1984 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme on 2040-parts.com

Chancellor to ‘freeze fuel duty’ until 2015?

The chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne, has announced that fuel duty will be frozen until 2015 – if the savings can be found to pay for it. The announcement came during a speech at the Conservative party conference, in which George Osborne said: “Provided we can find the savings to pay for it, I want to freeze fuel duty for the rest of this parliament.” The 2p-a-litre rise planned by the Labour government for September 2014 would be cancelled, continuing a freeze that has lasted two-and-a-half years already. But this is conditional on the treasury finding the funds to cover it.

McLaren P11 first details: live blog

By Ben Whitworth Motor Industry 16 April 2009 10:01 CAR is reporting live from McLaren's HQ today. Boss Ron Dennis is going to announce the full strategy for his road car business and we're going to bring you a real-time blog of what we see and hear at the Woking-based Technology Centre today. CAR contributing editor Ben Whitworth is off to Surrey and will be filing his thoughts electronically throughout the morning, so tune in as we bring you the full details of the new P11 sports car and the rest of McLaren's plans. We're updating the words and pictures throughout the day, so start at the bottom and work your way up.

Porsche announces new Weissach design center and wind tunnel

Porsche is to invest around €150m into its Weissach development facility, including a new design center. The plans also include an electronics integration department and a state-of-the art, on-site wind tunnel, which is hoped will allow the company to realize an holistic approach to efficient design, with a strong focus on aerodynamics. When we spoke with head of Porsche design, Michael Mauer, at this year's Paris motor show, he also alluded to the fact that the Volkswagen Group's – and, more specifically, Walter de'Silva's – recent influence on the German manufacturer was shifting its attitudes: "The Volkswagen Group has a very good understanding of how much freedom a brand needs to keep its characteristics and with [Walter] as 'conductor', I feel a lot of support with design issues within the company," explained Mauer.