BMW to build engines for the BMW i8 in Coventry

Some more good news for the city of Coventry in the UK. BMW has decided to build the next generation three-cylinder petrol engines for the BMW i8 plug-in hybrid sports car at their Hams Hall factory.

Read More: BMW's vote of confience in Hams Hall plant

Car production in UK rises

In contrast to the rest of the manufacturing industry here in the UK, car production rose 1.3% in July this year compared with the same period last year and has gone up 3.7% in the first seven months, according to The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. An article in the Guardian is ascribed to the export orientated nature of the car industry and the "rise in demand of upmarket brands like Jaguar and Mini in emerging markets such as China".

Jaguar to partner with Williams F1 to create hybrid supercar

Jaguar announced last week that they were going to develop the Jaguar C-X75 in association with Williams F1 who will provide their engineering expertise in areas including aerodynamics, carbon composite manufacture and hybrid technologies. The production of this hybrid supercar will be limited with only 250 built.

This is the first time the two companies are collaborating to produce one of the world’s highest performance and environmentally sustainable supercars. The production of Jaguar C-X75 is expected to create more than one hundred highly-skilled jobs in the UK.

The new car will have an internal combustion engine along with electric motors and emitting less than 99g/km CO2 emissions.

The car will reach 0-60mph in less than 3 seconds and 0-100mph in less than 6 seconds with a top speed in excess of 200mph. The car will have a lightweight, all carbon-fibre chassis and prices are expected to start from £700,000.

More good news for the British auto industry

Following the news of Jaguar Land Rover announcing a net profit and re-entry of Lotus into F1, there is more good news for the British auto industry.

The British Government recently announced £381 mil. support for Ford motor and Nissan and has extended a £20.7 mil. grant to Nissan. Nissan plans to manufacture their Leaf electric car for the European car market at it's plant in Sunderland here in the UK.

Nissan Leaf at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show: Tennen-Gas

For your info, the Leaf is a five-seater hatchback and said to have a range of 100 miles with top speed of more than 90 mph.

Jaguar starts making money

Here's some good news from the UK auto industry. Jaguar Land Rover has announced a net profit of £55m (US$140.7 million)in the last three months of 2009. The profit came from increased sales (more than 165,000 models)outside the UK. The biggest markets were Russia, Europe, North America and China.


Other related links:

• Tata Motors profits boosted by Jaguar Land Rover
• Jaguar Starts Making Money for Tata Motors
• Jaguar Land Rover makes £55m in return to profit

MOT failure rates published

You want to get into the news but for the right reasons. Well, I am sure Ford UK is not happy with the reports that the brand leads in MOT (the mandatory road testing for vehicles more then 3 years old to ensure that they  meet road safety and environmental standards) failure rates.

This is the first time in history that it has been released following a Freedom of Information (FoI) request by the BBC.

Apparently theFord Transit Connect had the highest failure rate at 30.5%, followed by the Renault Megane and the Ford Transit.

I am not surprised that the Toyota Corolla had the lowest failure rate with just 11.2%.

The data is now available for free on the VOSA website in the PDF format (1,200 pages).

McLaren MP4-12C unveiled

Formula One team McLaren has unveiled a road car - the McLaren MP4-12C. This car will be built near their group's headquarters in Woking in Surrey. According to McLaren, the factories should employ some 800 people and produce 4,000 cars per year.



The cars will cost approximately £125,000 and £175,000. I don't really agree with McLaren chairman Ron Dennis, when he says that it is an "affordable sports car". I guess it is cheaper than the Ferrari and Porsches. According to news reports, the MP4-12C powered by a 3.8 litre V8 twin turbo engine can accelerate to 60mph from rest in just 3.4 seconds.

The sexy looking car features gull-wing doors.

Their McLaren Automative website is still under construction.

Avoiding motorway congestion

If you are someone who lives in the UK and regularly travel on the motorway, I can understand how frustrating it can be when you discover that there are mile long jams caused by some repair work or an accident. Even if you don't travel up and down the motorway regularly and venture on to the motor ways occasionally, you might want to check out the following sites below:

1. Frixo, a road / motorway traffic reporting site which is updated every 3 minutes via feeds from various sources.

2, My Way, a joint initiative between RAC and Expedia, which provides alternative routes to some of the UK's worst congestion hotspots.

