New car sales soar to 10-year high

NEW CAR sales soared in March, with the new 14 number plate helping registrations reach their highest monthly total for 10 years. A total of 464,824 new cars were registered last month - a rise of 17.7% on the March 2013 figure and the best since 466,954 were registered in March 2004, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said. The March 2014 and March 2004 figures represent the best two months for new sales since 1999 when the motor industry abandoned the August once-a-year number plate change in favour of twice-a-year changes in March and September.

Tokyo Auto Salon pits performance autos against hybrids

The world's other big January auto show, the 2010 Tokyo Auto Salon, opened its doors to tuner enthusiasts in mid-month with a record 402 exhibitors. The Auto Salon fuses numerous styles, but the overriding theme this year was hybrid cars, with customized Toyota Priuses and Honda Insights at every turn. Good old-fashioned engine tuning is alive and well in Japan, where even new sports cars are being heavily modified, with cars such as the KRL Mitsubishi Evolution X and the HKS Nissan GT-R both boasting in excess of 600 hp.

Koenigsegg Agera at Goodwood: Up close and personal

Koenigsegg Agera on the Goodwood hillclimb We have to confess that we have a huge soft spot for the creations of Christian von Koenigsegg. So when we knew that friend of Cars UK Tommy Wareham, purveyor of all things stunning on four wheels at SuperVettura, was taking the only Koenigsegg Agera in the UK to Goodwood we thought Claire’s Goodwood Odyssey should continue with a good poke round the Agera. Understandably, Tommy wasn’t going to let Claire – or anyone else – loose on the Agera up the hillclimb as it’s a customer’s car, but he did chuck Claire the keys for a good look round, the opportunity to grab a set of Agera photos (below), and the chance to dream… Beautifully finished and oozing carbon fibre from every pore, the Koenigsegg Agera is perhaps the ultimate bonkers supercar, at an equally bonkers price – just think of it as a million pound supercar; it’s close enough.