UK car sales rocket in April

Completely against what is happening in the rest of the car markets elsewhere in Europe, car sales in the UK jumped by almost 15% in April 2013 in comparison to the same month in 2012. This statistic is even more impressive when you consider the difficult economic times that we are still going through here in the UK.

In fact, during the first four months of this year, car sales are up by a commendable 9%.

When you look at the figures in a little more detail, it is individuals buying cars that have played a major part in creating the increase in sales as private sales have risen by 32% in comparison to the figures for April 2012.

These figures look attractive when Europe saw sales drop by in excess of 10% in March with Germany showing a drop of 17% in respect of new car sales.

Some of the reasons for the increase in the UK are that drivers have found it too hard to resist some outstanding bargains on new cars as well as some appealing finance deals. Also, high petrol prices have encouraged many people to look for cars that are much more fuel-efficient.

Another reason could be due to many people deciding, some time ago, to hold onto their cars for a longer period of time due to the difficult financial conditions here in the UK. However, their cars may have now reached a point where they need to be changed so people have to “bite the bullet” and replace their old and trusted workhorse.

It is interesting that in 2012 the sale of new cars rose by 5.3% whereas the economy in the UK only gained a mere 0.3%.

However, some people are warning of potentially difficult conditions ahead due to an increase in consumer price inflation and low wage/salary increases. There is also concern about the jobs market.

As for the fleet sector, there is concern that operators will delay changing their fleet vehicles in view of the uncertain economic climate.

Source taken From the BBC

Official state cars

Many people are fascinated about the cars that they see heads of governments and royal families being driven around in so the following information should prove interesting to many of you.

Official state cars tend to be for the use of either the head of state of a country and the leader of the government although there are occasions when such cars are used by other government members or dignitaries from other countries who are visiting another country.

It is quite possible that, when a head of state is touring another country, they arrange to have their state car transported to the country that they are visiting.

Such cars tend to be specially adapted to incorporate numerous security measures or even built with security features included whilst on the production line. Typically, they will have bullet proof glass and a re-inforced bodywork designed to withstand certain bombs and rocket attacks.

The driver of such a vehicle is specially trained to be able to respond in a positive manner should the vehicle be subject to attacks from terrorists. For instance, the President of the United States’s driver, is a Secret Service agent and the person that drives around the Prime Minster in the UK in an armour plated Jaguar XJ Sentinel is an SAS military driver. Since 1975, all ex British Prime Ministers have been driven around in armoured cars.

In countries that build cars, you tend to find that the state car is a native one. For instance, here in the UK, the Queen will often be seen being driven around in a Bentley or Range Rover, The President of the USA will be seen in a cadillac. The President of France has a choice of Peugeot or Renault. In the Czech Republic you would expect too see their President in a Skoda and in Italy the Prime Minister can be seen in a Maserati.

Some state cars use standard number plates, some private number plates but some do not have a number plate.

The Queen, here in the UK, has a couple of Bentley State Limousines that have been used by her since 2002. They are capable of doing 130mph, have V8 turbo-charged 6.75 litre engines. They are three feet longer than the usual Bentley Arnage and are six inches wider and 10 inches taller.  The rear windows can be taken out to provide the public with greater visibility.

Other cars in the royal fleet include the likes of a Rolls-Royce Phantom IV, Daimler DS420 limousines, an open top Range Rover and a Jaguar XJ limousine. They are painted in black and claret and all have flagpoles on the roof. The Queen’s state cars do not have number plates (apart from the Daimlers) but her personal cars do. Occasionally, the state cars are transported abroad for her overseas trips.

Prince Charles has access to an armour plated Audi A6, Jaguar XJ, Range Rover or Bentley Turbo R. He also owns an Aston Martin DB6 Volante plus an Aston Martin V8 that runs on biofuel.

The Princess Royal has a Bentley Continental Flying Spur and the Duke of York a Bentley Arnage.

So, as you can see, there is a wide selection of state cars being driven

Not your “everyday” car accidents!

