Car and Van News

The Budget, announced on Tuesday, was short on measures directly affecting motorists, apart from two major announcements.

Perhaps of little surprise was Chancellor George Osborne’s decision to scrap a rise in fuel duty planned for September.

The Audi RS Q3 unveiled at the Geneva show is a foretaste of a big future for the brand’s performance division.

The RS Q3 – Audi’s first high performance crossover, is debuting alongside the RS6 quattro Avant, expanding the brand’s RS line-up to an unprecedented eight cars.

Peugeot is extending its Just Add Fuel sales campaign to include drivers from 21 years of age.

The campaign, which has already proven a major success for the brand, could receive a further boost as young drivers face ever-increasing motoring costs, particularly insurance.

Peugeot is claiming a strong start to 2012 on the UK market, in a year bosses expect to be “of two halves”.

Overall the brand has seen a 3.2 per cent increase in sales, in a market up only one per cent.

Booming sales for Jaguar Land Rover are putting pressure on its UK production plants, and the answer to the agreeable problem appears to lie in China.

JLR is set to embark on a joint venture with Chinese manufacturer Chery Automobile.

Peugeot appears to have found a route to attracting younger buyers with its ‘Just Add Fuel’ sales campaign.

One year on from the launch of the campaign, it is now producing around 16 per cent of the brand’s retail sales.

Jaguar Land Rover has announced expansion at its Solihull manufacturing plant that will see more than 1,000 extra staff taken on.

The news, seen as a major boost for manufacturing in the region around Birmingham, will increase the plant’s workforce by more than 25 per cent.