News Edited by Trish Whelan

C1 signed off

29 September 2003: Toyota and PSA Peugeot Citroen have just recently signed off on the final design of their joint small car, which will first appear as the Citroen C1.

Porsche may build saloons

29 September 2003: Porsche is considering getting into the sedan and coupe business in its next model range.

Conti develops new safety system

25 September 2003: Tyre and automotive safety giant Continental-Teves has developed a safety system that integrates passive and active safety components to 'stage' response to accident situations.

Autoboxes go 7-speed

25 September 2003: New 7-speed automatic transmissions have been developed by both Mercedes-Benz and German gearbox maker ZF.

Forester wins 'Towcar' accolade

25 September 2003: Subaru's new Forester SUV has been voted 'Towcar Of The Year 2004' by the Britain-based Caravan Club despite fierce competition from 52 other cars.

New Astra won't sell as many as old

25 September 2003: The success of the compact MPV Zafira, plus the arrival of the mini MPV Meriva is ironically expected to mean peak sales of Opel's next Astra (above) to be less than was achieved with the current model.

Saab gets top US safety accolade

25 September 2003: The Saab 9-3 Sports Sedan has been awarded 'Best Pick' title in a round of crash tests organised by the US-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

25 September 2003: Police in Australia were told by a judge that they 'looked a bit silly' when they brought a case against a man caught using a mobile phone while driving a horse and carriage.

25 September 2003: A new report forecasts that more than 1.5 billion vehicles will be sold in the next 17 years, with global annual vehicle sales running at 100 million by 2020.

New MD for MG Rover Ireland

25 September 2003: MG Rover has announced the appointment of Gus Corrigan as managing director of MG Rover Ireland.

BMW 1 to differ by continent

25 September 2003: BMW's new 1-Series car, scheduled for launch in Europe towards the end of next year, will be a hatchback in Europe and a sedan in the US.

25 September 2003: Renault believes its bid to market a E5,000 medium-sized car that meets all basic western European standards is certain to succeed.

Visual, engines upgrade for Corsa

25 September 2003: The new version of the Opel Corsa has been given a major facelift and a host of new technical features including two common-rail turbodiesels with 1.3 and 1.7-litre displacement of 70 hp and 100 hp output as well as a completely newly designed 1.4-litre petrol unit.

25 September 2003: One-in-ten accidents are caused by drivers not seeing another vehicle in their blind spot because they haven't looked over their shoulder when pulling out.

Vision CLS for the road

24 September 2003: The Mercedes-Benz Vision CLS coupe study shown in Frankfurt is definitely slated for production, according to Mercedes Benz insiders.

Campaign against driver fatigue

24 September 2003: Next Sunday, the National Safety Council, Lyons Tea and Statoil are teaming up to highlight the issue of driver fatigue by launching a pilot road safety campaign entitled 'Driver Reviver'.

24 September 2003: Mazda has again been named the most reliable car manufacturer in the UK according to data from independent automotive warranty specialist, Warranty Direct.

Pininfarina, Volvo, sign convertible agreement

24 September 2003: Pininfarina and Volvo Car Corporation have signed an agreement with the aim of developing and manufacturing Volvo's next generation convertible.

24 September 2003: MG Rover Group has launched the V8 powered MG ZT 260 V8. The rear-wheel drive vehicle, available in ZT saloon and ZT-T estate car, powered by a 260bhp 4.6-litre V8 engine and has 410Nm of torque on tap.

Alfa diesels to boost volume

23 September 2003: Alfa Romeo Ireland believes that the addition of new diesel engine options in the revamped 156 could bring them a volume increase of up to 30 per cent in sales here.

Carmakers 'could return to private distributors'

23 September 2003: European motor manufacturers may well be working with private importers in Ireland again within the next decade, according to Frank Keane, who has relinquished his Irish BMW import franchise to the parent BMW company after 36 years.

Alfa/Yamaha wins for sick children

22 September 2003: A rather unusual race took place at Mondello Park yesterday between Team Alfa Romeo Ireland driver Niki Meredith (Clondalkin) and Irish Super Bike Championship rider James McCall (Wicklow).
 

