An extra 'r' in XK's growl

Jaguar has unveiled its XKR, the supercharged version of the new XK introduced in late 2005.

An uprated 420bhp V8 engine gets the power to the wheels via a six-speed automatic transmission. The torque available is 560Nm and the car can achieve 0-60mph in 4.9 seconds.

It is available in coupe or convertible form.



Brian Byrne.

Saab to launch second bio engine

Saab is providing the world premiere of the 210 bhp 2.3t BioPower engine in the new-look Saab 9-5 Saloon and Estate range at the British Motor Show in London next month.

This second BioPower variant delivers 14 per cent more power and 11 per cent more torque whilst substantially cutting fossil carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions when running on bioethanol E85 fuel.

The new Saab 9-5 2.3t BioPower model goes on sale in the UK, Ireland and Nordic markets later this year.

Brian Byrne.

New Mazda boss promises 'great satisfaction'

The lack of awareness about Mazda cars in Ireland amongst car buyers here is going to change, the boss of the new Mazda distributor for Ireland says.

And David McGonigle also promised that the sporty image of the brand will be a key focus in gaining the public's attention.

Speaking today prior to next weekend's changeover of the brand's distribution from Motor Distributors Limited to a wholly owned Mazda subsidiary, Mazda Ireland, he said that the current 1.8 percent market share is 'not where Mazda should be'.

McGonigle promises an experience of 'great satisfaction' for customers going to a Mazda dealer, and a line-up of models 'less confusing' than currently. He said that the effort will be helped by a number of new models planned over the next year.

Motor Distributors Limited have held the Mazda franchise for over 30 years.

Trish Whelan.

BMW upgrades X3

A revision to the BMW X3 features more powerful engines and some detail exterior and interior changes. The upgraded car will go on sale in September in RHD markets.

Top of the new engine news is a twin-turbo 3.0-litre diesel with an output of 286hp and 580Nm of torque. It is developed from the engine used by the BMW 535d and provides a 0-100 km/h time of 6.6 seconds.

A 150hp 2.0-litre diesel represents the entry point of X3 ownership. Further up the scale the existing 218hp 3.0-litre diesel engine is also offered.

For the first time on a BMW X model BMW’s innovative Dynamic Stability Control + (DSC+) system is fitted as standard.

Brian Byrne.

New Freelander engine is PAG synergy

The new 'i6' 3.2-litre petrol engine which will power the second generation Land Rover Freelander is an example of synergy between the members of Ford's Premier Automotive Group brands -- Volvo, Jaguar and Land Rover.

The engine was designed by Volvo and is a precursor of a situation where PAG will have nearly interchangeable powertrains by the start of the next decade.

Another example of PAG sharing powertrains is the 4.4- and 4.2-liter V8 engines made in Bridgend, England, for Land Rover and Jaguar models.

The new Freelander will also have a 2-2litre diesel.

Brian Byrne.

Alfa Spider introduced

The new Alfa Spider was launched in Italy this week.

It is due in Ireland in the autumn.

No prices or Irish specifications yet.

Brian Byrne.

New Magentis here

Kia Motors Ireland have launched the new-generation Magentis with prices starting at €25,795 for the 2.0 petrol LX model, while the diesel models start at €28,495.

The 140bhp 2 litre CRDi diesel engine also used in Sportage has been slightly modified for Magentis. The fuel consumption is 6 litres/100km on the combined cycle.

Customers can choose from two equipment levels (LX and EX) and have the option of manual or automatic transmissions on the diesel model.

Trish Whelan.

Toyota hits half a mil

Toyota Ireland has this month reached the landmark total registrations figure of 500,000 vehicles in this country.

The figure includes passenger and commercial vehicles sales since the company was acquired by the Mahony family in 1973.

In that foundation year 149 cars were sold, representing 0.2 percent of the market at the time. Today the company has just under 14 percent of the market here.

Dr Tim Mahony, Chairman of Toyota Ireland says the company is eagerly looking forward to 'building on this impressive sales record' in the years to come.

Brian Byrne.

New CL for Paris Show

This is the next generation Mercedes-Benz CL-Class coupe which will debut at the Paris Motor Show in September.

The car is based on the S-Class and will be a limited production model with just 10,000 units annually.

The estimated price in Germany is €107,000.

Brian Byrne.

DSG the VW way to go

VW plans to drop traditional automatics in favour of its direct-shift gearbox for its transverse-engined cars within five years.

