New car sales up for 28th consecutive month

THE STEADY ADVANCE of new car sales shows no sign of slowing down. There were 228,291 new registrations in June, a 6.2% rise on the total for June 2013, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said. Last month was the 28th consecutive month of growth and means that sales for the year so far have reached more than 1.28 million - a 10.6% rise on the first six months of last year.

Chevy will use World Series to pitch Volt's debut

Chevrolet will use next month's World Series to launch ads for the debut of the Volt plug-in hybrid sedan, General Motors Co.'s marketing chief Joel Ewanick said. The ads will be part of a broad campaign that Chevrolet will initiate during Major League Baseball's fall classic and run throughout autumn, said Ewanick, who spoke on the sidelines of the Rainbow PUSH auto summit in Detroit. Ewanick declined to give details of the Volt commercials or the broader Chevrolet campaign.

Fiat 500: Suspension tweak and 2-pot engine

The Fiat 500 is to get stiffer suspension and a range of 2-pot engines It’s not hard to see why the Fiat 500 has been a runaway success. It has the cute factor going on, but on the right side of pastiche; prices are much more reasonable than its rival in the ‘small car icon revisited’ stakes – the MINI, and Fiat have done a sterling job on the marketing side. And it’s not just been the tin-top, bog-standard  Fiat 500 that’s flown out of showrooms.