A round-up of other motoring news
New low-emissions Mini Clubman to be unveiled at Geneva show
A new Mini One Clubman will be unveiled at the Geneva motor show in March.
A new entry-level version is powered by the 1.4-litre, 95bhp four-cylinder petrol engine that features in the regular hatchback version of the Mini One.
The car features a CO2 emissions rating of 130g/km, qualifying it for Band B motor tax of €156.
A short-shifting, six-speed manual transmission is standard, with the option of a six-speed auto with manual-shift capability.
Features like air-conditioning are standard on all new Mini models from this month.
Russian car sales face rapid drop in 2009
Car sales in Russia could drop by 25-50 per cent in 2009 as the global financial crisis squeezes demand, erasing two years of rapid growth, auditing company PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said yesterday.
“The falling availability of loans, growing unemployment, slower personal income growth, the devaluation of the rouble – all taken together, these factors could lead to a contraction in sales this year of between 25 and 50 per cent,” said Stanley Root, a partner at PwC in Moscow.
In separate research, the Association of European Businesses (AEB) has forecast a 19 per cent fall in foreign car sales in Russia during 2009, calling this an optimistic scenario.
The slowdown in Russias automotive market began in October 2008, when many banks were forced by the credit crunch to stop giving affordable car loans to potential buyers.
Proposal to strengthen UK laws against uninsured
AN ESTIMATED two million uninsured motorists in Britain face having their vehicles confiscated and crushed even if they are not caught driving them, under plans announced yesterday.
The proposals would strengthen laws in Britain so that it would be an offence to keep an uninsured car – at present it is only illegal to drive without insurance.
British officials say uninsured and untraced drivers kill 160 people every year and injure 23,000 others.
As well as the human cost, uninsured driving adds to every motorists premium.
The Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) would work with insurance companies to identify uninsured cars.
Letters will be sent to owners found without insurance, threatening them a penalty notice. They would also face the seizure of their car, which would be sold, or destroyed if of low value.
"These new measures will leave uninsured drivers with nowhere to hide," said British road safety minister, Jim Fitzpatrick. Consultation on the proposals, which will require secondary legislation from the British government, will end in mid-April.
It's estimated that around 6.5 per cent of British motorists drive uninsured. Police there removed 150,000 uninsured vehicles in 2007, around 400 a day, under powers introduced in the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005.