Skoda Rapid & Rapid Spaceback GreenLine from £17,195

Skoda Rapid & Rapid Spaceback GreenLine (pictured) cost from £17,195 With the Skoda Rapid already on the market, and its sibling with a hatch – the Rapid Spaceback – about to launch, Skoda is introducing the emissions-friendly GreenLine versions of both cars. Both the saloon (liftback) and the Spaceback (hatch) get the same 89bhp 1.6 litre diesel driving the front wheels through a five-speed manual gearbox. Despite differences in dimensions and weight, Skoda are claiming the same 99g/km emissions and 74.3mpg for both saloon and Spaceback, practically perfect if you’re a company car driver.

June sales get a pick-me-up from pickups

If there's a bright spot in June's tepid light-vehicle sales, it came from an unlikely segment. After slumping for several years as the economy tanked and gas prices spiked, pickup demand is rising faster than the overall sales gains of most automakers--serving as a pillar once again during the industry's fledgling recovery. And most of the buyers returning to showrooms are pickup enthusiasts, automakers say.

Aston Martin recall the majority of cars built since 2007

Aston Martin are recalling most of their cars from the last six years A recall by Aston Martin of 17,590 cars might not seem a big deal when you’ve seen recalls from the likes of Toyota running in to the millions. But Aston Martin is a small, bespoke make of high-end luxury GTs and Sports cars, and 17,590 cars is three-quarters of all the cars they’ve built since November 2007. The recall affects all left-hand drive cars built from November 2007 to December 2013 and all right-hand drive cars from May 2012 to December 2013 and is because of some less than kosher plastics in the accelerator pedal.