22 September 2003: Renault is recalling 230,000 of its Laguna cars worldwide due to an electrical problem with the system that optimises the car's braking performance.

22 September 2003: David Delaney from Cashel, Co Tipperary has become the fourth person to win a round of the 2003 Ford Ireland Focus Rally Championship by claiming his first victory of the season at the sixth round of the series at the Clare stages Rally.

22 September 2003: General Motors will replace the Daewoo brand name with the Chevrolet nameplate as the automaker enters new markets in central and eastern Europe, according to a report from Automotive News.

22 September 2003: The new Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, a two-seater with striking swing-wing doors and stylistic elements of the Formula 1 Silver Arrows, continues the legend of the SLR racing sports cars from the 1950s.

BMW 5 ready for Ireland

19 September 2003: BMW's new 5-Series will be officially launched in Ireland on 2 October, with prices starting at E53,700.

Massive interest in new Prius

19 September 2003: Orders for Toyota's second-generation Prius hybrid saloon have accelerated to eight times the expected level, with around 11,000 units sold in the first two weeks of sale.

19 September 2003: Opel Ireland has announced the appointment of two new Dealers to its nationwide network – Airton Opel Centre, Airton Road, Tallaght, Dublin 24 and Micheál McKeon Motors Ltd, Kells, Co Meath.

Call for 'P' plates for new drivers

19 September 2003: RAC School of Motoring has called for the compulsory use of 'P' plates by newly-qualified drivers for a year after passing their driving test.

19 September 2003: Increasingly complex car electronics have been so hard to debug that top executives at Mercedes-Benz say the company is modifying its first-at-all-costs approach to technology.

Skoda concept points to future cues

18 September 2003: Skoda's surprising Roomster concept introduces design elements that may appear on future Skoda vehicles.

Renault wins prestigious safety award

18 September 2003: Renault has been awarded a prestigious Prince Michael International Road Safety Award in Britain for its work in producing the safest range of cars on the road today.

New Movano next month

17 September 2003: A new Opel Movano will debut at the Commercial Vehicle Show in Amsterdam in October.

18 September 2003: Three years after its launch, the Peugeot 607, the world's first diesel car equipped with a particulate emission filter, has just exceeded 100,000 sales, making it Europe's most widely sold saloon in the 'H' segment.

Unique smart for Brighton rally

18 September 2003: The smart roadster-coupe V6 bi-turbo will exclusively lead the annual London to Brighton smart Rally on Saturday 27 September; the first time the car has been driven outside Germany.

18 September 2003: The new Volkswagen Transporter series has been launched on the Irish market, celebrating the fifth generation of the vehicle first introduced in March 1950.

Renault completes Scenic range

15 September 2003: Renault completed its New Megane range with the unveiling of the Grand Scenic at the Frankfurt Show.

Le Mans concept for Audi heritage

15 September 2003: Audi unveiled its 'Le Mans quattro' concept study at Frankfurt last week to emphasise its sporting heritage as a Le Mans winner.

15 September 2003: With fuel cells not yet ready for full-scale production, Mercedes-Benz says there is definitely a place for hybrid drive systems for some time into the future.

15 September 2003: Volkswagen's latest design study, the Golf GTI, was given a rotating podium pride of place at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

Ireland gets smart!

12 September 2003: smart, the small car brand, makes its Irish debut on 17 September.

Larger dealerships in future

12 September 2003: Ireland will have more large car dealerships in future years, according to Eddie Murphy, chairman and managing director of Ford Ireland, pictured above with Martin Condon, Dealer Principal of Cavanagh's of Charleville.

12 September 2003: Renault got a not-unexpected piece of good news on the first day of the Frankfurt Motor Show this week with the announcement that the new Scenic II had been awarded a top 5-star rating in the Euro NCAP crash test programme.

Mazda booms in Europe

11 September 2003: The peak summer months saw no let up in the European sales boom for Mazda. Sales in July were up by 43.8 per cent in market up just 1.2 per cent while in August, which saw an overall sales slump of 4.7 per cent, Mazda kept up its momentum with sales up 25.9 per cent.

