Groupe Renault celebrates the 50,000th ZOE Zero Emissions car being produced at it's Flins Facility near Paris.

• Renault has produced its 50,000th all-electric ZOE
• Europe’s best-selling electric vehicle just three years after the launch
• Every three minutes, somewhere in the world, somebody purchases an electric vehicle

The 50,000^th Renault ZOE has rolled off the production line at its specialist plant at Flins. The milestone vehicle was sold to Sylvie, a French citizen from Saint Cloud, Paris. Guillaume Berthier, Electric Car Sales and Marketing Director, presented Sylvie  with the keys to her ZOE at the Flins plant near Paris, the only ZOE site for global distribution. 

It was Sylvie’s children who encouraged her to choose a ZOE and she intends to use it every day. With 50,000 people now proud owners of the ZOE, Renault has found that 98% of customers are satisfied with their 100% electric-in-use vehicle.

Since 2013, Renault has been the only carmaker to have a complete all-electric vehicle range with Twizy, ZOE and Kangoo Z.E. Since then, the EV market has grown rapidly, expanding by 48% worldwide in 2015. A total of 18,500 ZOE vehicles were sold last year for a market share of 20% in Europe and over 55% in France. In the UK, 4,058 ZOEs have been sold since launch, with sales up in 2015 by 102% compared to 2014.

Most recently, the ZOE was voted second best vehicle overall in the Auto Express Driver Power survey – one of the largest motoring consumer surveys in the UK, and has also been crowned What Car?’s ‘Best Electric Car under £20,000’ for three consecutive years.

Charging a ZOE couldn’t be easier thanks to the continuing rollout of new infrastructure. Today, more than 60,000 charge points are available to the public in Europe.

The first 2016 COPO Camaro to be auctioned off for "United Way", this years COPO looks really aggressive.

• Courtney Force designed show car to be auctioned for United Way

Chevrolet will auction off the first, sixth generation 2016 COPO Camaro race car to raise money for United Way. The purpose-built COPO Camaro, serial number 2016COPO001, will be sold on Friday, Jan. 29, at the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction.  All proceeds of the winning bid will benefit United Way.

“This is a special opportunity to purchase the first of the sixth generation, 2016 COPO Camaro while also helping such a great cause,” said Jim Campbell, U.S. vice president of Performance Vehicles and Motorsports.

The COPO is a powerful, purpose-built Camaro designed to race in NHRA Stock Eliminator class. The COPO Camaro legacy continues with an all-new sixth-generation version. This modern-looking machine infuses legendary COPO performance with the modern, lighter and stronger design of the 2016 Camaro.

Chevrolet introduced the sixth generation COPO Camaro No. 001 last November at the SEMA Show and includes a personalized look created by Chevrolet and NHRA Funny Car driver Courtney Force. It features a Red Hot exterior color with Courtney Force-signature graphics and red-accented grille trim.

“I was extremely honored to work with Chevrolet and help design the 2016 COPO Camaro,” said Courtney Force.   “The bright red color and the signature slash marks towards the back on the car bring a part of my Traxxas Chevrolet Camaro Funny Car to the COPO Camaro, which I think is really cool. The proceeds from this car go to a great cause and benefit the United Way, so it's an awesome project all around." 

Under its carbon-fiber high-rise hood is a 350 racing engine with a Whipple 2.9-liter supercharger. Inside is a chrome-moly roll cage, lightweight racing bucket seats personalized with the COPO logo and Courtney Force's signature, five-point safety harnesses and a floor-mounted shifter for the THM-350 automatic transmission. The instrument panel contains racing gauges and a competition switch panel.

Every COPO Camaro is built by hand starting with production hardware, including the same body in white used for production models.  The COPO Camaro takes its name from the Central Office Production Order system used in the 1960s for fleet managers to order unusual combinations of options.  Dealers utilized this system to put high performance powertrains into production Camaro’s.

The 2016 Chevrolet COPO Camaro serial number 001, lot number 3005, will go across the block at approximately 7 p.m. EDT on Friday, Jan. 29.

The original Jaguar Xj12-C Broadspeed used in the New Avengers by John Steed smashes target by over £50k

• 1976 XJ12-C Broadspeed as seen on popular 1970’s TV series The New Avengers fetches £62,000 at H&H Classics’ auction in Duxford
• John Steed’s on-screen hero-car sells to private collector after 20-year hibernation
• ‘NWK 60P’ another example of increasing desirability and values of Jaguar Heritage models after fetching £50,000 over initial estimates
• Wears chassis number eight and originally made as a pre-production prototype before starring in the cult ‘70s TV show

The original Jaguar XJ12-C Broadspeed that appeared in the cult 1970’s TV series, The New Avengers, has sold at auction today for £62,000 – some £50,000 over initial estimates.

