Geneva motor show, a big annual event for the international motor industry, opens this week. But could motor shows be in decline? Turin used to be a major exhibition but now the show there, planned for April, has been scrapped.
Some big volume makers are also believed to be on the verge of pulling out of the British international show at the NEC in Birmingham in the autumn, claiming it was too costly to exhibit there.
Rember the Reliant Robin three-wheeler? Production ended a year ago, but now it is set to make a comeback. Reliant says that because of demand, it will continue producing vehicles on a made-to-order basis.
New car prices went up on Friday in line with the general 1 per cent increase in VAT.
New car sales for the first two months of this year at 24,217 are down only 2.42 per cent on the same period last year, due to a surge in February buying to escape the VAT increase.
The February market had 24,217 new cars registered, up 3.24 per cent on February last year.
Toyota led the month with 2,504 sales. Best outright performance over the first two months was achieved by Audi, up 58.3 per cent on 2001