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Mandelson to announce help for car makers

Lord Mandelson is the man charged with finding ways to fund UK Car purchases (yes, he of the dodgy mortgage debacle – at least he should know a few tricks!) as the credit crunch has dried up funding, leading to an unprecedented drop in new car sales in the UK. Mandelson is due to make a statement in the Lords just after 3pm today, outlining the help the government is going to offer to ailing car makers. Central to this package is expected to be a funding channel directly from the Bank of England to inject liquidity in to the car financing sector.

Scion FR-S coupe gets $24,930 base price

The Scion FR-S sports coupe will be priced from $24,930, including destination charges, when it arrives in dealerships in spring. The base price includes a six-speed manual transmission. Those buyers who want a six-speed automatic with paddle shifters will have to pony up $26,030.

Kia GT at Frankfurt: It WILL go in to production

Kia GT at Frankfurt - will be going in to production We’ve been hugely impressed with the way Kia – and sister company Hyundai - has transformed in to a serious player in the car market. And now, having matched the Japanese in the mainstream market Kia, in particular, is looking to take things up a rung or three with the Kia GT. We praised the styling of the Kia GT when we saw the first photo, but we believed it was likely just a design exercise; a sort of ‘Look what we could do if there was a market for it’ kind of statement.