The iconic Jaguar, driven by secret agent John Steed (played by Patrick Macnee) in the hit series, began life as a pre-production prototype vehicle for the marque. Bought by a private collector at the H&H Classics’ auction at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford, Cambridge, the XJ12-C completed its early development and testing work with Jaguar before being sent to Broadspeed Engineering Ltd. to be fitted with upgraded bodykit including wider bumpers and wheelarches plus bigger wheels and tyres in preparation for filming.

The car wears chassis number eight (2G1008BW) and features the original 5.3-litre V12 engine that powered secret agent Steed’s British sportscar during the 26-episode series.

Following the series finale in 1977, ‘NWK 60P’ was then sold and passed through the hands of multiple keepers and eventually put up for auction at the NEC Classic Car Show in the early 1990s. After the sale, the famous Jaguar disappeared from public view and remained in hibernation for the next two decades – during which time the car has been subjected to vandalism and general disrepair.

Tim Hannig, Managing Director, Jaguar Heritage, said: “There is no arguing about the desirability of this iconic Jaguar. The XJ12-C Broadspeed still looks fantastic today and although the condition of NWK 60P has deteriorated over the 20 years its been locked up, it still shows how the demand for Jaguar Heritage models has increased in recent times along with their values. We hope to see the car back on the road in the near future and we will continue to support owners of cars such as this famous XJ12-C through our Jaguar Heritage business.”

Nick Delaney, Business Development Manager of H&H Classics, said: “It is fantastic to see this Jaguar XJ12-C from The New Avengers TV Series back in public view again after being locked away for so long. The sale price of £62,000 is truly remarkable considering it fetched more than £50,000 over initial estimates. It just proves the appeal of not only the programme but also of the car itself. Buyers are seeing the investment potential with classic Jaguars and the added provenance of this car means that it, once fully restored to working order again, will be even more valuable.”

Jaguar Heritage forms part of Jaguar Land Rover’s Special Operations division and has been born to support the brand’s passion in nurturing and preserving its rich heritage of vehicles and supporting its loyal customer base across Jaguar’s global sales network. Jaguar Heritage boasts a catalogue of over 30,000 original spare and replacements parts for generations of Heritage models 10 years out of production. Furthermore, Jaguar’s Heritage workshop at Browns Lane, Coventry, carries out warrantied servicing and restorations on the marque’s classic models.

Caterham dumps F1 team amid rumours of unrest from inside the team. No loss really !

Caterham Group has confirmed that it has sold its F1 team to a consortium of Swiss and Middle-Eastern investors. All other Caterham Group brands – Caterham Cars, Caterham Composites, Caterham Technology & Innovation (CTI), Caterham Racing (GP2), Caterham Moto Racing Team (Moto2) and Caterham Bikes, remain as core elements of Caterham Group under the direction of CEO Graham Macdonald and shareholders Tony Fernandes and Kamarudin Meranun.

The sale of Caterham F1 Team now allows Caterham Group to focus on its core activities and continue to see them develop and flourish. The order book for Caterham Cars is full until January 2015, with the company having to ramp up production from September this year to satisfy increasing and unprecedented global demand for the legendary Seven. Similarly, Caterham Composites has increased its workload in the aviation, marine and automotive sectors and CTI continues to win new third party contracts in addition to the development of the new flagship Caterham two-seater sportscar, codenamed C120, amongst other projects.

Graham Macdonald, Caterham Group CEO: “Firstly I want to thank everyone who was involved in the F1 team for all their hard work and dedication since the team’s first days in 2009. We have now secured an exciting new future for the F1 team with Dr Kolles that will allow the Caterham name to remain in Formula 1, giving us all the benefits of that exposure but also allowing us to focus our resources on new Caterham product development whilst leaving F1 to enter an exciting new chapter under the guidance of the new owners.

“The future for us now lies with all the exciting brands that make up Caterham Group. We will be looking to maximise the benefits of the F1 platform across all our brands , working closely with the new team owners, and our core focus is still on launching the brand new two-seat Caterham Car, a project we will be making more announcements about in due course.” 

Four years and ONE MILLION Dacia Dusters, hows that for value motoring ?

• Following its launch four years ago, Duster has been a resounding success. Combined worldwide productions of Dacia- and Renault-branded Dusters have already reached one million vehicles worldwide
• The millionth Duster was made at Renault’s plant in Curitiba, Brazil, and will be delivered to a customer in the same country
• Duster is currently marketed in more than 100 countries and made in five factories across the world

Not only is Duster one of the driving forces behind the Renault Group’s international growth, but it has also emerged as the best-selling Renault model worldwide.