The move affects the mainstream Golf, Jetta and Passat models, and will have most impact in the US market where automatics are more standard.

The direct-shift gearbox offers improved fuel economy, smoother shifting and greater reliability compared with a standard automatic.

Brian Byrne.

Fiat drops Stilo name

It hasn't been the best kept secret in the motor industry, but now it is official: Fiat are dropping the Stilo name for that car's replacement.

Instead they have revived the Bravo name which was its predecessor between 1995 and 2001. A five-door version was called the Brava.

The new Bravo debuts in January only as a five-door hatchback.

Stilo didn't achieve Fiat's expectations and Fiat clearly want to avoid the poor connotations in its replacement.

Brian Byrne.

Honda plans next diesel

Though very new to diesels -- the current 2.2-litre one was only developed a few years ago -- Honda is already working on one that they say will be the cleanest possible in terms of nitorgen oxide emissions.

The engine will be based on the current 2.2 and will be available in cars sold in in Europe, North America and Japan.

Diesels are not used much in passenger cars in those latter two markets.

Brian Byrne.

New Freelander revealed

Land Rover has revealed first details of the all-new Freelander compact premium SUV.



The fourth new model from Land Rover in just four years, the new Freelander joins the Range Rover (2002), Discovery 3 (2004) and Range Rover Sport (2005.

The new car has a similar dynamic design and stance and technical highlights include a brand-new 3.2-litre inline-six engine with 230bhp available, with 0-100 km/h in 8.9 seconds potential. The engine is matched to a new six-speed automatic transmission.

The diesel engine chosen for Freelander 2 is an all-new 2.2-litre four-cylinder with 160 hp output.

The body is a five-door monocoque structure, and Land Rover’s unique Terrain Response is standard.

The car will make its public debut at the London Motor Show next month and is expected to be on sale by the end of the year.

Brian Byrne.

M6 soft-top in September

BMW’s M6 Convertible will make its debut at the British International Motor Show (July 18–30).

Powered by the 5.0-litre V10 engine and using a host of F1-derived technology, the car combines the performance of the M6 Coupé with open-air motoring. The 507hp engine powers the car from 0-100 km/h in 4.8 seconds.

Drive is via a seven-speed Sequential Manual Gearbox with Drivelogic – the world’s first such transmission that has already seen service in the BMW M5 and the M6 Coupé.

Prices for the M6 Convertible and full specification details will be announced nearer the launch date. It goes on sale in Ireland in September 2006.

Brian Byrne.

New TT here for September

Audi have fixed September next as the date for the introduction into Ireland of their new second generation Audi TT Coupe.

Two models will be available here initially -a four cylinder 2.0-litre, 200bhp Turbo FSI version and a V6 3.2-litre, 250bhp quattro version, both with fixed head, hard top roof and six-speed manual gearbox. Soft top versions will be available in 2007 with other derivatives following in due course

Though prices have yet to be finalised, it is expected that the 2.0-litre version will arrive just below €50,000 with the 3.2-litre quattro at around €70,000 or below.

Brian Byrne.

Chrysler to show Mondeo challenger

The brand new Chrysler Sebring will have its European premiere at the London Motor Show on 18 July together with the new Dodge Nitro.

These two newcomers will both be launched in right-hand drive during 2007

The Sebring is Chrysler’s first offering in the mid-size family car D-segment, currently dominated by cars like the Ford Mondeo and Toyota Avensis.

It will be available in right-hand drive with diesel and petrol engines from the middle of next year.

Brian Byrne.

Peugeot to show CC hybrid

Peugeot will show its 307 CC Hybride HDi at the upcoming London Motor Show.

This diesel hybrid combines a 1.6-litre HDi diesel engine with a DPFS (Diesel Particle Filter System) and an electric power train and offers a mixed-cycle fuel consumption of nearly 70mpg means a gain of some 30 percent compared to the standard HDi model.

The hybrid HDi powertrain also offers substantially improved acceleration compared to a traditional vehicle of equivalent power. The driver benefits on an ad hoc basis from the additional power from the electric motor of up to 43bhp.

The gain in fuel economy and emissions, compared to a similar vehicle with a petrol hybrid power train, is around 25 percent.

Brian Byrne.

New Outlander in January

The new generation Mitsubishi Outlander is slated for European launch in January of next year.

On sale in Japan since last autumn, the new version has very successful, and its European debut will end a rollout series which began with the new L200, will continue with the Colt Convertible during the summer, and a new Pajero in the autumn.

