Industry News

• Santa Pod hosts first green UK drag meet
• Brands Hatch owners reach noise agreement
• Green vehicle company appoints ex-motorsport man as VP
• Technology Strategy Board selects 16 Low Carbon Vehicles Innovation Platform projects for £23m funding
• Vocis prepares for increasing driveline integration
• New chairman appointed for NAX MG UK
• PSA 1.6 twin-turbo petrol engine wins 1.4-1.8 litre category in IEYA 2008 awards
• New side view mirror’s inventor seeks manufacturers or angel investors
• US firm unveils ‘MicroFueler’ home ethanol kit
• ALD Automotive measures fleet emissions
• Zipcar survey finds Kensington and Chelsea members shifting shift in modal habits
• New Eco Driving guide from GE Fleet Services
• Conference: ‘Sustainable Fuel - Developing The Algae Opportunity’
• Argonne releases latest version of GREET lifecycle model
• Neville Briggs named new managing director of CFC Solutions

• April UK new car market up 5,505 units
• ZF opens hybrid drive production centre
• Dft announces overhaul of driver testing and training
• ADF petitions Ruth Kelly: start MOT consultation or abandon ‘4-2-2’ scheme
• April West European car sales rose 9.9%
• Ford accelerates shift to 6-speed transmissions in North America
• First Bulgarian vehicle manufacturer launched
• Private equity investor Pardus seeks two seats on Valeo’s board
• Ford petitions ITC on Mustang panel imports
• BMW wins International Engine of the Year for fourth consecutive year

• PRI show in Orlando until 2016
• Benchmarking study shows almost 20% difference in like for like supplier manufacturing costs
• Aston Martin CEO: EU should measure tailpipe emissions per annum, not per km
• Audi engineers among European Inventors of the Year 2008
• Antonov advocates dual-speed superchargers for engine downsizing
• Clean Green Cars proposes partnership with TfL on London Congestion Charge
• DVLA data shows one in five cars fails its first MOT
• ArvinMeritor plans to spin off LVS business
• Honeywell Transportation Systems puts Bendix in new friction materials business unit
• Michelin Energy Saver cited by TÜV SÜD Automotive for wet-braking safety performance and fuel efficiency
• Thatcham announces new TQA criterion for whole-of-vehicle marking systems
• European Capital invests €28m in pedestrian safety sensor firm IEE
• Daf Trucks promotes fuel and economy advances in past 30 years
• Prodrive produces limited edition Alfa Bera S

• Volkswagen Group reports 21% profit growth in first quarter
• Daimler prepared to sell components to Jaguar & Land Rover
• GM and Mascoma enter into 2nd generation biofuels relationship
• Car prices fall behind inflation across the EU
• Lotus to show Tri-Fuel Exige 270E at The Co-operative Insurance Eden Sexy Green Car Show
• AFS Trinity and Ricardo launch joint retro-fit plug-in hybrid programme
• New site tells US consumers the jobs and economic impact of their car purchase
• Government responds to the Commons committee’s proposed RRTFO moratorium
• Hyundai-Kia and Micrisoft agree to co-develop in-car infotainment systems
• Half of UK scrapped vehicles are unaccounted for – cleangreencars.co.uk
• Peugeot shrinks UK dealer network
• JAMA releases Japanese manufacturers’ 2007 overseas production statistics
• Events: 5th Diesel Emissions Conference, Brussels, 11&12 June
• RCV lands new advanced engine contract for Honeywell Micro Air Vehicle
• Kongsberg Automotive EGM approves share issue

The UK’s Santa Pod Raceway near Northampton hosted a brand new event on 25th April, showcasing alternative energy in a drag race challenge at the venue's quarter mile strip.

The event was well attended and two titles were hotly contested. The Fastest Alternative Fuel Vehicle, which was won by Bike Magazine’s Triumph Daytona 675, in a time of 10.87 seconds and Fastest Electric Vehicle, which was won by Hungerford VW Club with their Electric VW Beetle in a time of 14.41 seconds.

EEMS Project and Campaign Partner, Jenkins Motorsport Development was also there with both its biodiesel fuelled racing trucks which competed alongside each other. JMD’s Dave Jenkins said, "Despite fairly stiff headwinds I set a time of 14.2 seconds (99.38mph) in the new MAN truck which equals the best truck time here at Santa Pod - further proof that running on biodiesel doesn't mean compromising on speed and performance".

EEMS Campaign Partner Team Inzane Laverda was also in attendance with its E85 bioethanol fuelled 1995 Laverda 650cc Formula motorcycle which set a best time of 11.96 seconds.

Other teams and vehicles attending included Vectrix UK, an electric scooter utilising a 125v nickel metal hydride battery; Hungerford Volkswagen Club with its electric 1972 VW beetle with 240v, 2000 amp battery; Bio Performance with its Nissan Silvia S15 fitted with a bio performance full flex dual fuel conversion that runs on bioethanol; Bike Magazine with its Triumph Daytona 675 triple running on bioethanol (and has aspirations to run on apple-ethanol.); TV's Fifth Gear running a Lotus tri-fuel powered Exige; Green Fuels UK running a VW Touareg which runs on 100% biodiesel and a biodiesel VW Golf; RX Motors running a virtually standard Mazda RX7 twin turbo running on E85 bioethanol; Advanced Fuel Technologies running an Alfa Romeo 156 Sportwagon running a chlorine filtered biofuel called BIESEL; Graham Lamming running a Rover 75 production vehicle which runs on 100% biodiesel made from recycled restaurant waste; Chip Shop Customs fielding three cars, namely a Land Rover Discovery 2.5tdi a VW Type 25 and a Toyota Granvia Campervan - all running on biodiesel; Voil Racing running a Skoda Fabia VRS running on 100% vegetable oil; and Wayne Dearden running a BMW 525 TDS on 100% vegetable oil in a home-made conversion costing less than £110.

Rick Cuthbert, the Alternative Energy Racing Project Manager at Santa Pod Raceway, said, “This event was the first of its kind and will, we hope, inspire others to take up the challenge to create a more sustainable future for our sport."

MotorSport Vision which owns the UK’s Brands Hatch in Kent, has signed a signed an agreement to reduce noise and disturbances at its race events.

MSV reached the agreement, which sets out days and times of operation, noise limits and a code of practice for tannoy use and aircraft flightpaths, with the local Sevenoaks District Council, after listening to proposals from residents groups

MSV CEO Jonathan Palmer said, "Whilst motor racing will inevitably create some noise, we have now finalised a very detailed management plan that will ensure noise from Brands Hatch progressively decreases in future."

Robin Hales, the chief executive of Sevenoaks District Council said, "By working closely with the owners of the circuit to develop its first ever noise action plan, local people will receive greater protection from noise disturbance."

The American based Aptera Motors company, which is developing an eco-friendly vehicle that will be available either in electric powered or hybrid powered form in December, has appointed Neil Hanneman as its senior VP of programme management and manufacturing.

In a career of more than 30 years Hanneman has worked for large volume manufacturers DaimlerChrysler, Ford and General Motors as well as niche manufacturers McLaren and Saleen. At GM Hanneman directed an engineering team responsible for the aerodynamic development of NASCAR Winston Cup cars and later worked on the race development of the Dodge Viper at DaimlerChrysler.

The UK Technology Strategy Board has chosen16 projects to receive £23 million in government investment through the Low Carbon Vehicles Innovation Platform. Including investments by the companies involved, the total value of the development projects will be £52 million.

The sixteen new research, development and demonstration projects represent the first investment by the Low Carbon Vehicles Innovation Platform since it was established last autumn, and follows an open competition launched in September. The government investment is funded in equal parts by the Technology Strategy Board and the Department for Transport.

Thirteen projects were confirmed as of yesterday, 8th May, including:

- Axon 60 - A structural carbon fibre car with plug-in hybrid option. The Axon 60 will use a patented structural carbon beam technology. A plug-in hybrid system will be used to explore the capabilities of PHEVs in light vehicle applications. The vehicle is lightweight (weighing less than 500 kg), has a low drag coefficient and is powered by a 500 cc engine and Infinitely Variable Transmission (IVT).

Lead Organization: Axon Automotive; Consortium members: University of Warwick, Powertrain Technologies Ltd, Scott Bader Company Limited.

- Hybrid electric technology for buses - This project will accelerate the production of a UK hybrid electric drive (HED) bus application and develop a UK centre of excellence for HED application engineering.

Lead Organization: BAE Systems; Consortium members: Alexander Dennis Ltd, University College London.

- Li-ion batteries for plug-in HEVs - This project aims to improve the energy density of the low cost, very safe titanate/manganate Li-ion system by incrementally increasing the capacity of the active electrode materials while preserving their other characteristics.

Lead Organization: FiFe Batteries Limited; Consortium member: ABSL Power Solutions Limited.

- Engine optimization for reduced parasitic losses - This project will investigate the application of various new technologies which seek to lower the losses due to friction within engines, plus other engine- and gearbox-related parasitic losses. The aim is to demonstrate an overall fuel economy improvement and thus CO2 reduction of between 5 and 10% on the European drive cycle.

Lead Organization: Ford Motor Company Ltd; Consortium members: MAHLE Powertrain Ltd, BP.

