New car sales in UK still growing – up 14.8% April 2013. Driven by PPI Claims?

It is quite hard to fathom just how UK new car sales (well, registrations) continue to rise inexorably against a backdrop of otherwise stagnant economic activity, but they do. April 2013 has seen a total of 163,357 new car registrations, up a huge 14.8 per cent on April 2012 and the best figure since 2008, and these sales figures are not being driven by fleet buyers but by private motorists – private sector registrations grew by 32.3 per cent in April and are up by 15.2 per cent year to date. Not surprisingly, it’s the Superminis that are performing strongly – although all sectors are showing a rise – and it’s the Ford Fiesta that continues to be the best seller in the UK with sales of over 8,000 in April and over 42,000 so far in 2013, and the rise of superminis has also seen an increase in sales of petrol-engined cars thanks to the wave of small capacity, frugal petrol options.

New Mercedes A Class to get 99g/km Renault 1.5 litre dCi

New Mercedes A Class to get 99g/km Mercedes are to use a 1.5 litre diesel from Renault to create a 99g/km Mercedes A Class Blueefficiency. When the new Mercedes A Class was revealed at Geneva last week we got plenty of news about what the cracking new A Class has to offer, including the news that there would be a Mercedes first with the new A Class – a 99g/km option. At the time Mercedes gave us no detail, but its now appears that they are going to use a Renault-sourced 1.5 litre diesel as the basis for the new A Class Eco version – suitably Mercedes sorted.

Government reveals plans to cut cost of motoring

Whiplash cheats are to be targeted in plans announced by the Government today to drive down the cost of motoring. From next year, only evidence from accredited professionals will be considered in whiplash claims, meaning cheats will no longer be able to get away with exaggerated or fraudulent compensation claims. Is Government policy on green cars too successful?