Councils make £594m from parking

RECORD SURPLUSES from parking revenues have been achieved by councils, according to the RAC Foundation. In 2012/13 councils in England generated a combined "profit" of £594 million from their on and off-street parking operations, the foundation said. This was a 5% increase on the figure of £565 million for 2011/12, and just 52 of the 353 parking authorities in England reported a deficit in 2012/13.

Nissan and Fiat marketing heads trade insults over 'visual pollution'

A war of words has erupted between Fiat and Nissan's marketing departments over their electric vehicle designs, the Leaf and the 500e. Matt Davis, head of Fiat product marketing, told Bloomberg News before the launch of its all-electric 500e at the Los Angeles show last week that "ugliness is probably one of the worst forms of pollution," seen as an indirect attack on Nissan's electric offering. The then 500e came under attack with Nissan criticizing the fact that it was created only to meet Californian emissions requirements.

New Ford Fiesta ST sales double expectations – production increased

Ford Fiesta ST (pictured) is selling so well Ford is having to increase production The new Ford Fiesta ST may have taken longer to get from concept to showrooms than expected, but now it’s here it’s proving to be a big hit for Ford. Ford finally managed to get the new Fiesta ST in to production in February, and at the time we commented that we thought the new ST would be a big hit with buyers. That’s down not just to how good the new Fiesta ST is, but because it comes at a very appealing price – just £17k for the regular ST and £1k more for the much better equipped ST2 – which undercuts Peugeot’s 208 GTI by £2k whilst offering similar performance but better dynamics.