“Duster is a truly global success story,” explains Arnaud Deboeuf, the Renault Group’s Entry Programme Director. “With Renault branding, it perfectly meets the demands of our international customers and is contributing to Renault’s expansion in emerging markets. At the same time, the Dacia-badged version sold in Europe and our Mediterranean Basin markets has succeeded in attracting a new clientele to the brand thanks to the styling and genuine all-terrain capability it delivers for an affordable price. Duster is definitely a model that is winning us new customers.”

A commercial hit

The fact that one million Dusters have been sold worldwide in the space of just four years is a perfect illustration of the model’s success. Today, it is available in more than 100 countries, branded either as a Dacia or a Renault.

The Dacia-badged version has proved just as popular with customers thanks to the cabin space it delivers for its price, as well as its all-terrain ability, a feature all the model’s buyers appreciate.

With Renault badging, Duster has taken the Group forward in its international markets and is designed to meet the needs of customers, with the existence of a severe cold climate version for Russia, a flex-fuel version for Brazil and a right-hand drive version with a specific interior for India.

Duster’s five biggest markets

Market	Brand	Total sales since launch
Russia	Renault	151,633
France	Dacia	145,612
Brazil	Renault	117,303
India	Renault	85,974
Germany	Dacia	70,159

Five factories across the world

The millionth Duster was made at Renault’s Curitiba plant in Brazil, but it is currently assembled in five factories: Pitesti (Romania), Curitiba (Brazil), Envigado (Colombia), Moscow (Russia) and Chennai (India).

Dacia-badged Dusters have been made at Pitesti, Romania, since 2010 for sale in Europe, Turkey and the Maghreb nations. It has also been made at the same plant with Renault badging since June 2010, initially for the Middle-East, Egypt and other African markets, then, from 2011, the Gulf region.

The Curitiba factory in Brazil has been building Renault-badged Dusters since October 2011 for sale in Brazil and Argentina. The plant in Envigado, Colombia, has assembled Dusters since February 2012 for its customers in Colombia, Mexico, Ecuador, Chile, Peru and Central America.

Production of Duster in Moscow, Russia, began in December 2011 for the local market, with Renault badging.

The latest factory to join the list was Chennai, India, in 2012, for Duster’s Indian, South African and Indonesian markets as a Renault model, as well as for the United Kingdom, Cyprus, Malta and Ireland branded as a Dacia.

Total worldwide Duster sales continued to grow in 2013 to reach more than 376,000 units for the year.  In the UK, over 9,800, and in Ireland, over 1,600 have been sold since the model launched at the start of 2013.

Rare and lost E-Type found in barn find, located in Le Mans, France, its now back home in the UK.

A rare and exclusive 1961 E Type Jaguar missing for decades recently went under the auctioneers hammer. Purchased by an anonymous buyer for a sum of £88,000 to add to his private collection, the car in question had been missing for many years and was lying in a forsaken farm in Le Mans, France.

Surfacing last month, the E Type gained international interest and was put up for auction by Ascot based Coys auction house.

Earlier estimates had put the value of the car at £20,000 to £40,000 though auctioneers stated that its knock down price could reach upto £100,000. The buyer is from South of England and purchased the car on Saturday afternoon for a total amount of £88,040.

The 1961 E Type Jaguar was the 40th right hand drive coupe produced from the company plant in Coventry in 1961. It was purchased by the selling vendor in 1969 and taken to France in 1974 where it has been since. The car needs some restoration but according to auctioneers is still in very good condition.

REPORT HERE

Mitsubishi to give away a Mirage at every dealer (for one year only though)

Mitsubishi Motors in the UK has launched a competition today that will see every one of its dealerships give away a brand new Mitsubishi Mirage to a lucky customer for a whole year.

The UK’s fastest growing car brand is running the competition throughout the summer to celebrate the success of the fantastic new super-mini.

Sales of the Mirage, which are already at 1,300 since its launch earlier this year, have given the company a great start to 2013.

And interest in the all-new Mirage, which combines great styling, excellent fuel economy and real-life practicality, is set to continue with the launch of this exciting competition.

Anyone who takes the Mirage for a test drive between 1st July and 30th November this year can enter into a prize draw for a chance to win[1].

Lance Bradley, Managing Director of Mitsubishi Motors in the UK, said:

“The new Mirage is the perfect car for its time and thanks to this competition people all over the country will be driving away from a Mitsubishi dealership with a vehicle that will be theirs for a whole year.

“The Mirage is a compact family car which delivers comfort, performance, excellent environmental credentials and superb fuel economy.

“The response to the car has already been fantastic and we’re sure this competition will prove popular.”

The light and nimble Mirage is Mitsubishi’s latest model and it has been engineered from the wheels up to offer a winning blend of chic styling, exceptional comfort and low running costs. It boasts exceptional fuel economy across the range of between 65.7 and 68.9mpg (combined). And with CO2 emission levels across the whole line-up equal to or lower than 100g/km, no Vehicle Excise Duty is payable.