HYUNDAI PUTS AN ACCENT ON THE NEW i30: Hyundai has released images of its new replacement for the Accent. As reported in Motors last week, the new model is to be called the i30. It will herald a new naming policy for the Korean marque with all models eventually taking on the new alpha-numerical naming style.
The new i30 will feature a range of petrol and diesel engines, starting with a 1.4-litre petrol and 1.6-litre diesel. It's due to be officially unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show next week.
VW PROFITS UP: Volkswagen, the world's fourth-largest carmaker, reported a better than expected full-year operating profit yesterday and forecast a further improvement this year, sending its shares sharply higher.
Excluding a net one-off charge of €2.37bn, group operating profit before special items rose 52 per cent to €4.38bn. The results served as a late vindication for the restructuring plotted by dismissed chief executive Bernd Pischetsrieder and his top lieutenant, former VW brand chief Wolfgang Bernhard. The news came as workers at the firm's plant in Brussels voted to accept longer working hours without extra pay to save their jobs and factory.
THREE BIDDERS LEFT FOR ASTON MARTIN: David Richards, founder of Prodrive, the motor sport group, is spearheading a consortium that is one of three bidders left in the running for Aston Martin, according to people involved in the process.
Prodrive already runs Aston Martin's racing team and is in the process of setting up a Formula One team.
The team, advised by Jefferies, the US investment bank, is competing against Doughty Hanson, the buy-out group, and Simon Halabi, a Syrian-born property tycoon.
DRIVERS USING MOBILES FACE 'CONFISCATION': British motorists could soon have their mobile phones confiscated if caught using them while driving.
British Home Secretary John Reid said yesterday he was "open" to the idea as stricter punishments for using handsets at the wheel came into force.