AUTO MATTERS

Chevrolet Five Year Warranty and Service Package

Ian J Pyke — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 21:01:40 +0000

Yet again the devil is in the detail. The offer does not apply to Matiz, only available through certain retailers, certain retail stock does not qualify, and it only applies to retail sales between dates in July and October 2010. Forgive the cynical view but this is a stock shifter and not some great step forward.

VAUXHALLS LIFETIME WARRANTY

Ian J Pyke — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 20:42:37 +0000

As with a lot of these bold claims the devil is in the detail. Vauxhalls Lifetime Warranty is actually valid for 100,000 miles. Vauxhall claim that “we are making a strong statement of confidence in the quality of our products and a clear intent to provide the very best customer service in the UK,”. Actually you are not you are saying that your vehicles will last for 100,000 miles and given that Vauxhalls often sell into high mileage fleets, 100,000 miles will be racked up pretty quickly.

UK Production Of First European Built Hybrid

Ian J Pyke — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 10:52:49 +0000

Rt Hon Dr Vince Cable MP, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, will officially launch the start of production of the all-new Auris Hybrid at Toyota’s Burnaston Plant, Derbyshire, today (28th June, 2010).

The event will be attended by an audience of over 300 employees and invited guests including, national and local government, local community, business partners and representatives from the media.
Speaking ahead of today’s celebrations, Dr Vince Cable MP stated: "Toyota’s decision to make Burnaston the only plant in the world to build the Hybrid Auris is a strong endorsement of the UK as a manufacturing base for the next generation of cars."
"It is sending a signal to manufacturers that if you’re not in the UK, then you’re missing out on all the strengths and skills that the UK has to offer."
Didier Leroy, President of Toyota Motor Europe, praised the quality and strength of its UK operations: "The UK has proved to be a valuable business partner. Building on almost 20 years of manufacturing experience, TMUK’s team members continue to deliver the quality, efficiency and flexibility needed to meet the exacting standards of our customers in Europe. A new chapter is opening today as Britain, a traditional origin of industrial innovation, becomes home to the manufacture of the first full hybrid vehicle for Europe."

More Bad News For Toyota

Ian J Pyke — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:09:03 +0000

General Motors (GM) is recalling 1.3 million small cars in North America because of a power steering problem that has been linked to 14 crashes.

The firm said four models were affected – the Chevrolet Cobalt, Pontiac G5, Pontiac Pursuit and Pontiac 4.

It said the fault meant that at low speeds “greater steering effort may be required”, but that the cars could still be “safely controlled”.

GM blamed the fault on a supplier partially owned by Toyota.

GM stated that the supplier had not met “all requirements for reliability and durability”.

GM said it had told the US car safety regulator – the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) – about the recall on Monday when it finished an investigation that started last year.

The NHTSA itself had been investigating the problem since 27 January after receiving more than 1,100 complaints, including 14 crashes and one injury.

The recall covers the 2005 to 2010 model year Chevrolet Cobalt, and 2007 to 2010 Pontiac G5 sold in the US.

In addition, it includes the 2005 to 2006 Pontiac Pursuit sold in Canada, and the 2005 to 2006 Pontiac G4 sold in Mexico.

“After our in-depth investigation, we found that this is a condition that takes time to develop,” said GM vice president of quality, Jamie Hresko.

“It tends to occur in older models out of warranty. Recalling these vehicles is the right thing to do for our customers’ peace of mind.”

Congratulations To Jenson Button

Ian J Pyke — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 20:54:54 +0000

Big congratulations to Jenson Button on a fantastic race and winning the championship.

As well as being Jensons first championship, it was the first back to back World Championships for British drivers since Graham Hill (1968) and Jackie Stewart (1969). Who’ll take Lewis or Jenson for 2010 champion?

GM Sells Hummer

Ian J Pyke — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:12:52 +0000

Hummer has been bought by the Chinese Company Sichuan Tenzheng Heavy Industrial Equipment Co for a rumoured US$150. This will apparenly buy them 80% of the company The remaining 20% being bought by Hong Kon entrepreneur Suolong Duoji

This falls someway short of the US$500 that GM were apparently looking for.

GM has been looking for sometime to either sell off or wind up some of its brands. It has already announced that the Saturn brand would be wound up following the collapse of the deal with the Penske Automotive Group.

GM has also announced that it is discontinuing the Pontiac brand.

Motor manufacturers sign up to digital radio deadline

Ian J Pyke — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 20:05:31 +0000

Digital radios should become standard in new vehicles from the beginning of 2014 after motor manufacturers agreed to adopt the technology.

Manufacturers and broadcasters have signed up to proposals made in the Digital Britain white paper published in June, which allow for FM stations to be turned off from 2015.

Installing digital radios in vehicles is seen as a key step to ensuring that digital becomes the principal way in which Britons listen to radio. Although a third of British homes have a digital radio, only a handful of vehicles on the road have digital receivers.

However, more than a fifth of all radio listening takes place in vehicles so broadcasters view the agreement as a crucial issue for the industry.

Digital Britain’s goal is to ensure that all new cars either have digital radio as standard from 2014, or can be upgraded cheaply. What is less clear is how older vehicles will be brought into the scheme.

Lets just hope that Digital Radio technology is better than Digital TV which is inconsistent in quality and availability

Drivers could face fines for leaving engines running

Ian J Pyke — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 20:01:45 +0000

Drivers who leave their engines running could be penalised with a fixed penalty fine of up to £300.

Nottingham City Council is planning a series of fines under ‘quality of life’ measures as the council aims to cut emissions by 10% by 2010.

The council plans to use its civilian community offices to hand out penalties for ‘day to day annoyances’, which also include abandoning a vehicle.

Taxi drivers who leave their engines running for more than three minutes will also be targeted.

Government demands over Vauxhall jobs ‘dishonest’

Ian J Pyke — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 19:59:05 +0000

The UK government is asking for impossible commitments over Vauxhall’s plant at Ellesmere Port, according to Carl-Peter Forster, chairman of the Opel supervisory board.

Mr Forster says that Lord Mandleson, Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills, is asking for undertakings to build the next-but-one generation Astra at the plant.

The Astra plant at Ellesmere Port, which employs 2,166 people is, along with all European Opel/Vauxhall factories, under review by the prospective new owner, Magna International, which plans to axe at least 10,000 European jobs.

With the new Astra only just being launched this year, its replacement is at least six years off, which would mean the company giving undertakings about production at Ellesmere Port beyond 2016.

“This would be impossible and dishonest,” says Mr Forster. “You cannot guarantee these sorts of things in the modern motor industry.”

So far the talk has been of building Vauxhall’s Astra-based, extended-range battery hybrid, the Ampera, at Ellesmere Port, but Mr Forster says that the Ampera is a sideshow and that the real debate is about keeping conventional Astra production at the plant.

“The Ampera is not the point at issue,” he says. “I think that Peter Mandelson is frightened about the plant closing, but we are still working on the deal. We are working hard on the details and the next thing we have to deal with is the EU decision on that enquiry.”

Convertible drivers risk hearing damage

Ian J Pyke — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 19:55:51 +0000

Drivers of convertible cars could be risking permanent hearing damage from wind and road noise, according to new research.

Road surface, traffic congestion and the wind combined to produce noise levels of between 88 and 100 decibels at speeds of around 70 mph.

Long or repeated exposure to sounds of 85 decibels is widely recognised to raise the risk of permanent hearing loss.