Mitsubishi will also build versions of the Outlander to be badged as Nissan and Renault SUVs.

Brian Byrne.

Renault shows its fuel cell direction

Renault has opted for vehicles powered by fuel cells with reformers on board in its research on future motive power for vehicles.

This technology directly produces the hydrogen on demand and on board the vehicle, from petrol, diesel or ethanol carried in a fuel tank capable of holding any of these.

The approach solves the problem of very high-pressure or cryogenic storage. The reformer transforms the liquid fuel into reformate, a hydrogen-rich gas that can be used to supply the fuel cell.

The company is currently presenting the progress it has made in fuel cell research at the 16th World Hydrogen Energy Conference in Lyons.

Brian Byrne.

Citroën Offer €1,000 more

Citroën Dealers are offering a €1,000 additional trade-in allowance on all makes and models traded-in against any new Citroën C3, C4, C5 or Xsara Picasso.

The offer available for a limited time from 34 Citroën dealers nationwide.

Brian Byrne.

Poor recognition of road signs

One in three motorists fail to recognise even the most basic road sign, according to the results of a new survey in Britain.

Overall, male drivers fared marginally better than their female counterparts, with a 68.1 percent success rate compared to 62.4 percent in the poll conducted by NewCarNet.

Drivers aged between 55 and 64 proved the most knowledgeable, whilst drivers in the 25-34 bracket are the worst –- 71 percent to 53 percent respectively.

Trish Whelan.

GT and Formula 3 at Mondello

The British GT and Formula 3 Championships return to Mondello Park on June 24-25 for the Co Kildare track's final International race meeting of the season.

The usual mix of Supercars and star drivers will compete over two races for each class.

The GT championship is contested by Portadown's Tim Mullen, Donegal's Damien Faulkner and Corkman Matt Griffin and a host of famous names from the world of Sportscar racing.

Formula 3 is the breeding ground for future Formula One stars and the Senna name returns to the series with Ayrton's nephew Bruno currently one of the front runners alongside championship leader Michael Conway.

The supporting races will all be for domestic championships with the resurgent FF1600 single seater series likely to be the highlight.

The programme sees more qualifying for the Irish classes followed by a full race programme from 10.30am.

Brian Byrne.

Ford 'connects' with Fiesta, Focus

Ford of Ireland has launched limited edition versions of the Fiesta and Focus models under a ‘Connection’ label.

The cars are based on the LX and Zetec specification in both cases, and include €2,500 worth of extras on the Focs for €1,300.

In the case of the Focus these include a ‘key-free’ entry system and a voice control facility.

The Fiesta Connection comes with an MP3 socket, and voice-actuated Bluetooth phone control and audio. Voice-activated controls and Bluetooth technology means the driver can manage the audio, navigation, climate control (where fitted).

At €16,055, the Fiesta Connection retails at just €385 over the Fiesta Steel, on which it is based.

The KeyFree feature on the Focus Connection eliminates the need for fumbling for keys in handbags or pockets. As the driver approaches, the car unlocks the doors automatically. You even start the car without a key, just turn the ignition switch, nothing to insert, nothing to press – it's as easy as that.

The Focus Connection is priced from €22,055.

Trish Whelan.

Stilo replacement 'to be 5-star'

The platform which will carry the next-generation Fiat Stilo has been specifically designed so that the car will achieve a 5-star rating in the Euro ENCAP tests.

What the company designates as its 'Compact' platform is a development of the current Stilo's architecture.

And Fiat is also trying to interest other carmakers in taking the platform, to achieve cost savings.

The platform will also be used for cars from Fiat's Alfa Romeo and Lancia subsidiaries. It will be further developed for these applications, and is expected to include 4WD capability.

The first Alfa to use it will be the 147 replacement, due in 2008.

Brian Byrne.

C70 announces diesel C70

Volvo now has a diesel version of its C70 convertible hard-top, using the 180hp D5 engine and a standard Geartronic automatic.

The engine produces 350Nm of torque, and can achieve a fuel consumption of 7.3 L/100km on the combined cycle.

The 2.4-litre 5-cylinder engine is a familiar one in the Volvo cars range, being used in various stages of tune from the S40 through to the XC90 SUV.

Brian Byrne.

Fiat wants more Sedicis

The healthy growth in the SUV market in Europe has been underscored by Fiat asking Suzuki to provide more of its Fiat-brand Sedici variants of the Japanese brand's SX4.

Fiat has had unexpected demand for its version, to the point that there's now a four-month waiting list and the company has got more orders than the 20,000 it expected for all of 2006.