- Commercial vehicle fuel and carbon reduction by the use of ‘aerospace aero’ devices - This project will develop a device fitted to commercial vehicles to significantly reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. The intention is for the device to build on current systems and technology using developments from the aeronautical industries.

Lead Organization: Hatcher Components Limited; Consortium members: Mercedes-Benz UK Ltd, Cranfield University.

- Zero emission London taxi commercialization - This project will initiate and accelerate the introduction of commercial fleets of zero-emission fuel cell hybrid taxis primarily for London by 2012 and for other cities by 2014. The project will develop and integrate PEM fuel cell hybrid powertrains into LTI TX4 taxis. The arduous duty cycle of the London taxi will be utilized to provide a platform for accelerated fuel cell vehicle lifecycle testing.

Lead Organization: Intelligent Energy; Consortium members: Lotus Cars Ltd, LTI Ltd, TRW Conekt

- Flywheel hybrid system for premium vehicles - This project will design and develop a mechanical hybrid (flywheel and variable drive system), kinetic energy recovery system for use in a premium brand car (Jaguar) as an alternative, cost-competitive solution to other hybrid systems. The project will demonstrate this within an existing vehicle platform to prove its effectiveness and viability for production and suitability for modular application.

Lead Organization: Jaguar Cars Limited; Consortium members: Flybrid Systems, Ford Motor Company Limited, Prodrive, Ricardo UK Ltd, Torotrak plc, Xtrac Ltd.

- Limo-Green -This project will use Jaguar XJs’ aluminium body structures as a basis for proving the concept of a large luxury vehicle with an advanced hybrid electric driveline, consisting of an advanced drive motor, small battery pack and a small auxiliary power generator for sustained cruising. The project aim is to demonstrate a vehicle with sub-120 g/km CO2 emissions while maintaining the premium quality of the vehicle.

Lead Organization: Jaguar Cars Ltd.; Consortium members: MIRA Ltd, Lotus Engineering, Caparo Vehicle Technologies.

- Lower cost lightweight vehicles increasing the ise of post consumer aluminium scrap - This project will demonstrate the feasibility of manufacture within five years of a mass-producible lightweight car based on a body in white (BIW) structure built using aluminium sheet derived in part from low cost energy efficient recycled post-consumer scrap. The sheet manufacture will be based on continuous casting and melt conditioning technologies using sheet cast from melts containing up to 75% of recycled material.

Lead Organization: JLR; Consortium members: Novelis Inc, Zyomax, Norton Aluminium, Innoval Technology, Brunel University, Stadco Ltd.

- Range extended electric vehicle (REHEV) - This project will develop a modular electric and electric/diesel powertrain, suitable for several different vehicle types. This will be tested on a large premium SUV (Land Rover) platform delivering 120 to 130 g/km and zero emissions range of at least 12 miles. The project will also investigate range extension and plug-in charging and installation/ commissioning of local recharging facilities for vehicle trials within the E.ON fleet.

Lead Organization: Land Rover; Consortium members: Amberjac Projects Ltd, Ricardo UK Ltd, E.ON UK PLC.

- High torque density electric drive for commercial vehicles (HiTED) - This project will develop a novel brushless permanent magnet electrical machine incorporating integral magnetic gearing for traction use with hybrid trucks, buses and construction vehicles. The recently invented pseudo-direct-drive (PDD) has the highest torque density of any known electrical machine, according to the team, and has improved energy efficiency, requires only natural air cooling, and is more compact with low manufacturing cost. The project will provide and evaluate two demonstrators.

Lead Organization: Magnomatics Limited; Consortium members: Kollmorgen Corporation, Magnet Applications Ltd, Volvo Group.

- 2/4CAR 2/4-stroke switching carbon reduction vehicle - This project will deliver a Jaguar car demonstrating a 25-30% reduction in CO2 emissions with no loss of performance using an innovative, highly-downsized petrol engine with two-stroke/four-stroke switching technology. Laboratory work has shown that torque output more typical of an engine of twice the capacity is achievable. The engine design incorporates a cycle-switching valvetrain, an advanced boosting and control system, and will demonstrate powertrain integration and driveable control strategies.

Lead Organization: Ricardo UK Ltd; Consortium members University of Brighton, DENSO Sales UK Ltd, Jaguar Cars Ltd.

- DESERVE (Develop high energy battery + high power supercaps for all-electric range – This project will integrate high energy Zebra batteries and high power supercapacitors in a 3.5-tonne electric delivery van. The project will look to maximize the respective energy and power capabilities of the two systems. A power electronic interface controller to optimize the performance of the combined storage system will also be developed. The project will also integrate the storage system within the vehicle and optimize vehicle performance. The targets are a range of 150 miles, top speed 60 mph, acceleration to 59 mph in 18 seconds.

Lead Organization: Tanfield Group plc; Consortium members: Beta Research and Development Ltd, The University of Manchester, Energy Technology Services.

The Technology Strategy Board says a further three projects will be confirmed shortly. It also announced its intention yesterday to launch a Low Carbon Vehicles Integrated Delivery Programme this autumn, stimulated by a further £70 million of government investment. This programme will co-ordinate low carbon vehicle activity from initial research through to future procurement opportunities, speeding up the time it takes to bring low carbon vehicle technologies to market.

The British driveline control specialist Vocis is preparing for substantially higher levels of systems integration by introducing new technologies alongside its core Dual Clutch control systems capability. Several of these were shown for the first time at the 2008 SAE World Congress in Detroit.

“There is a growing trend towards the controls integration of elements of the drivetrain that have traditionally been standalone or linked only to the engine,” explains managing director Mike Everitt. “Our clients have been asking us to apply our control systems expertise to integrate gearbox controls with functions such as traction control, stability control and hybrid drives and we see even greater integration approaching.”

Over the last twelve months, Vocis has delivered DCT applications including a city car and a top-end supercar with a seven speed transmission, Driveline integration projects commissioned by customers include the development and calibration of a new eLSD (Electronically controlled Limited Slip Differential), control systems for active torque distribution systems and transmission controllers for radical new gearbox concepts.

Also at SAE 2008, Vocis launched a third generation version of its TMS-20 transmission control unit that is more compact and lighter than the previous model The system can be implemented with the customer’s choice of processors and with either Vocis Siena software or the customer’s choice of software.

More than forty Vocis TMS-20 transmission control units have so far been supplied to vehicle manufacturers and transmission suppliers. Vocis is also working on an equivalent engine controller.

Vocis was formed in 2006 by a group of senior engineering managers & control system specialists.

(www.vocis.co.uk)

NAC MG UK Ltd. announced yesterday the appointment of a new chairman, Mr He Xiao Qing. Mr He (pronounced (Hurr) takes over from Wang Hong Biao, who had led the board since the entity was set up in 2005.

At 44 He Xiao Qing already has experience in legal, international trade and management and in international finance with Nanjing Automobile (Group) Corporation. He has also held directorships and secretariats in a number of other companies. Among He’s first duties as chairman will be the announcement of a date for the start of production at Longbridge. The MGTF LE500 will be the first car he presides over with full scale production of the MGTF and a family of new cars “following on shortly”.

The 1.6-litre 4-cylinder direct injection, twin turbo petrol engine jointly developed by PSA Peugeot Citroën and BMW Group has won the 1.4 to 1.8 litre category at the International Engine of the Year Awards 2008 for the second year running.

Currently fitted in the Peugeot 207 and 308, this engine is the largest of a family of engines ranging between 120 and 175 hp. This engine family will equip other models in the Peugeot and Citroën ranges, and in the BMW MINI and 1 Series.

Announced in July 2002, the co-operation between PSA Peugeot Citroën and BMW Group has applied the strengths of each partner to solve the conflict between advanced engine technologies and cost pressures in the small and compact car segment.

All major components for these engines are made at a dedicated €330 million, 60,000m2 production facility at PSA Peugeot Citroën’s Française de Mécanique plant in Douvrin.

A new and innovative vehicle side-view mirror designed by Andre Roberson, a Houston, Texas inventor sets out to solve what he says is a growing problem facing drivers. The patents-pending design helps prevent accidents by allowing drivers to maintain a view to the front of their vehicle, while simultaneously checking to the side and rear during merging operations.

Roberson created a presentation and placed it on YouTube.com in an effort to find a licensor or angel investor/partner to help bring it to the market.

(www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVFHVnD7EuA")

E-Fuel Corp., a recent start-up in the US funded by a computer games inventor, unveiled yesterday the "MicroFueler", a $5,000 portable machine that allows people to make their own ethanol.

The pump plugs into a domestic power socket and water supplies to make ethanol from sugar for as little as $1 a gallon (3.8 litres), according to E-Fuel. E-Fuels says it will link its customers to cheap surplus sugar supplies, including inedible sugar from Mexico that sells at a fraction of the price of supermarket packets. It also hopes to get users to help pay for feedstock by selling carbon credits for using the machine, since making ethanol from sugar emits fewer greenhouse gases than making it from maize.

The firms says that a two-car family that drives about 34,500 miles a year, the MicroFueler will pay for itself in less than two years, assuming average gasoline prices of $3.60 per gallon. The unit can make up to 35 gallons of 100% ethanol per week. E-Fuel says the machine is more efficient than industrial-scale ethanol plants because it removes water from the fuel with fine filters that reduce the fuel costs of distilling the water out.

