15" Chevrolet Colorado, Gmc Canyon / 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 / W-cap on 2040-parts.com

Demise of kei cars on the horizon?

The kei car has long been a staple of the Japanese automobile industry and its car culture. Too diminutive for Western markets, the tiny cars and trucks are a strong influencer of design in Japan. Now, as The New York Times reports, the Japanese government has hit kei cars with increases in sales tax, gasoline prices and has reduced the kei car tax break introduced to make the cars popular in the first place by 50 percent.

Next generation MINI Countryman to arrive in 2016

The next generation MINI Countryman to arrive in 2016 (current model pictured) We’ve recently had the arrival of the all new MINI, and the next year or so will see the roll-out of a succession of takes on the new MINI. But that process of building a MINI for every possible niche won’t complete until the MINI Countryman (and its coupe sibling, the MINI Paceman) are replaced. That now looks likely to happen in 2016 as, according to Automotive News, BMW is to end production of the MINI Countryman and Paceman at Magna Steyr in Austria in 2016 and move production of the Countryman and Paceman to Oxford and the new MINI Plant in the Netherlands.

Young drivers 'feel invulnerable'

MORE THAN seven in 10 young drivers think they are better than the average driver despite the age group being 2.5 times more likely to be involved in a serious crash, according to a survey by Vision Critical and road safety charity the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) The IAM says that the average of 71% reveals a perceived 'invulnerability' in young people that is not reflected in the real world. Britain’s most confident young drivers are in Northern Ireland where an astonishing 87% think they are better than average. The facts tell a different story, with young drivers making up 26% of those involved in crashes.