SKODA Citigo

The new SKODA Citigo city car has just been awarded the maximum five star safety rating by Euro NCAP, with the Euro NCAP testers praising the car for its level of standard safety equipment. The SKODA Citigo is also the first city car to be awarded five stars by Euro NCAP, so this is a major coup for the brand.

The Citigo received praise for its safety assistance systems, passenger protection and was also highly rated in the whiplash test. Infant safety also scored well and in particular, the Citigo has head-throrax airbags and belt fastening reminders as standard across the range.

Together with the Volkswagen up! and SEAT Mii, the SKODA Citigo offers a low-speed, active emergency braking assistant called City Safe Drive. This technology operates automatically at speeds lower than 18mph and depending on the speed and level of traffic, can mitigate the affects of a crash or prevent it altogether.

Lightning GT

The British designed and built Lightning GT supercar has been entered into the 2011 RAC Future Car Challenge which is on the 5th November. The 60-mile route is from Madeira Drive in Brighton to London’ Regent Street with the challenge for each entrant to use as little energy as possible.

The Lightning GT has two electric motors providing 300kW (about 400hp) to the rear wheels and has a 0-60mph time of just 5 seconds, with a top speed of 125mph. The range of the car is over 150 miles and with the addition of the range extender pack this increases to 225 miles. Charging takes as little as 10 minutes with an”ultrafast” off-board charger, 2.5 hours with the on-board charger and 15 hours from a domestic charger (using an adaptor).

There are around 80 low-energy pioneering cars competing in the RAC event from hybrid, hydrogen and low emission combustion engine cars and commercial vehicles, with manufacturers such as Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota , Nissan, Vauxhall, Skoda and Volkswagen all participating.

If you are interested in leasing a low emission, fuel efficient car, then try the Vehicle Type Leasing Shopper where you can select the bodystyle, CO2 emissions target and combined mpg you require.

Volkswagen Ensurance

Volkswagen Insurance Services (VIS) has just launched a new product called “Ensurance” which works with any car insurance policy and then provides a full accident management and support service using the Volkswagen Group repairer network. The new product was launched on the 15th July 2011 and has an annual cost of £49.99.

The new product does not work on referral fees or increased courtesy cars cars costs paid in the background and all work is carried out by VW Group trained technicians, using genuine VW parts and a courtesy car will be provided for a wider range of circumstances than usual credit hire arrangements.

The Ensurance product can bought for all new and used Audi, SEAT, SKODA and Volkswagen branded vehicles and full details by these brands can be found as follows;

• Volkswagen- www.volkswagen-ensurance.co.uk
• Audi – www.audi-ensurance.co.uk
• SKODA- www.skoda-ensurance.co.uk
• SEAT – www.seat-ensurance.co.uk

The RAC Future Challenge

This year the RAC Future Challenge 2011 is taking place on Saturday the 5th November 2011 and is open to electric, hybrid, hydrogen and low-emission internal combustion engine cars and light-commercial vehicles. The challenge invites contenders to drive a 60-mile route from Brighton to London with the aim to use the least amount of energy.

This year the event organisers are using experts from Imperial College London to provide the expertise and neutral input to the event’s regulations, measurements and the results analysis. All vehicle entrants will be supplied with the necessary FCC data-loggers and sensors to ensure everyone has a fair chance to overcome any fitting problems and also to ensure all data recorded is accurate.

Last year’s car manufacturer entry list included prototypes, pre-production vehicles and current production cars from the likes of BMW, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Toyota, Skoda, Vauxhall and Nissan. For 2011 the total number of entries has been increased to 90 and because of the diversity of the vehicles involved, there are a range of awards in 20 different categories. The vehicle type energy categories have been revised to the following:

1. Pure Electric (EV)
2. Extended-Range/Plug-in Electric (E-REV, PHEV)
3. Hybrid (HV, HEV)
4. Hydrogen (HFEV)
5. Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) – up to 110g/km CO2 emission fuelled by any legal means

Titan the Robot

The 2011 Motorexpo, which was held at London’s Canary Wharf, was a resounding success with more than 410,000 visitors attending the event. Motorexpo is the UK’s largest, free-to-visit gathering of car manufacturers and there were just over 250 new cars on show. Manufacturers who were showcasing their vehicles included Bentley, BMW, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Saab, Skoda, Tesla, Vauxhall and Volvo to name just a few.

New models such as the BMW 6 Series Coupe, 2012 Jaguar XF, Lexus CT 200h, Mercedes-Benz SLK and CLS 63 AMG, Saab 9-5 SportWagon and the Bentley Continental GT all made their UK public debuts. Popular attractions at the event were the characters from the Disney.Pixar blockbuster “Cars 2″, Lightning McQueen and Finn McMissile and of course Titan the Robot.

