Auto Sector

Special fuel saving models planned for new Golf

Reykjavik - Volkswagen is planning special fuel-saving models for the new Golf including BlueMotion diesel and LPG (liquid petroleum gas) versions and hybrid and electric-drive at a later stage, the car maker announced in the Icelandic capital.

Three and five door versions of the new Golf, which will celebrating its world premiere at the Paris Motor Show next month, will then go on sale in Europe fitted with conventional petrol and diesel engines. The basic version will sell for 16,500 euros (23,274 dollars).

Older cars more likely to be stolen

Sydney - It sounds like a question on an intelligence test: Why do today's car thieves target older vehicles with a resale value of just a few thousand dollars rather than ones that have that new car smell?

Figures from Australia show that they do. Three-quarters of stolen vehicles are over nine years old. Police reckon a car built in the 1970s is eight times more likely to disappear than the average vehicle.

RACV Insurance general manager Susan Allen said cars insured for less than 6,000 Australian dollars (5,000 US dollars) accounted for more than half of theft claims. Vehicles less than three years old accounted for only 4.5 per cent of claims.

Mercedes to increase hybrid-drive offers by 2015

Stuttgart - Mercedes to increase hybrid-drive offers by 2015Mercedes-Benz is planning to offer every fifth car with hybrid-drive by the year 2015 starting with a new hybrid every year from 2009, the car maker announced recently.

The head of the car maker's marketing division, Klaus Maier, said that the combustion engine would remain a key element of the model line-up for the next 20 to 30 years.

Strange excuses for using cell behind the wheel

Stuttgart - German motorists are offering curious excuses when stopped by police for using a cell phone behind the wheel, according to the Auto Club Europe (ACE).

"I didn't use it to make a call. The warm battery is against earache," said one motorist while another said: "It is a support for my seesawing jaw."

Both cases went to court, but the judge rejected the "unconvincing excuse" in both cases.

A driver also failed to impress authorities with the argument that he was using an electric shaver whilst singing to a tune on the car radio.

Crash test highlights thin line between life and death

Munich - A speed difference of only 10 kilometres an hour is the thin line between life and death, according to a crash test recently conducted by Germany's automobile association (ADAC).

At a moderate speed of 80 km/h on a country road, the driver can still bring the vehicle to a standstill within 50 metres when braking hard.

But at a speed of only 10 km/h more at 100 km/h, the vehicle would crash into the obstacle at a speed of 64 km/h, the test found.

At that speed, the crash test vehicle, a Renault Laguna, still had an intact safety cell with the dummy driver, passenger and children on the rear seat, risking no serious injury, according to the test results. The airbags still functioned.

Tata Is All Set To Quit Singur: CM

Tata Motors is all set to quit Singur. It is disclosed by West Bengal chief minister Tata Is All Set To Quit Singur: CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. The company is facing stiff opposition from Trinmool Congress and other local parties. Trinmool Congress leader Mamta Benergee is demanding 300 acres of land from the total land allotted to TATA Motors. TATA intended to produce world’s cheapest car, Nano, at its Singur plant. 

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