June 2003 NEWS

Edited by Trish Whelan

30 June 2003: This is the 2004 Bugatti 16.4 Veyron, now confirmed for production at E1 million, and set to be the fastest production car in the world. There will only be 50 a year built.

30 June 2003: Toyota has just put on sale the D4D versions of its new Avensis, at a starting price of E28,750.

Audi A3 goes on sale in Ireland

30 June 2003: First versions of the new, second generation Audi A3 have gone on sale in Ireland.

30 June 2003: As the third anniversary of motorbike racing icon Joey Dunlop’s death approaches, a group of Irish motorcyclists are retracing another wheeled accomplishment of the champion with a convoy of vans and bikes to deliver relief aid for some 240 poor children in five orphanages across Estonia.

30 June 2003: Drivers convicted of traffic offences are 35 per cent less likely to be involved in a fatal crash in the first month after conviction, but the benefit disappears in as short a time as three months afterwards.

Upmarket Jeep model coming

30 June 2003: DaimlerChrysler plans to expand its Jeep range with a high-end model that will share its platform with the redesigned Grand Cherokee.

Next generation Prius is previewed

27 June 2003: The next generation Toyota Prius has been previewed in Ireland, five years after its predecessor pioneering hybrid car was first launched.

Corsa is refreshed, gets new engines

27 June 2003: Opel has refreshed the Corsa, with some changes to styling elements and the provision of new engines.

27 June 2003: The British Government has announced details of a new law banning hand-held mobile phone use while driving, with those breaking the law facing fines up to £1,000.

Keohane may go F3000

27 June 2003: Top Irish International racing driver Michael Keohane may contest a round of this year's FIA International F3000 Championship following a successful test at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium on Wednesday with leading Formula 3000 outfit Team Astromega.

Espace gets highest-ever ENCAP safety score

26 June 2003: In a way unlike any other car manufacturer, Renault can from today truly lay claim to be building the safest range of cars in the world.

Mazda begins 3 production

26 June 2003: Mazda has begun production of its next 'new generation' vehicle, the Mazda3, which will be officially launched at the 60th Frankfurt Motor Show in early September.

Honda Tourer launched in Ireland

25 June 2003: Honda's Accord wagon for its seventh generation of the nameplate is now on sale in Ireland, named the Accord Tourer. Pictured at the launch are Universal Honda's Frank Kennedy and Peter Cullen.

Peugeot maintains WRC lead

24 June 2003: Peugeot has maintained the lead in the Manufacturers' World Championship, thanks to an excellent second place from Harri Rovanpera on the Cyprus Rally this weekend. Peugeot driver Richard Burns continues to lead the World Championship for drivers.

Irish Ferries promote summer fares

24 June 2003: Irish Ferries have introduced a new 10-day return Summer family fare for a car plus two adults and two children on their services from Ireland to Britain beginning at E279 on their Rosslare/Pembroke route.

Focus Rally in Kilkenny at weekend

24 June 2003: The next round of Ireland's premier one make rally championship, the 2003 Ford Ireland Focus Rally Championship sees no fewer than nine Pirelli shod crews head to the medieval city of Kilkenny to compete on the Ravens Rock Rally, on the 29th of June.

New Quattroporte for Frankfurt

24 June 2003: Maserati has released the first official pictures of the new Quattroporte, the flagship model which will be unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show on 9 September, 2003.

New, more efficient, Opel engines

24 June 2003: Opel has announced a new range of more efficient engines with fuel savings of up to 23 per cent over their predecessors.

24 June 2003: Despite the rapid growth of car navigation solutions readily available on the market today, less than one in five car owners currently owns a navigation system according to a report to be published by Berlin based market research firm Metrinomics.

Nubira on sale from July 4

20 June 2003: The new Daewoo Nubira goes on sale from July 4 in Ireland with two engines and two levels of specification.

20 June 2003: Toyota intends to massively increase the the number of models it will power by hybrid technology by 2006, to six nameplates.

20 June 2003: Carefully synchronising traffic lights can improve traffic flow at light or very heavy densities, but random sequencing may be better in medium-heavy flows, according to research carried out in Taiwan.

20 June 2003: The University of Kentucky has developed a system that is able to weigh trucks on the move without them having to cross a weighbridge and transmit images of overweight vehicles to a monitoring station.

