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Vauxhall Insignia wins European Car of the Year 2009

By Tim Pollard Motor Industry 17 November 2008 11:32 Vauxhall/Opel has scooped the European Car of the Year gong – by a single point. The results, announced today, were another surprise in the 44-year history of CoTY, as the Insignia pipped the Ford Fiesta and pushed the VW Golf into third place. The full results for Car of the Year 2009 are: • 1st Vauxhall Insignia, 321 points• 2nd Ford Fiesta, 320 points• 3rd VW Golf, 223 points• 4th Citroen C5, 198 points• 5th Alfa Romeo Mito, 148 points• 6th Skoda Superb, 144 points• 7th Renault Megane, 121 points The win is a lift for GM, which is struggling with cashflow problems in Detroit.

BMW i8 production car revealed – costs £99,845: Frankfurt 2013

The new BMW i8 Hybrid (pictured) will cost £100k in the UK The BMW i8 jas finally arrived in production guise at the Frankfurt Motor show, neatly creating the top end of BMW’s new i-brand range after the BMW i3 underlined the starting point. Looking really quite appealing, the i8 uses the same carbon fibre reinforced plastic bodyshell and aluminium chassis construction as the i3, but whereas the i3 is built to be a city car, the i8 is the closest we’re likely to get to a 21st century version of the BMW M1. Similar in size to the Audi R8, the BMW i8 is a 2+2 with a 3-cylinder 1.5 litre engine and generator sitting at the back and driving the rear wheels and an electric motor at the front driving the front wheels, with a petrol tank at the back and the batteries for the electric motor stored in the centre tunnel.

Cuba removes new car purchase restrictions

Granma, the Communist Party’s newspaper of record in Cuba, said Wednesday that the Council of Ministers approved regulations that “eliminate existing mechanisms of approval for the purchase of motor vehicles from the state.” That means the sale of new and used cars will be allowed to the public. Up until now, Cubans could buy and sell vehicles to each other, but they had to request permission from the government to purchase a new vehicle -- the main reason for the island's unique automotive landscape. The new laws will be enacted gradually, according to Granma, with a set minimum price.