“I am delighted that Chris has agreed to lead SMMT Industry Forum through its next stage of development,” said Paul Everitt, SMMT chief executive. “There is renewed enthusiasm for the value of manufacturing and SMMT Industry Forum has the tools and techniques to help companies attain global competitiveness.”

“The unique automotive heritage embedded in the DNA of SMMT Industry Forum is of significant value to companies in every manufacturing industry,” added Dr Owen. “There are great new opportunities for this business and I am honoured to have the chance to lead it during such an exciting period.”

Dr Owen will take charge of the business from October calling on his experience in technology, product engineering and quality roles at Perkins Engines and as general manager of a Caterpillar manufacturing business in France.

The SMMT Industry Forum impacts on a diverse range of other sectors, from aerospace to pharmaceutical, through its best-practice training and business improvement services.

The move has come in response to customer research and will see a new business centre support team which Volkswagen says will be able to provide fleet managers with the best professional service and advice quickly and efficiently.

The new fleet team includes five area managers, three corporate managers and four business centre managers covering England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, plus four business centre executives.

In addition, to improve the awareness and supply of its range of off-the-shelf ‘Engineered to go’ conversions range of tipper, dropside and Luton bodies and ‘Engineered for you’ specialist conversions, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has created a dedicated conversions team offering specialist engineering support and supplier relationship management.

"Our vision for the fleet team is to offer industry leading knowledge and solutions that give a direct benefit to our customers through trust, integrity, knowledge and professionalism," said Alastair Hemmings (pictured below), national fleet manager, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles UK, who leads the fleet team of 15 people with a total of over 80 years experience.

"From legislation to emissions, and of course in-depth vehicle knowledge, every member of the fleet team will be on hand to offer advice and expertise where it is needed," he added.

These developments follow the launch of the new Caddy and Transporter last year and the new Amarok pick-up this year.

The solar array consists of around 17,000 panels – enough to cover almost four and a half football pitches  – all of which will be manufactured in the UK. Generating electricity for use on site, the project will help reduce the plant’s carbon footprint, support energy security and cut its power bills. The scheme will save up to 2,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions a year and the saving in energy will be equivalent to 4,600,000 kWh. When fully operational it will be capable of supplying enough energy to build approximately 7,000 cars a year.

The solar panels will cost more than £10 million and will be installed and paid for by British Gas. Installation work has started and the array is expected to begin supplying power to the plant in July.

The development is a key part of Toyota’s ‘Sustainable Plant’ vision in which manufacturing operations are designed to work in harmony with their local community and surrounding environment. The UK is one of just five Toyota plants worldwide to be designated a Sustainable Plant with first-rate environmental credentials.

Tony Walker, Toyota Manufacturing UK deputy managing director said: “We are already making a significant contribution to the UK’s low carbon economy with production of Auris hybrid – the first European built full hybrid car. Generating solar power on-site to supply electricity to the plant underlines our commitment to do even more to further reduce our carbon footprint and is yet another example of our environmental leadership. We are delighted to be working in partnership with British Gas to achieve this.”

Jon Kimber, managing director of British Gas New Energy, added: “With energy costs increasing and a tough financial climate, all businesses are looking at ways to cut their bills as well as reduce their carbon emissions. Solar power has the potential to make this happen and really revolutionise the way Britain’s homes and businesses generate energy. Toyota is a real beacon for green business throughout the UK.”

Tyres can deflate over time especially if there has been any impact with kerbs, which could cause damage to the sidewalls and possibly the wheel rims. Ensure that your spare tyre is suitable for use and not worn or under-inflated. Before you set off on your journey check your fuel levels and gauge how far you will be able to travel before you will need to refuel. Breakdown services are commonly called out to fill cars up with petrol because they have run out. On a regular basis have your car serviced. This will ensure that various elements of the car that are susceptible to being worn or damaged are actually in good working condition. Batteries going flat or being faulty can also lead to breakdowns.

