Car News Articles

Western Australia has been doing it for years. And now the rest of Australia is going to get a national fuel watch scheme that will require petrol retailers post their prices for the next 24 hours to a website by 2pm the day before.
The scheme is set to come into force in December 2008.

How often have you driven past a servo in the morning and then back again in the afternoon and noticed that the price has jumped – sometimes massively? The national fuel watch scheme is supposed to stop these daily fluctuations, and the lesson from WA is that it works.

The Royal Automobile Club of WA told Drive.com.au that the scheme hadn’t lead to cheaper petrol, but it did enable consumers to make an informed decision about where and when to fill up their cars. It also evened out the pricing variations from day to day.

Other sources say that it has lead to an overall drop of 2c per litre on average. That means that filling a Commodore with 60 litres would save you $1.20. It doesn’t seem like much, but if you’re filling your car up once a week that figure translates to an annual saving of $62. That’s nothing to sneeze at.

Behind the national initiative is the prime minister, Kevin Rudd, who has said that the fuel watch scheme will make pricing more transparent.

And that’s got to be a good thing. There’s no other consumer good that changes in price as radically – and unpredictably – as petrol. Imagine if bread was $3.00 one morning, but then had jumped to $3.75 that afternoon? And then the following day was back to $3.50? People wouldn’t stand for it.

But for some reason, we are quite happy for our petrol to oscillate wildly, without any apparent reason. A national fuel watch scheme should bring some rationality to petrol prices – and make it easier for families to factor fuel into their household budgets.

The interesting thing about the fuel watch scheme is that it binds retailers to their 24 hour price both upwards and downwards. This means that the retailer can’t post a price and then drop it during the day.

On the surface this doesn’t make sense. Surely enabling a retailer to drop their price would be a good thing, right?
Not so. If retailers were able to drop their prices during their 24 hour notification period, there would be nothing stopping them from posting an artificially high price and then adjusting downwards throughout the day to where they want the price to be.

What do you think about the national fuel watch scheme? Is it a good idea, or just canny politicking by Kevin Rudd?

Joshua Gliddon

The monowheel, auto-stabilizing Snook concept was designed by Tilmann Schlootz who won the Michelin Challenge Design Award 2008 at this year’s Detroit Auto Show.

For sure when looking to the Snook you will ask yourself: “How in the world do you have stability on something like this and how can you drive it?!” Well the answer is given by Schlootz himslef: “Agility through instability, controlled by artificial intelligence — that is my formal issue.”

After a few leaks and an assortment of GM-sponsored “spy shots,” the Opel Insignia is here. Take note. Aimed to compete in Europe with the Ford Mondeo, Honda Accord, Mazda6 and Citroen C5, the Insignia is set to replace the aging Vectra and could come Stateside sporting a Saturn badge.

The sleeker, sexier Insignia takes a few cues from the GTC concept that helped to inspire the new sedan, with a taut fascia, muscular stance and deeply drawn side blades that extend from the front fenders to run parallel with the side sills. The old V-bar has been nixed in favor of a wider grille, complimented by a pair of intake ducts and the new Vauxhall logo. “Smart” headlights feature daytime running lamps standard and there will be an option for LED lighting on higher-spec models. The rear is sufficiently swoopy, with a tapered tail and smooth haunches, while the rear badge plays double duty as adornment and trunk release button.

The Insignia is 21 cm longer and five cm wider than the Vectra it replaces, and legroom shouldn’t be an issue since the Insignia gets an additional 35 mm tacked onto its wheelbase. Three models will be available, including the standard saloon (above), a hatchback and a wagon.

Power is provided by a choice of three diesels or four gasoline-powered engines, with the former producing anywhere between 110 hp to 160 hp, and the latter putting out 115 hp from the standard four-cylinder or 260 hp from the range-topping V6. Power is channeled to either the front or all four wheels through a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic. A VXR model is likely to be revealed sometime next year.