The Sedici and the SX4 are built on a stretched version of the platform that underpins the Swift.

Trish Whelan.

Particulate filters for retrofit

The Tenneco Walker emissions control and suspension systems manufacturer is to launch an aftermarket diesel particulate filter.

The unit will allow existing vehicle owners to take advantage of EU legislation and tax incentives on retrofit units that come into effect in certain countries from July.

The system combines the catalytic converter and DPF into one unit. This allows installers to quickly and easily replace the catalytic converter with the DPF without adding additional weight and without disturbing the vehicle’s entire NVH (noise, vibration, harshness) profile.

Tenneco was one of the first global suppliers to offer both additive and catalyst-coated diesel particulate filter technologies in series production for Europe’s vehicle manufacturers.

Brian Byrne.

Speedy but clean

A Dutchman caught speeding had his car confiscated by police after he said he was only trying to dry it after a wash.

Doing 50 km/h over the city speed limit in Amsterdam, the driver also didn’t have his driving licence with him.

Acknowledging that his car was indeed clean, the police said they were keeping it until he came back to them with a driving licence.

Brian Byrne.

Gordon Bennett Rally starts

After the customery pre-rally lunch in Mercedes Benz in MDL, the participants in this year's Gordon Bennet Rally were seen safely off this afternoon by Mercedes-Benz Ireland's Chief Executive Stephen Byrne.

The world famous rally is organised by The Irish Veteran & Vintage Car Club and this year drew some 138 entries with veteran and vintage cars coming from Australia, the UK including Northern Ireland, as well as a large number of 'home' ones.

This is the 32nd year for Mercedes-Benz to be principal sponsors of the event.

Stephen Byrne warmly welcomed everyone, especially those who had travelled from overseas with their treasured cars. It gave him great pleasure to help promote the memory of the famous 1903 race and the success it ultimately brought to Mercedes-Benz. He congratulated Robin McCullough on his second term of office as President of the Irish Veteran & Vintage Car Club and wished everyone an enjoyable and safe weekend.

Robin McCullough made a presentation to Stephen and to MDL director Nigel O'Flaherty to mark the occasion and Welsh driver Johnny Thomas paid tribute to Mercedes-Benz for hosting the pre-rally reception each year.

The rally takes place over this weekend, and is based at The Standhouse Hotel on The Curragh, taking in routes in Laois, Carlow and Kildare.

Other sponsors include Bailey Waste Recycling Ltd and Coopers Limited.

Trish Whelan.

New schools speed signs

Rennicks Sign Manufacturing has installed the first electronic speed limit sign in Ireland at Ballytarsna National School in Tipperary.

Produced by Rennicks in consultation with the National Roads Authority, these new speed limit signs are designed for use in locations where a reduced speed limit is required at certain times of the day - around schools, colleges, in towns or villages, and in traffic calming schemes.

The signs are fully programmable and can be easily set-up to start or stop displaying at pre-determined times and dates to provide daily, weekly and yearly control.

The installation is the first in a series of similar schemes.

Brian Byrne.

Toyota top brand value

Toyota tops the world's car brands in value according to the latest survey by market experts Milward Brown.

The other rankings in the top ten are Chevrolet, Porsche, Nissan, Volkswagen and Renault.

Toyota's Lexus brand was ranked 11th.

The researchers warned that only Toyota and Porsche are moving upward in brand value, as consumers spend more of their disposable income on other goods.

Trish Whelan.

BMW 'one piece at a time'

That famous 1976 Johnny Cash song about the car worker who managed to smuggle out enough parts over a decade to build his own Cadillac of distinctly mongrel vintage -- "One Piece At A Time" -- isn't so far fetched after all.

Police in Germany have arrested members of a gang who got themselves jobs in BMW factories, and over the last six years have smuggled out millions of euros worth of cars piece by piece.

They apparently reassembled the cars and sold them, mainly in southeastern Europe, police say.

Brian Byrne.

Lexus considers Europe plant

With a target to sell 100,000 cars in Europe by 2015, Lexus is looking at building its cars there.

Lexus parent Toyota is considering building the cars in Germany or France. The plant will also build Toyota models.

Projections are for having the facility online in a maximim of five years.

Toyota has expressed a target of two million vehicles a year for Europe by 2015.

Brian Byrne.

New V8s for Audi models

Audi A6 and A8 models are now getting the latest Audi V8 engine with advanced FSI direct petrol injection.

