Lada 'ready to sell in Western Europe by 2013'

Lada is set to relaunch in western Europe - including the UK - by 2012-2013 to counter the threat of Chinese car makers, senior sources admitted last night. Renault's global marketing senior vice president, Stephen Norman, told CAR that Renault-Nissan's stake in Russian firm AvtoVaz would help bring about the return of Lada to Britain. 'The UK is one of the few markets where Lada was a success,' said Norman.

UK commuters spend 10 days a year in traffic

We’re now wasting more time stuck in traffic than ever before, as last year the average car journey took 27% longer than it would have done if the road was clear. That’s a rise of 1% compared to 2012, while the report by TomTom also found that 10 of the UK’s biggest cities now have more congestion than they did 12 months ago. Europe’s top 10 most congested cities Fewer people commuting but distances on the up London, Brighton, Sheffield, Nottingham, Leicester, Birmingham, Portsmouth, Cardiff, Belfast and Southampton have all seen traffic levels increase, while Edinburgh, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle and Glasgow failed to improve.

McLaren denies Ron Dennis demotion rumors

McLaren has denied reports that boss Ron Dennis is being demoted in the wake of the automotive division he heads losing money. Germany's Auto Motor und Sport broke the news this week that Dennis could be demoted. He is known for shaping McLaren into a motorsports powerhouse, and has spearheaded its automotive division since 2009.