Mazda team's Movember

Mazda Motor Ireland has gone moustache-alicious as each and every male member of the team has dedicated themselves to growing a tash as part of the popular Movember charity ‘drive’ – and the girls have even joined in – with fake ones of course!

The tash styles range from Magnum PI to Charlie Chaplin to a demure 1930’s gentleman’s fashion!

David McGonigle, Managing Director of Mazda Motor Ireland comments “It’s a charity I feel strongly about and was keen to get the team involved – they didn’t need much persuasion! So far we have collectively raised approximately €1,000, and that’s before we send out the latest photo of our ‘mo’s’ with a request for donations! Check us out on twitter or donate to the MazdaMo’s team on http://ie.movember.com/”


Movember ends Monday 30th November.

Peugeot wins ICOTY

The Peugeot 3008 has won the Continental Irish Car of the Year Award presented by the Irish Motoring Writers Association.

In category wins, the Honda Jazz was given the Continental Irish Small Car of the Year 2010 award. The Family Car section was won by the Volkswagen Golf. The SUV/Crossover winner was again the Peugeot 3008. The MPV of the Year is the Renault Grand Scenic. The Luxury/Sport Car winner is the Mercedes-Benz E-Class.

The Ford Connect won the Continental Irish Van of the Year 2010 award.

The winning cars were selected by the 27 voting members of the IMWA.

Pictured are Beverley McConnell, Peugeot Ireland; Paddy Murphy, of sponsors Continental Tyres; David McConnell, MD Peugeot Ireland; Michael Moroney, chairman IMWA; Emma Toner and Mark Hayes, Peugeot Ireland, with the trophy won by their Peugeot 3008.

Scrappage 'only chance' for car trade

A scrappage scheme in the Budget is the only measure that can positively impact on the car sales business in Ireland, according to Alan Nolan of the Society of the Irish Motor Industry.

He was commenting this morning on the news that long-established dealership EP Mooney had closed yesterday, with the loss of a hundred jobs. The company underwent a restructuring in the past year whereby it let 150 people go, but was unable to continue because of the lack of bank financing.

Speaking on Morning Ireland, Mr Nolan said the car trade had lost 11,000 jobs since the beginning of 2008, or 25 percent. He added that the current situation where the business was trying to keep 75 percent of its workforce in an environment where sales were down by 70 percent is 'unsustainable'.

He also said that the situation would impact on the used car business also, as the supply of used cars is dependent on trade-ins for new cars.

Ten new 5-star cars

Ten out of a dozen cars which have gone through the Euro NCAP crash tests achieved five stars, the highest rating currently possible.



They are the BMW X1, Chevrolet Cruze, Citroën DS3, Infiniti FX, Mazda 3, Mercedes E-Class, Mercedes GLK, Opel Astra, Peugeot 5008 and the Volkswagen Scirocco.

The Chevrolet Cruze, not yet on sale in Ireland, achieved the highest level of adult occupant safety at 96 percent. It was followed by the new Opel Astra with 95 percent.

The Chevrolet Spark missed out on a five-star award as Electronic Stability Control (ESC) is not fitted as standard on any variant. In contrast ESC is fitted as standard in all variants in the other cars in today’s line-up -- a direct result of Euro NCAP’s incentive of points under its new rating scheme introduced at the begging of this year.

The Toyota Urban Cruiser was awarded only three stars, because of deficiencies in adult passenger safety.