More motoring news
Japanese carmakers cut production in August as sales fall
Japan's biggest carmakers cut back production in August as they sought to work off bulging inventories of trucks and sports utility vehicles in the US, data showed.
The cuts underscored deepening gloom over the state of the US car market, which has been hit by high petrol prices and a financial crisis that has cut off many buyers' access to credit.
Toyota, Japan's biggest carmaker, cut production outside Japan for the first time since 2001 as it reduced global output by 17 per cent. Honda and Nissan reduced output by 5 per cent each.
Car sales in Europe are also tumbling and even booming markets such as China and India are showing signs of strain. "There seems to be a spillover effect from the US to western Europe and emerging markets," said Koji Endo, analyst at Credit Suisse.
Carmakers in Japan, the US and western Europe have made up for some of the decline in sales at home by expanding their presence in emerging markets. But high oil prices and economic uncertainty are beginning to bite there as well.
Emissions vote hits carmakers
Carmakers were rebuffed in their efforts to roll back planned restrictions on CO2 emissions after a surprise vote last week by the European parliament's environmental committee.
Under the terms approved by the committee, new cars will not be permitted to emit more than 130g/km CO2 starting in 2012 - a 24 per cent reduction from current averages of 158 grammes per kilometre. Car industry lobbyists had won support from Guido Sacconi, the Italian socialist MEP guiding the bill through the committee, to extend the deadline to 2015, reduce penalties for non-compliance and allow carmakers to exempt some brands.
Acea, the industry lobby group, which had supported the phasing-in by 2015 called the draft "bad news for Europe", and cited the mounting pressures of a slowing economy.
"It's obvious that the environment committee doesn't care whether this industry stays or doesn't stay in Europe," Ivan Hodac, Acea's general secretary, said. Cars account for about 14 per cent of Europe's carbon dioxide emissions, and have been one of the fastest-growing sources, in spite of repeated promises by the industry to enact voluntary reductions.
(FT service)
Irish drivers fail to check for their tyre safety
Irish drivers are not paying enough attention to their tyres, according to a new survey.
The survey of 1,000 motorists, carried out for Semperit Tyres, reveals that only 12 per cent of Irish motorists know the legal tread depth of their tyres is 1.6mm, compared to 14 per cent in a similar survey in 2000. The survey also revealed that 28 per cent of motorists never check their tyre pressures, the same number as the 2000 survey revealed. This figure rises to 47 per cent among females.
The survey also revealed that tailgating stresses the average motorist most, followed by driving on a motorway in heavy rain. An exception is young drivers, 24 per cent of whom report driving on the motorway in rain easy. Just 13 per cent of males find changing a tyre complicated, compared to almost 60 per cent of females.