Diesel Smart to become UK’s cleanest by 2009

By Guy Bird Motor Industry 17 June 2008 10:30 From February 2009 the cleanest conventional-engined car you can buy will be a diesel Smart Fortwo. That’s the date set for the launch of a right-hand drive version of the city car brand’s oil-burning two-seater Fortwo coupe and cabriolet already on sale in Continental Europe. The incredible economy and emissions stats – 85.6mpg and 88g/km of CO2 – are streets ahead of current low emitter champions like the VW Polo 1.4 TDI Bluemotion and Seat Ibiza Ecomotive, both offering 74.3mpg and 99g/km.

German new car sales drop 11 per cent – pre-reg accounts for 33.5 per cent

New car sales in Germany dropped by 11 per cent in September with pre-reg cars accounting for over a third of all sales. That drop of 11 per cent in Germany is despite deep discount offers – an average of 12.2 per cent in September – with even the previously invincible Mercedes and VW having to offer discounts of up to €3k, despite which VW’s sales fell by 20 per cent in Germany and Mercedes by 12 per cent. What’s perhaps most interesting about the decline in car sales in Germany is the number of pre-reg cars sold (pre reg cars are cars registered by dealers to hit sales targets and then sold at a discount of up to 25 per cent).

BMW Alpina D3 Bi-Turbo Coupe (2008) : first pictures

By Tom Richards First Official Pictures 06 August 2008 13:07 The BMW 330d Coupe has just been made redundant because Alpina, the Buchloe-based tuner, tweaker and BMW bedfellow, has released the D3 Bi-Turbo Coupe. Alpina engineers have taken BMW’s twin-turbo diesel from the 123d, slotted it into the Three Coupe, then tweaked it to produce 211bhp. The result is an engine that produces more horsepower per litre than any other BMW or Alpina road car, they say.