Bank lending to property developers halves in just two years to £16bn March 21, 2016 Bank lending to property developers has halved over the last two years, making it more difficult for companies to kick-start schemes that could help ease the housing crisis, a new report out today claims. Bank finance has dropped from £34bn in January 2014 to just £16bn the same month this year – with bridging finance [...]
The proportion of luxury cars in the UK has outpaced GDP growth since the end of the recession March 9, 2016 The proportion of luxury cars on Britain's roads has overtaken the pace of GDP growth since the end of the 2008-2009 recession, according to new research. British drivers have made the most of the economic recovery and driven up the proportion of plush cars at an average rate of 3.6 per cent per year since [...]
UK house prices: You can actually buy a flat in Preston for the price of a Ford Fiesta – or a property in Greater London for an Aston Martin March 8, 2016 It might be hard to believe, but you could buy a property in (Greater) London for the price of a (very expensive) car. Of course, it might be quite a toss-up: your £100,000 can get you either a one bed flat in Tilbury, near Romford – the cheapest property available in what estate agents call London (even [...]
UK car registrations up 8.4 per cent year-on-year in February March 4, 2016 Car registrations in the UK rose by 8.4 per cent year-on-year to 83,395 units in February – the strongest performance for the month of February since 2004, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said. Alternative-fuel vehicles showed the strongest growth, up by nearly 20 per cent to 2,221 in the month. Diesel and petrol registrations [...]
McLaren chief executive Mike Flewitt: There is no way we will ever make an SUV March 3, 2016 As the automotive world’s great and good descended on Geneva for its annual motor show this week, one topic was being discussed: SUVs. After Porsche launched its mammoth Cayenne range in 2012, this year Maserati followed suit, with the $72,000 Levante. Even Ferrari came over all practical, with the launch of its four-seater GTC4 Lusso. [...]
Fiat Chrysler recalls 2,500 jeeps in Russia due to safety concerns March 2, 2016 Fiat Chrysler has voluntarily recalled 2,496 cars in Russia, the Russian technical safety watchdog Rosstandart has confirmed. Those affected are the Jeep Cherokee and Jeep Commander vehicles made between 11 March 2005 and August 2007. The cars were sold up until 2008. In December last year Fiat was forced to issue a recall for 570,000 SUVs globally and in [...]
From the Aston Martin DB11 to the Lamborghini Centenario: These are the five coolest supercars at the Geneva International Motor Show 2016 March 2, 2016 As the great and the good of the world's car industry descended on Geneva today for its annual two-week knees up, petrolheads had their eyes on one thing: supercars. From Bugatti's (potentially) record-breaking Chiron to China's first-ever supercar, aka Techrules' 220mph hybrid, the options for those intent on splashing the cash were pretty limitless. What are the shiniest [...]
US car sales surge for Ford and Fiat Chrysler, as General Motors slumps March 1, 2016 Automobile sales have continued to surge in the US, with Ford the latest company to reveal stand out numbers that have blown analyst expectations out of the water. Ford’s total sales in February grew by 20 per cent compared to a year ago, with some 217,000 vehicles sold. Retail sales grew 11 per cent, making [...]
EU referendum: Asda, HSBC, Vodafone and nearly 200 sign letter saying Brexit would threaten jobs – but Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s are not on the list February 23, 2016 The bosses of HSBC, BT, Vodafone and Asda are among those to have put their name to an open letter backing the remain camp and Prime Minister David Cameron's reforms in Europe. More than a third of the UK's biggest companies were represented in the letter, which was published in The Times this morning, saying they represented [...]
James Bond’s one-of-a-kind Aston Martin DB10 car from the Spectre movie sells at auction for £2.4m February 19, 2016 There's no easy way to say this – but the chances of you ever owning James Bond's Aston Martin have just become considerably slimmer, after his one-of-a-kind DB10 was sold at auction for a cool £2.4m. The car, which was sold as part of the James Bond Spectre: The Auction event at Christie's, had been expected [...]