Which? is kind of the UK version of Consumer Reports. They publish a bunch of magazines. If you want a computer, you get the latest edition of Which? Computing, if you need a vacation, you leaf through Which? Holiday, and for a car, you get – you guessed it – Which? Car. You will receive quite a shock if you do. (Read More…)

The RAC (that’s the Royal version of the AAA, in case you don’t know) reports that BMW has run into trouble with the UK Advertising Standards Agency (ASA, that’s no film speed in the UK) with one of their adverts. In it, BMW claimed that its Z4 roadster had low levels of CO2 (you know CO2? That obnoxious gas which every government in the world is trying to reduce/tax?). The advert reads “Joy makes the most of every drop…So you can step on the accelerator, knowing Joy will minimise the CO2 emissions.” The advert ends with “BMW EfficientDynamics, Less emissions, More driving pleasure.” This riled two people enough to complain to the ASA. Now what could have been so contentious…? (Read More…)

When you think Volkswagen and alternative powertrains, only one kind of springs to mind, and it’s no very alternative. Diesel. They are pretty good at it in Wolfsburg. But these days it isn’t enough. Nowadays, we have E85, fuel cells, hybrids, more efficient petrol engines and many more. Volkswagen can’t afford to bet their future on Diesel. So where do they go from here? I hear California is quite nice…? (Read More…)

17 year-old Steven Ortiz is the envy of his friends at Charter Oak High School. The reason? He drives a Porsche Boxster S to school. And before you say it, it doesn’t belong to his parents. It’s legally his. Now I know what you’re thinking at this stage, “How does this punk drive a Porsche to school and I had to make do with a Ford Pinto?”  Well, the answer lies with 3 things, an old mobile phone, a little time and Craigslist. (Read More…)

A few months ago, I wrote about a concept car which Peugeot showcased at the Geneva Motor Show. It was going to emit small levels of CO2, sip diesel, rather than drink it, and have more power than Ferdinand Piech. Everyone was sceptical as concepts rarely turn out they way they were planned once marketing, accountants and managers have had their way with the car. Well, something funny happened…. (Read More…)

A lot of people have little or no respect for car dealerships. In fact, on the TTAC forums, I frequently hear the word “stealership” so much, that I’m herewith petitioning the Oxford English Dictionary to officially put it in our lexicon. I recall the story of a friend on mine who had trouble with a Honda dealership in the UK. His mother bought a brand new Honda Civic and in the final month before the 3 year warranty ran out, the alternator gave up. The mother wasn’t angry that such a failing had happened, she just wanted it fixed. But the dealership had other ideas. They weren’t convinced that it was the alternator and they couldn’t look at it until next month. The mother told her son (my friend) this story and the son though it was a bit of a coincidence that the dealership couldn’t look at the car until next month, which happened to be the month that the car came out of warranty. The son bypassed the dealership and wrote a very strongly worded letter to Honda UK (It could have been “extremely worded”. In the first draft, he threatened to run over their testes with a steam roller). Strangely, a week later, the mother received a phone from the dealership saying that they could look at her car, fix whatever needed to be fixed and throw in a free service. Now that’s a story with a happy ending. Now let’s try one a bit more turbulent, and this one comes from the land of the “stealership”, the United States. (Read More…)

Auto Express reports that Fiat is mating their ultra-efficient TwinAir, two-cylinder 900cc engine with a hybrid powertrain. Destination: A Fiat 500 that could get 100+mpg and an emission rate of 70g/km. The plan is to put a small 5kW (8bhp) electric motor into the gearbox casing. The TwinAir engine is so small, there will be space under the hood for the battery. (Read More…)

On the back of the news from the NHTSA that they can’t find evidence of Sudden Unintended Acceleration (SUA) electronic gremlins, you’d think that Toyota would be feeling smug about themselves. You’d want to shout this from the rooftops, wouldn’t you? “It’s the drivers, stupid!” If I were Akio Toyoda, I’d show this to Bob Lutz, a bloke who took great delight in knocking Toyota throughout this affair. But what was Toyota’s European division’s reaction to all of this? Humility. (Read More…)