11 September 2003: PSA Peugeot Citroen is to equip more than 50,000 Peugeot and Citroen vehicles with 'stop/go' engine systems by the end of 2006 with further substantial growth expected from 2008.

11 September 2003: Bosch is preparing a new design of handbrake, the Automated Parking Brake (APB), for volume production.

A futuristic dream

10 September 2003: German graphic artist Stefan Shultz literally saw a dream come true at the Frankfurt show when a full-scale model of a retro-futuristic car he had designed was exhibited on the Peugeot stand.

Innovative Mazda diesel sports concept

10 September 2003: Mazda's Kusabi Design Concept based on the Mazda 2 platform is a smart futuristic sports car, powered by a 1.6-litre diesel engine and with an innovative 'gullwing' rear hatchback system.

10 September 2003: The Ford Visos concept car that took pride of place on the company's stand at this year's Frankfurt Show is described as 'disciplined drama' by Ford of Europe's design director, Chris Bird.

Three teasers in one from Peugeot

09 September 2003: The Peugeot 407 Elixir concept car shown at Frankfurt this week is a 'teaser' for a whole range of cars under the 407 nameplate.

09 September 2003: The second generation Toyota Prius, which will be introduced in Ireland for the January 2004 market, will have sold up to 450,000 units by 2010 in Europe alone, according to marketing director of Toyota Ireland, Steve Tormey.

09 September 2003: Ford Ireland's Eddie Murphy has a target in mind for the Focus C-MAX to equal the 1,800 annual sales of Renault Scenic and Opel Zafira compact MPVs 'in time' in a market that has space to grow, he said today at the show.

09 September 2003: The new Subaru Legacy, launched today at the Frankfurt Motor Show, will be in Ireland in time for the January car buying period, says Neville Matthews of Subaru Ireland.

Lacetti gets premiere

09 September 2003: The new Daewoo Lacetti received its public debut in Frankfurt today with GM Daewoo Ireland's Tom McQueirns taking a keen interest in the hatchback version of the new Nubira which will be launched in spring 2004.

09 September 2003: GM Daewoo showed its UniVerse concept at Frankfurt, marking its first time in Europe. Measuring 4.67 meters in length, it is an SUV study that is extremely variable and is powered by a new V6 3-litre common rail turbodiesel engine outputting 191hp.

09 September 2003: Toyota in Europe will now achieve the ambitious target of 800,000 vehicle sales a year in Europe this year instead of the target year of 2005.

Opel surprises with big car concept

08 September 2003: In a surprise pre-show reveal in Frankfurt this evening, Opel rolled out a concept big car that hinted what a replacement for the Omega and its predecessors Kapitan, Admiral and Senator might look like.

08 September 2003: Volvo tonight gave a pre-show reveal of its new 40-series car. The new S40 shares a platform with the upcoming new Ford Focus and the Mazda 3, and strongly resembles in style the larger S60 Volvo.

GM goes on brands offensive

08 September 2003: In addition to the surprise reveal of the Opel Insignia design concept tonight, General Motors showed off examples tonight of its latest cars and concepts from Saab, Opel, Cadillac and Daewoo.

New Megane models 'will boost share'

06 September 2003: The addition of a Sport Saloon and Sport Tourer to the Megane range should help to push Renault sales in Ireland to a market share of 8 per cent, the chairman of Renault Ireland said yesterday.

05 September 2003: Sales operations management for Opel in Ireland is to be reassigned from its current position in a 'Nordic cluster' to a GM UK & Ireland cluster under a pan-European GM consolidation of Sales, Marketing & Aftersales operations for Opel, Saab, Vauxhall and General Motors Europe (GME).

05 September 2003: The cheap and cheerful Lada Niva off-roader could make a comeback on European roads, but wearing a very different badge.

05 September 2003: Ireland could see the Tata brand from India soon in MG Rover showrooms after the announcement this week that Phoenix Venture Holdings, owners of MG Rover, and Tata have become the official distributor for Tata vehicles in the UK and Ireland.