Although we do not wish to dwell on other people’s misfortune we thought that you might find the following two road traffic accidents interesting to read about as they are not what you hear about everyday.

The first one took place very early on Tuesday 30 April 2013 in Gowerton, Swansea in South Wales when a fairly new black Audi A3 convertible came off the road, through the gate of the property concerned, down the drive and then embedded itself in the wall of a bungalow. Apparently the driver of the car passed out at the wheel.

The owner of the bungalow is Marianne Heath, who is 72 years of age. She was in the bedroom when the Audi careered into the living room wall where she had been with her grandchildren a short time earlier so they were lucky to escape with no physical injuries.

The accident took place at about 7am whilst she was sitting on her bed. After the accident, she was not able to get into the lounge through the normal door so went outside through a back door. When she came around the corner of her bungalow, she was amazed at what she saw.

The emergency services had to cut the 60 year old occupant free from the Audi A3 who was then taken to Morriston Hospital in Swansea but, fortunately, the injuries were not life threatening.

The second one took place around 9 40 pm on Wednesday 1 May 2013 at the Old Ferry Slip when a car came off the slipway and plunged ten metres into Fowey Harbour in Cornwall. The male occupant of the car, who is believed to come from St Austell, was able to get free and swim to shore where he was helped by a few members of the public.

He was treated by paramedics and was then transported to the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Treliske, Truro and was last known to be in a stable condition. It is believed that he may have taken a bend too quickly before plunging into the River Fowey.

Fortunately, he was able to confirm that there was nobody else in the car.

As well as the paramedics, also in attendance were two lifeboats, six fire crews and police divers.
The car was removed from the water during the night.

We would be interested to hear of any other unusual car accidents.

Drivers in the UK miss LPG opportunity

With the current economic situation here in the UK not boding well for many families who are struggling to pay their household bills, it is claimed by one business that the British motorist is not being given the opportunity to make considerable savings on their motoring costs.

The cost of putting diesel or petrol in your car is one of the major outgoings a family can be faced with. Autogas Ltd, that are a major supplier of LPG, is concerned that the UK motorist is not being given the same opportunity from manufacturers of vehicles to buy LPG as drivers in other European countries.

At the present time there are 20 manufacturers of vehicles in Europe that give the motorist the opportunity to buy a new vehicle that is powered by LPG and drive it out of the showroom. The complete opposite situation is found here in the UK, with only one manufacturer of cars providing an LPG fuel option.

So, whilst motorists in other European countries are able to save up to 40% on their fuel costs by driving a new vehicle fuelled by LPG from day one, this level of opportunity is not available to UK drivers.

Linda Gomersall, who is Autogas Ltd’s general manager, said:  “Millions of drivers on the continent are able to take advantage of the lower price of autogas LPG as they have the opportunity to buy an LPG bi- fuel car directly from the showroom. Sadly though, hard pressed families and businesses in the UK simply don’t have that choice as manufacturers continue to overlook them, offering just petrol, diesel or electric models.”

The Government charges less duty on LPG as cars running on this fuel are more environmentally friendly. With the average price of LPG only being around 74.36p per litre compared to diesel at 139.84p and petrol being 135.23p that is a significant difference.

There are some car manufacturers like Citroen and Mazda that will arrange to have a car converted to LPG for those in the UK but only Proton will offer as standard a duel fuel option. Another thing worth noting is that LPG produces 20.3% less carbon emissions than that of a petrol car.

At the present time there are only about 160,000 vehicles in the UK that operate using LPG with this rising by about 12,000 cars each year.

Autogas undertook a survey of users of LPG and discovered that as many as 97% would replace their car with another using LPG when they come to change their vehicle.

Linda Gomersall added: “Vehicle manufacturers continue to invest millions of pounds each year in the development of electric and hybrid models yet they still haven’t given UK drivers the choice of their full ranges being offered elsewhere. By offering these vehicles here, drivers would be able to benefit from reduced running costs, the impact to the environment would be reduced and manufacturers could sell more cars. It really is a win-win situation!”

It will be interesting to monitor this situation.