* Honda’s 4th-Gen CR-V to debut in the autumn *
* Fiat 500 adds funky new colours and trim upgrades *
* New Audi Q3 model will be an all-weather beater *
* Alfa making tangible gains against the three ‘R’s *
* Legendary Nürburgring track goes bankrupt *
* Changes to taxing vehicles online when SORN’d *
* We say: Get tough on drink driving *
* Police target illegal number plates *
* …and finally: Out of the mouths of babes *

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Honda’s 4th-Gen CR-V to debut in the autumn
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The fourth generation Honda CR-V will be available in two-wheel-drive form for the first time from early next year, and the model will also get the company’s new small diesel engine, possibly towards the end of 2013. The 1.6-litre diesel will go first into the new Civic and, like the two cars, will also be made in the UK. The new CR-V will be unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in September and is due in showrooms from October. It will be launched initially with reworked versions of the current 2-litre petrol and 2.2- litre diesel engines with slightly lower emissions. Honda UK will be looking for sales of around 17,000 CR-Vs next year, up from 11,200 last year although 2011 sales were impacted by a shortage of supplies due to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and floods in Thailand.

The best year for the model was 2007 when more than 21,000 were sold in the UK. With the Jazz, Civic and CR-V all made at the company’s plant in Swindon, 95 per cent of Honda’s UK volume will be built in the UK. Marketing chief Martin Moll said : “Our main imports are the Accord and the hybrid models but these are not great profit generators for us because of the effects of the exchange rate between the pound and the yen. The strength of the yen is making exports from Japan very expensive.”
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Fiat 500 further enhanced with new colours and trim upgrades
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The popular Fiat 500 city car, which recently smashed through the 100,000 sales mark in the UK (more than 102,000 at the end of June), has been further improved with a range of bold new colours and upgraded interior trims that better match the exterior. Six stunning new colours are introduced: Countrypolitan Yellow and New Age Cream solid paints, and Groove Metal Grey, Epic Blue, Chillout Purple and Idol Pink metallics. New Chocolate brown/Ivory fabric and Grey/Black fabric interior trim has also been introduced for the interior.

New two-tone leather trims will be available at the end of the year, replacing and enhancing the current leather finishes. A new ‘short-fin design’ antenna and 15-inch alloy wheels are also part of the design upgrade. Despite the product improvements, prices for the Fiat 500 have not changed, and the car still represents outstanding value for money. The Fiat 500 range starts at £9960 (OTR) for the 1.2 Pop, rising to £19,060 (OTR) for the 500CbyGucci TwinAir.
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New Audi Q3 model will be an all-weather beater
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Latest TDI version of acclaimed compact SUV with weather-beating quattro drive is expected to be the most popular of all. The new version of sought-after compact SUV will be the 250th quattro-equipped model variant available in the UK. The Q3 2.0 TDI quattro 140PS now available priced from £26,510 OTR to £29,260 OTR – expected to account for up to 40% of total Q3 UK sales. 2.0-litre TDI engine delivers 140PS at 4,200rpm and 320Nm between 1,750 and 3,200rpm, 0-62mph in 9.9 seconds, 122mph top speed, combined MPG 49.6, CO2 149g/km.
As the wettest summer on record continues to reinforce the arguments in favour of quattro all-wheel-drive, Audi has just launched its 250th model equipped with this invaluable all-weather traction aid – a new ‘entry level’ version of the sought-after Q3 compact SUV.

The new Q3 2.0 TDI quattro 140PS is now available to order priced from £26,510 OTR, and is expected to account for up to 40 per cent of total Q3 sales. The new model channels the 140PS and 320Nm of torque delivered by its 2.0-litre direct injection diesel engine through a six-speed manual gearbox to the rapid-reacting quattro system. Optimised by engine start-stop and recuperation technology, the highly efficient unit can return up to 49.6mpg according to the combined cycle test, equating to CO2 output of 149g/km. Equally importantly, it can take the Q3 to 62mph from rest in 9.9 seconds and push on to a 122mph top speed where conditions allow.

As usual, SE and S line specification levels are available, the former including 17-inch alloy wheels, rear parking sensors, dual-zone climate control, a Concert audio system with 6.5-inch manually retractable colour display screen, preparation for SD card navigation, Bluetooth interface, Audi Music Interface iPod connection and light and rain sensors.