US Mazda buys back RX-8s

05 September 2003: Mazda is offering to buy back most of the 3,551 RX-8 rotary-engine sports cars sold in the US because engine power is as much as 5 per cent less than advertised.

Peugeot replaces ignition systems

04 September 2003: Peugeot in Ireland have replaced ignition systems on virtually all 307 models sold here, following a problem discovered that resulted in burnouts of the systems in some vehicles in European markets. No burnouts were experienced by Irish customers, according to the company.

04 September 2003: Figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) have shown that car sales fell by 22.3 per cent last month over the same period last year.

Panda for Ireland in December

03 September 2003: Fiat's new Panda will be launched in Ireland in early December as a supermini, with a range of engines which will include in some markets the new Fiat/GM Multijet diesel engine.

03 September 2003: Volkswagen has revealed a mid-engined roadster prototype, named Concept R, which will be shown next week at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

Speed limits on fire engines

03 September 2003: Speed limits are being imposed on fire engines in Britain's West Midlands by fire chiefs.

Mazda 3 will upscale Irish sales

02 September 2003: Mazda in Ireland will be expecting to sell some 4,000 new Mazda 3s next year, subject to enough being available to meet the demand. This will give the car about 7 per cent share in the C segment.

02 September 2003: Hyundai will unveil a Coupe Cabriolet Study, the CCS, at next week's Frankfurt Motor Show.

307 WRC for Frankfurt

02 September 2003: Peugeot will use next week's Frankfurt Motor Show to debut the arrival of its 2004 World Rally Championship contender, the 307 WRC.

Honda hits the Big 5-Oh

02 September 2003: Honda's cumulative global production of automobiles reached a 50 million-unit milestone in August.

Park, Prius ...

02 September 2003: Toyota has put on sale a car that can park itself. It's a version of the next generation Prius which goes on sale in Ireland in the new year.

Peugeot's Elixir of new life

01 September 2003: Peugeot's 407 Elixir concept which is announced today in advance of the Frankfurt Motor Show gives some ideas about the new 407 to go on sale in Ireland next spring.

Mitsubishi concept a frugal 'i'tem

01 September 2003: The Mitsubishi 'i' small concept car the company will be showing at the 2003 Frankfurt Motor Show has achieved maximum lowest environmental impact in fuel consumption and emissions testing conducted at the ADAC1 TechnikZentrum technology center in Lansberg, Munich.

V8 Audi Cabriolet

01 September 2003: A new V8 S4 quattro Cabriolet is to debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show, powered by a compact 4.2-litre V8 with 344PS at 7,000 rpm, and peak torque of 410Nm at 3500 rpm.

01 September 2003: A decision to use a shortened XJ platform for the next Jaguar S is reported to be almost made, in line with the view that the next S will also have an aluminium body like the latest XJ (above).

01 September 2003: A US company has developed a method of storing hydrogen in powder form as a bridge between the current petrol fuel for internal combustion engines and the much-anticipated use of hydrogen.

New Lexus LS430

01 September 2003: The new Lexus LS430, the third generation of the Lexus flagship model, will debut at Frankfurt in September, and will go on sale in Europe in November.

01 September 2003: Mitsubishi Motors Corporation has announced that Frenchman Gilles Panizzi has signed a contract with its motor sports subsidiary MMSP GmbH to spearhead its assault in the 2004 FIA World Rally Championship.

01 September 2003: New Jersey has just became the first state in the US to make driving while fatigued, defined as not having slept in 24 hours, a form of recklessness under its vehicular-homicide statute.

Avensis Verso restyled

01 September 2003: A restyled Avensis Verso, featuring a new front end and incorporating a newly shaped bonnet as well as a sharper grille, more pronounced headlamps and a new design bumper, will debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show next week.

01 September 2003: Lewis Booth has been appointed president and COO of Ford Europe, following the departure earlier this month of Martin Leach reputedly to take over the helm at Fiat Auto.