The “Drive the Future” green zone was also popular with showgoers able to see electric cars such as the Vauxhall Ampera, Mitsubishi i-MIEV and Tesla Roadster. If you want to put the date in your calendar for next year the event will be held from Monday the 11th through to the 17th June. Full details and information on how to get there can be found at www.motorexpo.com

Skoda

Skoda was placed in the top three car manufacturer brands in the recent J.D Power and Associates customer satisfaction survey. The brand jumped three places to achieve joint third position with Jaguar, with the Octavia ranking number one in the Lower Medium car segment.

The J.D Power and Associates study was based on four factors which cover the experience of owning a car, namely Vehice Quality and Reliability, Vehicle Appeal, Dealer Service Satisfaction and Ownership Costs, with almost 17,000 drivers being interviewed. Skoda’s score out of 1,000 was 825 and Brian Walters, Senior Director of European Operations at J.D Power and Associates,said,”Skoda’s perfomance in 2011 strongly reflects the brand’s focus on customer satisfaction and a desire to improve the key drivers of the ownership experience”. Skoda business car leasing is available on the site now on all models.

Jaguar

The 2011 London Motorexpo is being held at Canary Wharf in London between the 6th and 12th of June with access free of charge to all members of the public. Many British car manufacturers will be showcasing their new models with Jaguar unveiling the 2012 model line-up to the public for the first time. They will have models of the new XF, XFR saloons, XK coupe and convertible and of course the new 2.2-litre diesel XF, which is bound to be popular with fleets.

Other car manufacturers on show include Bentley with the new Continental GT, Land Rover with their Range Rover Evoque, Group Lotus with the Elise Club Racer plus their Evora GT4, Saab with its all-new 9-5 Sportwagon and finally Skoda with its efficient Greenline II range.

The 2011 London Motorexpo show also has a “Drive the Future” feature where you can experience the latest electric cars and low-carbon vehicles plus the exciting purpose built off-road course gives you the chance to experience Land Rover’s off-road capabilities.

Skoda

The weather forecasters are already saying that the winter this year will be as treacherous as last year’s and Skoda is advising all drivers that they should check their tyres to ensure they are safe and in a legal condition for UK roads.

John Bower, Head of Aftersales at Skoda, explains,”As part of the ongoing maintenance of a car, drivers should keep a close eye on their tyre tread depth. A simple way to establish if your tyre is safe or not is to place a twenty pence piece inside the tread. If the tread is deeper than the rim of the coin in various positions around the tyre then it is safe. If however, the tyre is worn more than this, or if it is worn more on one side than the other, then go to your retailer or tyre dealership and get them checked out and/or changed”.

The UK legal limit for tyre safety is 1.6mm tread depth across the central three quarters of the entire circumference. As well as being essential for your safety, you can risk a fine of up to £2,500 and three penalty points for each illegal tyre so it is worth doing the test. Skoda is offering their customers a free tyre check at their local retailer if you are concerned and you can read more about the tyre 20p coin test here.

Stuart Jackson, chairman of TyreSafe has also explained why it is essential that tyres are regularly checked,”You should check your tyres at least once a month for tread depth, as well as correct pressure and any cracks, bulges or uneven wear. At this time of year and as we move into winter, the weather can cause roads to become wet, icy and snowy and these conditions mean that your stopping distances will be increased”.

Volkswagen

The Volkswagen Group consisting of Audi, Volkswagen, SEAT and Skoda, have been added to National Policing Improvement’s Authority (NPIA) vehicle purchasing framework. This means than any UK Police service, Fire and Ambulance Authority can now order any of the Volkswagen Group car and commercial vehicles.

Robin Woolcock, Volkswagen Group Managing Director, said,”We’re delighted to be working with the NPIA on this key initiative. We’re confident our proposition gives the emergency services a strong model line-up as well as excellent support-which is just as important in day-to-day operation”.

Skoda engine

Skoda is warning all Skoda drivers how important it is to get your cambelt changed at regular intervals, as many motorists are unaware of how much damage a failure can cause and also cost. Damage cost can be as high as £5,000, so replacing a cambelt is a small investment in comparison to an engine replacement.

John Bower, Head of Aftersales at Skoda said; Although a cambelt is a routine maintenance item, with time and mileage parameters, it doesn’t form part of a scheduled service. Skoda customers who use their Skoda retailer for vehicle maintenance will be advised at the correct time or mileage that their cambelt needs replacing. If, however, a customer is maintaining their car outside the Skoda network they may not be getting this advice”.

Cambelts are made from rubber and help keep the moving parts of an engine sychronised. They are subject to wear and tear as any other motoring part and this can vary according to your driving style and also environmental conditions. Skoda is recommending they are changed every four years if the mileage hasn’t been reached. If you drive a Skoda and you are unsure, then popping into your local Skoda dealer would seem a wise move.