in sales with Vauxhall second, with Hyundai and Kia showing great growth with sales three times higher than this time last year and Renualt have doubled their figures.
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March 5th, 2010
Volvo has unveiled the all new Volvo S-60 launching with “There is more to life that a Volvo, there is cutting loose breaking out letting yourself off the leash because when you’ve spent your whole life playing it safe, its time to just play. That is why the naughty Volvo’s are coming”
Volvo have created the all new S60 and say they have broken all their own rules, but even still they have added in technology that help prevents low speed rear end collisions and they have added it as standard.
Watch out for the adverts and the price levels soon to be revealed.
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March 2nd, 2010
The new Sharan made an appearance at the Geneva show and is larger than the old one in all dimensions but most striking is that it is nine inches longer, but manages to come in at 30kg lighter. All models have the seven seats with access to the second and third row being through a sliding door, in the higher specs this goes to an electronically operated one.
For storage and capacity all five rear seats can fold flat, with the middle three sliding back and forward and VW state that seven adults can be accommodated.
The engine range starts at 1.4 TSI, but the fact that it is a combination of a supercharger and turbocharger gives in an impressive 148bhp which makes it good for the job, the rest of the range come in at the 2 litre in 138bhp and 168bhp turbo diesel and a 198bhp turbo petrol which has been twined with the twin-clutch semi-automatic DSG gearbox.
Apart from the 198bhp petrol all the engines come with a stop/start system and regenerative braking. The most economical version is the 138bhp coming in at 52.3 mpg and 143g/km CO2.
Finally the option of adaptive chassis control system allows the driver three choices of normal, comfort and sport for the dampers and the park assist system allows it to steer itself into parking spaces at right-angles to the direction of traffic. In its original format the Sharan was more or less the same as the Ford Galaxy or SEAT Alhambra and though the Ford connection is no longer this is most definitely a replacement for the Alhambra.
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March 1st, 2010
The demise of the gas guzzler has finally arrived and so it is not such a sad farewell to this most typical over the top American creation, not even the Chinese could be persuaded into this so far from green vehicle, it has taken a while for GM to understand how out of step this model was.
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February 25th, 2010
At the Geneva Show the new styled Skoda Fabia and Roomster will be unveiled, the new front-end styling includes a change to the radiator grille and headlights and the Skoda line is that it makes the car look “more confident mature and expressive.”
Under the bonnet there is a new engine line up , the Fabia has a choice of 1.2 litre naturally-aspirated petrol engine with outputs of 60bhp and 70bhp , along side this is the 1.2 TSI petrol turbo with a 80bhp and 105bhp output. With the added 1.6 litre turbo. Manual transmission is standard on all models, but the 105bhp 1.2 TSI is also available with the Volkswagen Group’s seven-speed twin clutch semi-automatic DSG gearbox. This range apart from the 1.2 petrol version is available to the larger Roomster.
Prices have yet to be reavealed so watch this space.
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February 24th, 2010
After much speculation and rumour Saab has finally moved to their new owners Spyker who are a Dutch sport car manufacturer, the CEO Victor Muller said
” We are delighted Saab’s future is now secure, from today we will be concentration all of our efforts into reviving Saab and transforming it into a sustainable and profitable company with the confidence to be bold. We will reinforce the emotional experience between Saab drivers and their cars and we will focus on Saab’s historical strengths in the fields of independent thinking, aircraft heritage, ecological performance and motor-sport.”
“Today’s announcement is great for Saab’s customers, dealers, suppliers and employees around the globe, the lever of passion and support shown to Saab over recent months has been remarkable and this does bode well for the future,” says Jan Ake Jonsson, CEO Saab Automobile. ” Now we aim to get back to the execution of our business plan, starting with the introduction of the new 9-5 later this year and with continued support of our employees and business partners I am confident we will succeed.”
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February 23rd, 2010
The second hand car trade is worth about £34 billion a year, this recently has seen a fall in light of the governments scrappage scheme designed to get new car sales moving and certainly worked they enticed the buyers through the doors with a £2000 sweetener for their old car which could have been up to ten years old, but with this scheme coming to an end it is predicted that the used car market will rise again.
Indeed great bargains can be had in the used market, particularly in models where the residual has not held, however be warned the Office of Fair Trading state that about 20% of buyers have a problem and that 86% of these crop up in the first three months and the average cost of sorting any hitch is in the region of £450 – £500. So checks are vital and more than worthwhile, getting an inspection by a mechanic is easy and the AA and RAC can point you in the right direction as is a test drive, not forgetting having insurance, to listen for any noises that really should not be there.
Data checks are another must and these can cost around the £20 mark but most firms will do multiple vehicle checks for you and this will give you peace of mind that the car is not stolen, has been written off, mileage is correct and there is no outstanding finance against it.
You must always ask to see the V5 registration document, more usually known as the log book and if you are buying privately check the address matches, the vehicle identification number should match the document and will be on the car on a metal plate under the bonnet or on the driver door sill or occasionally etched on the window, if these appear tampered or scratched in anyway run for the hills and find something else.
Finally check the MOT and service history and the mileage adds up to the age of the car and gaps should ring warning bells and again look at something else it is your money and only exchange or transfer your money once the car is delivered to you.
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February 19th, 2010
The new Polo BlueMotion is forecast to achieve 80.7 mpg on the combined cycle, making it capable of almost 800 miles on one tank, that would be enough to drive from London to Milan. This model also qualifies for free VED because its low CO2 emissions.
The new Polo BlueMotion uses technology with which you’ll already be familiar with such as start/stop system, regenerative braking, hill hold low rolling resistance tyres and mid-line multifunction computer showing recommended gear changes.
On top of this the BlueMotion will be fitted with an aerodynamic styling kit which improves fuel consumption. This comprises bespoke bumpers, side skirts and an enlarged rear roof spoiler. The exterior also features 15-inch Greenland alloy wheels and BlueMotion badging.
Comfort on the standard model includes manual air conditioning, a leather steering and cruise control, to reduce weight and thus improve efficiency the car comes with a tyre repair kit instead of a spare wheel and comes in 5 colours 2 solid 3 metallic with a brand new colour Glacier Blue. The interior comes in black “cirrus” and a two tone “Blue Merlin”.
Pricing starts at £14445 OTR for the three door and £15045 for the five door.
ef its low CO2 emissions.
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February 17th, 2010
The top end of the market place such as Bentleys Ferraris Daimler and Rolls Royce have seen the values tumble by up to £127,000 in the last year and that works out at a whopping £350 per day.
Whilst at the other end of the scale the average hatch back loses £3.67 a day. Models such the Honda Jazz will cost its owner £1379 in the first year as opposed to the £264.000 plus Rolls-Royce Phantoms have seen drops of around £81183.
Cars such Fiat Funky and Seat Ibiza have managed to hold their value, although it must be said that on the whole owners of the top end cars to tend to keep their cars considerable longer and if you have £300,000 in the first place may be you don’t worry too much!
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