Cautious welcome for fuel duty freeze

MOTORING groups have given a cautious welcome to Chancellor George Osborne's announcement of a freeze on fuel duty until May 2015. Both the AA and the RAC pointed out that Mr Osborne was already getting big sums from motorists in taxation. Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, said: "Transport is the single biggest area of household expenditure bar none and our own research shows that 800,000 of the poorest households are in transport poverty, spending a quarter or more of their income on running a car.

2013 Honda CR-Z Facelift: Price from £20,550

The price for the facelifted 2013 Honda CR-Z has been announced. The CR-Z Sport will start from £20,550 and the CR-Z GT will cost £23,050. So Honda revealed back in September that they’re giving the CR-Z a bit of a facelift for 2013, the main focus is on the running gear where Honda has upped the output of the 1.5 litre i-VTEC engine and attached electric motor to deliver 135bhp and changed the battery pack to a Lithium Ion one instead of the old  Nickel-metal hybrid.

Mercedes CLA driving Mercedes-Benz new car sales

New Mercedes CLA (pictured) is driving Mercedes-Benz new car sales Mercedes had a rocky road a few years ago as it changed its focus from quality to cost-cutting, so the decision by Mercedes to move in to more compact premium cars in a serious way can’t have been the easiest decision to make regardless of the rising demand for compact premium cars. But Mercedes decision and investment is now starting to reap big rewards as Mercedes start moving from an investment in to a sales cycle, with sales of their new compact cars – the new A-Class and new CLA – proving to be a real driving force. Mercedes is the UK has made all time record sales in the UK in 2013, reaching 100,000 car sales for the first time in a year, and managing that by the end of November (which in itself was the best November Mercedes had ever had in the UK).