Daihatsu Mira 2005 A/c Compressor [9860700] on 2040-parts.com

UK car owners 'buy with their heart, not their head'

CAR BUYERS in the UK are an emotional lot and more let their heart decide which car they will buy rather than their head. Even drivers who think they make a decision using their head are often found to let more emotive considerations sway their final choice. In the Hiscox Head versus Heart study, common sense factors such as fuel economy, value for money and reliability are often over-ruled by heartfelt matters including comfort, speed and design.

Hyundai make it in to UK Top Ten best-selling car makers

Hyundai has become the first Korean car maker to make it in to the top ten best selling car makers in the UK, with sales of 74,000 in 2012. It’s taken a few years to shake off the ‘Cheap Car’ tag, but Hyundai are now offering a range of cars – certainly in the mainstream – that can be compared on ability, design and quality with the best of the competition. That quantum change in perception in the last few years about the desirability of a Hyundai has now translated in to Hyundai becoming one of the top ten best-selling car brands in the UK, a first for a Korean car maker and a real sign that Hyundai is now accepted as a real competitor – not a ‘Budget’ brand.

Toyota shelves A-BAT pickup concept

Toyota won't build the small, ultramodern A-BAT hybrid pickup concept that was a head-turner at the 2008 Detroit auto show and looked like a good bet for production. "We have a lot of top priorities, and A-BAT is not one of them right now," Bob Carter, Toyota Division's general manager, told the Web site PickupTrucks.com. "It's on the shelf." A Toyota official confirmed Carter's comments.