One million cars from Kia

The Kia Motors Manufacturing Slovakia has just built its 1,000,000^th car – a white, diesel-engined cee’d SW. The car was handed over to a Slovakian children’s charity, the Red Nose Clowndoctors. The cee’d is also the 600,000th version of the Zilina factory’s first car, plus the factory now produces the Sportage and Venga as well.

“Kia Motors Slovakia has achieved an important milestone in its history with the production of the millionth car. We decided to donate it to an organisation which will bring pleasure to children during their stay in hospitals,” said Eek-Hee Lee, President and CEO of Kia Motors Slovakia.

Following the successful launch of the UK’s first eco motor show Ecovelocity in 2011, the organisers of the ground-breaking show have announced details for the 2012 event. The show will also move from Battersea Power Station to ExCeL, London and will run from May 10^th  through to the  13^th 2012.

Giles Brown, managing director of organisers IGME Ltd commented: “EcoVelocity got off to a fabulous start at Battersea Power Station, and really stood out from other car events.  The show featured 17 of the leading low carbon automotive brands and between them 7,000 test drives were taken during the event by enthusiastic show visitors.”

EcoVelocity 2012 will see car makers showing off their latest green car models including electric, hybrid and very low carbon derivitaves.  The show provides motorists the chance to get up close to the cars and the chance to have test drives on a special test drive circuit.

Citroen DS4 5-door coupes

Clear Channel UK has just taken delivery of its first Citroen DS4s as part of a single badge agreement with Citroen, for the supply of its fleet cars. They are one of the UK’s market leaders in outdoor advertising and chose Citroen as part of their commitment to reduce CO2 emissions.

Their vehicle order included new DS4s, new C4, C4 Picasso, C5 Saloon and C5 Tourer, with a combination of HDi diesel engines or the ultra-efficient e-HDi micro-hybrid powertrains with Stop & Start. The DS4 e-HDi models have Citroen’s six-speed EGS automated manual transmission as standard and return 64.2 combined mpg and emit 114g/km of CO2. Citroen contract hire is on the site now for the whole range of cars and vans.

Glenn Ewen, Fleet Manager for Clear Channel UK, said: “In each price band Citroën has a choice of three or four models and using a single supplier cuts down on paperwork. It also reduces work for our drivers as they don’t have to compare models from a variety of manufacturers. With these new Citroen cars our drivers certainly appreciate paying less Benefit in Kind tax than they did before.”

Kia Rio diesel returns 88.3 combined mpg

The driver training specialist IAM Drive & Survive is offering weekly motoring tips to drivers from its head of training, Simon Elstow. This week, Simon is advising on saving fuel and money and how green driving will save you up to 15% on your fuel bills:

• Keep your vehicle moving for as long as possible, even in traffic queues. This is far more fuel efficient than stopping and starting your vehicle, so slow down earlier, to avoid braking harshly and too often.
• Your cruising speed has a major impact on the fuel economy of your car or van so stick to the speed limit. This offers a good compromise between economy and getting somewhere on time. There’s a significant saving made by doing 70 instead of 80 – and you also avoid any risk of speeding fines.
• Reverse into parking bays when parking. If you do all the manoeuvring with a hot engine you can drive straight off when you come back and warm the engine up more quickly, thereby saving fuel.
• Check your vehicle regularly to ensure it operates efficiently and in particular check the condition of your tyres, and measure tyre pressures when they’re cold.
• Remove all unnecessary weight from your vehicle, including roof racks, car clutter and heavy items in the boot. The more weight you carry in the car, the more fuel your vehicle will burn.
• Keep the inside of the front and rear windscreens squeaky clean. Traffic fumes form a film on the glass which attracts moisture and makes them mist up easily – a clean screen will rarely mist up, so you won’t be using the heater and air-conditioning to clear them.

Elstow said: “We’ve all got better things to spend our money on than petrol. This will help you save cash and reduce your carbon emissions.”

Great advice from the IAM’s Drive & Survive, however choosing a fuel efficient car can also save you hundreds of pounds in fuel bills annually.

For example the new Kia Rio 1.1 CRDi 1 EcoDynamics 5-door hatchback returns a staggering 88.3 combined mpg and only emits 85g/km of CO2. The combined mpg of 88.3 is a remarkable performance and you can search for the most fuel efficient new cars using our Vehicle Type Shopper and see the vehicle lease rentals too.

Accident Exchange

Accident Exchange, the accident management specialist, has found that travelling in reverse gear causes around £409 million each year in vehicle damage. Around 200,000 reversing accidents occur every year (500 a day) according to Accident Exchange, with an average repair cost of £2,123. The research was based on around 31,000 claims handled between 2010 and June 2011.

They found that in the majority of incidents, the “at fault” driver collided with the other innocent party’s stationary vehicle (usually in a car park) or they were reversing from a driveway or narrow side road. Reversing cars total mearly 8% of all total accidents in the UK, with the most common factor (38%) for an accident being “failing to check for another vehicle”  (Department of Transport figures in 2010).

Lee Woodley of Accident Exchange, commented, “Despite the proliferation of technology such as parking sensors and reverse cameras, drivers are not taking enough care to accurately check their surroundings whilst reversing. Accidents can and always will happen, but perhaps drivers are mollycoddled by their vehicles too much these days- it is easy to become over reliant on technology, pampered by their vehicle’s cosy, quiet environment”.

Hubert Waltl

Volkswagen Passenger Cars has set some ambitious environmental targets for car production, with a plan to reduce energy consumption, waste volumes, air borne emissions, water consumption and carbon dioxide emissions by 25 per cent by 2018, at all its factory production plants worldwide.

