New car sales up for the 20th consecutive month

October’s 4% year-on-year increase in new car sales continued the resurgence in the automobile market, leading the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) to firmly project 2013 will achieve a six-year high. In fact new car sales this year compared to the same period last year (Jan-Oct) is over 10% higher – with 1.95million new registrations so far in 2013.

Interestingly there has been a shift t to smaller cars rather than family models. The Ford Fiesta remains the best-seller with a considerable lead over the Focus and Vauxhall Corsa.

The most popular new cars so far in 2013 have been:

1. Ford Fiesta (104,621)

2. Ford Focus (76,493)

3. Vauxhall Corsa (72,903)

4. Vauxhall Astra (57,756)

5. Volkswagen Golf (56,357)

6. Nissan Qashqai (44,649)

7. BMW 3 Series (37,066)

8. BMW 1 Series (36,529)

9. Volkswagen Polo (36,362)

10. Peugeot 208 (34,253)

Source: SMMT

Coupe MPGs tested by What Car

With a huge spotlight eternally being cast over fuel prices, and fuel consumption being scrutinised heavily with manufacturers, it was interesting to read on What Car’s website that they recently assessed the ‘real’ miles per gallon for 5 two-door coupes against the official figures which  are attained under lab conditions. For the purposes of the exercise they used 4 diesel and 1 petrol and a mix of manual and automatic gearboxes.

The What Car results of the coupes tested in this exercise were:

BMW 420d SE (officially 60.1mpg, True MPG 52.5mpg)

Mercedes E220 CDI Coupe AMG Sport (officially 58.9mpg, True MPG 49.7mpg)

BMW 640d Coupe M Sport (officially 51.4mpg, True MPG 45.2mpg)

Vauxhall Astra GTC – 1.7 CDTi SRi – (officially 65.7mpg, True MPG 44.5mpg)

Mini Coupe 1.6 Cooper S (officially 48.7mpg, True MPG 40.2mpg)

What Car were suitably impressed that all vehicles passed 40mpg with the BMW passing 50.

 

Peugeot 308 means business

According to Quentin Wilson’s report in the Mirror the Peugeot 308 is going to give the Ford Focus and Volkswagen Golf a run for their money.

Serene, bump-smoothing and sweet-handling are just some of the adjectives used.

The final verdict according to Quentin Wilson is “if you want a family hatch that feels and looks genuinely ­separate and distinctive, this car should be at the top of your list.”

The NEW Ford Mondeo

Ford has revised its very successful Ford Mondeo with enhanced specification and reduced price. The new Ford Titanium X Business Edition costs £21,995 – £1500 less than the outgoing Titanium X version – and includes equipment such as leather seats, touch-screen satnav and rear privacy glass. The 2.0-litre TDCi diesel engine can now be had with 119g/km in 140hp and 163hp guises, which is a drop of up to 10g/km depending on the model. Fuel consumption for the higher powered car is up from 57.6mpg and 61.4mpg.

Congestion

Good news for drivers of low emission cars in London! Leased cars emitting 100g of CO2 or less per kilometre have been granted a further 12 months of London Congestion Charge-free travel.
Transport for London is introducing a new 100% Ultra Low Emission Discount (ULED) for the London Congestion Charge on 1 July 2013, with a stricter emission threshold of 75g/km CO2. This replaces the existing Greener Vehicle Discount (GVD) currently available to cars emitting 100g/km CO2 or less, TfL has now agreed that cars registered for the GVD before July will continue to enjoy the 100% discount until 24 June 2016 – a year longer than previously intended.  neE

The NEW Mercedes E Class

Another new kid on the block is the new Mercedes E Class. A little more sportier than the outgoing model, the standard specification includes leather interior with heated seats, 17” alloy wheels and Command Online satellite navigation. Plenty to keep the business car driver occupied.