Newslines - Wheels Within Wales

Admiral has recorded record half-year profits.
The Wales based company revealed the pre-tax profit was £126.9 million, up 21% on the same period in 2009. The Employee Share Scheme will see each of the company's 4,000 staff members receive £1,500 of free shares in the Group.

Land Rover and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies launched a new global initiative, under the theme ‘Reaching Vulnerable People Around the World’.
Over the next three years, Land Rover has committed to help national Red Cross or Red Crescent societies implement or step up priority programmes in fifteen countries, with a particular focus on two extensive humanitarian programmes in Sierra Leone and China.

As governments around the world grapple with the nuisance of noise pollution from air and road transport, Toyota will deliberately ratchet up the decibel level on its Prius hybrid.
The Japanese carmaker will begin selling a device that can be installed in the Prius to simulate the sound of a motor and warn pedestrians that the ultra-quiet car is approaching. The sound will issue from a speaker mounted under the bonnet, and rise and fall in pitch depending on how fast the car is travelling.

Annual car production in Romania will jump to 520,000 in four years from 296,300 last year, predicts PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
Such a growth rate would make Romania the third-fastest-growing auto market in the region after Ukraine and Russia and PwC says expansion from now through 2014 will be driven primarily by additional capacity being added at the Renault SA plant in Pitesti and Ford Motor Co.’s plant in Craiova.

The award-winning Fiat eco:Drive Fleet system has scooped the Green Development Manufacturers category in the BusinessCar Techies 2010, announced by BusinessCar magazine.
Launched in March this year, eco:Drive Fleet works through the Blue&Me information system, developed by Fiat and Microsoft, and found in all new Fiat vehicles. Plugging a USB stick into the Blue&Me port lets eco:Drive Fleet record information about the fleet vehicle user’s driving style, offering suggestions on how to improve efficiency further by reappraising methods.

A comprehensive K-series engine maintenance and repair service from XPart is helping MG Rover, Lotus Elise and Caterham owners to keep their cars running for longer.
The company’s nationwide network of MG Rover specialist repairers draws on its strong knowledge and experience of servicing K-series engines together with the latest head gasket repair kits from XPart to carry out high quality repairs.

Proton Cars has announced free He-Man dual controls worth £500 for ADI-registered driving instructors purchasing a new Satria Neo.
The Satria Neo delivers both excitement and economy in one car, featuring a Lotus-developed ride, plus 16" alloy wheels, electric windows, reverse parking sensors and rear spoiler all as standard - topped off with a centre mounted exhaust and race-inspired bucket seats. Prices start from £10,360 OTR (including metallic paint).

Motorists believe the state of Britain ’s roads will get worse under the coalition according to a survey by Motorpoint.
A web-based poll of motorists by the car supermarket to coincide with the first 100 days of the coalition found 85% of drivers were not optimistic about the fortunes of the highways and byways of the UK under the stewardship of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. The road network will be one of the big losers in the current round of public sector cuts announced by Chancellor George Osborne, with the budget for the Department of Transport being slashed by £700m in 2010-11. The cost of filling the country’s pot holes alone is estimated to be £10bn alone.