The “Think Blue. Factory” initiative is an addition to the “Think Blue” portfolio and the new Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee,was the first factory worldwide to receive a platinum LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental) certificate. This certification confirms Volkswagen’s compliance with some of the most demanding standards for sustainable, environmentally compatible vehicle production.

Hubert Waltl (pictured) , Member of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars Brand, said,”Through the growing efficiency and productivity of our plants, the Volkswagen brand is already making a key contribution to the achievements of Group strategic targets for 2018. However, we are going a step further: by 2018 we intend to make production at all our plants 25 per cent more environmentally compatible”.

Parent Driver of the Year

Tesco Cars has just announced that Bristol mum, Sharon Appleyard, has just been voted its inaugural ”Parent Driver of the Year” award, which was a nationwide competition to find the parent that provides the ultimate parent “taxi” service.  The research was conducted by OnePoll.com and a total of 2,000 responses were collected and analysed.

Tesco Car’s study showed the average parent will make three trips per week, covering 50.2 miles to transport children to various events and activities. It also found that Dads will drive their children 10 more miles per week on average than mums, and that parents in Wales recorded the highest average mileage driven at 65 miles.

Sharon, who was nominated by her daughter Amy, chauffeurs her three children to a wide range of after-school clubs and weekend activities and will now be the lucky winner of a £1,000 Tesco voucher prize. She said,”I would like to say a big thanks to my daughter Amy for nominating me and to Tesco cars of course for making this Christmas a bit more special!”.

Tesco Cars specialises in re-marketing quality for customers who want to buy used ex-fleet leased vehicles with all cars being refurbished and inspected by the RAC.

The Classic Cars Classified website for classic car enthusiasts has just been sold to Bauer Media for an undisclosed sum. The website was established on 2004 and is the number one website for anyone interested in buying or selling classic cars from around the world. The site receives around 1 million visitors per month from the UK, USA, Europe, Australia and New Zealand and has just been re-built to improve its ease of use.

Bauer Media (who also own Fleet News - one of Comparecontracthire.com’s partners) commented,”The UK’s best website for buying and selling classic cars, parts and automobilia – Classicarsforsale.co.uk – has been redesigned to make both buying and selling a classic car even quicker and easier as well as more secure. It is still completely FREE for private sellers to place adverts and there are great packages available for dealers and traders”.

ESP installation chart

Electronic Stability Control (ESP) must now be standard on all new cars and light commercial vehicles in the EU from the 1st November 2011. ESP will also become compulsory in all new EU vehicles from 31st October 2014 and this is part of the European Commission strategy to improve road safety.

Bosch developed ESP and in 1995 it was the first company worldwide to start series production. By 2010, 41 per cent of all cars and light commercial vehicles weighing less than six metric tons worldwide were equipped with the innovative safety system.

The Electronic Stability Program uses intelligent sensors to check 25 times per second whether the driver’s steering input matches the direction of travel and if it detects the vehicle is likely to become unstable, it intervenes by reducing the engine torque in order to restore stability. If that doesn’t correct the issue, it then additionally brakes individual wheels and also incorporates with the functions of antilock braking (ABS) and traction control.

DIAmond Advanced Motorists, the company that organises and administers driving tests on behalf of the Driving Instructors Association (DIA) has recommended some motorway driving tips to reduce stress and improve road safety. Motorways are statistically the safest roads but as we know, when things do go wrong, it usually involves more than one vehicle and serious injuries.

The motorway driving tips;  

1. Plan your journey a day before you travel and have an alternative route if there is heavy traffic.
2. Check out the weather forecast and leave a reasonable time for your journey, with a stop every 2-3 hours to stretch your legs. Recent research has found that 15-20% of motorway incidents is caused by driver fatigue.
3. Do the basic maintenance checks on your vehicle – check the lights are working, tyre pressures, oil level, windscreen washer and water levels.
4. If you are an experienced motorway driver remember that many other drivers around you many not be, so keep on the lookout for the unexpected.
5. When joining a motorway on a slip road try and make sure your speed is the same as the traffic on the main carriageway when you pull onto the motorway.
6. Make sure you fully understand the motorway road signs before you set out (The Highway Code has all the details).
7. Take a few minutes to get use to the speed of the motorway and always look as far ahead as possible for potential hazards i.e. “is that car likely to pull out to overtake the lorry?”.
8. Keep your lane discipline and stay in the left hand lane (number 1) for normal driving - don’t hog the middle or outer overtaking lanes.
9. Check your mirrors regularly to see what is happening behind you before giving a signal and allow your signal to flash a few times before pulling out into another lane. Don’t forget to check your blind spot by a quick sideways look.
10. When overtaking move out briskly past the slower vehicles and only return to the left once you can see the vehicle you have passed in your rear-view mirror i.e. don’t “cut them up”. 
11. Don’t tailgate the vehicle in front as this is one of the most common causes of accidents on motorways. You should leave at least a two- to three-second gap between you and the vehicle in front.
12. When approaching a junction watch out for drivers who want to exit the motorway and may have left it too late, as they may make a risky manoeuvre.
13. Be aware that other cars or vans may be joining from the same junction so allow them to join by changing your speed or changing lanes.
14. Plan to leave the motorway in good time as the first exit sign is usually one mile from the exit slip road and sometimes two miles on busier exit junctions. The exit sign is repeated at the half mile stage and at the exit, so make sure you are in the left hand lane with plenty of time to exit.
15. And finally, when you have left the motorway do check your speed. You have been travelling at high speeds for some time and 30mph may appear “slow” when in fact it is the legal limit on most urban roads.