(Reuters/Planet Ark)

An analysis of vehicles added to ALD Automotive’s fleet of more than 47,000 vehicles since January 2003 indicates that company cars delivered that month averaged 166.87 g/km of CO2, but the average CO2 figure for company cars delivered in December 2007 had dropped to 153.83 g/km.

The average CO2 figure for all company cars delivered by ALD Automotive in 2003 was 166 g/km; in 2007 the average figure had dropped to 155.8 g/km; and by the end of the first quarter of 2008 the average CO2 figure for all company cars delivered had dropped still further to 155.6 g/km.

Over the same period company cars are also clocking up less mileage, according to the analysis, which shows that in January 2003 the average contracted annual mileage for a company car on the ALD Automotive fleet was 23,782, but by March this year that figure had reduced to 17,660 miles. In 2003 as a whole, company cars added to the ALD Automotive were contracted to clock up an average 22,475 miles, but in 2007 the average contract mileage was 17,918 - a reduction of 4,557 miles a year.

The data also reveals that emissions figures for new company cars being supplied to customers by ALD Automotive are significantly below those of the company car sector as whole and the private new car market.

Recently published figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders in its ‘New Car CO2 Report 2008: Driving Down Emissions’ show that the average CO2 figure for newly registered company cars in 2007 was 164.2 g/km, down from 166 g/km in 2006. Meanwhile, for new privately registered cars the 2007 average CO2 figure was 165.8 g/km, down from 168.7 g/km in 2006.

By the end of this year, ALD Automotive expects average figures for both emissions and mileage to have reduced from their 2007 levels as businesses and company car drivers respond to Budget 2008 fiscal measures and fuel prices being at record levels - currently 110.6p per litre for petrol and 120.9p per litre for diesel, according to AA data.

In a poll of residents in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea who are members of Zipcar, the world’s largest and fastest car sharing club, 50% indicated they would have bought a car if it were not for joining Zipcar. And nearly 20% gave up a car as a result of joining Zipcar.

Zipcar’s London operation has seen membership rise by 25% since January 2008. The company experienced 100% year on year growth though has up-scaled its corporate projections by 10% overall due to the sub-prime crash. Zipcar members report saving an average of £450 a month.

Cars are located in dedicated bays near homes and offices, from £4.95 an hour or from £35 a day.

Of Zipcar’s Kensington and Chelsea poll respondents almost 90 percent said they used taxis and mini cabs less now, 30% use private cars less often than they did before joining Zipcar, 50% of respondents cycle more or the same amount as before joining Zipcar.

(www.zipcar.co.uk)

A new guide to greener motoring for company car drivers –available free of charge - has been issued by GE Capital Solutions, Fleet Services this week. The 16 page Your Guide to Eco Driving provides practical advice covering vehicle preparation, fuel choice, driving style, carbon dioxide-based company car taxation and many other topics.

Copies can be obtained by e-mailing enquiries.fleet@ge.com. The guide is the second in a series of Essential Driver Support guides from GE Fleet Services. The first Keep Me Safe, covering risk management issues for drivers, was issued last month and is also still available free of charge.

This one day seminar at the University of Southampto is focused on the use of algae as a sustainable fuel. The event will bring together research expertise in biology, processing and combustion, SMEs developing and deploying products, for cultivating algae through to oil extraction, companies seeking to engage and develop supply chains for sustainable fuel, funding and support organization, and networking organisations with specific expertise across the 'tank to tank' supply chain.

Organisations presenting include Virgin Atlantic Airways, Eco-Solids, the Renewable Fuels Agency, the University of Southampton, the Carbon Trust, First Light Energy, Bioscience for Business KTN, Regenatec, WRc , and the Marine Biological Association.

(www.envirobusiness.co.uk/registrationform.asp)

The Argonne National Laboratory in the US has released the latest version (1.8b) of the Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions and Energy use in Transportation (GREET) full life-cycle model used to evaluate and compare the environmental impacts of new transportation fuels and advanced vehicle technologies.

The update will allow scientists to model combustion of ethanol produced from Brazilian sugarcane and used by US automobiles; production and use of bio-butanol as a potential transportation fuel; and production and use of biodiesel and renewable diesel via hydrogenation, coal/biomass co-feeding for Fischer-Tropsch diesel production and various corn ethanol plant types with different process fuels. New fuel production pathways covered include soybeans to renewable gasoline production; oil sand to pet coke; and pet coke to H2.

In addition, simulations of many existing fuel pathways in GREET are updated. The new version updates the shares of Canadian oil sands products in crude oil blends; updates the petroleum refinery processes including hydrogen from different feedstock sources; updates the calculation of renewable energy use in the production of biofuels from corn and soybean feedstocks; and adds missing higher heating values (HHV) for some biofuels and feedstock sources. Petroleum refining energy efficiencies in GREET are updated with recent survey data from the Energy Information Administration.

Enhancements to current pathways include three methods for dealing with co-products for soybean-based biodiesel; compression energy efficiencies for natural and hydrogen gases are calculated with the first law of thermodynamics; and a tube trailer delivery option for hydrogen gas to refueling stations is included.

In addition to the fuel-cycle GREET module, the vehicle-cycle GREET module (2.7) incorporates an additional platform, allowing researchers to model sport utility vehicles in addition to cars and light trucks. That version better evaluates the energy consumption required to produce the aluminum used in the chassis of vehicles.

Led by Dr. Michael Wang, a group of Argonne transportation researchers regularly update key parameters and assumptions in the GREET model on the basis of new research and development in fuel pathways and vehicle technologies. Today, GREET can simulate more than 100 fuel production pathways and more than 80 vehicle/fuel systems. The model has more than 4,000 registered users worldwide.

The US Environmental Protection Agency uses a specific set of assumptions with the GREET model in its analysis of the reductions in greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the potential expanded use of renewable and alternative fuels, while the California Air Resources Board has been using a GREET version in its effort to develop low-carbon fuel standards.

(http://www.transportation.anl.gov/software/GREET/index.html)

Neville Briggs has been named as the new managing director of the fleet software supplier CFC Solutions. He already holds and will retain the same role at CFC’s sister company, Pinewood Computer Solutions, which supplies dealer management systems for motor retailers. Briggs has been at Pinewood for 10 years, holding the managing director’s role since 2000.

Ford will more than double the number of North American vehicles equipped with more fuel-efficient, 6-speed automatic transmissions by the end of next year, it has announced. By the end of 2012, 98% of Ford's North American transmissions will be 6-speed gearboxes.

New car registrations showed the best growth of the year in April with a 5,505-unit rise. The SMMT said three additional processing days in the month, due to the early Easter this year, may have helped sustain growth for a second successive month which created the highest April volume since 2005.

Registrations over the first four months of 2008 were virtually unchanged on last year, although in the light of the economic slowdown and cost pressures on the business and consumer car markets, the SMMT has trimmed its full year 2008 forecast to 2.335m units, from the current rolling annual rate of 2.404m.

The recent growth in the new car market has been bolstered by improved demand from fleet buyers and only a relatively modest dip in private sector registrations. Fleet demand rose by 7.5% in April, its strongest rate since October 2007. The private sector slipped by just 1.2% in the month and by 2.2% over the year to date.

The top five models in April were the Ford Focus (as in the year to date), followed by the Vauxhall Corsa, Vauxhall Astra, Ford Fiesta and VW Golf. Diesel registrations took a record 45.7% market share in April, up from 41.7% in the last 12 months. Ford’s Focus outsold the VW Golf to become the top selling diesel model. Demand for alternatively fuelled vehicles (AFV) also rose, up 8.4% in April and by 14.4% in the year-to-date.

Vauxhall outpaced Ford to be the best selling brand in April, with four models in the top ten.

Mini and executive segments posted the strongest growth rates in April – up 43.7% and 37.8% respectively, whilst the lower medium segment had the largest volume gain. MPVs continue to show the fastest growth over the year-to-date.

- New commercial vehicle registrations in the UK were up 4.4% in April, and up by 5.9% to 396,524 for the rolling year. These included truck registrations up 29.9% in April and by 24.8% to 56,436 for the rolling year. Van registrations up to 3.5 tonnes were up 0.5% for the month and 3.3% to 340,088 for the rolling year. Full statistics on April’s car and CV registrations are available for download at www.smmt.co.uk.

ZF's CEO Hans-Georg Härter and the Federal Minister of Economics and Technology, Michael Glos, officially inaugurated Germany's first production location for the industrial production of hybrid drive modules yesterday.

Currently, release samples are being produced in a new production hall at the ZF Sachs location in Schweinfurt.

From the fourth quarter of 2008, ZF will launch volume production and supply the products to car, bus, and delivery vehicle manufacturers. Mercedes-Benz will be the first customer. Thus, ZF claims to be the first European automotive suppler to produce hybrid modules in volume production.

From the fourth quarter of 2008, hybrid modules with the product name DynaStart will be produced in volume production on a production surface of 1,200 square meters and shipped to customers. Currently, there are eight volume production development projects for four vehicle manufacturers; production will be launched between 2008 and 2012. To begin with, ZF is launching an annual production volume of altogether 35,000 units.

The production volume in the new building can be extended flexibly up to a maximum of 200,000 units per year, which are then produced by approximately 50 employees.