The new A6 4.2 FSI quattro Saloon and Avant variants feature the new 350hp 4.2-litre FSI engine which replaces the 4.2-litre, 335hp unit that has powered A6 and A8 models since launch.

It delivers a maximum of 350hp, and peak torque of 440Nm, enabling A6 4.2 FSI quattro models to accelerate from rest to 100 km/h in 5.9 seconds, A8 4.2 FSI quattros to go the distance in 6.1 seconds.

The Irish prices for the A6 with the new engine is €91,390, and in the A8 starts at €113,920.

Brian Byrne.

SUV strokes for different folks

Though built on the same line in Korea, when the Chevrolet Captiva and Opel's Antara SUVs come to market they will be aiming at two completely different customers.

The Opel with its sleek 'crossover' body and a higher equipment specification will be targeted at singles and couples with a 'sporty' lifestyle.

The Captiva will be looking for customers from the segment currently involving the Toyota RAV4 and Kia's Sorento.



Brian Byrne.

Diesel hybrid demonstrator

PSA Peugeot-Citroen have produced a full-hybrid diesel vehicle which provides up to 30 percent better fuel economy and CO2 emissions that its standard diesel variant.

The prototype Berlingo Multispace was developed in conjunction with automotive suppliers Ricardo and energy storage experts QinetiQ for the Ultra Low Carbon Car Challenge devised by the UK Department of Transport.

The 'Efficient-C' programme culminated in a demonstrator vehicle emitting just 99 g/km CO2 (equivalent to 3.75 litres per 100km or over 75mpg).

Trish Whelan.

Supplier giants cooperate

Bosch, the automotive electrics and electronics giant, and gearbox expert Getrag are to work together on hybrid systems with dual-clutch transmissions.

Bosch provides know-how in electrical machines and power electronics.

Getrag is a specialist in dual-clutch transmissions.

The cooperation agreement covers the development and marketing of parallel hybrid systems in conjunction with dual-clutch transmissions and electrical final-drive units.

Brian Byrne.

Full CD for Irish sat-nav available

The full Irish sat-nav CD is now available for a number of systems in use in this country, from Navteq, which has been working on a digital map of Ireland for several years.

The newly updated map CDs are for Siemens VDO Automotive navigation systems, compatible with VDO Dayton and Philips Carin systems.

The new digital map can be used in VDO Dayton 4,000, 5,000 and 6,000 series aftermarket systems and also with CD based (not DVD) navigation systems in the following car models:

• BMW - 5 series, 3 series, 7 series

• Citroën - C5 with colour monitor

• Land Rover - Range Rover

• Mini - All models with colour monitor

• Nissan - Primastar

• Opel - Vectra, Omega

• Peugeot - 607 with colour monitor

• Renault - all models with colour monitor

• Rover 75 with colour monitor


Information on updating CDs is available at www.navteq.com/buymaps and the Navteq customer hotline (freephone number 00800 1823 5322) at the recommended price of €168.

The recommended price of the Europe package, containing all the CDs, is €345.

Brian Byrne.

New Mazda Irish sales company

Mazda has officially announced the establishment of a Mazda national sales company in Ireland.

In a statement from Mazda Motor Europe GmbH this morning, the company confirms that the new NSC will inaugurate on 1 July 2006.

The new NSC will be called Mazda Motor Ireland and its Managing Director will be David McGonigle, 37. Mr McGonigle joined Mazda in April 2002 as Country Manager for Mazda Credit in the UK and later took over as Fleet and Re-marketing Director at Mazda UK.

Prior to coming to Mazda, he worked for Jaguar, Land Rover and Ford in a variety of management positions.

Mazda has sold cars and trucks for 32 years in Ireland with its current distributor, Motor Distributors Ltd, through a network of 33 dealerships.

Brian Byrne.

Corsa interior 'glows'

The new Opel Corsa, due for debut at the London Motor Show, is said to show the first taste of a new look to interiors for the brand's products.

The new Corsa will feature glowing control kobs and switches as part of a more luxurious interior feel.

GM Europe is hiring 40 designers to take further the company's work on new design for its interiors across its various brands.

Brian Byrne.

Irish Ferries offers

Irish Ferries are offering fares from €99 one way for a car plus driver, inclusive of all taxes, for travel up to 6th July on their Rosslare - Pembroke service.

For those travelling on their direct service to France, a free free return trip to Britain for a car and two adults on Dublin-Holyhead or Rosslare-Pembroke cruise ferry services is applicable to everyone who makes a return crossing on their direct services to France during June, July and August.

