Car and Van News

The very last Mini to leave the former Rover factory at Longbridge, Birmingham, is to be put up for sale.

The Mini Clubman 1275GT lay in the tunnels under the Longbridge factory for 30 years until 2012 – seven years after the plant closed following the collapse of MG Rover.

Van operators have been urged to consider renting, rather than buying their vehicles after a safety survey produced shocking results.
Data collected by the Freight Transport Association (FTA) concluded that half of all vans more than three years old in use today are unroadworthy.

Honda has started taking £5,000 deposits for its new NSX supercar – two years before it arrives in showrooms.

The brand says that it is seeing unprecedented interest in the car, successor to the iconic original NSX manufactured between 1990 and 2005.

Peugeot hopes to boost the UK’s love-affair with its hot hatches with the arrival of the new 208 GTI in the next few weeks.

The UK is expected to account for 20 per cent of all sales of Peugeot’s latest pocket rocket – the most powerful GTI yet from the French manufacturer.

Peugeot is targeting a more upmarket and more international image, but needs to find a way of getting that message across to more buyers

UK managing director, Tim Zimmerman, believes the brand deserves more of the UK market than it currently holds.

BMW’s MINI Oxford plant has celebrated its centenary today (Thursday) and been given a big vote of confidence.

The plant “holds a special place in the hearts of millions” and will remain at the centre of MINI production in the future, according to its managing director Frank Bachmann.

Reports that Honda is making a return to F1 by way of supplying engines to McLaren has come as news to The Japanese car company’s executives at the Geneva Show.

News filtered out from The F1 rumour mill but company insiders say there is nothing happening as far as they have heard.