For a premium of £2,750 S line specification adds larger 18-inch alloy wheels, S line exterior and interior styling enhancements, xenon headlamps with LED daytime running lamps and LED rear tail lights. Options include ‘steerable beam’ adaptive light technology for the xenon plus headlights, a high-beam assistant to intelligently illuminate the road ahead, the hard drive-based navigation system plus with seven-inch colour screen and 3D mapping and the side assist blind spot warning and lane assist lane departure warning driver aids. Inside the deceptively roomy Q3 there is seating for up to five adults, and an accommodating load bay offering up to 1,365 litres of capacity thanks to split/folding rear seats.

The Q3 is the most compact member of the Audi Q Series, which also includes the recently launched new generation Q5 and the seven-seat Q7 luxury SUV with its adaptive air suspension. If more car-like proportions are preferable, but a measure of extra agility is also needed, Audi can also offer rugged all road quattro versions of the A4 and the A6. The reassurance of quattro all-wheel-drive can, however, be enjoyed across virtually the entire breadth of the Audi range, from the A3 hatchback through to the R8 super car. On average, quattro drive is the choice of around 30 per cent of Audi customers every year.
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Alfa winning battle against the three Rs
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Alfa is winning the public perception battle against the three Rs – rust, reliability and residual values – and is re-inventing itself as a brand which is both sporty and green, says the head of the company in the UK, Damien Dally. The MiTo supermini is leading the way. It has lowered the average age of Alfa buyers to less than 40, is attracting female customers turned off by previous Alfas and is bringing new buyers into the showrooms. More than seven out of 10 MiTo buyers are new to Alfa, and 45 per cent of them are women.

“We’ve tweaked our marketing message in titles aimed at the female market,” says Dally, “and we are working with PPQ, one of the organisations behind London Fashion Week. We are also working on tying the MiTo up with the music scene. One of our plans is to back a band and take it on the road with MiTo.” The MiTo appeared in the Glass’s Guide top 10 for second hand values in 2011, and is exceeding CAP valuations. As a gesture of confidence in the car’s reliability, retail customers are being offered a five-year warranty until the end of September. “Alfa is still a car with emotional pull, but backed by a rational message,” says Dally. “It has premium values and a premium image, but is still very niche. We sell 10,000 cars a year in the UK with a two-model line-up and when we launched the 8C Competizione at £140,000 a few years ago we were able to sell them all (500 were built) within minutes.”

Two new versions of the MiTo, powered by an 85bhp two-cylinder petrol engine, will go on sale in the UK within days, priced from £14,150. With a CO2 emissions figure of 98g/km they will fall into the 10 per cent company car tax bracket and are eligible for 100 per cent business capital allowance in the first year.
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Legendary Nürburgring track goes bankrupt
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This year’s Rock am Ring music festival was likely the last at the legendary Nürburgring racing track – as the state-owned firm which owns it applied for bankruptcy on Wednesday. The Rhineland Palatinate government decided it had run out of options to try to save the Nürburgring GmbH firm last Wednesday morning – because a hoped-for rescue package from the European Commission seemed unlikely. State Premier Kurt Beck said the €13 million that had been requested was not expected to be approved by July 31. Therefore, “with greatest probability, bankruptcy would be applied for, for the end of the month due to lack of liquidity,” he said. He criticised the Commission, which he said had given out positive signals on the matter just a few days ago, but had then simply stopped dealing with the matter. “Not deciding on a European level means a lack of power to act for Rhineland Palatinate,” he said.

The Rhein Zeitung newspaper said on Tuesday it had heard from good sources that the European Commission was not going to rescue the Nürburgring GmbH firm. The Rhineland Palatinate state government had asked the Commission to pump €13 million into the firm as part of a rescue package which would also see the firm would defer payment on a €330 million loan from a state-owned bank. But European competition authorities refused to approve the plan and the firm which owns the track will now go into administration. Administrators will then soon be responsible for all contracts, whether this be with Bernie Ecclestone for the Formula 1 races or with concert organiser Marek Lieberberg for the Rock am Ring festival. European authorities are already in the midst of checking whether more than €500 million has been funnelled into the racetrack and leisure complex in contravention of competition rules.

