Search Results for: cars

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Beirut

THE LEBANESE car market experienced its worse summer in decades as a result of the month-long conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, a two-month sea blockade and an economic downturn, with the number of new registered cars dropping 81% in August alone.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
NEW fuel quality standards for vehicles sold in the European Union (EU) from 2008 have been published by the European Commission, which will stop sports utility vehicles (SUVs) operating under laxer emissions rules applying to commercial vans. Instead, under the so-called Euro 5 plan, they would follow tougher regulations for cars.…

BY MARK ROWE
IT is difficult to separate the present-day Czech paint industry from the industrial heritage of the country. While the rest of the world made jokes about Skoda cars during the Communist era, the Czechs fumed as they saw a once great engineering industry reduced to a laughing stock.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
IN an increasingly crowded and polluted world, pursuing sustainability and using renewable resources in construction will inevitably become more important. The question is how? And as a result good examples of innovative transport systems, industrial practices and materials are on show at this year’s World Expo at Aichi, Japan.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission is threatening legal action against France, Poland and Austria for allegedly breaking European Union (EU) freedom of trade laws by impeding the import of cars into their territories. Brussels objects to Austria’s double-checking of European certificates of conformity, which are designed to ease cross-border car registration.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE NETHERLANDS, Greece and Poland have come under legal pressure from the European Commission to reform their car taxation rules so that it is easier to move vehicles around the European Union (EU). It has sent their governments formal requests to reform their systems, which – if ignored – could lead to a referral to the European Court of Justice (ECJ).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
PROPOSED emissions limits for new cars and light vans from 2008 would see sports utility vehicles abide by the same limits as smaller passenger vehicles under a planned ‘Euro 5’ standard drafted by the European Commission. Currently, SUV’s weighing over 2,500kg can be driven under less strict emission standards allowed for light commercial vehicles.…

BY JONATHAN THOMSON
CARMAKERS have experienced tremendous growth in the Asia Pacific region recently, as China and India in particular generate new sales and manufacturing opportunities. General Motors recently announced that its 2005 first quarter production figures for the region were up by around 14% compared with 2004, with Ford and other leading manufacturers predicting similar growth.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
SWEDEN will become this summer the first country in the world to operate a passenger train powered by biogas alone. Developed by Svensk Biogas for Swedish Kroner 10 million (GBPounds 750,000), the train will run from September, carrying up to 54 passengers between Sweden east coast towns Linköping and Västervik.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has proposed the abolition of registration taxes that it says impede the transfer of vehicles to the 16 European Union (EU) member states that impose them. Britain is not among the countries concerned, but they include Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, Austria and Poland.…