A consultation on new proposals to reform the way people learn to drive and how they are tested has been announced by Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly, criticized by the Driving Instructors Association and welcomed by the IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists), RoSPA, and the Association of British Insurers, though the latter says it wants a structured minimum learning period to be added to the proposals, and passenger restrictions for young newly qualified drivers.

The DfT noted that road deaths and serious injuries have fallen by 33% since the mid 1990s, but the casualty rate for young drivers has not changed. One in five people have an accident within six months of passing their test, and another 70% report near-misses in the same period. Newly-qualified drivers and their passengers account for one in five of all car deaths in Britain.

The aim of the DfT proposals is to strengthen the current learning and testing procedures, and creating a culture of extended and advanced learning. They follow discussions with young people, employers, driving instructors and the insurance industry.

A foundation course in safe road use for under-17 years olds will be piloted in schools and colleges in Scotland from this autumn. This will lead to a qualification that will be available across Great Britain.

For the first time there will be a syllabus to ensure more effective and comprehensive training is offered to learner drivers. The DfT wants to work with employers to develop proposals for post-test courses and qualifications that produce safer drivers, and that they are prepared to reward. Examples of this could include a new advanced training qualification, a course in motorway driving or vocational qualifications, e.g. for van drivers.

Alongside this the driving test will be revised to place less emphasis on mechanical manoeuvres and allow examiners to properly assess the full range of a candidate's abilities. An assessment of their ability to drive independently and test to judge awareness of road safety issues will be introduced.

The Driving Instructors Association described the Government’s consultation paper as a ‘catastrophic missed opportunity’, and a ‘gross dereliction of duty’ in ignoring the recommendations made in last year’s Transport Committee Report on Novice Drivers which will ‘almost certainly result in the death of more young people on our roads’. The proposals do not include mandatory driving lessons with qualified instructors.

Among the recommendations in the Transport Committee report was a 12-month minimum learning period with a logbook-based syllabus requiring the input of a qualified driving instructor, and a series of post-test restrictions placed on novice drivers, such as a zero alcohol limit and a prohibition on carrying passengers during hours of darkness.

The Government has said that it is not persuaded by the case for regulated learning and post-test restrictions. The executive summary to the consultation includes the following: “We have looked at the merits of limiting the way learners can learn, or placing restrictions on drivers who have just passed their test. We think that an approach based on education and incentivisation will work better than one based on regulation and restriction.”

The consultation document does, however, goes on to make the case for tightening up the qualification process for instructors, and for introducing what the Driving Instructors Association calls a “blatantly unfair” star rating system to help people in choosing an instructor.

- Younger drivers agree that they would be safer and eventually better drivers if they had to wait until they are 18 before taking their L-test, according to a survey published on 6th May by the IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists). Currently, drivers can take their practical test and get on the road at 17.

The young people questioned in the IAM poll also said that they would support moves to introduce a psychological profile test, as part of the theory test, which would aim to weed out the small percentage of people whose psychological make-up makes them unfit to be on the road.

The IAM welcomed the publication of the new DfT consultation and the supporting documentation, along with proposals to consider starting the learning process in schools, to enhance the way the driver qualification process operates, and to encourage people to regard it as part of the learning process, rather than the end. The Royal Automobile Club Foundation also welcomed the proposed reforms, which it believes strike a good balance between supporting young people in their learning and making the test more representative of real-world driving, while rejecting strict regulations and restrictions which might discourage some from learning to drive, or encourage more to drive unlicensed.

On 14th May the IAM is to host a London-based workshop for road safety experts considering the casualty rates for young drivers and what practical measures are possible.

The Bulgarian Corporate Commercial Bank (CCB) and a businessman called Grisha Ganchev have become partners in Litex Motors, a joint venture for the design and manufacture of cars, two-wheelers and other vehicles, as the online Engllish edition of Dnevnik Daily reported, via the Bulgarian Focus news agency yesterday.

The bank’s chairman indicated that the business would assemble vehicles from CKD kits from an unnamed Asian manufacturer, for domestic sales and exports to Greece and Romania.

To date Bulgaria is host to just a few automotive suppliers, including Montupet, Johnson Controls, and the Belgian Melexis, which manufactures onboard electronics for VW and Toyota in the country.

Brian Spratt, chief executive of the Automotive Distribution Federation and Secretary to the Automotive Aftermarket Liaison Group of independent aftermarket bodies, has written an open letter to the Secretary of State for Transport, Ruth Kelly, urging an early start to a long-promised consultation on Treasury plans to reduce the UK’s annual-after-three-years MOT test to a ‘4-2-2’ regime.

Mr. Spratt’s letter, reproduced in full on www.aftermarketnetwork.com, reads as follows:

Dear Secretary of State,

I write on behalf of the Automotive Aftermarket Liaison Group; a regular forum of trade associations in the independent automotive aftermarket.

The associations’ members’ activities include the manufacture, wholesale and retail distribution of car and truck components, tyres, batteries, body panels, and lighting; plus the manufacturers of garage and workshop tools, diagnostic and heavy equipment, and the garages and workshops that service and repair vehicles, thus providing an essential service to motorists and vehicle users in all areas of the economy.

For several months DfT officials have repeatedly advised AALG members that a public consultation on the frequency of MoT tests is ‘imminent’. However, it appears that the Department is unable to produce a consultation document that would properly explore the very serious implications for road safety, congestion, insurance fraud and environmental considerations, without compromising the Treasury’s desire to manipulate the system into a revenue raising measure.

Whilst the Department prevaricates, individuals and companies in the motor trade remain unsure of the basis upon which they may wish to make investment decisions. This is bad for the individuals and companies concerned, it is also bad for the consumers – motorists – fleet operators – et al, who are denied an opportunity to ensure that their vehicles are maintained using the very latest techniques and equipment.

In addition, the Department’s own agency, VOSA, is keen for MoT testing stations to adopt new technology in the form of Automated Test Lanes. This involves substantial investment by the testing stations and, quite understandably, proprietors are unwilling to make such investment until the situation regarding testing frequency and the revenue therein is clear. Thus a major plank of the DfT’s improvement programme for testing stations is thwarted.

This situation cannot be allowed to continue.

We, representing a substantial section of the Motor Industry, challenge you and your officials to either release the consultation paper promptly, or announce the total abandonment of any move to change the frequency of vehicle testing. Only by such actions can a very important sector of the UK economy be allowed to get on with its job!

I, and my colleagues in the AALG are available to speak to you and your officials about this issue.

Yours sincerely

Brian Spratt

Secretary to the AALG

Chief Executive ADF

The French paper Le Figaro has reported that Pardus, the US private equity firm which holds a 20% minority stake in the French Tier 1 supplier Valeo, is to submit a motion to shareholders for their 20th June AGM seeking two board seats. A Pardus motion last year seeking board representation was defeated last year.

Friction has since persisted between Valeo’s board and Pardus, which wants Valeo to divest business units which don’t hold outright or near-market leadership. Pardus has also reportedly urged Valeo to acquire a stake in Visteon, in which Pardus has a significant shareholding. The paper based its report on an interview with Behdad Alizadeh of Pardus, which does not generally make media announcements.

On 2nd May, Ford Global Technologies filed a Section 337 complaint at the International Trade Commission (ITC) against manufacturers and U.S. distributors of automotive collision repair parts alleging infringement of design patents for certain exterior repair parts for the 2005 Ford Mustang.

This, said a release on behalf of the targets of Ford’s complaint, follows a 2005 ITC complaint by Ford Global Technologies - currently under appeal - that removes competition when any of the nearly two million Ford F-150 pickup drivers on America's roads look to replace seven collision parts on their 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 F-150s.

Independent aftermarket manufacturers and distributors say their competition to OEMs saves American consumers more than $1.5 billion per year. The US Congress declined to vote in 1990s legislation proposed by OEMs providing copyright protection for replacement parts; the same issues are also ongoing in EU legislation.

In recent testimony before Congress provided by groups including the Consumer Federation of America, Public Citizen, Consumers' Union, the Center for Auto Safety and Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, Jack Gillis of the Consumer Federation stated, "Our concern today is that the car companies are now using design patents, not for the important and legitimate protection of the overall design of their vehicles, but to prevent competition when it comes to getting the parts we need to repair our vehicles.”

The 2008 overall International Engine of the Year award is the sixth in 10 years for BMW, which this year scooped four category wins – one of them for the Hams Hall-built MINI engine. For the third time, Volkswagen's dual-charged TSI engines won the award in the 1 litre to 1.4 litres category. Subaru’s 2.5 litre turbocharged ‘boxer’ engine was voted the best in the 2.0 to 2.5 litre category.

A global panel of judges awarded the top honour to BMW’s 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged petrol engine. It powers the 1 Series, 3 Series and X6 in the 135i, 335i and X6 xDrive35i models respectively. BMW and MINI drove off with five category wins between them to dominate the 2008 awards.

The BMW 3.0-litre twin-turbo petrol engine also won ‘Best engine 2.5-litre to 3.0-litre’. The previous International Engine of the Year winner, the 5.0-litre V10 powerplant, won its category of ‘Best engine above 4.0-litres’, a feat that it also achieved in 2005 and 2006 on its way to winning the overall awards in those years. The 1.6-litre unit in the MINI won ‘Best engine 1.4-litre to 1.8-litre’.

