Monthly Archives: May 2012

Hertz launches Electric Vehicle car club in Oxford

May 17, 2012   Ian

Hertz, the car rental company, is setting up a car sharing club in Oxford that will only offer electric vehicles. This probably makes a lot more sense for most people than buying an electric car.  Members of the car club can rent the Nissan Leafs by the hour for as little as £5 and can recharge them at any one of 32 charging points round the city (due to expand to 60 charging points soon).
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Vauxhall’s UK factory to survive?

May 17, 2012   Ian

The official announcement is expected any day now, but the odds of Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port plant surviving appear to have improved. Rumours from Germany suggest that General Motors’ current plan is to concentrate Astra production in Poland and the UK, while stopping the Astra production lines in two German factories, Bochum and Russelsheim.  If true, Bochum would then close and Russelsheim would concentrate on the Insignia, and weirdly, could make Citroens
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DAB radio now standard on all VW models

May 16, 2012   Ian

All 2013 model year VWs will have DAB radios fitted as standard – good news for any fans of Radio 6 Music.  Some car companies have been a bit slow in changing over to DAB radios, despite the fact that the UK was originally planning to switch off the FM network in 2015. The government is currently refusing to confirm that date, saying a decision about the switchover date will be taken in 2013.
Partly because of the issue of car radios, the proportion of people currently listening via DAB is way below the 50% target set by the government as the point at which switchover could start to happen.
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BMW reveals all-new 3 Series Touring

May 16, 2012   Ian

BMW has shown the 3 Series Touring for the first time, adding a welcome dose of dog carrying ability to its most popular car. It was only ever a case of when BMW unveiled the estate version of its most popular car, rather than if. In the same way, we’ll get a Coupé at some point, and a Convertible.That said, it’s almost certain that those two cars will be badged 4 Series, so that BMW can make them sound posher; the same principle makes Audi A5 drivers genuinely believe their cars are superior to A4s.
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Ford goes Ecoboost crazy

May 16, 2012   Ian

Ford reckons that petrol engines are going to win market share back from diesel engines, and is planning to triple production of Ecoboost petrol engines to meet demand. The amazing new 1.0 Ecoboost will take the lion’s share of the increased output, with the engine replacing most versions of the conventional 1.6 litre petrol engine in the Focus. It will also go into the B-Max small MPV later this year and the Fiesta in 2013.
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