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News in brief
publication date: Feb 5, 2009
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author/source: Robin Roberts
Renault SA has held talks with Ford Motor Co. about a possible purchase of Volvo cars, reports Reuters. The two companies met last autumn to discuss a possible deal, but the talks ended after the parties failed to agree on the value of the Swedish car maker. Renault and Ford have held further discussions since then, according to the news agency. Tata Motors is pressing ahead with plans to sell Jaguar and Land Rover models in India, despite indications that demand for the luxury marques will be virtually non-existent as the as the company struggles in a dire domestic market. Shares in the carmaker plunged by as much as 16pc on Monday in Mumbai, after the company revealed its first quarterly loss in seven years. The figures did not include Jaguar Land Rover, whose sales have tumbled in the global credit crisis and now there are fears that the worst news will come only when the financial performance of Jaguar Land Rover is spelt out. UK car sales are expected to show a drop of about 30pc when January sales figures are published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders this week. The fall in sales for last month is sharper than expected after a decline of between 20 and 23pc in recent months. The increased sales plunge comes as the car industry continues to negotiate with the Government on a mechanism to free up credit for customers to kick-start sales. Motor retailers in Ireland have repeated calls for government support after January's registrations plunged 66.5pc. There are signs that demand for certain compact SUVs has benefited from the recent prolonged bouts of wintery weather, reports EurotaxGlass's, publisher of Glass's Guide. Though increased appetite for these vehicles has principally come from owners of larger SUVs, it has been a welcome boost for manufacturers trading within this end of the market, explains Jeff Paterson, Chief Car Editor at EurotaxGlass's. Cameras that detect a motorist's average speed will be deployed at all entry and exit points to residential areas as an alternative to road humps and chicanes. The Association of Chief Police Officers has approved a new generation of cameras that are linked wirelessly and operate in clusters, meaning that speeding drivers will be caught whichever route they take across a wide area. Traffic police in Scotland have been ordered to stop using handheld speed detecting equipment amid fears it could be affected by police radio waves. Road policing units were told to employ alternatives to the Visual Average Speed Computer and Recorder (Vascar) system until further notice. It is thought police radios could be causing faults in the speed detectors. Car insurance comparison website Gocompare.com claims that nearly 30pc of UK motorists are putting off carrying out repairs to their cars in order to save money. And with winter driving conditions set to continue, the research found that 17pc of motorists have delayed replacing their worn out tyres and nearly 6pc have ignored fixing problems with their brakes. That could mean a staggering 6.5 million dangerous cars on Britain's roads this winter. |
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