A round-up of other motors news
Call for elderly to do re-tests
Hard shoulder: FORMER RACING star Stirling Moss believes elderly drivers should be made retake their driving tests every five years.
Moss (79) believes that motorists should be re-evaluated at ages 70, 75 and 80 to ensure they are safe, capable drivers. He made the comments during an interview with the BBC that discussed British department of transport evidence suggesting crashes involving older people are likely to be caused by driver error and slower reactions.
Moss told the programme: “First of all, a lot of the road signs are changing and the road ethics are changing and the way the roads are formed. There are many things to keep up with. I think it would be a good idea to have a new evaluation when we reach 70.” - Reuters
Audi reveals Spider version of R8
AFTER THE R8's success, Audi is to introduce a Spider – convertible – version. Caught testing in Germany, it reveals a conventional fabric roof and the omission of the R8's trademark side blades.
Other major changes are additional air intakes behind the seats as well as safety roll-over bars. The placement of the fuel filler cap will also be changed, while changes under the metal will include chassis strengthening.
The base model will retain the 420hp (313kW) 4.2-litre V8 engine, but there's talk that Audi may shoehorn the 5.2-litre V10 into a mid-level model and reserve the 5-litre twin-turbo V10 for a high-performance RS variant.
Differences between it and the standard V8 will extend beyond horsepower. The chassis has reportedly been modified to accommodate the extra power, with upgraded suspension, steering and braking systems.
This particular test car is thought to be the top end RS. Tell-tale signs are the exhaust pipe and diffusers, the same as those fitted to Audi's other V10 models, as well as new grille design. Onlookers even claim it had the sound of a V10, not a V8.
Nissan plans 100,000 EVs a year from 2012
NISSAN EXPECTS to build more than 100,000 electric vehicles a year when it starts US production of the zero-emission vehicles at its US plant in Tennessee in between two and three years’ time.
Nissan plans to begin selling its first zero-emission cars in the US and Japan in 2010, followed by a global roll-out in 2012.
“We have a different strategy from other manufacturers when it comes to electric cars,” Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of Nissan and French partner Renault, told a news conference after Nissan’s annual shareholders’ meeting yesterday.
“You have to go mass-market to get the cost benefit,” he said, adding that he expected that assembly of the vehicles, along with the production of batteries, would start in the US in 2011 or 2012.
Japanese rivals Toyota and Honda have focused their fuel-saving technologies on petrol-electric hybrids, notably the Prius and the Insight, while General Motors is aiming to launch its plug-in Volt in 2010.
Nissan and Renault are each planning three electric vehicle models for initial mass production.
– Reuters
Peugeot revises 2009 sales decline figures
PEUGEOT IS predicting that the decline in sales this year will not be as steep as the industry initially expected.
Launching a new convertible bond in order to raise up to €575 million, the company said that it expects its sales in Europe to decline by 12 per cent on 2008 figures, instead of the initial estimate of 20 per cent previously forecast.
The group forecast a recurring operating loss of between €1 billion and €2 billion, citing uncertainties over whether governments would continue supporting the sector next year, and volatile raw material prices and exchange rates.
PSA Peugeot Citroën said in February of this year that it expected the company would remain in the red until 2010, after reporting an unexpected net loss for 2008.