E. S. Ritchie & Sons Explorer Marine Compass on 2040-parts.com

Manufacturers report 2013 sales boom

CAR MANUFACTURERS are reporting strong surges in sales for 2013, with one mainstream brand up by more than 55%. So far Ford, Vauxhall, Skoda, MG, Lexus, Renault, Audi and Mercedes have all reported excellent sales performance, with Mercedes having passed the 100,000 registrations per year mark for the first time in the UK. Largely thanks to the introduction of the Dacia brand this year, the Renault Group has seen a 55.3% rise in sales, to 63,319 units.

Mercedes A45 AMG (2013) first pictures of new hot hatch

This is the Mercedes A45 AMG: the first time Merc’s in-house tuning arm has tried its hand at building a hot hatch. Packing 355bhp, all-wheel drive and a seven-speed dual-clutch paddleshift transmission, the A45 AMG will outpace a Porsche 911, but cost less than £40,000. It’s on UK sale from July 2013, but if you can’t wait that long, Merc’s baby barnstormer is appearing at the Geneva motor show from 5 March 2013.

Jaguar Land Rover reveal more on the new Ingenium Engine range

Jaguar Land Rover reveal more on the new Ingenium Engine range Much has changed at Jaguar Land Rover in the last few years, with Land Rover’s model range undergoing a dramatic transformation with the Evoque, Range Rover and Range Rover Sport (and the new Discovery family on it way with the Discovery Sport) boosting sales and appeal. And the same is happening at Jaguar with the XF and XJ offering real competition to the German premium brands, the F-Type carving out a hugely appealing niche of its own and the new Jaguar XE on its way to take on the BMW 3-Series and Mercedes C-Class. But the missing piece of the puzzle is the introduction of a new range of engines developed and built by JLR to replace the still able, but bought-in, engines JLR currently use.