New Micra beats production record

19 June 2003: Nissan's Sunderland plant in Britain broke one of its own production records yesterday by building its 100,000th new Micra in just over six months.

19 June 2003: Opel's new Turbo Speedster is now on sale in Ireland at E50,963, powered by a 200hp 2-litre engine that does the 0-100 km/h in just 4.9 seconds.

New Honda V6 leans on 3 cylinders

19 June 2003: Honda has introduced a new V6 engine that runs on all six cylinders during acceleration and when high output is required, yet uses only three cylinders during cruising and at low engine loads.

19 June 2003: The largest ever collection of MG sports cars will congregate at Silverstone over this weekend, for the MG Car Club's International Festival.

Fiat help out with Team Ireland specials

18 June 2003: A local Fiat dealer has supplied a fleet of Fiat Scudo mini-busses to Lucan and Celbridge, who are Host Towns for members of Team Ireland, the second biggest group of competitors in the Special Olympics.

First details of new BMW X3

18 June 2003: BMW has announced first details of its new X3 model, which is says combines the agility of a BMW saloon with the practicality of a Sports Activity Vehicle (SAV).

18 June 2003: Mazda recorded a 45.2 per cent increase in sales across Europe in May in a month when total car across the EU fell by 5.2 per cent.

18 June 2003: Peugeot have announced details of a nationwide 307 test-drive campaign which gives participants the chance to win a Peugeot 307 1.4 XR 5-door model to the retail value of E19,395.

Mitsubishi Ireland re-signs with Europe

18 June 2003: Mitsubishi Motors in Ireland has signed a sales and after sales contracts for the Mitsubishi Car, Light Commercial and Heavy Commercial franchises with Mitsubishi Motors Europe.

18 June 2003: The Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) have called for the introduction of an ‘Infrastructural levy’ to replace road tolls in Ireland. This will take the form of a 2% levy on company profits.

18 June 2003: The Transport Umbrella Group has provided a suggestion to increase the clearance of the new Port Tunnel to the 5.05 metres required for so-called 'supercube' trucks.

X-Type diesel will boost Irish sales

17 June 2003: The arrival of a diesel version of the Jaguar X-Type could increase sales of the model in Ireland by more than 60 per cent, or an extra 100 units, according to the MD of Jaguar Ireland, Gerard O'Farrell.

17 June 2003: Toyota Ireland has supplied a fleet of 285 vehicles for the use of delegates and organisers of the Special Olympics.

Previa gets tweaks for MY 04

17 June 2003: Toyota has upgraded its Previa MPV with a deeper, reprofiled front bumper section with integrated fog lights. The front grille has also been revised and the front and rear lamp units have been redesigned for a bolder appearance.

New addition to C-Class diesels

17 June 2003: Mercedes-Benz has unveiled details of the latest model in its C-Class range - the new C 200 CDI. It willl be available in Saloon, Estate and Sports Coupé variants from August 2003.

Daewoo brings new Nubira to Europe

16 June 2003: Daewoo has begun the European launch of its new Nubira, which has been designed by Pininfarina.

16 June 2003: Widespread use of hydrogen fuel cells might not be as environmentally friendly as many believe.

16 June 2003: While a major brouhaha has been raging around the effects which the LUAS light rail line will have on traffic at the notorious Red Cow roundabout, it seems that the whole outfit isn't that worried about telling the public, and the motorists most affected by the scheme, when they change their mind.

Jaguar announces diesel X-Type

16 June 2003: Jaguar will have its new 2-litre diesel-powered X-Type on the market in Europe from next September.

13 June 2003: JThe first in a new series of Penalty Points TV commercials developed by the National Safety Council, supported by the Irish Insurance Federation has been launched by the Minister for Transport, Seamus Brennan

New Saab Convertible here in October

13 June 2003: The Irish distributors of Saab cars, Scanveco Ltd, are expecting to sell up to 150 units a year of the latest version of the Saab 9-3 Convertible when it goes on sale here at the end of October.

13 June 2003: DaimlerChrysler says it is receiving 'overwhelming' interest for its Maybach luxury car, which has prices starting at E359,600. The car comes in two forms - the 57 and the LWB 62, and there is a waiting list of a year for both.

13 June 2003: An off-board satellite navigation system that uses constantly-updated maps on the satellite system may well be the answer to countries like Ireland which don't yet have full digitised CD maps of the country available.