BMW was presented with ‘Best engine 3.0-litre to 4.0-litre’ and ‘Best new engine of 2008’. The 4.0-litre V8 in the current generation of M3 took top spot in its class, while the twin-turbocharged 2.0-litre diesel engine that powers the 123d was voted the best newcomer. Its closest rival for this award was its own 4.0-litre V8 from the M3

BMW’s also won outright honours in 2007, 2006, 2005, 2002 and 2001.

- BMW will use the four-cylinder engines it has jointly developed with PSA in the BMW 1 Series, as well as the MINI, according to an interview with CEO Norbert Reithofer with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. He also disclosed that the next-generation 7-Series to be launched this year will feature a hybrid powertrain, in which BMW has invested alongside GM.

New car sales in Western Europe rose by 9.9% year on year in April to 1,320,722 units, in part due to the early Easter this year providing extra sales days. J.D. Power Automotive Forecasting reported yesterday that the seasonally adjusted annualised rate of sales remained stable last month, despite economic uncertainty.

In Germany sales were up by 20%, bringing the year-to-date market up by 7.3%. Southern European countries — especially Spain and Italy — continued to reveal the negative impact on car demand of macro-economic weakness. The selling rate in Spain appears particularly ominous in light of a sharp slowdown in the construction sector.

The stable French car market remains on track for a small gain in 2008.

The organisers of the USA’s Performance Racing Industry Trade Show have confirmed that the event will continue to be stage in Orlando, Florida until at least 2016

The PRI Trade Show, which is claimed to be the world’s largest motor racing trade show, first took place in Louisville, Kentucky in 1988 and was held in Cincinnati, Nashville, Columbus and Indianapolis before relocating to Orlando in 2005.

PRI Show producer Steve Lewis said, “After holding the PRI Trade Show in Orlando for three very successful years, it is now viewed by exhibitors and attendees as the place to be for the future.

“Exhibitors appreciate the strong annual domestic and international buyer attendance in Orlando. Buyers appreciate shopping the 1,000,000-square-foot exhibit hall featuring displays of all the latest product lines in motorsports.

“Orlando provides the PRI Trade Show with all the attributes of a great host city, including a spectacular convention center, and this has been proven by the enormous volume of business transactions concluded every year at the Show.”

A new automotive supplier benchmarking study has found that average-performing suppliers manufacture their components at a 19.9% higher cost than their top performing counterparts. The report applies KPIs to statistics from B&M Analysts’ global database.

Justin Barnes, author of the study for B&M Analysts, said: "We found that an average-performing company has a wastage factor in their plants equivalent to 26.5% of sales, versus only 6.6% at the top performance level. This illustrates the direct cost of not being a top performer quite drastically - even a small deviation from best practice can mean the difference between success and failure of a plant or entire business."

He added: "This shows that benchmarking is as relevant in 2008 as it has ever been. While efficiency continues to improve globally, operational pressures remain relentless, witnessed by the continuing poor financial performance of the global automotive industry. With few OEMs and suppliers making healthy margins and many more making losses, adherence to world class manufacturing standards is more important than ever."

The study by B&M Analysts is entitled the Global Best Practices Statistical Yearbook. It benchmarks the entire automotive value chain for seven market drivers across 13 sub-sectors. Full details on the study, now in its 6th annual edition, are available at www.bmanalysts.com/yearbook.

Aston Martin’s chief executive Dr. Ulrich Bez said in an interview with the Financial Times of 2nd May that the European Commission’s proposed 130 g/km CO2 limit should measure manufacturers on the CO2 their cars emit per year rather than per kilometre, though if Aston Martins travelled on average around half the annual distance of most lower-emitting cars, they would still exceed an annual output equivalent to 130 g/km for most cars.

The proposed CO2 per-km per manufacturer limit could put Aston Martin at a disadvantage compared to some luxury/high consumption competitors like Rolls-Royce or Lamborghini inasmuch as their high emissions might be permitted to be offset by the more frugal brands owned by their parent groups.

Dr. Bez did not say how he thought an annual CO2 quota might be policed.

Aston Martin might anyway be spared, given its low manufacturing volume: the EC is considering exempting manufacturers producing fewer than 10,000 cars per year from the planned 2012 emissions limit. Aston Martin built 7,300 cars last year.

- Premier Financial Services (PFS), an American specialist in high end and vintage automotive leasing, has reached an agreement with Aston Martin North America to provide a leasing programme for the company's 31 US dealers.

The engineers at Audi who developed the company’s aluminium space frame were presented with one of four European Inventor of the Year 2008 awards yesterday. Audi’s team - Norbert Enning, Ulrich Klages, Heinrich Timm, Gundolf Kreis, Alois Feldschmid, Christian Dornberg and Karl Reiter - paved the way for the use of aluminium to render car frames not only lighter and slimmer, but safer too.

Merely substituting steel with aluminium was not an option. Without major design changes, aluminium would have bent at critical weight distribution points. To optimise the distribution of weight, Norbert Enning and his team had to completely re-think the concept of automotive frame design.

In 1993, Audi patented the aluminium car frame system, including methods of mass production. One year later, Audi introduced the world’s first-ever volume-produced car with an all-aluminium body — the Audi A8. Since then, the frame system has been marketed as the Audi Space Frame (ASF).

Direct benefits of the technology include better fuel efficiency, increased road handling, better cornering characteristics and ease of repair. Tests have proven that the frame’s high rigidity also offers better crash protection than steel frames. In terms of durability, aluminium is the only corrosion-free material on the market. With a high degree of pliability, aluminium also offers designers more possibilities for shaping new, more efficient parts.

Since Audi opened up the possibilities of aluminium as car body material, other manufacturers including Jaguar have followed suit, though by no means all Audi’s own cars use the aluminium space frame, for cost reasons.

Enning's invention is best described as a self-supporting frame in which all components such as castings, profiles and panels are part of an integrated weight-bearing system. As each part “carries the other”, the frame achieves maximum stability at minimum mass. Each component fulfils a number of functions, such as supporting other parts or serving as part of numerous cross-sections. As they were designing this intricate system, Enning’s team members realised that the multi-tasking approach required fewer parts — more than 17 percent fewer — than previous frame designs.

The US Tier 1 supplier ArvinMeritor, Inc.’s board of directors has approved a plan to spin off the company’s Light Vehicle Systems (LVS) business to ArvinMeritor shareholders, with the Commercial Vehicle Systems (CVS) business remaining with ArvinMeritor.

"The plan to separate our two businesses is the result of a comprehensive strategic review to enhance the company's long-term value for our shareholders," said Chip McClure, chairman, CEO and president.

"Each company will benefit from a greater strategic focus on its core business and growth opportunities as well as from increased recognition in each of its global market segments. In addition, the separate companies will offer more attractive and targeted investment opportunities, with incentives for management and employees that are more closely aligned with company performance and shareholder interests," continued McClure.

The planned spin-off of the LVS business - to be named Arvin Innovation, Inc. - would be implemented through a pro rata tax-free dividend to ArvinMeritor shareholders. On completion of the spin-off, ArvinMeritor shareholders will own all the common stock of Arvin Innovation. Their approval of the spin-off is not required, and the company expects to complete it within the next 12 months.

Honeywell Transportation Systems has decided to operate its global friction business as its own strategic business unit, separated from Honeywell’s Consumer Products Group, following customer interviews and feedback from suppliers and channel partners.

Dr. Rainer Bostel, who has been with Honeywell for 21 years, has been named president of the business unit. He previously served as leader of Honeywell's Home Environmental Controls business unit in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Based in Glinde, Germany, Bostel and his Honeywell Friction Materials team will be responsible for providing product solutions for its original equipment customers as well as oversee the continued development of the Bendix and Jurid brand aftermarket friction material offerings.

For downsizing engines for reduced fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, the Warwick-based Antonov Automotive Technologies reckons a simple dual-speed mechanical approach is the optimum solution when considering supercharging.

“Two speeds are better than one,” says Chris Baylis operations director at Antonov Automotive Technologies. “And two speeds are enough – particularly when considering the cost, weight, packaging and vehicle refinement implications for high volume car production.” Baylis opined thus in a presentation delivered to delegates at a forum on supercharging and engine downsizing at an automotive exposition taking place this week (6-8 May) at Stuttgart.

Using the dual-speed approach Antonov reckons that car makers could halve the size of the engine for any particular application with a dramatic reduction in fuel consumption and carbon emissions.

“A 25-50% reduction in engine size seems feasible for road vehicles,” says Baylis. “The dual-speed supercharging solution certainly delivers the performance and, importantly for road cars, maintains excellent driveability.

“Improved fuel economy is fundamentally achieved through using a small displacement engine - with a dual-speed supercharger allowing it to run more often at low rpm. The two speeds allow us to spread the charge of air from the supercharger to the engine over a wide engine speed range.

Three dual-speed supercharger studies are currently being pursued by Antonov. These include an engine downsizing application for a typical family car, an aftermarket application already in production for high performance vehicles, and a performance enhancement application for off-road vehicles with relatively poor class performance, which is also in production.

The Clean Green Cars website’s proprietors have written to the newly-elected Mayor of London Boris Johnson suggesting that their data analysis tools could frame a revised Congestion Charge that would be both fairer to motorists and more effective in reducing overall pollution.