The most common problems in this case are usually to do with the terminals and clamp connections. After your car has been serviced you should check that the terminals have been cleaned and that they are protected from corrosion by a layer of grease or petroleum jelly. The clamps and connections on the battery need to be secure, because if they come loose they could disconnect causing the battery to fail. If you finding that your car’s battery has persistent problems this could indicate that there are alternator or generator faults, so in this situation it is worth taking your car to the garage to ascertain the problem. Sometimes you might not be driving your vehicle when it breaks down. Often people can experience problems starting their vehicles in the first place.

Starter motors can be one of the more robust elements of a car to fail. These can be difficult to fix roadside and may result in your car needing to be towed to garage. The distributor cap is an area, which could cause problems within the ignition system. Sometimes cracks can appear in the caps insulation and may be almost invisible to see but big enough to allow high ignition voltage to leak out. This problem can be exacerbated in damp weather, and results in there being no ignition spark and your vehicle not starting. Again the best solution is taking your car to the garage if you begin to have problems starting your vehicle. If you keep your car in good condition and have it regularly serviced you should be able to avoid the main causes of a vehicle breakdown. But to protect yourself further you should consider membership with of a breakdown service. Check with your motor insurance company for services offered.

For those that are not familiar with the Parrot name, the firm makes some great little in-car gadgets for all you who love to blast the music out while driving down the M6. The RKi6400 is an little gadget that fits into your car allowing you to make calls hands-free and stream music. Equipped with a 200 W MOFSET amplifier, the Parrot RKi8400 offers new musical experience. Totally integrated into the vehicle’s audio system, conversations and music are transmitted via the speakers for maximum listening quality. To make the experience even more enjoyable, the RKi8400 has a built-in equaliser and includes sound effects that can be adapted to any style of music.

The Parrot RKi8400 also provides instant access to your music. It can support any musical source you want: iPod, iPhone, USB flash drive, and even SD cards, Bluetooth stereo (A2DP) peripherals or any other analogue player. You can easily browse through your music library and view the playlist and album covers on the colour screen.

Worth ££309.99, all you need to do to be in with a chance of winning this brilliantly versatile hands-free kit is submit a review of any car or van and select to enter the competition. An email address is required so that the winner can be notified, but is disposed of after the competition is closed and is not used for marketing purposes.

The winner is selected by a independent auditor who will judge the entrants on the quality of the review they submit, selecting a witty, informative and entertaining entry. The new competition runs until March 22, 2010, so get your entry in now to be in with a chance of winning (Terms and conditions apply; the cost of installation is not included).

This innovative little gadget is a bluetooth car stereo and hands-free kit which fits into your car allowing you to make phonecalls and stream music. Equipped with a 200 W MOFSET amplifier, the Parrot RKi8400 offers new musical experience. Totally integrated into the vehicle’s audio system, conversations and music are transmitted via the speakers for maximum listening quality. To make the experience even more enjoyable, the RKi8400 has a built-in equaliser and includes sound effects that can be adapted to any style of music.

The Parrot RKi8400 also provides instant access to your music. Thanks to its special cables, it can support any musical source you want: iPod, iPhone, USB flash drive, and even SD cards, Bluetooth stereo (A2DP) peripherals or any other analogue player. You can easily browse through your music library and view the playlist and album covers on the colour screen.

Worth ££309.99, all you need to do to be in with a chance of winning this brilliantly versatile hands-free kit is submit a review of any car or van and select to enter the competition. An email address is required so that the winner can be notified, but is disposed of after the competition is closed and is not used for marketing purposes.

The winner is selected by a independent auditor who will judge the entrants on the quality of the review they submit, selecting a witty, informative and entertaining entry. The competition runs until February 22, 2010, so get your entry in now to be in with a chance of winning (Terms and conditions apply; installation is not included).

An Environment Agency crackdown on illegal End-of-Life Vehicle (ELVs) and scrap metal operations, closed or brought into regulation almost half of the 370 known sites in England and Wales in the twelve months until April this year.

The figures emerge as a 57-year-old man in North Wales was jailed for six months after running an illegal scrap yard from his backyard, putting at risk the health and safety of workers and neighbours.

Legitimate companies dealing with scrap cars and other metal waste may benefit by up to £30 million, as the illegal trade is shutdown.

