Ford, GM post biggest drops, industry sales slump continues

Ford Motor Co. and General Motors posted the sharpest sales declines among major automakers as the industry headed toward its sixth straight monthly drop of more than 30 percent. Ford's March sales fell 42.1 percent and GM's were down 44.7 percent, for its fifth decline of more than 40 percent in the past six months.

Toyota & Lexus: Hybrid sales in Europe hit 20%

The ‘Green’ evangelists want to get us all driving electric cars to save the planet, but in the real world car drivers want a car that offers them all the practicality of a normal ICE car, but without the penalties of the poor range, high cost and inconvenience of an EV. So, with ever-rising fuel costs, it’s no wonder car buyers are willing to pay a little more for a car that offers better economy at the pumps – which plays straight in to the hands of Hybrid pioneers Toyota. The result is that Toyota and Lexus now see a full 20 per cent of their sale in Europe being hybrid cars in the first quarter of 2013, with sales of hybrid cars up a massive 82 per cent year-on-year.

Average cost of car insurance down 12.5%

The average cost of insurance is now 12.5% lower than it was a year ago, thanks to new EU rules on gender equality. That’s according to over four million quotes analysed on Confused.com. On Bing: see pictures of male drivers Women and car insurance – all the facts The rules, introduced at the end of 2012, said a person’s gender shouldn’t affect their insurance premium.