Arias Pistons 12.5:1 Compression 82mm Bore Honda B-series on 2040-parts.com

Are new car sales figures a fantasy?

A recent report from Germany claimed up to 30 per cent of new car sales were a fiction. Could the same be true in the UK? Despite the recession – and the lack of finance deals for a huge number of potential customers – new car sales in the UK seem to be rising inexorably.

New Mazda CX-7 – UK details and price

MAzda CX-7 2.2 D arrives in the UK in November It’s a decent car – the Mazda CX-7 – it just doesn’t sell all that wonderfully well. A bit like the Mazda3, which should really be up there with the Focus and Golf  in sales terms but isn’t. With the Mazda3 there wasn’t that much to fix, but the CX-7, very competent though it was, had a fault or two.

Skoda confirms two new models

Skoda Vision D at Geneva - Skoda's new design direction It’s now got to the point with Skoda where the skip-on-wheels reputation of the ’70s and ’80s – and even the ‘Cheap’ VW tag of the ’90s and ’00s – has been completely eclipsed by the perception of Skoda as quite simply the maker of some crackingly good cars. Cars like the brilliant little Skoda Fabia vRS – which we’d take over the Polo GTI (much more character) – and the equally brilliant Skoda Yeti which, although it might not quite live up to Clarkson’s recent tongue-in-cheek assertion as the best car in the world is, nonetheless, exceptionally good. That change in perception is clear in the confident model range on offer from Skoda and the clever way in which it’s marketed.