HARD SHOULDER:BMW NORTH America will pay a $3 million fine to settle US government allegations that it failed to promptly notify auto regulators about safety defects and recalls.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said last Friday that it found a number of disclosure violations related to 16 investigations of 2010 recalls affecting more than 338,000 passenger vehicles and motorcycles.
The biggest recall, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the total number of vehicles cited by NHTSA, involved certain BMW 5-Series and 6-Series cars from 2004-10 and 7-Series models from 2002-08. A potential oil leak in the brake vacuum pump heightened crash risk, regulators said.
Convertible Range Rover
LAND ROVER has revealed a convertible version of the already very trendy Range Rover Evoque. The car, still not officially bound for production, will be shown off at the Geneva Motor Show next week to gauge public opinion.
If enough people like it, as seems pretty likely, (what’s not to like about a fashionable Range Rover you can take the roof off), itll go on sale in two years time.
It uses the same 2.2 diesel engine as the regular Evoque, seats four and loses about half of the normal car’s boot space.
First look at 2013 Mercedes C-class
THE NEW Mercedes C-class is due late 2013 or early 2014, but work is already underway on the new car, spotted undergoing winter testing in northern Europe (below).
Development engineers at Mercedes appear to have gone to fairly extreme lengths to protect the styling from prying eyes. The black panels that have been placed over the sheet metal hide almost all design lines.
The shape of the panel covering the grille on the front fascia hints that this aspect may be a little more oval than on its predecessor. Of what we can see of the headlights, it shows hints of the styling used by the new CLS, a little higher and wider than the current C-Class and it wraps round from the front end to the side panels giving an overall sportier appeal.
It is a little too early to confidently predict the engine options that the next generation C-Class will employ. There have been rumours that Mercedes is developing three-cylinder engines, but it is more likely the C-Class will get four-cylinder units that would reduce the engine to operating on just two cylinders when less power is needed.
What we can confidently predict is that the C-Class will be getting hybrid options and we should see the petrol and diesel units coupled with a relatively small electric motor.
GM and Peugeot in strategic partnership?
OPEL’S OWNER General Motors and PSA Peugeot Citroën are discussing a manufacturing alliance designed to stem losses in Europe and lower production costs elsewhere, people with knowledge of the matter said. For GM, an alliance would provide a means to lower operating costs at Opel, while Peugeot would gain much-needed access to international markets at a time when auto sales in Europe are sagging, sources said.
But analysts warned that it could take up to 10 years to see the full benefits of such an alliance. They also said additional steps would be needed to overcome the fundamental problem in Europes auto industry – excess capacity. The logical thing to do would be to close plants, said analyst Max Warburton. But they’ve not been able to do it independently, and there’s no reason to think they could do it together.”
Peugeot confirmed it was in talks but would not name the partner. A GM spokeswoman said: We routinely talk to others in the industry but have no comment beyond that. In a radio interview, French Labour Minister Xavier Bertrand confirmed that the government had been informed about a possible strategic partnership.
Skoda and AA aims to help you save on fuel
TWO FUEL cost saving initiatives were launched this week; one by Skoda, and another by the AA Ireland and Topaz.
Skoda Ireland has launched a nationwide test-drive campaign where it intends to give away up to two million kilometres worth of free fuel to Irish motorists between now and the end of March.
Motorists who test drive any Skoda model between now and March 16th will receive a 300km Topaz fuel voucher. And if you register a new Skoda by March 31st you get an additional 3,000km fuel voucher.
Skoda’s marketing manager Ray Leddy said: “With fuel prices on the increase, who can afford not to take the opportunity to save on their motoring costs.”
Meanwhile the AA Ireland has teamed up with Topaz to offer members a new fuel card that features a two cent discount on every litre fill-up at one of Topaz’s 320 forecourts. According to an AA spokeswoman, that can equate to an average saving of €60 a year, or more for those who do higher mileage.