3 Orion Flars on 2040-parts.com

Call for reform over road repair funding

FUNDING patterns mean most road maintenance is being carried out in "less-efficient, cold and wet" times, a report from a Government spending watchdog has said. The current pattern of funding, combined with the need to spend money within the financial year, means that most maintenance work goes on between September and March, said the report from the National Audit Office (NAO). It went on: "Although this is less disruptive for road users, it is less efficient than carrying out the work at other times of year because materials can be more difficult to handle in cold and wet conditions, and daylight hours are shorter." The report went on: "As a result of the additional funding for emergency repairs, which is made available at the end of the financial year, almost all highways authorities need extra capacity from the market at the same time, which makes it less likely that they will get value for money." The NAO report said there was a "lack of predictability" over road spending adding that historically, local highway authorities spent more revenue on maintenance, but were now carrying out fewer routine activities such as clearing gullies which are essential to preventing water seeping into roads' sub-structure.

Infiniti to move HQ to Hong Kong

Infiniti to move HQ to Hong Kong Nissan has big plans for its luxury Infiniti brand. Already a sizeable marque in North America, Infiniti are pushing hard to be recognised in Europe as a credible alternative to Lexus, and are looking to make hay in South East Asia and China as those economies become the world’s financial powerhouses. So the news that Infiniti are to up sticks and move their global headquarters to Hong Kong makes sense on several fronts.

Buick Regal GS at Detroit

GM are showing a 'Concept' of the Buick Regal GS at the Detroit Motor Show It always seemed likely that having taken the very good Vauxhall Insignia and turned it in to a Buick for the 21st century – The Buick Regal – that GM would take the obvious step of producing a performance version based on the Insignia VRX. So it’s not a huge surprise that GM have revealed the Buick Regal GS as a Concept (concept? Believe that and you’ll believe anything) which they are showing at the Detroit Motor Show this month.