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Reliant Robin now a classic vehicle

THE RELIANT ROBIN, a vehicle popularised by Del Boy Trotter in the Only Fools And Horses TV show, is now classed as a classic vehicle thanks to changes in the Budget. Chancellor George Osborne announced that a rolling 40-year vehicle excise duty (VED) for classic cars will come in on April 1 this year. Until now, only cars built before January 1 1973 were exempt from VED.

2013 Ford Fiesta ST debuts at Geneva

2013 Ford Fiesta ST The 2013 Ford Fiesta ST arrives at Geneva in production guise – after a Fiesta ST Concept last year – and will go on sale early 2013. It looks like Ford has finally managed to fit the new 1.6 litre Ecoboost under the bonnet of the new Fiesta ST (all the cars running around so far have had the lump out of the Zetec S) and has pitched up at Geneva with the production version of the 2013 ST. That 1.6 litre Ecoboost engine is a four-cylinder petrol with 178bhp and 177lb/ft of torque, which gives a sub-7 second 0-62mph and a top speed of 136mph.

GM to slash global vehicle platforms by more than half, to 14, by 2018

General Motors says it will cut the number of vehicle platforms it uses globally by more than half over the next decade, in a bid to reduce complexity and save on product-development costs. “More of our components will be common, and more of our vehicles will be on global architectures,” GM CEO Dan Akerson told analysts on Tuesday. His remarks came as GM kicked off a series of presentations online, billed as its 2011 Global Business Conference.