The site says the plans announced by the former Mayor, Ken Livingstone, which are due to take effect in October 2008, are fundamentally flawed and will be counter-productive, for the following reasons:

TfL has stated that that only 2% of cars are below the 120 g/km CO2 limit for Congestion Charge exemption. This, says Clean Green Cars, is completely missing the point – TfL appears to have measured the total number of vehicles in use to obtain this figure.

For new car sales, the percentage has risen from 5.4% in 2007 to 7.9% in the first three months of 2008 – and it will exceed 10% by the end of the year. That means 10% of all new cars will not have to pay the Congestion Charge, even if motorists in London buy no more low-emission cars than the national average.

Owners of large new vehicles that would have to pay £25 per day under the scheme proposed by Ken Livingstone’s administration can afford to buy a brand-new Congestion Charge-free car with the savings they will make. For example, if a Range Rover owner is faced with a charge of £125 per week, they can simply buy a brand new BMW 118d to drive into London at a weekly cost far lower than that (the typical weekly cost of a BMW 118d on a Personal Contract Plan is approximately £80 per week).

Hence, the very high charge for large vehicles may actually increase both congestion and overall pollution. This concern has already been echoed by an independent report (by AEA Technology) commissioned by TfL itself, which suggests that « there could be an increase in the overall numbers of cars travelling within the zone," and that the consequent "increased congestion would mean all vehicles moving more slowly and hence increased CO2 emissions."

Clean Green Cars suggests:

- A stricter target of 110 g/km CO2 for cars qualifying for the lowest charge be applied

- Vehicles achieving 110g/km or below should be charged £4 rather than being allowed in for nothing

- Vehicles emitting more than over 225g/km should be charged £12 rather than £25

The site's publishers argue that setting the threshold at 110g/km will diminish the risk, identified in the AEA report, of Londoners switching to 120g/km-and-below models in sufficient numbers to cause congestion to increase, making the changes self-defeating, as will the imposition of a £4 charge rather than the exemption currently proposed. The Congestion Charge is still intended to be a charge on congestion and it therefore makes sense to charge any vehicle that enters the zone.

The 110g/km limit would, it is argued, also encourage car manufacturers to work harder to develop cars with lower emissions. Any family-sized car (e.g. Ford Focus) with a 1.6 litre diesel engine can meet the 120 g/km limit today, whereas 110 g/km of CO2 would provide manufacturers with a challenging, but achievable, target.

The suggested £12 charge for vehicles over 225g/km, reduced from the proposed £25, is designed to discourage potentially well-off owners of these vehicles buying an additional low-emission car instead of replacing their high-emission model.

www.cleangreencars.co.uk’s founders are Richard Bremner, the motoring journalist, and Jay Nagley, an industry analyst.

IAM Motoring Trust research acquired through the Freedom of Information Act reveals that 21.6% of three-year old cars fail their first MoT test - a higher failure rate than in some EUcountries that require first roadworthiness tests of vehicles only after four years (the EU minimum).

"The high UK failure rates may argue against relaxing our MoT testing regime from three to four years on road-safety grounds. But do we have the full picture?" said Neil Greig, IAM Trust Director.

"A Treasury-sponsored review in 2006 suggested that the UK practice of 'gold plating' the European minimum for roadworthiness testing was costing motorists £465 million a year. As a result, the Department for Transport prepared a consultation that was due to be launched in the summer of 2007 but has still not appeared. In the meantime, motorists have seen no action and may have incurred nearly £1bn in costs for the current MoT testing system. Who can blame them for worrying about being ripped off?"

A 2007 IAM Trust survey showed that motorists viewed the MoT test as an essential road safety measure but that they suspected that failures were influenced by a garage's wish to carry out unnecessary work.

"It's time for government to get MoT testing out of the 'all too difficult' box; motorists have waited too long for answers to important questions," said Greig. These, he says, are;

- Why are first-test pass rates in some European countries better at four years than UK pass rates after three years?

- Does the three-year UK MoT test unnecessarily "gold plate" the European minimum requirement for roadworthiness - at a cost to UK motorists of £465 million a year?

- Would the application of European minimum standards be enough to guarantee roadworthiness of UK cars?

- Is there any evidence that accidents due to vehicle failure are greater in countries that wait four years for a first compulsory roadworthiness test?

- In the UK, only garages can carry out tests and supply the parts and labour needed to rectify faults. In some European countries, testing and rectifying procedures are separated - should we consider the introduction of independent testing centres?

Greig also questioned why so many UK cars fail the first MoT test after just three years when three-year warranties and service agreements are common. "Is it because garages do the MoT test before the three-year warranty service instead of after it, which fuels motorists' suspicion that the MoT is being used to show that the service has been done properly? Do manufacturers' service schedules not cover all the points needed to pass a MoT test - if not, why?" And finally: "Are high failure rates down to motorists failing to maintain their cars properly?"

First-time MoT failure rates (2007), supplied by VOSA show that in 2007, 21.6% (580,754) of three-year old cars submitted to their first test failed it. Among 836,646 individual failure faults, the top 10 were:

1. Lighting and signaling - 271,567

2. Tyres and wheels - 155,489

3. Drivers view of the road (Cracked/chipped windscreens, other obstructions) - 120,095

4. Brakes - 110,327

5. Steering and suspension - 99,798

6. Fuel and emissions - 23,634

7. Registration plates and VIN (vehicle identification number) - 19,047

8. Seatbelts - 11,271

9. Body and structure -7,705

10. Road wheels (loose, missing wheel nuts etc) - 5,746

Figures supplied to the IAM Trust by European motoring organisations show that in some countries where they apply the EU-minimum four years for the first roadworthiness test, the failure rate is lower than in the UK; e.g. France 5.61%, Switzerland 17.5%, and Norway 19.9%. However, the failure rate in Spain is higher than the UK, at 32%. In other countries than the UK that also test vehicles for the first time at three years, failure rates are far lower than in the UK (Germany 4.8% and Austria 10%).

IAM Trust is the re-branded Institute of Advanced Motorists.

Tests conducted by TÜV SÜD Automotive in April and May 2008 show that the new Michelin Energy Saver tyre combines one of the shortest wet-road braking distances of any tyre in the market with the biggest fuel savings. Some tyre manufacturers have suggested that planned EU light vehicle tyre specifications intended to lower rolling resistance and fuel use risked compromising grip.

The braking tests were carried out by TÜV SÜD using three different tyre sizes among those most widely sold in Europe, which it purchased in tyre outlets. The comparative tests demonstrate that in challenging road conditions, such as on wet surfaces, the Michelin Energy Saver brakes in shorter or equal distances2 compared with six of its main, major-brand competitors when slowing from 80 km/h to 20 km/h.

Also according to the tests conducted by TÜV SÜD Automotive, the Michelin Energy Saver reduces fuel consumption by 0.2 l/100 km thanks to its rolling resistance, which is nearly 20% lower than that of its direct competitors. This greater fuel efficiency also means savings on the forecourt of around €125 over the average 45,000 km lifespan of the tyre.

An earlier TÜV SÜD Automotive study carried out last year showed that the Michelin Energy Saver also outlasts its major brand rivals, increasing total mileage by an average of 40%.

The insurance research centre Thatcham has announced a new criterion for the certification of third party Whole of Vehicle Marking Systems and components within its TQA (Thatcham Quality Accreditation) programme. The new TQA criterion establishes standards for the robustness of all parts of a marking system, namely:

- Environmental durability of marking technologies such as labels and etching, microdots and RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags

- Resistance to attack methods used to de-identify vehicles

- Installation of the markings and data recording on specific vehicle types

- Database security and the associated liaison with law enforcement agencies.

Whole of Vehicle Marking Systems are typically used to identify passenger cars, light vans and trucks and are an important consideration within Thatcham’s New Vehicle Security Assessment (NVSA). Thatcham hopes the new TQA® criterion will also drive wider use of quality marking systems on motorcycles and

construction plant.

European Capital Ltd.’s ECAS S.a.r.l unit has invested €28 million of mezzanine debt in the Lxembourg sensor company International Electronics and Engineering S.A. (IEE).

IEE’s Protecto system launched last year operates using a sensor placed in a vehicle’s front bumper which determines whether the vehicle is colliding with an object or a person. In the event of a collision with a pedestrian, the deployable bonnet system will engage within 45 milliseconds, lifting the bonnet up about 80mm.The sensor itself can recognise and classify an object in 10 to 15 milliseconds, while proprietary algorithms developed by IEE prevent the bonnet from inadvertently activating.

The European Commission has stated that it plans to strengthen the current EU pedestrian safety directive between 2013 and 2015.

IEE’s OE customers including Alfa Romeo, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Chery, General Motors, Hyundai, Jaguar, Land Rover, Logitech, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, Motorola, Nissan, PSA, Renault, Rolls-Royce, Samsung, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo.

The company employs over 1,200 people worldwide and operates manufacturing sites in Echternach (Luxembourg) and Langfang (China).

Daf Trucks has compared the environmental performance of its trucks in 1977 and today. It says that in 1977, a typical maximum capacity truck, running at 32 tonnes gross, carrying a payload of 20.5 tonnes on a 320 km journey used 130 litres of diesel and put out 16.7 kg of CO2 per tonne of payload. Including a statutory 45-minute break, the journey took six hours and ten minutes. In 2007, a maximum capacity truck running at 44 tonnes gross, carrying a payload of 29.5 tonnes on the same journey used 103 litres of diesel and emitted 9.2 kg of CO2 per tonne of payload.

