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UK car sales slump as credit crunch bites

By Nigel Wonnacott Motor Industry 07 July 2008 13:18 It’s finally happened. The new car market has succumbed to the economic slowdown and punters are staying away from showrooms in droves. Latest figures from industry trade body the SMMT showed an 11.9 percent fall in private sales in June 2008 to 83,425 cars.

SsangYong Korando 4×4 gets cheaper with arrival of the Korando SX

SssangYong has dropped the entry price for its 4WD C-Segment SUV Korando with the launch of the Korando SX. SsangYong is the Korean car maker that hasn’t yet quite managed to drag itself out of the bin marked ‘Oh, dear’, but the takeover of SsangYong by the deep-pocketed Mahindra and the launch of the seemingly convincing SsangYong Korando Crossover/SUV last year auger well. The Korando is aimed at cars like the Hyundai ix35 and Kia Sportage, and it seems a decent enough offering in a slightly generic way (even if it is penned by Giugiaro), with a 2.0 litre turbo diesel with a decent enough 173bhp and with a choice of auto or manual, FWD or 4WD.

Lotus prices Exige S Roadster from £52,900

Lotus has announced its new Exige S Roadster will be priced from £52,900 – exactly the same as the hard-top Exige S. It’s also slightly lighter than the fixed-head Exige, and matches its blistering acceleration times.  That £52,900 tag makes the 345bhp Exige S Roadster £7500 pricier than a (pre-options list) Porsche Boxster S manual, though the 1328kg Porsche makes do with only 315bhp.