Ford Fiesta

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has just announced the December 2011 and 2011 full year new car registration figures, with the market down 4.4% at 1.94 million units sold. This was ahead of the 1.92 million forecast number however.

The December numbers fell by 3.7% year-on-year, at 119,188 units, and diesel and alternatively fuelled cars took record market shares over the year, as motorists look for best fuel economy and lower CO2 emissions.

The average new car CO2 emissions figure fell to a new low of 138.1g/km, which is down 4.2% on the 2010 number of 144.2g/km of CO2 and 23.7% below the 2000 figure of 181.0g/km.

Other highlights;

• Fleet sales maintained the new car registrations levels with a 4.7% growth year on year, from 973,233 in 2010 to 1,019,126 in 2011.
• Private registrations fell by 14.1% for the year from 958,005 to 823,094.
• Business (sub-25 fleet) registrations were flat (99,608 in 2010 to 99,033 in 2011).
• Diesel volumes outsold petrol cars for the first time.
• The Ford Fiesta was the best selling car in 2011, with the Volkswagen Golf the best selling diesel model.

Paul Everitt, SMMT Chief Executive, commented,”2011 proved to be a challenging year for the UK motor industry. Total new car registrations were slightly ahead of industry expectations at 1.94 million units, still down 4.4% on 2010. Weak economic growth will make trading conditions tough in 2012, but record numbers of new and updated models, significantly improved fuel efficiency and exciting new technologies will help to encourage consumers into showrooms. Business and consumer confidence will be the key to a successful year, so it will be important that government delivers on its growth strategy and helps to resolve instability in the Euro Zone”.

If you are looking to contract hire a new car in 2012 and want to find the best model for your money, with the lowest CO2 emissions and best fuel economy then do try our Vehicle Type Shopper. You can select how much you want to spend, your CO2 ranges and the best fuel efficient cars too.

Diesel Head

If the answer to this question is yes then you might be interested in a new product that’s just launched called Diesel Head, which is a new device that prevents motorists putting petrol in diesel vehicles. The problem of misfuelling has always been there, but as the growth of diesel vehicle sales increases the problem is getting worse. According to Green Flag it is usually men that are the worst culprits too.

Lee Steadman, the inventor of Diesel Head, said,”Most people do not realise that a petrol nozzle is smaller in diameter than a diesel fuel nozzle and it is this fact that gave me the solution. The opening to a fuel tank fitted with Diesel Head needs a “diesel” diameter nozzle to activate the opening and let the nozzle in- as a result the smaller petrol nozzle cannot open the Diesel Head and so the car is protected”.

Diesel Head is constructed from cast metal, is a “fit and forget” product and costs £34.99, with a lockable version from £39.99. More information on the device can be found on the Diesel Head website.

Royal College of Art exhibition

The RAC Future Car Challenge starts on Saturday the 5th November and requires cars with different powertrains (hybrid, diesel, petrol, etc) to drive a 60-mile route from Brighton to London, using the least amount of energy. To compliment the current RAC challenge , the students at the Royal College of Art (RCA) have been asked to design their vision of what cars might look like in the year 2021.

The Vehicle Design centre at the RCA is the world’s leading centre for vehicle design, education and research and the exhibition will be on display until the end of November in the Hanging Room. Many of the UK’s top car designers studied at the RAC, which offers a dedicated postgraduate course in vehicle design. These include Ian Callum (Design Director, Jaguar), Ken Melville (Renault Design) and Simon Cox (Advanced Design- General Motors), to name just a few.

Ben Cussons, Chairman of the Royal Automobile Club Motoring Committee, commented “The Royal Automobile Club is very keen to support and encourage the talented designers in motor vehicle technology necessary for a sustainable future”.

New car registrations fell by 11.5% in January to 128,811 units which was in line with the SMMT (Society of Motor Manufacturer’s and Traders) expectations. Interestingly the market share for cars with a CO2 figure of less than 100g/km increased again by 65% . Average new car CO2 emissions were 141.5g/km which compares favourably to the figure in 2010, which was 144.2g/km.

Paul Everitt, SMMT Chief Executive commented,”New car registrations fell by 11.5% in January. This is in line with SMMT forecasts and marks the beginning of a challenging year for the UK motor industry. Consumer confidence is low and it is important that government uses the March budget to help relieve some of the financial pressure on motorists by freezing fuel duty,while providing stability and certainty on motoring taxes. Despite the challenging conditions, the demand for low CO2 emitting and highly fuel efficient cars continues to grow”.

Some other interesting facts;

• In terms of market sector, Private Registrations were down by 20.8% to 51,570, Fleet (25+fleets) is down by 3.1% to 70,448 and the Business sector (under 25 fleets) fell by 11.1% to  6,793.
• Diesel new car registrations continued to grow with 65,079 vehicles registered, an increase of 8.3% year on year.
• Petrol cars fell by 25.9% (61,932 units) and AFVs (alternatively fuelled vehicles) by 2.4% (1,800 vehicles).
• The top selling car in the UK was the Ford Focus, followed by the Ford Fiesta and then the Vauxhall Astra.
• Demand for the mini and supermini segments fell (following the loss of the Scrappage Incentive Scheme) however demand for executive, luxury, MPV and dual purpose segments cars recovered strongly.

Further details can be found at the SMMT website.

PetrolPrices.com

If you have ever wondered where you can find the cheapest prices for diesel or petrol in your area than do sign up to PetrolPrices.com. It’s free to get an account and you can search by postcode to find the cheapest fuel available in your area.

This can save you a lot of money as petrol and diesel prices will vary by different petrol branded stations and by location as well. PetrolPrices.com has petrol prices for over 10,000 stations and receives approximately 8,000 daily updates, ensuring their data is accurate and up to date. By using petrolprices.com to check the price of petrol across stations in your local area, you could make substantial savings on your motoring costs.

The Government has pressed ahead with the planned 2p a litre rise in fuel duty from today, despite intense pressure from motoring groups. The further rise in oil prices looks set to push this up by 5p in total- putting an extra £120 a year on on fuel costs, for the average two-car family. This is the third rise in fuel duty in nine months, following increases in April and December.

RAC motoring strategist, Adrian Tink said,”This third fuel duty hike is unacceptable. Since the start of 2009, motorists have seen a 23 per cent rise in pump prices, meaning an extra £11 per tank for the average car”. Mr Tink also pointed out that VAT is set to rise back to 17.5%, on the 1st January 2010 and there is a further fuel duty rise due, in April 2010.

To ensure you get the best prices for your money don’t forget the website www.petrolprices.com records the cheapest prices for fuel in your location. It is also worth considering the combined miles per gallon consumption, when choosing your next car or van.

The MPG shopper at Comparecontracthire.com allows you to select the range of combined MPG fuel consumption you would like to achieve and choose the manufacturers whose vehicles you would like to see displayed. You can easily change the MPG ranges on the side menu bar if you don’t find a Bentley doing 70mpg!. And by choosing business or personal car hire you get to see the latest car leasing prices displayed as well.

Combined MPG is the figure presented for the Urban Cycle and Extra- Urban cycle together. It is an average of these two tests weighted by the distance covered in each.