180,000 'lied over motor insurance'

NEARLY 3,500 cases of motorists lying on their applications for insurance or deliberately leaving relevant information off them are being uncovered by insurers each week, new figures reveal. Some 180,675 attempts to make fraudulent applications for motor insurance as people tried to get cheaper cover than they were entitled to were detected last year, equating to around 3,475 incidents a week, according to data released by the Association of British Insurers (ABI). These claims were exposed as lies by the insurer either at the point when the person applied for a policy, or after they had obtained cover and had gone on to make a claim.

Mercedes launch new 9G-Tronic gearbox on E350 BlueTec

New Mercedes E350 BlueTec (pictured) gets 9-speed 9G-TRONIC auto It’s not exactly a million years ago that automatic gearboxes offered poorer performance and economy than manual gearboxes, and came as standard with just three gears. But now, automatic gearboxes are so good they can  change quicker than any driver and, with the proliferation of eight-speed auto ‘boxes, offer improved economy and performance too. The next logical step is even more ratios in an auto ‘box, and Land Rover has already revealed they’ll be fitting the Evoque with a 9-speed ZF ‘box from 2014, and the new Jeep Grand Cherokee gets a nine-speed auto ‘box too.

Chevrolet Cruze (2011) US reveal

The US Spec Chevy Cruze has been revealed ahead of its launch at the LA Auto Show It’s the LA Auto Show this week, and one of the debuts is – somewhat bizarrely – the launch of the 2010 / 2011 Chevy Cruze. Is that an all new Chevy Cruze they’re launching, I hear you ask? No, it’s the Chevy Cruze revealed in the UK back in the Spring and even earlier in other markets.