Search Results for: cars

BY MONICA DOBIE

A EUROPEAN Union (EU) network of research teams called ‘Eureka’ has developed a new universal child car seat called the Klippan Isofix Safety System (KISS), which saves motoring parents from having to buy two child seats as their baby grows into a toddler.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

FLEET managers looking to offload used-cars in Hungary will be pleased the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has declared illegal high Hungarian registration duty charged on imported second-hand vehicles. Registration duties on old vehicles previously used in Hungary are reduced to take depreciation into account, and so are lower than imported cars.…

BY DEIRDRE MASON, in London

THE EUROPEAN Commission has given the green light for a campaign to make the auto-buying public aware of the new "smart car" technology manufacturers can install so that driving on Europe’s crowded road system becomes safer.…

BY MARK ROWE

GENERAL Motors is to collaborate with a leading engineering university in Italy to establish a new auto research center. The project is expected to play a leading role in the way in which the automobile engines of the future are designed.…

BY ALAN OSBORN, in London

AN ethanol-powered vehicle was driven 2,885 kilometres (1,792 miles) on one litre (just over a quarter gallon) of fuel in southern France this summer, sparking off renewed interest in ethanol as an alternative to gasoline in Europe.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A LONG-AWAITED and detailed action plan on promoting energy efficiency within the European Union (EU) has unveiled European Commission plans to table legislation next year to impose a 120g CO2/km target for cars by 2012. In its text, Brussels has signaled a clear intention to get tough with auto manufacturers "should it become clear that the voluntary commitments of the car industry to reach 140g CO2/km by 2008/9 will not be honored".…

BY ALAN OSBORN

AN AMBITIOUS and comprehensive six-year plan for saving energy throughout the 25 (soon to be 27) EU member states has been welcomed by the association of European electricity suppliers Eurelectric, which said it "contains some good solid proposals."…

BY MARK ROWE

THE EUROPEAN Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is planning to boost to the Russian car market by pumping up to Euro 300 million into the Russian Standard Bank, financing existing auto loans, and enabling the bank to make Euro 300 million’s worth of new car loans – worth more than 30,000 smaller autos.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A DELAYED timetable for introducing the new Euro 5 fuel consumption and emissions standard for many European Union (EU) vehicles, including cars, minibuses, vans, SUVs and light trucks, has been tabled by the European Parliament’s environment committee. Normally a keen supporter of robust environmental legislation, the committee has accused the EU’s executive authority – the European Commission – of wanting to rush into mandating Euro 5 by proposing the standard be in force by mid-2008.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

Brussels has expressed disappointment at the European motor industry’s voluntary efforts to curb CO2 emissions from new cars and has raised the prospect that legislation, possibly involving tax disincentives, may now have to be considered. The voluntary commitment made in 1999 by the European, Japanese and Korean car manufacturers was to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in new cars to 140g/km by 2008/09 but new figures released by the European Commission show that in 2004 the average level was still 161g/km.…