2x 52mm Digital Electric Oil Pressure Gauge Indicator Sensor Car Motorcycle on 2040-parts.com

Lotus's glimmer of hope: Proton stands by Hethel

After another painful year of sales for Lotus in the UK – down 58% on 2011 - Norfolk's beleagured sports car brand has kicked off the New Year with the grand unveiling of its new flagship Malaysian showroom, and the thumbs-up from senior Proton company suits that Lotus isn't on its last legs. The announcement comes in the same week Lotus’s sales figures were released for 2012. Showing a substantial 58% decrease in sales and selling just 137 vehicles, Lotus Cars was the worst performer in the UK with a woeful 0.01% share of the market.  Are Lotus's Malaysian owners sticking by the company?

Call to cut school run car journeys

A 10% CUT in school run car journeys would boost Britain's economy by around £46 million a year, a sustainable transport charity has claimed. Sustrans, which is calling on the Government to formally recognise the right of every child to be able to walk or cycle to school safely, estimates that ferrying children to school by car accounts for 24% of peak time traffic. Using Department for Transport modelling to calculate the financial drain on business caused by rush-hour congestion, Sustrans estimated that a 14% reduction in car use for school runs would take 167,000 vehicles off the road with an annual "saving" of £66.2 million.

Volkswagen Passat (2011): the American one

Volkswagen has unveiled the US version of the Passat at the 2011 Detroit auto show. VW’s European customers won’t be able to buy it, but will be interested in the price: despite being longer and wider than the car offered in Europe it will start from just £13,000 before taxes for a 168bhp five-cylinder petrol. The nearest petrol Passat costs £19,529 in the UK.