The Environment Agency estimates that illegal waste business worth around £17 million is still in the hands of rogue traders, representing 350,000 cubic metres of waste. Vehicles and their associated liquids, including fuel and lubricants, end up in illegal sites. Around half of these sites are within 50 metres of environmentally sensitive areas.

Working in collaboration with local authorities, the car recycling industry and trade associations as part of the Waste Crime Innovation Programme, the Environment Agency will continue to target these sites and encourage legal businesses to report rogue operators.

Phil Gibbon, the regulator’s ELV project manager, said: “Illegal car scrapyards are huge problem for the environment. We’re tackling it through a combination of penalties, partnerships and awareness-raising among legal businesses.

“We’d much rather encourage businesses to act responsibly – which we’re doing by providing them with support and advice. But where we need to get tough, we will prosecute operators who don’t hold permits or comply with permit conditions. The courts can impose prison sentences, fines, anti-social behaviour orders, community service, curfews and seize assets gained through the proceeds of crime.”

The Environment Agency has recently completed a national road show of events for businesses in the ELV sector, and has this month written to 1500 site operators with a comprehensive information pack and DVD showing how to de-pollute vehicles.

A spokesperson for Manchester-based Authorised Treatment Facility (ATF), S. Norton & Co. Ltd, said: “We’ve noticed a big difference in our business since several local illegal operators were closed down. It’s good news for us but also for the environment. The impact on both land and water when vehicles are dumped, has now been reduced.”

Businesses and individuals have legal responsibilities with regard to scrap vehicles.

In the run up to October’s tyre safety month, Ian Godolphin, Head of Chiltern Transport Consortium, has been highlighting the importance of a vehicles tyres and explaining why Goodyear’s innovative new tyre, EfficientGrip has become an important fitment to Bedfordshire Police, Hertfordshire Police and Thames Valley’s police fleet vehicles.

“As a police officer you never know what you are going to encounter. When you’re behind the wheel it’s important to have total confidence in your vehicle, and tyres are a massive part of this. Whether its routine patrols or high speed pursuits it is vital that the vehicles occupants are kept safe and importantly so are the public,” stated Ian.

This year Goodyear launched the EfficientGrip which has industry leading FuelSaving Technology. This brand-new, more environmentally friendly high-performance tyre helps deliver important fuel saving whilst offering high mileage and excellent wet breaking performance levels. Testing at Goodyear’s Luxenburge based technical centre found that the EfficientGrip tyre has 15 per cent better rolling resistance compared to the average performance of six leading competitors’ tyres.

“In total we have 2,330 vehicles in our fleet doing approximately 33 million miles per year. No matter what your size of fleet, fuel costs account for one of your highest areas of expenditure. As a result, fuel saving is at the heart of our cost reduction. We have been very impressed with the performance of the EfficientGrip tyre, so much so, we are rolling it out across all our vehicles. By using this tyre we get both value for money and eco benefits, all without compromising safety,” said Ian.

Remarkably, one in five young motorists said they drive while listening to music through headphones, and 16 per cent even admitted to putting on make-up behind the steering wheel. Although over a quarter (26 oer cent) of drivers between the ages of 17-24 admitted to texting while on the road, just 3 per cent of the same group actually considered this behaviour acceptable.

Motorists were also asked which of their in-car gadgets and technologies they found to be most distracting, the top five were:
1. In-car music/changing CD and radio controls (57 per cent)
2. Sat-Nav systems (41 per cent)
3. Mobile phones (32 per cent)
4. Air-con controls (31 per cent)
5. Dashboard warning lights (21 per cent)

The research also looked at the impact in-car distractions can have on driving performance and the potentially fatal distances that vehicles can travel when motorists avert their eyes from the road for just a few seconds.
For example, during the five seconds it takes to change a CD when driving at 70mph, a car will have travelled the length of nearly two football pitches (156m) with the driver largely unaware of their surroundings and the behaviour of other road users.

When you add this to the typical stopping distance, it could even be as far as 252 metres (almost the length of three football pitches) before the driver is able to bring the vehicle to a complete standstill.