Including the same statutory break, the journey took four hours and 15 minutes. In summary, the 2007 truck used 21% less diesel, carried 30% more payload and emitted 21% less CO2 than its 1977 counterpart , providing a CO2/t/km saving of 45%. The truck emitted 96% less particulates and 87% less NOX. It was also 33% quicker, although working within a lower maximum speed limit. The modern truck also produced one-twelfth of the noise of the older model.

Alfa Brera coupé for the British market. Production of the Alfa Brera S will be limited to 500 numbered cars that will include further enhancements to the exterior and interior of the car.

Two existing petrol engines in standard specifications will power the special edition Alfa Brera S from launch next month. Prices and specifications will be revealed at launch on 19 May. Alfa Romeo is hosting a teaser reveal online at www.breras.co.uk

The Volkswagen Group delivered 1.57 million vehicles worldwide in the first three months, an increase of 7%. Sales revenue grew by 1.4% to €27.0 billion. Operating profit rose by 21% to €1.3 billion. Profit after tax was €929 million, an increase of approximately 26%.

The Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand increased its operating profit to €461 million (€386 million) from January through March. The negative impact of exchange rates was more than offset by the increase in sales volume and further improvements in material costs.

The Audi brand reported year-on-year growth of €113 million to €514 million. The figures for the Lamborghini brand, which are contained in the key figures for Audi, recorded positive growth. The Škoda brand also increased its operating profit to €182 million (€172 million). SEAT recorded an operating profit of €12 million, which followed an operating loss of €11 million a year earlier. Bentley increased its operating profit to €39 million (€38 million). At Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, operating profit rose to €103 million from €66 million a year earlier.

At €276 million, the Financial Services Division’s operating profit exceeded the previous year’s level by €18 million.

Net liquidity in the group automotive business improved by a further €0.7 billion compared with the 2007 year-end,to €14.2 billion. The ratio of investments in property, plant and equipment to sales revenue remained below the long-term average at 3.9%.

For the current year, VW expects deliveries to customers will be above the previous year’s, and that 2008 will exceed the previous year’s figures for deliveries, sales revenue and operating profit. Industry sales in Germany in April rose by around 20%, according to provisional figures from the KBA.

Daimler AG is prepared to supply components to Jaguar and Land chief executive Dieter Zetsche told the German Auto Motor und Sport magazine in an interview last week. Daimler has a 7% stake in Jaguar & Land Rover’s soon-to-be new owner Tata Motors. While Mr Zetsche said Daimler had no plans to increase its Tata Motors stake, it could potentially replace engines and other units that have to date been sourced from Ford Motor Co.

As of 5th May, American consumers can now use JobsPerCar.com to understand how many American jobs each manufacturer supports and the level of domestic content in individual models. Users can compare the make and model of up to four vehicles at a time. They instantly receive reports on each, allowing them to compare how many jobs each company supports on a car-by-car basis, where the vehicle was built, and how much of the parts in that vehicle are "domestic" (as defined by the U.S. Government). The service uses 2007 data, which is the most current available.

For example, someone comparing a Ford Taurus with a Hyundai Elantra will see that the Ford supports almost seven times as many American jobs per car than the Hyundai, contains ninety times more domestic parts, and was assembled in North America (versus Korea, for the Elantra). Similarly, someone comparing a Honda Accord with a VW Passat will see that the Accord supports more than twice as many jobs per car, contains sixty-five times the domestic parts, and was assembled in North America (versus Germany for the Passat).

The site shows that GM uses substantially fewer employees to build a car, but still manages to employ more than 40 times more Americans than VW. Honda employs fewer Americans than Toyota, but supports more jobs on a car-by-car basis. A Hyundai built in Alabama has less domestic content than a Ford Fusion built in Mexico, because Hyundai assembles Sonatas in Alabama, but it builds its engines and transmissions in South Korea. Level Field Institute, the body behind the new website, says that if Ford, GM and Chrysler used as few domestic parts as the typical foreign manufacturer, about $95 billion in US parts sales and about 1.8 million U.S. jobs would move overseas.

Recent research conducted by Level Field Institute found that seventy-four percent of Americans are more likely to buy a car if the company producing it employs significantly more U.S. workers than its competitors. Seventy-eight percent of those polled said they pay at least "some" attention to where the parts of an automobile are made. And knowing more about the differences between automakers has a powerful impact on purchase intent, according to the study. More information on the study is available at http://www.levelfieldinstitute.org/.

Level Field was established by pensioners of GM, Ford, DaimlerChrysler and some of their suppliers and dealers.

General Motors Corp. and Mascoma Corp. announced on 2nd May a venture to develop cellulosic ethanol focused on Mascoma's single-step biochemical conversion of non-grain biomass. The relationship, which includes an undisclosed equity investment by GM, complements an earlier GM investment in a cellulosic ethanol start-up that uses a thermo-chemical process to make ethanol from non-grain sources.

"Taken together, these technologies represent what we see as the best in the cellulosic ethanol future and cover the spectrum in science and commercialization," GM President Fritz Henderson said. "Demonstrating the viability of sustainable non-grain based ethanol is critical to developing the infrastructure to support the flex-fuel vehicle market."

There are more than seven million flex-fuel vehicles on US roads, 3 million of which are GM cars and trucks.

Mascoma has raised equity from venture capital investments and secured more than $60 million in state and federal grants, including the recent awarding of a $26 million grant from the US Department of Energy.

Mascoma's single-step cellulose-to-ethanol method, called Consolidated Bioprocessing, or CBP, lowers costs by limiting additives and enzymes used in other biochemical processes.

Based in Boston, Mascoma is using proprietary microorganisms developed at the company's laboratories in Lebanon, N.H., and is collaborating with research partners globally to identify and patent additional biomass-to-ethanol technologies.

Mascoma, founded in 2005, expects to begin producing ethanol later this year at its demonstration plant under construction in Rome, NY. Mascoma also has partnered with The University of Tennessee to develop a switchgrass-to-ethanol pilot facility near Knoxville, TN, and is pursuing opportunities in the state of Michigan. Mascoma is based on technology developed by Drs. Lee Lynd and Charles Wyman in Dartmouth's Thayer School of Engineering.

Car prices have appreciably declined in real terms, according to the European Commission’s latest inter-EU Member State car price comparison report. Despite inflationary trends in 2007, car prices only rose 0.2% while the prices of consumer goods in the EU rose by an average of 3.4%. Car prices in the UK fell 1.1% on 2006. However, price differentials widened 0.3% across the euro zone, to 4.8%, primarily as a result of differences in national taxation rates.

(http://ec.europa.eu/comm/competition/sectors/motor_vehicles/prices/report.html)

The Government’s response to the House of Commons’ Environmental Audit Committee's recent Fourth Report of Session 2007-08, “Are biofuels sustainable?” was published on 2nd May as the Environmental Audit Committee's Fourth Report of Session 2007-08, HC 528. It argues against the Committee’s proposal for a moratorium on the Renewable Road Transport Fuel Obligation in the light of environmental, food supply and land use issues.

Copies can be obtained from TSO outlets and from the Parliamentary Bookshop, 12 Bridge Street, Parliament Square, London SW1A 2JX (020 7219 3890) by quoting House of Commons No. 528. The text of the Report is available on the Committee's homepage at www.parliament.uk/eacom.

- the Canadian government's planned road transport fuel obligation for 2010 won support in the Canadian House of Commons on 1st May despite increasing concern about the impact of biofuels on world food supplies. The legislation calls for 5% ethanol in gasoline by 2010 and 2% renewable content in diesel by 2012 and would create demand for an estimated 2 billion litres of ethanol and 600 million litres of biodiesel.. The bill must still be approved by a final vote in the House of Commons and by approved by the Senate.

The Canadian government has domestic provided biofuel producers with subsidies of C$1.5 billion ($1.47 billion) or 20 Canadian cents per litre in an effort to ensure the mandate is fulfilled with biofuels derived from Canadian crops. Canada has 16 ethanol plants using corn and wheat built or under construction, with a total capacity of 1.6 billion litres. There are currently three Canadian biodiesel plants with a combined capacity of 97 million litres, mainly using animal fats. A plant that would produce 225 million litres of biodiesel from canola oil is under construction in Alberta.

- "We need to cut back significantly on our biofuels programmes," said the US academic and special adviser to Ban Ky-Moon on anti-poverty goals Professor Jeffrey Sachs yesterday at a news conference before discussions in Brussels with the EU.

“Biofuels do not make sense now in a global food scarcity condition," said Sachs, noting that, "In the United States as much as one third of maize crop this year will go to gas tank. This is a huge blow to the world food supply.”

Microsoft and Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group entered into a long-term agreement today to co-develop next-generation in-car infotainment systems based on the Microsoft Auto software platform. The first product, which provides voice-controlled connectivity between mobile devices, will be introduced in the North American market in 2010. It will further apply to Asian and European markets, and expand into multimedia and navigation devices.

The SMMT recently confirmed that the automotive industry had met its recycling obligations according to BERR data on 2006 car scrappage, but the cleangreencars.co.uk website says that five years after the End of Life Vehicle Regulation came into force, the government has no idea if its aims have been realised, because more than half of Britain's two million scrap cars are “going missing”, thanks to an alleged loophole in DVLA records and a recycling sector that the site says is poorly policed by the Environment Agency.

