Fiat 500

Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Fiat Professional (vans) have launched a new comprehensive accident aftercare programme for all new and used vehicle owners in Britain.

The service, called Accident AfterCare, is provided free to all their customers and aims to increase the volume of vehicle crash repairs retained within the Fiat and Alfa Romeo dealer network.

All customers, whether it is their fault or not, will receive a courtesy car during the accident management and bodyshop repair. The programme is managed by Retention Limited, part of the Verex Group.

Peugeot Bipper

The European Commission has proposed a tough new law to try and cut the CO2 emissions of vans. The proposal is to set van makers an average target of 175g/km CO2 or 42.8 mpg from 2014, phased-in to 2016.

Paul Everitt, chief executive of the SMMT commented,”Vans are an integral part of the European economy and at a time of economic downturn and belt-tightening, businesses do not have the capacity to invest in new products. Industry needs sufficient lead times and reasonable targets to provide affordable products. These must be fit for purpose business tools”.

Demand for vans across the EU has fallen 35% so far this year and in the UK demand is down by 41% in the first nine months of 2009. Reducing the CO2 emissions of vans is clearly the future direction and the industry will work closely with the European Council and Parliament to develop the proposal into a workable piece of legislation.

2010 plates

DVLA Personalised Registrations opens up its 10-series of registrations on Monday, the 2nd of November. The new March and September 2010 registration plates will then go on sale on Tuesday the 1st December.

Interestingly, following a poll conducted by DVLA Personalised Registrations, they found that motorists are still unsure of the date recognition rules with 17% out of 1004 people interviewed, not knowing that “09″ and “59″ registrations relate to the year 2009.

The new system was introduced in September 2001 and the current registration comprises of two letters, a two figure age identifier and then a space and three letters. So for next year, 2010 March and September will be recognised by 10 and 60.

You can also fit a personalised plate to a contract hire vehicle so if you are thinking about leasing a car or van why not get a quote here?

New Golf BlueMotion

Volkswagen has launched a new Golf Bluemotion that offers a combined fuel economy of 74.3mpg and a CO2 emissions figure of only 99g/km.

The new Golf BlueMotion uses the standard Golf 1.6-litre TDI common rail diesel engine (105PS) and the car accelerates from 0-62mph in 11.3 seconds and onto a top speed of 118mph.

The car also gets a sports styling kit to improve aerodynamics and boost fuel efficiency even further. This kit consists of sports bumpers, side skirts, an enlarged rear roof spoiler, 15-inch “Wellington” alloy wheels, cherry red rear lights, chrome grille louvres and Golf BlueMotion badges at the front and rear.

As with all Golfs the safety features include ABS with ESP and seven airbags plus this model also has other accessories like Climatic semi-automatic climate control and a RCD 210 radio/MP3 compatible CD player. Volkswagen car leasing prices on this new model will be available shortly.

Axon plug-in hybrid

The new UK car manufacturer, Axon Automotive, has released the details of its new plug-in hybrid electric car. The vehicle combines a full electric mode for local travel and a petrol (or bioethanol) powered engine for long distances or motorway travelling.

The result gives the car a CO2 emissions figure of 50g/km. Dr Steve Cousins, Axon’s Managing Director said,”By designing light cars and giving them good aerodynamics you can radically lower vehicle emissions“.

Win a Volvo XC60

Fans of the new film, Twilight Saga:New Moon, can log onto a website to win Edward Cullen’s shiny new Volvo XC60.

Players can register at www.whatdrivesedward.com from the 2nd November where you will receive clues to help solve a series of puzzles. Fans are also being encouraged to use Facebook, MySpace and Twitter to help solve the game. The competition runs from the 2nd November until the 23rd November 2009.

The website also has trailers from the film, photo galleries and downloadable New Moon-themed desktop wallpapers. Edward drives a Volvo XC60 in Saville Grey metallic with a sandstone beige leather interior, cream steering wheel,19-inch Achilles diamond cut wheels plus extras like side scuff plates,front bumper bar and rear skid plates.

The award is in recognition of the technical advances that Toyota has made with the third generation Prius, which delivers more power with even better fuel efficiency and lower emissions, from its full hybrid powertrain.

There have been a series of quad bike thefts around Durham by an organised gang of car thieves however the Durham and Cleveland police force recovered a Honda 400cc quad which had a TRACKER system installed.

The bike had been transported 40 miles but the TRACKER system using VHF and GPS technology quickly located the vehicle. The underlying technology is in use in over 30 countries throughout the world and since 1993, TRACKER has recovered over 18,000 vehicles.

New Mazda CX-7

The new Mazda CX-7 Sports Crossover is available in Mazda car showrooms from the 1st November. This new model features a turbo-charged 2.2-litre diesel engine which generates 173ps and offers low fuel consumption and low CO2 emissions.

The vehicle has an electronically controlled Active Torque 4-wheel drive system and numerous features as standard vehicle options including leather seats, climate control air-conditioning, cruise control, electric driver’s and front passenger heated seats, a BOSE sound system plus integrated satellite navigation with Bluetooth technology.

The car comes in choice of five colours namely Brilliant Black, Aluminium Silver Metallic, Copper Red, Galaxy Grey and Stormy Blue Mica.

Most UK motorists don’t know the size of their car tyres so a new website allows you to input your car registration to let you know what the correct tyre size is.

The website (www.mytyres.co.uk) will also provide information on a choice of tyres for summer, all season, 4×4 and winter tyres plus details of run-flat tyres. Prices will be sorted by brand name and you can buy online.