BMW beats Mercedes-Benz to claim first U.S. luxury sales crown

BMW fended off a late-year surge by rival Mercedes-Benz to win its first title as best-selling luxury brand in the United States. BMW said Thursday that U.S. sales rose 15 percent to 26,834 in December, for an annual total of 247,907.

New Peugeot 208 production cut as sales disappoint

Peugeot is cutting back on production of the new 208 as its sales fail to reach expectations, just six months on from launch. It’s not enough when Europe is ion the midst of an economic crisis and car buyers are polarised between ‘budget’ cars that offer more for less than mainstream offerings and ‘Premium’ models that are bought on the back of a preconceived notion of more kudos. That leaves car makers like Peugeot (and Renault, Citroen, Vauxhall, Ford, Opel, Fiat…) between a rock and a hard place, unable – or unwilling – to compete with the offerings from Korea and saddled with a brand that doesn’t have the ‘class’ of an Audi or a BMW or a Mercedes or even a VW.

Electric Renault to take on 2,000-mile Pod Point challenge

A RENAULT Zoe electric car is about to cover 2,000 miles up and down the country to prove that a linked and entirely functional network of electric charging points already exists. The full-electric supermini will take on challenges, attempt to break records and join in for loads of festivities throughout the 17-day grand tour, all using public electric charging points. What's more, Pod Point, the company behind the endeavour, will install more points wherever it thinks they're needed on its route around Great Britain.