12 Kia Soul Engine Ecm 120555 on 2040-parts.com

Cautious welcome for fuel duty freeze

MOTORING groups have given a cautious welcome to Chancellor George Osborne's announcement of a freeze on fuel duty until May 2015. Both the AA and the RAC pointed out that Mr Osborne was already getting big sums from motorists in taxation. Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, said: "Transport is the single biggest area of household expenditure bar none and our own research shows that 800,000 of the poorest households are in transport poverty, spending a quarter or more of their income on running a car.

Citroen Lacoste concept car first pics

This is the Citroen Lacoste concept, a playful tie-up between the quirky French marque and its equally French fashion partner. If you think you can find a hint of the next-gen C1 in here then good luck with that. After all, this car has no doors, no roof, an inflatable hood and a retractable rear bench which is literally that, ie, a bench.

Hyundai integrates Smartphones in to their cars

Hyundai is harnessing the power of the Smartphone to make in-car information and driver settings integrate seamlessly. For those of us old enough to remember the first mobile phones – and the first home PCs – the realisation that we’re all walking round now with Smartphones that have more processing power than it took to put a man on the moon is almost mind boggling. Sadly, most of us use just a fraction of the capabilities of our phones, but the fact we have all that clever tech tucked in our trouser pockets gives car makers the opportunity to harness it to provide more functionality for their cars.