1966 Pontiac Grille Assembly Catalina Bonneville Ventura on 2040-parts.com

New car sales in UK still growing – up 14.8% April 2013. Driven by PPI Claims?

It is quite hard to fathom just how UK new car sales (well, registrations) continue to rise inexorably against a backdrop of otherwise stagnant economic activity, but they do. April 2013 has seen a total of 163,357 new car registrations, up a huge 14.8 per cent on April 2012 and the best figure since 2008, and these sales figures are not being driven by fleet buyers but by private motorists – private sector registrations grew by 32.3 per cent in April and are up by 15.2 per cent year to date. Not surprisingly, it’s the Superminis that are performing strongly – although all sectors are showing a rise – and it’s the Ford Fiesta that continues to be the best seller in the UK with sales of over 8,000 in April and over 42,000 so far in 2013, and the rise of superminis has also seen an increase in sales of petrol-engined cars thanks to the wave of small capacity, frugal petrol options.

Designers dress up Mini Cooper

Canadian design duo DSquared2 has released initial sketches of the Mini Cooper Countryman it outfitted for this year's Life Ball, which is on May 21 in Vienna, Austria. Each year, the small-car maker commissions designers to dress up a Mini to be auctioned off at the Life Ball, which donates proceeds to the fight against HIV and AIDS. The “Red Mudder,” as the car is called, is branded with a maple leaf on both doors and a DSquared2 logo on the front shield and wheels.

Nissan GT-R 4 Door Saloon

But Nissan admits that the GT-R is a loss-maker, which is hardly a surprise. So what can they do to capitalise on the kudos surrounding the GT-R? The route seems to be more models based on the GT-R’s platform, including a saloon and even an SUV.