Newslines - Wheels Within Wales

For one day, every week of the year law-abiding UK drivers are footing the bill to pay for the uninsured and fraudulent drivers on the road.
This is costing drivers a massive £1.25billion every year according to figures released today by The Co-operative Insurance. The average driver is estimated to pay around £50 on every policy which subsidises fraudulent claims as well as claims for accidents caused by uninsured drivers. This is equivalent to 52 days cover under an annual policy, or one day a week for every year.

Car sales in the U.S. are “a bit weaker” than forecast and recovery worldwide “a bit bumpy,” Carlos Ghosn, chief executive officer of the Renault-Nissan alliance, said yesterday.
His observation was also backed up by Toyota."The retail business has been improving, but at a much slower pace than we'd like to see," said Toyota Division head Bob Carter and there are concerns that the US could again plunge into recession.

Spyker Cars had a net loss of €140 million in the first half of 2010—its first period as the owner of Saab Automobile.
The acquisition caused revenue for the period to jump to €243 million compared to €9 million in the first half of 2009. Saab production stopped for seven weeks early this year as previous owner General Motors Co. prepared to liquidate the company and the Swedish carmaker resumed production in March.

Germany’s IG Metall union says it will ask for a 6% pay raise for its members when it begins labor negotiations with the country’s iron and steel industry this week.
The union’s current contract with Germany’s iron and steel industry began in March 2009 and ends today. IG Metall reached agreement with German carmakers early this year to guarantee jobs in return for wage freezes and productivity gains.

The Chinese Government has told Japanese car makers to pay assembly workers more in their country to reduce the possibility of strikes.
Japan foreign minister Katsuya Okada complained that the walkouts were hurting business conditions in China, which has seen about 100 strikes this year. But Premier Wen Jiabao said demands for more pay are “quite understandable.” Several Japanese-owned suppliers have agreed to end strikes by boosting pay by 20%-70%—to roughly €200 per month—at plants making trim, electronic and mechanical components.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced plans to raise car tariffs in order to encourage foreign motor companies to invest in Russia.
Mr Putin made the remarks on the Vest 24 television channel while test driving a new Lada produced by one of the country’s few remaining car producers, the Avtovaz factory. He said foreign car companies had been warned that they could face increases in import customs duties if they do not manufacture in Russia.