In response to the findings, David Bizley, RAC director of technical said: “This clearly shows that in-car distractions continue to be a significant road safety issue, especially for the new generation of drivers. While in-car gadgets do make journeys easier and more entertaining it’s important that they are used appropriately. Even a split second distraction can have potentially disastrous consequences.

“Legislation to limit certain distractions is in place, but it’s evident that many of the Government’s messages are not getting through to motorists. The number of fatalities as a result of in vehicle distractions has increased 50% over the last three years4. You only have to consider the number of motorists that continue to text and drive to see that greater awareness of how to use in car-technology responsibly is needed.”

To tackle the issue of in-car distractions, RAC is calling for the focus of safety campaigns to be widened to include all potential in-car distractions, such as adjusting the radio or heating and air-conditioning controls as well as the dangers of using mobile phones.

The study from Enterprise Rent-A-Car, involving a wide range of small businesses from across the UK, asked what measures they had taken to alter their transport policies in order to better cope with current economic challenges. Surprisingly, 32 per cent of all businesses had done nothing at all to make more efficient use of transport options despite over two-thirds (69 per cent) claiming transport costs had increased. More than one in five (22 per cent) have even cut costs in other areas rather than deal directly with rising transport costs.

Worryingly, nearly a third (28 per cent) of companies don’t communicate their transport policy to their employees, resulting in a fundamental lack of control over transport costs. This is despite the fact that business leaders acknowledge transport as second only to energy when it comes to areas of their business where cost savings can be made.

Rob Ingram, director of business Rental at Enterprise Rent-A-Car, comments: “A sober and professional examination of any company’s transport practices is likely to highlight at least a couple of practical steps that can be taken to cut costs. It’s staggering that so few small businesses are taking the opportunity to find those efficiencies and put them into action.

“Simple steps, such as selecting the right transportation or renting cars instead of paying mileage reimbursement can have profound effects.

“Having a clear and well communicated policy is an absolute must. Finding the most economical ways of getting your people from A to B and then ensuring your employees use that information is the foundation of effective business transport. Without that, employees could end up doing things that are good for them but not necessarily good for the company, such as taking needless trips in their own vehicles and claiming mileage reimbursement – a cost that can mount up if left unchecked.”

The group, with 145 dealerships nationwide, stretching from Inverness to Birmingham is to create 500 new sales jobs, 120 Modern Apprentices places and 80 supporting roles are being created to help the group’s new sales developments and newly acquired sites in the North of England.

Currently employing in excess of 8000 staff, the group is still growing and as a result will be creating the new jobs in the UK by February 2010.

Sir Arnold Clark, chairman and chief executive of the company, told the BBC: “With the global economy going through such a difficult period, our announcement today can only be seen as a positive step in helping to combat unemployment.

“The extra 700 jobs can partly be attributed to the stabilising of the car industry since the introduction of the government’s scrappage scheme in May.”

Positions are being created within the Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Manchester, Warrington, Stafford and Huddersfield areas with posts being recruited for immediately.

New developments include a new outlet in Huddersfield, set to open in October.

Sadly as a result of the weakened car market, profit from operations fell to £17.6 million compared to £23.7 million in the previous year.

Commenting on the results, Ken Surgenor, Chief Executive said: “Economic conditions remain uncertain and we believe trading will continue to be challenging for the new car market. However, the combination of our diversified business model and growing independent parts business, underpinned by our strengthened balance sheet, gives us confidence that we will continue to successfully trade through these tougher conditions and be able to take advantage of any opportunities as they arise.”

Demand for new cars has remained weak whilst the introduction of the UK Government’s £300 million vehicle scrappage scheme has gone some way to stimulating the market, uncertainties in the financial markets and rising unemployment continue to suppress consumer demand.

The UK market for new cars has been particularly challenging for car retailers in t2008 and 2009. Despite this Lookers’ like-for-like new car sales are 7 per cent ahead of the market. Used car values have recovered strongly and the retailer has seen improvements in both volumes and margins. Franchise aftersales revenue showed good growth, up 4 per cent, gaining market share.