The Aston Martin Rapide and the Cadillac Converi have emerged as the big winners in the most recent automotive design awards, held at the Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland. With car design the topic of most discussion at the awards, it was two of the more progressive big names in the industry who collected the top gongs.
Of the numerous awards handed out at the Geneva Motor Show, none were more prestigious than the Best Production and Best Concept car, which were taken out by the Rapide and Converi respectively.
The creators of the Aston Martin model were acknowledged by design director [...]

Keen to capitalise of the booming eco-friendly car industry trend, Honda has announced an ambitious new project that could soon have you filling up in the comfort of your own driveway.
The latest development from the Japanese giant is a home-based hydrogen re-filling station, and what’s more it’s solar-powered.
The manufacturer has been working on the new technology at its US base where plans for the next-generation hydrogen fuelling stations that harness sunlight are being fine-tuned for home installation, effectively doing away with trips to the service station forever save for the papers and savouries. The new prototype has been designed to [...]

Britain’s love affair with the madcap motoring team from Top Gear has seen the show take out the honour of being the decade’s favourite television program.
In a poll specially commissioned by Channel 4 which will go to air next week Top Gear, which underwent a successful transformation earlier this decade, took out top honours as Richard Hammond, James May and Jeremy Clarkson were acknowledged for revolutionising the motoring industry to the mainstream television public.
First broadcast by the BBC in 1977 the show was deemed tired and outdated by 2001 when producers decided on an overhaul. At the time several of [...]

The leading remarketing and vehicle auction company in Europe, BCA, has been acquired by Clayton, Dublier & Rice (CD&R) from current owners Montagu Private Equity.
Spread across some twelve countries and comprising 45 remarketing centres the BCA group sells more than £4 billion worth of used vehicles each year. These range from ex-rental stock to nearly new and some older models. As well as income generated from its physical auctions BCA also makes a significant profit through its online services. BCA has seen steady financial growth of late with analysts forecasting the trend to continue.
BCA sells on behalf of various operators [...]

The UK car industry has welcomed the British government’s decision to offer extended tax reductions for electric vehicles to fleet buyers and commercial vehicles. The tax breaks are already offered to private car owners.
In his pre-budget report Alistair Darling has reported that electric powered vehicles would be exempt from company car tax for five years, with electric vans also exempted from the van benefit charge. Van operators will also be further bolstered by changes that will see them able to write off the full cost of any corporate taxes in their first year.
Earlier this year the UK government announced a [...]

The unveiling of new tram tracks in Edinburgh’s city centre has led to the city council coordinating classes in road navigation for the city’s cyclists following a spate of accidents in the past week.
New tram lines have been installed in Princes Street, with the reopening of the thoroughfare taking place just over a week ago. In that time some half a dozen cyclists have been involved in crashes.  The plight of the pedal pushers was made even more prominent after one cyclist posted video footage of his crash on the popular website YouTube. Tie, the company behind the tram developments, [...]

World representatives are uniting this week in the Russian capital of Moscow in an effort to minimise the number of global road deaths. It is hoped that actions taken by united world governments, taking place on Thursday, could mean up to 5 million lives are saved on the world’s roads.
The inaugural Global Ministerial Summit on Road Safety will urge delegates to agree on plans aimed at a decade of action, with the stated goal being a 50 percent reduction in road deaths by the year 2020.
Such a reduction would mean the number of people killed on global highways reduced from [...]

Continual rises in insurance premiums along with increasing motoring taxes and the price of oil have all contributed to the new research which suggests that the cost of running a car has grown by around 11% in the past 3 years.
According the data released by Sainsbury’s finance average annual car costs, excluding interest repayments on loans are now at approximately £2,338. This represents an increase of 2.68% on the average figure from 2008 which was £2,277 and a massive 11.33% rise above the £2,100 figure which was in 2007.
Insurance has grown in cost by around 13% since 2008 and by [...]

The hallowed Christmas lights of London’s Oxford Street have been turned on for the festive season by Hollywood star Jim Carrey who will feature heavily on the big screens of Christmas lovers this winter.
The star of A Christmas Carol, Disney’s new animated film, Carrey was joined in the procession by fellow actor and co-star Colin Firth who lit up Regent Street. At St Paul’s Cathedral the illumination was made by Bob Hoskins, who voices the pawnbroker Mr Fezziwig in the upcoming blockbuster.
The traditional lighting ceremony included musicians Peter Andre, The Noisettes, The Saturdays and new romantic icons Spandau Ballet.
2009 marked [...]

Drivers in inner London will soon be able to wave a debit card or credit card at a parking meter to pay their fare.
In the wake of the UK government pursuing a course towards cashless transport payment across Britain the Westminster Council initiative will theoretically do away with the need for carrying cash for parking and even pin numbers not required as ‘wave any pay’ is released.
As of early 2010 there will be some 20 new magnetic readers installed on parking machines in London’s West End which will be activated once the user’s card is swiped across the sensors.
There are [...]