07 08 09 10 11 12 Nissan Versa R. Air Bag Passenger Dash Htbk 293880 on 2040-parts.com

Mandelson to announce help for car makers

Lord Mandelson is the man charged with finding ways to fund UK Car purchases (yes, he of the dodgy mortgage debacle – at least he should know a few tricks!) as the credit crunch has dried up funding, leading to an unprecedented drop in new car sales in the UK. Mandelson is due to make a statement in the Lords just after 3pm today, outlining the help the government is going to offer to ailing car makers. Central to this package is expected to be a funding channel directly from the Bank of England to inject liquidity in to the car financing sector.

Lotus Exige Sprint (2008): first official pictures

By Ben Pulman First Official Pictures 22 January 2008 10:35 Another day, another new Lotus special edition. This is the Exige Sprint, recreating the colour scheme of the Elan Sprint built between 1971 and 1973. The limited edition Exige, of which just 40 will be built, will come with the lower portion of the body painted in white, the upper part in yellow or blue, and with a gold stripe separating the two sections.

Official: New Hyundai Genesis coming to UK & Europe

The new Hyundai Genesis (pictured) IS coming to Europe We’ve long thought it was time for Hyundai to bring higher-end cars to the UK and Europe as the perception of their cars as budget offerings only has morphed in to an acceptance that Hyundai’s range of cars is actually a credible mainstream force. Now that looks set to happen. Last month we reported that it looked like Hyundai are planning on introducing the new Genesis in the UK after we learnt they had plans to build RHD Genesis for Australia, and Hyundai has now confirmed they will be launching Genesis in Europe next year.