British 'worst' drugs-drive offenders

One in five British motorists has driven after taking illegal drugs, according to a new survey.

Dr Rob Tunbridge, a drug impairment consultant, said that British drivers are some of the worst drug driving offenders in Europe, and drug driving could become as serious a problem in the UK as drink driving.

He added that 18 percent of drivers killed in road accidents in the UK have traces of illicit drugs in their bodies.

Ray Bernard.

Fiat revised up profits

Fiat's Punto has registered strong sales of 100,000 across Europe in the first quarter of the year, causing the company to revise upwards its profits forecast.

But the brand faces tough new competition for the rest of the year, with the upcoming new Corsa, the recently released Peugeot 207, and the quickly-growing new Yaris all snapping for larger shares of the same segment.

Still, Punto helped push Fiat into seventh place in the market, with increased sales of more than a fifth against the dismal performance in 2005.

Brian Byrne.

New Clio Renault Sport

Renault has revealed details of its new generation Clio Renault Sport.

It is powered by the 197hp 2.0 16V engine which has the highest specific power output of its category.

The car is built at Renault’s Dieppe plant.

Trish Whelan.

Prius exceeds half mill

Global cumulative sales of the Toyota Prius have topped the 500,000 mark.

Toyota launched the Prius, the world’s first mass-produced hybrid vehicle, in Japan in 1997 and began selling it in North America, Europe and elsewhere in 2000.  Since its introduction to the Irish market in 2001, nearly 750 Prius have been sold.

Dave Shannon, Managing Director, Toyota Ireland says these latest sales figures are testament that the Toyota Prius is a real world solution for customers who want better fuel economy and low CO2 together with driving pleasure.

Brian Byrne.

S-MAX carries Ford high hopes

Ford is hoping for a total Europe market annual sale of 60,000 units of its S-MAX, which has just gone on sale in Ireland.

The S-MAX was devised with the dual purpose of offsetting falling sales of Mondeo and making the production of the next generation Galaxy viable.

The S-MAX is built on the same platform and with the same running gear as the new Galaxy, but is bodied to appeal to younger people.

The new Galaxy goes on sale in Ireland in July.

Brian Byrne.

Fiat to go smaller, more powerful engines

The Fiat Stilo replacement will have a turbocharged 1.4-litre petrol engine with a number of outputs, including 150bhp at the top end.

This latter version will replace the current 2-litre petrol engine of similar output, in what is a planned downsizing of Fiat engines.

There will also be a new 1.6-litre turbodiesel in the engine range for the car, which may not be called Stilo given the poor performance of the current car.

Brian Byrne.

Fox selling poorly in Europe

Volkswagen is offering its German dealers an extra €1,000 bonus for every Fox they sell, even though the Brazilian built Lupo replacement is already selling at a loss.

The Fox was intended to provide VW with a cheaply-produced model for the lower end of the market, but a 35 percent strenghtening of the Brazilian currency, the real, against the euro in the last 18 months has made the model uncompetitive as an export.

In addition, the target of 100,000 units of the Fox to be sold in Europe this year is unlikely to be achieved, going on sales so far.

Brian Byrne.

New versions of 1-Series upcoming

BMW's 1-Series, currently available only as a 5-door hatch, will be joined by a 2-door coupe early next year.

A wagon version is also on the schedule, for autumn of next year, and a soft-top convertible will be released in 2008, based closely on the CS1 concept car shown in Geneva in 2002.

Meanwhile, the next generation 3-Series convertible, planned for early 2007, will have a retractable hard-top, finally following the trend of most mass market carmakers for their models in this size.

Brian Byrne.

First motorway services area

Ireland’s first motorway hotel and motorist services development, a mile from Portlaoise at the Togher interchange, opens on Tuesday 4 July.

The Midway development will include a Comfort Inn and Club Vitae Leisure centre as well as a Food Court to attract some of the 30,000 passing motorists daily. 

Brian Byrne.

New diesel for Range Rover

The Range Rover gets an all-new TDV8 diesel engine for 2007 model year.

The 3.6-litre TDV8 272 bhp TDV8 diesel replaces the six-cylinder diesel currently in use in the model and is 54 per cent more powerful, delivers 64 per cent more torque, and yet has the same fuel economy.

The Range Rover also gets added technologies which include Land Rover’s Terrain Response, electronic park brake and electronic rear ‘e’ differential.

Brian Byrne.