Ford Focus

Ford has done it again by winning the What Car? Used Car of the Year Award 2009. The Ford Focus has been a the UK’s top seller every since since 1998 and was credited with good “fuel economy” and “a fine reputation for reliability”.

What Car? judge James Gibson of British Car Auctions said,”The Ford Focus still drives better than anything in the class and has good accomodation for family and their luggage. It’s good all round value with sensible running costs”. The fact that this car has a good resale value and excellent running costs, also makes it an affordable car, if you are thinking about leasing your next Ford car.

Lorries from 1960

For British lorry enthusiasts, a nostalgic new book has been launched, by author Malcolm Bobbitt and Veloce Publishing, taking you back to the 1960′s. The book is a highly visual study of British lorries built during the 1960′s and has 120 colour and black and white images.

Malcolm Bobbitt has a well published interest in motor transport and is the author of thirty books, with subjects ranging from Bubblecars and Microcars, Motorhomes and British Police Vehicles, plus features on Citroen, Fiat, Rolls-Royce and Volkswagen.

The books costs £14.99 and is available in most UK bookshops or via www.veloce.co.uk

Volvo XC60

Volvo picked up the £25,000 to £32,000 price category at the Caravan Club Towcar of the Year Awards 2010, beating rivals from Isuzu, Skoda, Honda, Subaru and Toyota.

The Volvo XC60 D5 AWD SE was praised for its sure-footed handling, flexible power and all-wheel drive capability. Grenville Chamberlain of the Caravan Club said,”This vehicle has an extra powerful version of Volvo’s excellent five-cylilnder engine as well as AWD. Gear changes are smooth and speed builds up rapidly”.

The D5 delivers 205PS and comes with a choice of 6-speed manual or 5-speed Geartronic (auto) transmission and is also fitted with Trailer Stability Assist (STA) to counteract “trailer snaking”.

Top Gear Tour

Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May have officially launched this year’s Top Gear World Live Tour suspended below a balloon. The Top gear Live World Tour will see the three presenters entertain massive audiences in eight world wide cities including Sydney, Auckland,Cape Town and Hong Kong.

The show kicks off at London’s Earls Court from the 5th-8th of November and then at Birmingham’s NEC from the 12th-15th November 2009 where more than 95,000 car fans can watch automotive mayhem. Tickets for the UK shows can be purchased at www.mphshow.co.uk or through the ticket hotline 0871 230 5588. The tickets cost bewteen £42 and £99 each.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has commented on recent vehicle production figures. The highlights are as follows;

- Car production has dropped by 31.5% in August and 44.6% for the year to date position.

- Cars however for the UK market only reached a 56 month high of 33.8%.

- Commercial vehicle output was down 48.5% in August, the smallest drop of the year.

Paul Everitt, SMMT chief executive said,”The scrappage incentive scheme has had a positive impact on car production with one in three cars built in the UK last month for the home market and total volumes starting to stabilise. However underlying demands remains weak and the recovery is still fragile. A continuation of the scrappage incentive scheme through to the the original close date of 28 February 2010 would help to sustain growth and bridge uncertainties associated with the ending of VAT discount”

On commercial vehicle production Mr Everitt went onto say,”The continued fall in commercial vehicle output reflects ongoing weakness in the market. Specific action is needed to address business confidence and encourage investment in new business vehicles”.

The data supplied courtesy of the SMMT 

LRX Concept

Land Rover has confirmed that a full production model of the exciting new LRX concept car will be built next year, joining the Range Rover line-up in 2011.

Designed at Gaydon, the new car will be built at the Halewood plant in Merseyside, subject to various quality and productivity agreements being reached. Phil Popham, managing director at Land Rover said,”The production of a small range Rover model is exciting news for our employees, dealers and customers. Feedback from customer research also fully supports our belief that a production version of the LRX Concept would further raise the desirability of our brand and absolutely meet their expectations”.

More details of the new small Range Rover will be released next year with full vehicle specifications.

Golf SE

Volkswagen has won the top prize at The Caravan Club Towcar of the Year Awards 2010, claiming the £16,000 to £20,000 category as well as overall Caravan Club Towcar of the Year 2010.

The winning model was the Golf SE 2.0-litre TDI 140 PS which impressed the 10 judges with its strong performance when towing in a variety of different situations. Barry Williams, one of the judges said,”Absolutely faultless stability made the Golf steadfast on the test track and when the punchy engine had whisked its way to 60mph it was still ready to accelerate, even in sixth gear. Agile handling enables the car to tackle the most demanding route. The Volkswagen Golf SE 2.0-litre TDI 140 PS is a truly capable towing vehicles and a worthy winner”.

Adrian Rushmore

Glass’s guide is predicting that the price for used cars, which have been peaking since Spring 2009, have now stabilised and as we approach the final quarter of the year, they are forecasting a possible fall.

Adrian Rushmore, Managing Editor at Glass’s said,”The improvement in prices this year was largely due to the much lower level of used car supply. It is apparent that the correction is complete-in other words the trade price of a car, plus a dealer margin, now equals the retail price that customers are willing to pay. However, there are already signs that some dealers are displaying vehicles with smaller margins, in order to ensure that would-be-buyers are not discouraged by price”.

The increased in used car supply generated by sales of the “59 plate” will be relatively small to recent years, however in a typical year, Glass’s would expect to see a fall of seven to eight per cent during the final quarter. They are now forecasting a fall in used car prices for the final quarter of two to four per cent.

Buying a car always exposes you to the falls in used car values and that is why vehicle leasing is becoming more popular, as the risk on resale is always with the leasing company.

Mazda6 Estate

The second generation Mazda6 has won another award at the Caravan Club 2010 Towcar of the Year Awards in the £20,000 to £25,000 Class. The Judges said,”Towing 1,347kg, the good looking estate car romped up the long 14% hill in third gear and tackled a 17% stop-and -restart quite easily. A super car at a super price”.

The exact specification of the car that was tested is the Mazda6 2.2-litre Diesel Estate TS2 163ps Manual. Twenty-eight cars were put through their paces at the Millbrook Proving Ground and whether you are looking to tow a caravan, a horse box or a jet-ski trailer, the Mazda6 offers a great vehicle specification and could be for you, with 26 models in their line-up.

Skoda Superb

The Skoda Superb 3.6 V6 260bhp 4×4 DSG has won an award at the 2010 Towcar of the Year Awards, for the “All-Wheel-Drive Vehicles Under 1800kg category”. Last year, the Skoda Superb 2.0 TDI took the top prize in the contest.

The judges said,” The Superb feels as solid as a rock and it handles so well you can push it hard through the twisty roads with real confidence”. One of the partners on Comparecontracthire.com has an excellent special offer on contract hire on all Skoda models. If you are looking for a capable vehicle to tow a caravan or a boat then the Skoda Superb is a model to consider.