If you’re reading this article, that means Fuhrer Schmitt has figured out under what moniker this article should be filed under. As far as I’m concerned it should be a “Question Of The Day”, but it could easily slot into “WTF” and “Wild Arse Rumor Of The Day”. So, here we go… (Read More…)

Many of you don’t know this, but during my days at university, I supplemented my meager grant money (in the days when European governments gave grant money to students) by gambling said grant. The extra money came in useful for text books, science equipment, drinking lager till my head span, etc. The fruit machines and betting on horses was fun enough, but where I really excelled was poker. Texas Hold ’em, to be more accurate. I learnt many of life’s lessons that way, but the one which stuck in my mind the most was this little nugget: “When you play a bluff, be prepared to have that bluff called.” Words which certain Italian unions should have heeded. (Read More…)

Volkswagen, Daimler, Audi, BMW: Despite tanking sales in Europe, they all report record numbers. Why? Exports and a weak Euro. It’s not just a German thing. Same across the Rhine: Agence France Press (via Google News) reports that Renault is very bullish on the back of strong sales in the first half of 2010.  Renault is up an amazing 21.6 percent to 1.35 million vehicles. Growth of 21.6 percent is good in Renault’s eyes as they claimed that the global market grew 16 percent. Meaning: Renault gained global market share. (Read More…)

People have different ideas on what constitutes a good car. Some people think driving dynamics are the key, which explains the sales of cars like BMW and Ford. Others look to reliability, which accounts for cars like Toyota and Honda. Then you have the skinflints who consider value their key factor, Hyundais and Kias. While each car brand stands for something, there are many people who want a mixture of many factors. After all, a car is a major purchase and you’d want it to perform well over many areas and not just excel in just one. You car is your transport, it keeps your children safe, keeps you entertained in traffic and keeps the rain off your head. And all it asks for is a tank of petrol and regular servicing. So maybe there’s more to buying a car than just branding? So here’s the question of the day: Which one does it all? (Read More…)

The BBC reports that new car registrations in the UK have inexplicably risen 10.8 percent in June 2010 compared with this time, last year. What makes this “inexplicable” is the fact that sales have risen, despite the fact that the “cash for clunkers” scheme had ended on March the 31st, 2010. “The new car market continued to perform above expectations in June,” said the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) chief executive Paul Everitt said, “The results indicate improved business confidence and a strengthening economic recovery.” However, a quick look at the SMMT report reveals a potential answer. The article shows that fleet sales grew 25.3 percent. Those pesky fleet sales! Let’s take a quick look at some of the brands and their performance, shall we…? (Read More…)

Toyota’s having some pretty rotten luck recently. First was “acceler-gate”, the mass hysteria of how Toyota cars were going out of control and murdering innocent people. Then came stories of people blaming Toyota cars for accidents, when in reality it was the driver’s fault (or in the case of Jim Sikes, a scam). You would have thought this would pour oil over troubled waters for Toyota, right? Nope. The malaise continued. Then came the public humiliation of the senate hearings. Did anybody in the media point out the conflict of interest for the senate? Well, if they did, nobody listened. So, while Toyota is fire fighting in North America and is having a bit of a rough time in Europe, at least things are OK in Australia. A market where Toyota  dominated for 5 years. Well… (Read More…)

Suzuki, Hyundai and Tata are the King Dongs (that WASN’T a spelling mistake, BTW) of India. Suzuki controls over half of the Indian car market. Hyundai and Tata have major chunks, too. Whatever is left is divided up amongst the smaller parties. But why have Indians put their rupees in the hands of Suzuki, Hyundai and Tata? National pride? Hardly. Suzuki and Hyundai come from a little further east. Nope. The reason is because they all excel in one thing. Small, cheap cars. The majority of Indians are relatively poor and don’t have much money to spend, so when they make a purchase as big as a car, it HAS to provide value (Indians LOVE a bargain as the video shows). If further proof were needed that India loves small, cheap cars, then this next story should put it beyond reasonable doubt. (Read More…)