Baseball Dad Vinyl Window Decal Sticker (ribbon) on 2040-parts.com

CAR tech: who's to blame for your car's terrible fuel economy?

In early 2013 Audi lost a case brought by the Advertising Standard Agency (ASA) because of ‘misleading’ fuel economy figures used in an advert, after a customer complained they couldn’t get anywhere near the 68mpg quoted. The court case once more exposes the yawning gap between officially sanctioned mpg figures and those experienced by owners. A recent study by the Independent Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) looked at cars sold in the UK and Europe, and discovered the difference between official mpg figures and real-world driving had grown from 8% in 2001 to a barely believable 21% in 2011.

UK car manufacturing jumps 12%

CAR PRODUCTION is accelerating ahead, driven by demand from Europe, according to the latest figures. A total of 142,158 cars were manufactured in the UK in March - a 12% rise on the March 2013 figure, the Society of Motor Manufacturers (SMMT) said. Last month's figure brought the 2014 production total to nearly 405,000 - a 2.9% increase on the January-March 2013 total.

Opel hires 2011 CDN-Opel/Vauxhall Interactive Design Competition winner

Opel has taken on the winner of last year's Car Design News – Opel/Vauxhall Interactive Design Competition, Victor Uribe, to work as the latest addition to its creative design team. Uribe, a Transportation Design graduate from Istituto Europeo Di Design in Turin, Italy, emerged as the winner in the exterior design category for his submission, ‘Lounge in Motion', and won himself a six-month internship at the Opel/Vauxhall's European Design Studio in Rüsselsheim, Germany. "I met fantastic people who taught me a lot and helped me to refine my design skills.