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UK new car sales hit a 10-year high

UK new car sales continue to scale new heights, with more new cars sold in March 2014 than in any month in the past decade. Sales figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) reveal that 464,824 new cars were registered last month – a 17.7% rise over March 2014. It continues the trend of rocketing sales, with year-to-date registrations up 13.7%.

New BMW 2-Series Active Tourer arrives as BMW’s first front-wheel-drive car (+video)

The new BMW 2-Series Active Tourer (pictured) arrives in the UK September 2014 Many will see it as sacrilege that the new BMW 2-Series Active Tourer MPV is front-wheel-drive, but pragmatists will see it as a sensible move to extend BMW’s depth of offerings. Whichever side you come down on, the BMW 2-Series Active Tourer – previewed by the BMW Concept Active Tourer at Paris in 2012 – is a production reality and does look like it will fill very well the space in BMW’s range for a compact MPV. Despite looks that are almost the opposite of what you’d expect from a BMW – stubby nose and a high roof line; a proper BMW take on the Mercedes B-Class – the 2-Series Active Tourer still manages to exude BMW style, albeit in a more practical way to the rest of the range.

China to boost electric cars with 30% Government EV fleet

The BYD E6 EV (pictured) will benefit from China’s push on EVs The UK government has just announced its commitment to use electric cars for its own vehicles in an effort to boost the take-up of EVs, but China is going even further. China has ordered government officials to start buying electric cars (that means BEVs, plug-in hybrids and hydrogen fuel cell cars) in a big way, with instructions that 30 per cent of government cars must fall in to the ‘New Energy’ category by 2017, and an even higher percentage going forward. The aim is to cut pollution, and China expects to have 5 million New Energy cars on the road by 2020 and it is urging it government agencies and some city governments to start buying New Energy vehicles from Chinese makers like BYD and SDAIC, but also instructing them to build more charging stations and supporting infrastructure.