New Renault Mégane Coupé.

The economy is really bad and car sales have fallen drastically in the UK. However, some companies are still launching new cars and some of them are really hot - like this new Renault Mégane Coupé.



Prices start from £14,485 OTR for the Expression.

Good news for UK car industry

The UK car industry finally has some good news. Business Secretary Lord Mandelson today outlined a loan package potentially worth up to £2.3bn.

This includes a scheme to unlock £1.3bn of European loans and a government guarantee for up to £1bn of further loans.

The news was welcomed by Jaguar Land Rover and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

New Vauxhall Insignia

Have been seeing ads about the new Vauxhall Insignia everywhere on the net. In continental Europe, it is sold as the Opel Insignia. It was unveiled at the British motor show in 2008.



Recently voted as Car of the Year 2009, it has also achieved a five-star adult occupant rating and four stars for child protection and two stars for pedestrian protection (the highest so far in it's category) from Euro NCAP.

The Insignia is available in Hatch and Saloon variants and come in a choice of 5 engines - Two 2 litre diesel engines and three petrol engines (1.8, 2.0 and 2.8 V6 engines).

Prices start from £15600.74 (OTR) for the base model - Insignia Exclusiv 1.8i 16v VVT (140PS) Manual.

UK Car Industry in Trouble

Just last month, Tata the new owners of Jaguar and Land Rover announced that 850 workers could lose their jobs. This was following a meeting with Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary and attended by 17 senior representatives from the troubled motor industry. The representatives wanted a rescue package.

Today, the latest figures show that sales of new cars in the UK have fallen tremendously. The annual fall was the biggest since June 1980 - that's in 28 years. Read the BBC report: 'New car sales fall by one-third'.

Proton GEN-2 ecoLogic

Proton Cars UK has announced the launch of the GEN-2 ecoLogic range (Yes! That's how they write the name). Available in a hatchback or saloon version, the ecoLogic models are priced 10,995 and £10,795 respectively.The dual fuel models are able to run on either petrol or LPG (liquefied petroleum gas).

This is not something new for Proton in the UK as the Humberside Police have been running LPG-converted Proton vehicles for over 10 years.



The Proton ecoLogic GEN-2 has a 1.6 litre engine and is available in a sporty hatchback or saloon version, priced at £10,995(OTR) and £10,795 (OTR) respectively.

Both cars come with reverse sensors, air conditioning with pollen filter, electric front and rear windows, automatic central locking and alloy wheels. All customers can get a black leather interior on the GEN-2 ecoLogic hatchback absolutely free for a limited time only. This will be optional in the future and customers would have to pay £100 extra for it.

Since I didn't hear anything about this in the news, thought I should spread the news around. Read their press release here: Half price motoring with the new dual fuel ecoLogic.

Tata to create 700 jobs in the UK

Indian car maker, Tata recently announced a £ 700 million investment plan with the creation of 600 jobs at Jaguar Land Rover. It is also launching a new programme to recruit new graduate engineers in September. That's great news for the Midlands.

I have no idea why but unlike other companies, there is absolutely no news about this in both the Jaguar or the Land Rover sites. Only got to read bout it in the local newspaper.

Nissan to build new model at Sunderland plant

According to latest reports, Japanese carmaker Nissan will build a new compact car at its Sunderland plant in the UK. That is good news as it means more jobs. At present the Sunderland factory also makes the Note.

It also plans to move manufacturing of the Micra to Chennai in India.

According to Carlos Ghosn:

"By delivering on tough commitments, our employees at Sunderland have demonstrated our plant can be a globally competitive centre for the production of high-value products. We are encouraged by the proactive support shown by the British government to decide new products for the Sunderland plant."

Read the full report here: NISSAN ANNOUNCES NEW VEHICLE FOR SUNDERLAND PLANT

Nissan GT-R demand outstrips supply

There has been an overwhelming demand for the Nissan GT-R here in the UK. They were swamped with 700 orders within 48 hours of the official opening for orders on 2 April 2008, even though the cars would only be delivered in March 2009.

Nissan UK even had to request an additional supply for UK in order to meet the demand.

Read the full report: "NISSAN GT-R GOING EVEN FASTER THAN EXPECTED".