The Rhein Zeitung said that tax payers should expect to pay heartily for the situation, as the entire complex is said to be only worth €126 million – according to a study compiled by Ernst & Young for the state. The figures show the firm is €413 million in debt, including €330 million borrowed from the state-owned bank and €83 million to share-holders, the paper said. The state could end up sitting on debts of around €287 million. The current season of events at the Ring will probably continue, but the future will depend on the administrators. They are obliged to get as much value out of the situation as possible for the creditors, the largest of which is the Rhineland Palatinate state.
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Changes to taxing a vehicle online when it’s declared off the road (SORN)
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Motorists can now tax their SORN’d vehicle online 5 days before the start of the month making it easier than ever before. Previously motorists  who had declared SORN had to wait until the first day of the month to tax their vehicle online, or have their tax disc back dated to the beginning of that month.  This meant that the vehicle could not be used until the tax disc arrived. These changes mean that motorists can make sure they have bought a tax disc in readiness to take their vehicle back on the road at the very beginning of the month as motorists can drive for up to 5 days while they wait for their tax disc to arrive.
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Get tough on drink driving say motorists
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Eighty per cent of motorists say those who repeatedly drink drive should have their vehicles seized and sold or scrapped, according to a poll by the IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists). Fifty per cent think that this should also happen to drivers several times over the limit. The respondents were also behind reducing the drink-drive limit. Sixty-six per cent want to see the limit reduced, with most of these saying it should be lowered to a maximum of 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. Twenty-eight per cent think we should have a zero-tolerance policy. People convicted of drink driving generally lose their licence for a year and receive an average fine of £240. Fifty-seven per cent think this is too weak, and that punishments for drink drivers should be tougher – thirty-eight per cent much tougher.

Other findings include: Fifty-five per cent of poll respondents support a proportionate, graduated system of penalties, if the limit was reduced. For example, lower penalties would be given to drivers caught under the current limit, but above the new one. Almost half of respondents admit to having a drink while driving, within the current limit. Seventy-nine per cent say a decrease in the limit wouldn’t affect their enjoyment of an evening out. Nineteen per cent said it would. Eighty four per cent said a reduction in the limit wouldn’t change their plans to go out.

IAM chief executive Simon Best said: “The support is there for tougher treatment of drink drivers. Not only do the majority want a lower limit – they also want tougher punishment for those that break the law, especially the worst offenders who present the greatest danger to other road users, their passengers and themselves. Our poll shows a desire to see more effective drink drive levels as well as much greater consistency of enforcement, prosecution, and sentencing, which reflects the level of danger associated with drinking drivers.”
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Police target illegal number plates
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Police road patrol units stopped nearly 300 vehicles earlier in 2012. The summer months are seeing another clampdown on the illegal use of misrepresented number plates via six police forces combining under an initiative titled ‘Operation Dragon’. Between July 16 and August 5 police forces from Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk are working in collaboration to identify number plates that are not displayed in the correct format. A misrepresented number plate can be hard to read which increases the difficulty for police attempting to identify vehicles involved in criminal activity.

Operation Dragon involves the use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) Intercept Teams, road patrol units and other specialist units, and anyone caught displaying a number plate that does not meet the DVLA’s criteria could face a fine up to £1,000. Nearly 300 drivers were issued with formal penalties earlier this year in a similar operation. Such penalties inevitably run the risk of leading to an increase in car insurance premiums. ANPR officers are using specific guidelines during Operation Dragon with a view to distinguishing and stopping vehicles with falsified number plates.

The officers are seeking number plates that display adjusted fixings or bolts which alter spaces or obscure characters to appear as something else, plates that use any font that is not the standard DVLA approved ‘Charles Wright’ font, and plates that use offensive wording or are not easily readable or recognised by the naked eye.
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…and finally: Out of the mouths of babes
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A father, who worked away from home all week, always made a special effort with his family at the weekends. Every Sunday morning he would take his young daughter out for a drive in the car. One particular Sunday however, he was so full of cold that he really didn’t feel like driving at all.  Luckily, his wife came to the rescue and decided that for this week she would drive.
They returned just before lunch and the little girl ran upstairs to see her father.
“Well,” the father asked, “did you enjoy your ride with mummy?”
“Oh yes Daddy,” she replied, “and do you know what…we didn’t see a single bastard!”
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