London Black Taxi maker Manganese Bronze in administration

Manganese Bronze – makers of the London Black Cab – has called in administrators after failing to secure funding following a TX4 recall. Manganese Bronze – makers of the iconic London Black Cab – has had a pretty torrid few years. They sold a chunk of their shares in LTI (London Taxis International) to China’s Geely after years of failure to invest in their taxis left them struggling for sales, cash and turnover.

Honda Civic saloon, coupe at the 2011 Detroit show

Honda showed off two new Civics at the NAIAS 2011: the Civic Si Concept Coupe and the Civic Concept Saloon. They're sadly US-market only, rather than related to the European spec models, themselves up for replacement at the end of 2011. Although 'concepts', these two effectively show what will roll into US showrooms in spring 2011.  The blurb is pretty strict on the difference between the American and Euro Civics: 'The Civic Si coupe and saloon Concepts are US-only design and will not be sold in the UK.

£54k insurance fraud foiled by black box

A fraudulent £54,000 insurance claim following a crash involving a car and a lorry has been found bogus thanks to a black box device fitted to the car. Three passengers in the lorry claimed for personal injury damages after it was shunted at low speed by a Vauxhall Astra. However, the Astra was fitted with a telematics device that, when examined, revealed that due to the size and weight of the vehicles and the speed of the Astra, the claimed injuries were implausible.