According to BERR records, around 685,000 Certificates of Destruction (CoDs) were issued in 2006, the first year in which data was collected. A further 215,000 Notices of Destruction (NODs) were sent to DVLA, meaning 900,000 cars were treated under the new rules.

That means, says cleangreencars, that up to 1.1 million cars have “vanished from the radar”, and the Government is said to be concerned, and car makers and the recycling industries angry.

Seven years ago, Government estimates put the number of burnt-out and abandoned cars at 340,000 cars every year.

The system has proved, says cleangreencars.co.uk, as watertight as a hole-filled bucket because owners don't need a Certificate of Destruction; they can simply de-register their car by ticking a box on the V5 form and returning it to DVLA. Valuable metals like steel and aluminium can then be plundered, without any come-back for them or the last owner.

This anomaly was raised with the DVLA by motor trade bodies and the recycling industry as long ago as December 2006. The DVLA reportedly responded saying that a review was 'under consideration'.

Cleangreencars says that closing the end-of-life vehicle circle according to the EoLV regulations would be easy were the DVLA to remove the offending tick box on V5 forms. Customers could be forced to used licensed Authorised Treatment Facilities, driving more traffic and encouraging more dismantlers and shredders to invest in the necessary infrastructure.

Motortrader reports today that Peugeot’s UK sales company is moving to reshape its UK dealer network ahead of the 2010 Block Exemption Regulations. Talking to Motor Trader, Rod Philpot, director of network development, confirmed: “We will reduce the network from around 300 points to 260-270 so we’ll part company with about 30 dealers.”

“We’ve notified them verbally and will do so formally by 31 May,” he said. The date is exactly two years before the expiry of the current Block Exemption Regulation, when Peugeot’s existing dealer contracts end.

Philpot said Peugeot was giving the dealers as much time as possible to prepare their exit strategies even though under block exemption rules they only need to serve 12 months notice. Although he would not name the affected sites, Philipot confirmed that most were unprofitable and around half were in “the wrong area”.

Peugeot’s UK managing director, Pierre Louis, denied the network restructuring was prompted by falling sales; it was rather part of a strategic move to pull out of unprofitable areas as well as locations over-serviced by Peugeot dealers.

Overseas vehicle production by Japanese automakers in the fourth quarter of 2007 totalled 3,108,273 units, an increase of 9.0% over the same quarter the previous year, primarily due to expanded overseas production in the Asian and European markets. Results for all of calendar year 2007 (January-December) were also up from the previous year, rising 8.1% to 11,856,942 units, owing likewise to expanded local production in the Asian and European markets.

European production by Japanese manufacturers from January-December last year totaled 1,976,407 cars, 16% more than in 2006. Within the EU alone, the figures was 1,789,875, up 18.6% year on year.

The figures reflect the use of a new method adopted in January 2007 for computing overseas unit production. Data on other regions can be seen at www.jama-english.jp/statistics/overseas/2008/080430.html.

At this year’s The Co-operative Insurance Eden Sexy Green Car Show from May 23-31 Lotus is showing giving a UK premiere for its Exige 270E Tri-Fuel, which has a top speed of 158 mph and does 0-60 mph in 3.88 seconds, running on petrol, bioethanol or methanol. The car was first announced at this year’s Geneva motor show.

Lotus considers synthetic methanol, which can be produced from atmospheric CO2 and hydrogen, to be a superior alternative to hydrogen in efforts to reduce transport CO2 emissions. Ultimately, Lotus believes, emerging processes to recover atmospheric CO2 will provide the required carbon that can entirely balance the CO2 emissions at the tailpipe that result from the internal combustion of synthetic methanol. The result is that a car running on synthetic methanol, such as the Exige 270E Tri-fuel would be environmentally neutral.

Synthetic methanol uses similar engines and fuel systems to those in current cars; and unlike hydrogen, can be stored, transported and retailed in much the same way as today’s liquid fuels such as petrol and diesel. Downsides are that methanol is highly toxic (ethanol is an antidote), and without die treatment, burns without an invisible flame. But it enables Lotus’ Tri-Fuel Exige to produce more power than it does on petrol or ethanol.

Extended discussion of the merits of synthetic methanol was posted at www.grouplotus.com/mediacentre/index.html on 1st March this year.

Among other manufacturers showing off low-emission cars at the Eden Project show will be Citroën, Honda, Peugeot, Saab, Fiat, Volkswagen, Seat and Ford.

The Seattle-based AFS Trinity Power Corp and Ricardo plc announced on Friday the creation of Extreme Fleet™, a joint programme to offer ‘Extreme Hybrid’ fleet vehicles launched last weekend at the 2008 NAFA Institute and Expo in Salt Lake City, Utah. The first two Extreme Hybrid prototypes - two XH-150s – were launched as part of a NAFA Green Ride and Drive event. The XH-150 SUV is a plug-in hybrid capable of 40 miles on a single charge, 87 mph in all-electric mode, unlimited range in mild hybrid mode, and faster acceleration than gasoline-only versions of the same Ford full-size pickup.

The Extreme Fleet programme will be headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, USA, with special purpose vehicle development to be conducted at AFS Trinity's engineering centre in Livermore, California as well as at Ricardo facilities in the US, Europe and Asia. It will focus on building and licensing special purpose vehicles using specially designed or existing car, truck and SUV platforms. The vehicles are expected to bear AFS Trinity trademarks— Extreme Hybrid™, XH™ and/or “Powered by Fast Energy™”

In January, AFS Trinity unveiled the first 150 mpg SUV prototypes, called the XH-150, and, last month, people across the US, including U.S. Congressman and their staffs, were given their first opportunity to drive one.

AFS Trinity develops Fast Energy Storage™ and power systems for vehicular, spacecraft and stationary power systems using batteries, ultracapacitors, and flywheels. The company has conducted programmes with private and government organisations including DARPA, NASA, the US Navy, Army, DOT, California Energy Commission, Oak Ridge National Laboratories, Lawrence Livermore National Labs, Lockheed, Honeywell, Mercedes and Ricardo.

The company’s patent-pending Extreme Hybrid™ drivetrain uses ultra-capacitors, batteries and proprietary power and control electronics. The company is also actively engaged in developing flywheel power systems for F1 racing.

(www.afstrinity.com)

The 5th Diesel Emissions Conference (DEC) will be held in Brussels this year. at the Sheraton Brussels Hotel and Towers on 11th & 12thJune. On 13th June an additional third day of the programme will be taken up by an AdBlue Forum.

Speakers at the emissions conference will include Graham Hoare, Executive Director, Powertrain Engineering, Ford of Europe, Arno Nolte, Senior Manager, Truck Group, Powertrain Product Engineering, Daimler AG, Edward Jobson, Environmental Director, Volvo Bus Corporation, Volvo AB, Dr Thomas Schlick, Managing Director, German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), and Mark Poulton, Vehicle Emissions Technology Manager, Low Emission Zone, Transport for London.

Presentations for the AdBlue Forum will come from Ulrich Gilles, Network Director, International Diesel Service, Teun de Bruijn, President, GreenChem, Patrick Schnell, Leader of New Energy Initiatives, Total, and Barry Lonsdale, President, Terra Environmental Technologies, Terra Industries Inc.

Additional speakers for both events will include representatives from the European Commission, BP, Wauters Tanktransport N.V., Neste Oil, VDA, Yara Intenational ASA, Renault Trucks, ReD Fuel Cards Europe, FIAT Powertrain Technologies SpA, Umicor AG & Co. KG, Swedish Road Administration, Caterpillar Inc., Haldor Topsøe A/S, International Road Transport Union, and others.

For more information email conference@integer-research.com, quoting event code SB181 if registering.

The British engine developer RCV Engines Ltd has won a second contract from Honeywell, to produce a rotating cylinder valve engine for its backpack-sized unmanned Micro Air Vehicle (MAV). This follows on from a successful development and testing programme begun in December 2006, using the rotating cylinder valve engine technology developed and patented by the company at its base in Wimborne, Dorset.

The MAV is being developed by Honeywell as part of a programme promoted by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), with which RCV has worked since 1999. Military uses of the MAV include the clearance of mines and other munitions, as well as general surveillance and reconnaissance work. A crucial advantage of RCV engine technology for application in the MAV is its inherent capability to operate on standard military grade JP8 fuel; the Single Fuel Concept (SFC) applied by the US Department of Defense requires that US forces use solely JP8 fuel while on deployment.

- A range of unmanned vehicles that could one day help UK forces to identify and avert threats on operations were unveiled at an MOD event in London on 2nd May. The systems are currently being developed by teams from universities, schools and private business from across the UK, as part of the MOD's Grand Challenge competition. The challenge will culminate in August when vehicles battle it out at Copehill Down, a village specially built by the military for urban warfare training.

An extraordinary general meeting of Kongsberg Automotive Holding ASA held on 2 May 2008 agreed to increase the Norwegian supplier’s share capital with 20,370,000 new shares at a subscription price of NOK 27 per share, securing NOK 500m in gross proceeds for repayment of debt acquired in connection with Kongsberg’s purchase of GMS in 2007. The shares are subscribed by a consortium of existing shareholders and new investors.