The car is available exclusively through 10 Nissan High Performance Centres in various parts of the country.

1. Alex F Noble GT-R, Edinburgh
2. Benfield GT-R, Newcastle Upon Tyne
3. Hursts GT-R, Belfast
4. JFE GT-R, Exeter
5. Marshalls GT-R, Cambridge
6. Middlehurst Motorsport GT-R, St Helens
7. Motorline GT-R, Tunbridge Wells
8. Sims GT-R, Oxford
9. Westover GT-R, Bournemouth
10.WLN GT-R, Mill Hill, London

In case you are interested, you can also place a reservation online at www.gtrnissan.co.uk.

Regarding the Nissan GT-R

Powered by a 480 PS twin turbo 3.8-litre V6 engine, the Nissan GT-R is a full time four-wheel drive which can go from 0 to 62 mph in around 3.5 seconds. It's potential top speed is 195 mph (provisional figure).

The GT-R features a paddle shift six-speed transmission that allows the driver to manually shift gears via paddles located behind the steering wheel or they can instead opt for automatic transmission.

As for comfort, all models come equipped, with eight-way adjustable front seats trimmed in leather and perforated Pearlsuede, dual zone automatic climate control and cruise control.

For those who love their music, the car comes with a AM/FM/CD audio system as standard, with six speakers, RDS and MP3/WMA CD playback capability, and features an HDD Music Box system capable of storing 9.4 GB of your favourite sounds.

Regarding safety features, it is equipped with six airbags, special wide-beam xenon headlamps, a tyre pressure monitoring system, Intelligent Key, and a Thatcham-approved anti-theft system.


Just check out the 20-inch alloy rims.

On-the-road pricing for the GT-R is as follows:

* Nissan GT-R £52,900
* Nissan GT-R Premium Edition with automatic headlamps and digital Bose® audio system £54,200
* Nissan GT-R Black Edition with exclusive Kuro black paint, gunmetal grey alloy wheels and black leather and Pearlsuede interior with red leather highlights £55,500

LifeCar - a green sportscar

From the Morgan Motors website

The Morgan LifeCar is an environmentally friendly sports car concept that will be launched at the Geneva Show in March 2008.

With zero emissions, this hydrogen fuel cell powered car is based on the design of the Morgan Aero-8 roadster. A full tank gives it 250 miles (400km).


From the Morgan Motors website

The car was developed by the Morgan Motor Company in collaboration with Oscar Automotive, Cranfield University, QinetiQ, Oxford University and Linde AG. The project cost £1.9m (partly funded by the British Govt.) and took nearly nearly three years to complete.

To make the car lightweight, it has an aluminium chassis and interior fittings including the seats are made of wood. The car also doesn't have other estras including air bags, stereo or air conditioning. Can't be that comfortable.

Toyota's new Auris

Toyota has launched a new diesel-powered Auris, the SR180.



The car is powered by a 175bhp 2.2-litre diesel engine which takes the car from from 0 to 62mph is 8.1 seconds. The engine is mated to six-speed manual transmission.



Features of the car includes lowering springs with double wishbone rear suspension and rear spoiler. The wheels are carried on five-spoke 17-inch alloys



The SR180 will be in UK showrooms early next year and is available for bookings from £17,995.

New Mini dealership in Coventry

Just found out that the biggest Mini dealership in the midlands is in Coventry. Sytner Coventry Mini opened their doors in October this year.

Here's the Address:
128 Holyhead Road
Coventry
West Midlands
CV5 8NA

Tel: 02476 600 700

Tata set to take over Jaguar, Land Rover

Tata Motors, a subsidiary of the Indian Tata group is set to take over British luxury marques Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford.

Ford stands to make around £1 billion (about $2.05 billion / Rs 8,000 crore) from the sale.

Tata won over two other bidders , namely, Indian car company, Mahindra & Mahindra and American private equity group, One Equity.

If it works out, this will be the first time ever that an Indian company has taken over a Western auto company.

Jaguar dealers in the US are worried that the take over might hurt the brand image. Ken Gorin, chairman of the Jaguar Business Operations Council, reportedly said:

I don't believe the US public is ready for ownership out of India of a luxury car make...

Read "Tata hits image problems in the U.S."