The Opel Insignia will be available for a meet and greet at the London Motor Show this July and will hit showrooms in the UK this October.

Make the jump for Opel’s press release.

PRESS RELEASE

Opel Insignia: A New Design Language For A New Era

• Sculpted design with a flowing coupé silhouette
• Four-wheel drive, active chassis and seven engines available at launch
• World premiere July 2008 at the London Motor Show

Rüsselsheim. A new name, a new car, a new ambition. With its groundbreaking design and sophisticated technology, the Insignia makes a quantum leap toward rejuvenating the brand and providing the perfect opportunity to discover Opel. The styling of the new 4.83 meter five-seater clearly expresses Opel’s strategy to make advanced technology and attractive design affordable.

The Insignia boasts a flowing, powerful silhouette with a coupé-like roofline. The body’s sculpted shape is accented by a distinctive radiator grille with a newly-designed Opel emblem. Unmistakable design elements include a sweeping front and rear light “wing” signature and a “blade” side contour that begins directly behind the front wheel and glides through the entire side of the body. Both details give the Insignia’s a muscular but graceful allure.

“With Insignia we are introducing an exciting new sophisticated design vocabulary, which combines sculptural artistry with German precision,” says Mark Adams, Vice President Design, GM Europe. “Our aim was to develop a confident look which compels the world to experience for themselves the superb driving dynamics the Insignia radiates.”

Echoing the exterior, the interior shapes and surfaces, which articulate this promise for exciting mobility, are crafted with high quality materials. The dashboard wraps around from the instrument panel to the door in a very sophisticated way, embracing the occupants. This wing theme will be echoed across all Opels. Red ambient lighting, which also will be featured in future Opel models, vibrate a warm, luxurious aura. A lot of emphasis too has been put into the seating, which set the highest standards in ergonomics, comfort and safety.

Opel’s pioneering role and unique expertise in lighting technology continues in the Insignia with the latest generation AFL Adaptive Forward Lighting system: Nine different light beam settings automatically adjust themselves to cater to various driving conditions, simultaneously enhancing safety and driving excitement. Another new element on the AFL system is the LED daytime running lights, which consume considerably less energy than a conventional system featuring halogen lamps, thereby lowering CO2 emissions from 6 g/km to nearly zero.

“As each feature demonstrates, the Insignia is the result of our quest to develop a car that combines striking design, excellent driving dynamics and innovative technology” says Hans H. Demant, Managing Director, Adam Opel GmbH.

The Insignia is offered from the start with front-wheel and all-wheel drive. The “Adaptive 4X4″ system’s proactive, instantaneous torque distribution not only ensures optimal traction but also enhances driving stability and dynamic handling performance. In the all-wheel drive Insignia, the FlexRide mechatronic chassis system with its Adaptive Stability Technology helps the car adjust to prevailing driving conditions and allows the driver to select settings to match his mood. FlexRide is also available in the front-wheel version.

The Insignia will launch with an exceptionally broad range of seven engines. All meet Euro 5 emissions standards and come with either manual or automatic six-speed transmissions. The four gasoline engines range from a four-cylinder 115 hp unit to a V6 with 260 hp. The three new direct-injection diesels feature a displacement of 2.0 liter and outputs spanning from 110 to 160 hp. Subsequently the Insignia engine line-up will be expanded with an EcoFLEX version offering very low CO2 emissions in addition to other, more powerful variants.

“The Opel Insignia sets new standards in technology and innovation — this will be obvious right from the launch. But we are keeping several cards up our sleeves when it comes to environmental compatibility, excitement and safety, which we will play strategically overtime” says Alain Visser, Chief Marketing Officer, GM Europe.

The Insignia notch- and hatchback will debut July 22, 2008 at the London Motor Show and hit showrooms starting in November. The Insignia was developed at GM Europe’s International Technical Development Center in Rüsselsheim, Germany, which also is home to its production. The Rüsselsheim facility is one of the most advanced car plants in the industry.