Car News Articles

Switching company cars to greener, 120g/km CO2 emitting alternatives could save the UK and its businesses a mighty £3 billion each year, new research shows. The Energy Savings Trust has calculated the figure as part of a drive to encourage people into cleaner fleet cars.

Company cars account for over half of new car sales in the UK, and less than half of the firms providing them have an environmental policy. Worse still, only a third of the companies that have one bother to consider the environmental impact of their vehicles. It’s an area the Government is going to focus on increasingly.

What’s in it for the drivers?

So is this the end of Ford Mondeos and Vauxhall Vectra rep specials? Don’t expect businesses to start dishing out Toyota Prius hybrids overnight - and the mainstream car makers are readying a new generation of cleaner, downsized petrol and diesel engines to trim emissions.

If all company car drivers switched to a car producing less than 120g/km, they’d save 4.9m tonnes of CO2 emissions (if you factor in private use of the cars) - and dodge the London congestion charge, too.

So how much can I save by going green?

Clean cars also trim tax bills. Employees would save £645m in benefit in kind, and a whopping £1.2bn combined in lower fuel bills. Put that into context; a green fleet policy could save an organisation with 50 cars up to £45,000 a year. Not bad…

Part of the problem is companies offering a cash alternative to a company car list, meaning workers can take the money and add it to their own funds to buy any car they wish. While some companies scrutinise the private wheels their employees use, more than half don’t have a limit and just 6 percent take a look at the emissions the cars produce. In theory, you could run anything from a Fiat Panda to a Ferrari 599 GTB.

Should company car drivers be able to choose their own set of wheels? Or should the Government limit choice? Click ‘Add your comment’ and sound off

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It sounds like the answer to millions of drivers’ prayers: a car that parks itself. But is it too good to be true? Watch our video to find out, as we test the self-parking system in the VW Tiguan.

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We’ve caught Vauxhall’s new Astra pounding around the Nurburgring and testing on the surrounding streets. The new Astra will feature downsized and turbocharged engines, Insignia-inspired styling both inside and out, and underpin Saab’s new 9-1 hatchback. A pretty crucial car for GM, then.

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Graham Rahal missed the IndyCar opener in Homestead-Miami Speedway last month because he destroyed a car in practice/testing in the week leading up to the race and his Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing team couldn’t put together another car for him in time for the race.
Rahal, one of the Champ Car imports and son of Indy 500 winner Bobby Rahal, made it up to his team Sunday by winning the IndyCar Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in Florida.
Helio Castroneves was second and Tony Kanaan was third.
Read more about Rahal’s win and get full results here.
– Michele Vincze

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When I’m running late, I get really speedy. I pick up the pace, stomp around and mix it all with a dollop of fluster. What inevitably winds up happening is I forget stuff, or I mutter. I can be seen with a clenched jaw muttering unfinished sentences like, “Why can’t we just…” and “Why is it so hard…” and “Someday I’ll get out of the house… .” These things are usually said to myself or my poor family. During my most recent test drive, though, I found myself saying them to the 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan.

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will know that I’m a firm believer in branding guru Al Reis’ dictum that the tighter a brand’s focus, the more powerful it is. A Porsche that only makes sports cars is a stronger brand than a Porsche that makes sports cars and SUVs. TTAC’s Best and Brightest will also recognize the blatant hypocrisy of this stance. This website does three things: news, reviews and editorials. The clumsy nature of our site design represents my ongoing– and largely unsuccessful– attempts to reconcile this triumvirate. An opportunity has recently arisen to right this wrong, and I want to get your feedback. How would you feel if we had three inter-linked car sites? The first would be a kick-ass news blog. TTAC would be the second: home of editorials, forums, social networking and all news-related comments. The third would be a car review site. TTAC writers would populate all three sites, which would maintain our high standards of editorial integrity. Your feedback would be most appreciated. Meanwhile, Justin and I discuss the day’s news.

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In a twist on the “unintended acceleration” debate raging here and elsewhere, a jury has found Chrysler liable for $5m in damages in a case of park-to-reverse transmission malfunction. The Saint Bernards Parish (LA) jury decided that a defect in a Grand Cherokee’s automatic transmission caused the Guillot family’s SUV to reverse suddenly, trapping the pregnant Mrs Guillot against a carport column, rupturing her uterus and fatally injuring their unborn (en route to a hospital for delivery). The police had considered charging Mr Guillot, who was driving at the time, with criminal negligence. Although Chrysler had sent an investigator to look into the incident, the Guillots found out about the Chrokee’s long-standing park-to-reverse transmission defect when contacted by the L.A. Times– more than two years after the accident. “We suffered the worst loss any parent can experience,” Mr. and Mrs. Guillot told reporters. “When we learned that Chrysler knew for years that its vehicles had a defective transmission, we were outraged and determined to hold the corporation accountable. We thank the jury for its careful review of the evidence and verdict against DaimlerChrysler.”

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According to China Daily, sales of passenger cars in China rose 23.6 percent in March, compared with the same period last year. That’s the largest monthly rise in seven months, attributed (in part) to the arrival of milder springtime weather. The market recovered after “freak winter weather” slowed sales, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. First-quarter sales rose 20.4 percent to 1.85m vehicles, including 1.37m sedans, 55.3k minivans and 101.8k SUVs. Taking both first and second place in sales for the first three months of the year: Volkswagen AG’s two Chinese joint ventures, FAW Volkswagen and Shanghai Volkswagen. Coming in third in the sales race: Shanghai GM, the Detroit-based car maker’s JV with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. China is the world’s second largest car market, with sales of 6.3m vehicles last year.

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On April 1st, 2008 significant modifications to road safety regulations in the Canadian provinces of Québec and Nova Scotia went into effect. CTV.ca reports that handheld cellular phones are now verboten while at the wheel, though hands free devices are still tolerated. Nova Scotia will begin ticketing the offense immediately, while Québec has allowed for a three-month grace periods in which offenders will only receive stern warnings and moralizing sermons. The first offense in Nova Scotia will cost $165, while costing $80-$110 and three demerit points in Québec. Still not satisfied, road safety advocate Jean-Marie de Koeninck argues that “[h]ands-free is just as dangerous. (But) by forbidding the hand-held it does send a signal that there is a problem with the cellphone, there’s a problem with concentration”. Meanwhile, the same traffic safety bill in Québec also doubled all speeding fines , with new suspension of license provisions for those caught traveling at 40 km/h over the limit in under-60 zones, 50 km/h in 60-90 over zones, and 60 km/h over in 100+ zones. All in the name of safety, presumably.

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