Motoring Newsbriefs

Jul 28 2009 Steve Hughes

BRAVO FOR FIAT'S SUPER SALEFIAT and Alfa-Romeo's biggest sale of the year was held at BCA Measham with 200 cars sold worth £1.5 million.

The special auction attracted 50 buyers with a further 35 online. A dozen Fiat 500s were sold averaging 107.3% above book price. The sale of 100 Grande Puntos averaged 102% above book price, as did 16 Bravo models.

Alfa Romeo GTs achieved 115% of the book price and Alfa 147 and 159 models averaged 106%.

Star performer of the day was a red two-year-old Fiat Grande Punto three-door with 10,000 miles on the clock that fetched 130% of the book price at £7,900.

SUZUKI SCRAP SUCCESSSUZUKI has taken 5,000 scrappage orders since the scheme started in May, with 3,000 now delivered. The model benefiting most from the scheme has been the Alto, accounting for more than half of all orders, followed by the Swift at 30 per cent and the Splash with eight per cent of the total.

The Alto is Suzuki's most cost-effective model and benefits from £35 annual road tax economy of 64mpg and an insurance grouping of 1E, or 2E for the top specification SZ4 with manual or automatic transmission. It is also the cleanest five-door city car with emissions of just 103g/km.

Trade-ins include a Fiat Coupe, Triumph TR7, Triumph Spitfire, BMW 2002, Jaguar XJ Sport, Mercedes-Benz 380 SLC and several MGBs.

VANTASTICFIAT'S Fiorino van will offer greater capability with the option of a new electronic differential lock system for improved grip and control.

The new system, called Traction +, will be introduced on the 1.3 MultiJet SX diesel-engined version of the Fiorino van and 1.3 MultiJet diesel Combi. Each vehicle specified with the technology will also receive body and chassis enhancements including under-engine protection, front bumper with chrome finish, greater body protection, 15-inch steel wheels and suspension raised by three centimetres.

The package costs £750 for the van version and £780 for the Combi.

ITALIAN JOBBSM and Fiat have announced a partnership that will see Fiat as the new fleet provider for the British School of Motoring, which is the UK's largest driving school.

Fiat will provide BSM with 14,000 cars over the next four years, most of them the Fiat 500 plus the Grande Punto model.

BSM has a network of 94 UK driving centres and teaches more than 130,000 learners a year.

POST HASTETHE first integrated electric vehicle drive-train of its kind has been developed by TH!NK, the Norwegian electric vehicle manufacturer.

The drive-train is available for supply around the world and the first major potential customer to come forward is the Japanese postal service, which is aiming to electrify its 22,000-strong fleet of delivery vehicles.

JOINED ICONSMICHELIN and Harley-Davidson have joined forces to develop a new Scorcher 31 tyre, which carries both companies' trademarks on its sidewalls and the Harley-Davidson logo moulded into the shoulder. It will be available as original equipment on four new Harley-Davidson Dyna models.