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New Car Sales Accelerating Ahead

IT’S GOOD news in the new car market as the latest figures from industry body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) reveal registrations already outstripping those of 2012 with one month of the year still to go. A total of 159,581 new cars were registered in November - a 7% rise on the figure for November 2012. Last month's figures took the year-so-far total to 2,111,819 - a 9.9% rise on the January-November 2012 total and already in excess of the year-end 2012 figure of 2.04 million.

Demise of kei cars on the horizon?

The kei car has long been a staple of the Japanese automobile industry and its car culture. Too diminutive for Western markets, the tiny cars and trucks are a strong influencer of design in Japan. Now, as The New York Times reports, the Japanese government has hit kei cars with increases in sales tax, gasoline prices and has reduced the kei car tax break introduced to make the cars popular in the first place by 50 percent.

New Ford Kuga arrives in the guise of 2012 / 2013 Ford Escape

The 2013 Ford Escape arrives - the 2012 Ford Kuga The reveal of the new Ford Escape ahead of the Los Angeles Auto Show this week may not have the Kuga badge on its boot, but it is – bar a few tweaks and engine changes – just what we’ll see in Europe as the 2012 Ford Kuga. Based on the European-designed Ford Vertrek concept, the Ford Escape replaces the old-fashioned North American escape with a very European take on a compact SUV, but one that benefits from much more room to accommodate average Americans. The Ford Kuga / Escape is the next instalment in Ford’s plan to unify its models around the world.