'BLACK' CARS TO GO GREEN

The Lincoln Town Car that has ruled the "black car" industry may soon be a memory since Mayor Bloomberg yesterday announced new fleet fuel-efficiency standards that only hybrids can meet.

Black cars, car services for corporate clients, average 12 to 15 mpg, but starting Jan. 1, new vehicles put into service will have to reach 25 mpg. The target jumps to 30 mpg in 2010.

Bloomberg again lambasted Congress for not addressing global warming, mocking the fuel-efficiency standards it's proposing as laughably low, as he stood before four shiny hybrids in the Winter Garden of the World Financial Center.

"New York City is not waiting," the mayor declared.

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Environment Ministry has new hybrid Toyota cars

Prague, Feb 28 (CTK) - Czech Environment Minister Martin Bursik (Green Party) received on Wednesday five new hybrid electric Toyota cars, two that will be used by him and his deputies.

Two Lexus GS 450h and three Prius vehicles replaced five BMW diesel service cars, which Bursik offered to other ministries.

The new Toyotas combine a conventional gasoline engine and an electric motor. The ministry has leased the cars.

Last year, the ministry worked out an analysis of the best possible vehicle.

Ministry's spokesman Jakub Kaspar told CTK that Prius was chosen because it had the lowest carbon dioxide emissions per kilometre, while no other car-maker than Toyota offered a hybrid car of a quality similar to the luxury Lexus GS 450h.

The ministry also bought an older model of the hybrid Prius two years ago that has been used by Deputy Environment Minister Ales Kutak.


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Hyundai to slash prices of its small cars

New Delhi, Feb 29 (UNI) Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) today said it will cut prices of its small cars by Rs 12,000-Rs 16,000 as an immediate fallout of the excise rate cut on small cars by the government from 16 per cent to 12 per cent.

Santro prices will be slashed by Rs 12,000-Rs 14,000, said Hyundai's Rajiv Mitra.

Getz prices will come down by Rs 14,000-Rs 16,000 while i10 is expected to be cheaper by Rs 12,000-Rs 16,000.


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Tooling Up For Tomorrow's Clever Cars

Cars are becoming more complex, with a range of advanced features we could hardly have imagined a few years ago made possible by sophisticated software-driven electronics. The downside is, with more to go wrong, more is going wrong, but European researchers have developed an antidote: a new computer language.

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Chrysler loss pegged at $2.7B

Chrysler LLC lost about $2.7 billion in the two months after Daimler AG sold controlling interest in the U.S. automaker to a New York private equity firm, Daimler said in its annual report Wednesday.

The figure, for the period from Aug. 4, 2007 to Sept. 30, was calculated under international financial reporting standards used in Europe and not under U.S. accounting standards, Daimler said.

The net loss also includes about $466 million in expenses incurred in the fourth quarter of last year, including Chrysler restructuring costs and costs related to a new four-year contract with the United Auto Workers, Daimler said in its report, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Daimler reported that for the full year in 2007, Chrysler lost 870 million euros, or roughly $1.2 billion when converted at the euro-to-dollar exchange rate that Daimler reported for the third quarter.


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Consumer Reports: Honda makes the best cars

The best cars you can buy in the United States are made by Honda, according to Consumer Reports. The is the second year in a row the Japanese automaker has been given the distinction.

Honda (HMA) cars and trucks scored an overage of 78 out of a possible 100 points in Consumer Reports' various tests. Toyota (TM) came in second with 75 points followed by BMW, Mazda, Nissan and Volkswagen. (After rounding, Nissan and Volkswagen tied with 71 points.)

"Honda earned the top score because it builds cars that are well-rounded, have excellent reliability and perform very well," the magazine, published by the not-for-profit Consumers Union, said in an announcement.

The overall score for each carmaker is based on the average score of all its vehicles tested by the magazine, and average predicted reliability scores based on the magazine's annual surveys.


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RACE RETRO CELEBRATES 100 YEARS OF ICONIC RACING CARS

This year's Race Retro, the international historic motorsport show, will celebrate 100 years of iconic racing cars, with exciting and interesting vehicles spanning the years from 1908 to present day.

Held at Stoneleigh Park from 14th to 16th March, racing cars on show range from a 100-year-old Panhard Levassor Grand Prix car on the Vintage Sports Car Club stand, to a 2007 Aston Martin V8 Vantage N24, courtesy of the Aston Martin Owners Club, which has been purpose-built to compete in events in 2008.

Iconic cars include a 1960 Ferrari 246 Dino, shown by the Historic Grand Prix Car Association; a 1965 Lotus 26R on the Grand Prix de L'Age d'Or stand; and a 1991 Reynard 913 from the Monoposto Racing Club. Dawn Treader Performance Ltd will display a newly-restored 1986 Lotus 98T Formula 1 car, while Ecurie Bertelli will showcase a 1938 ex-works Brooklands speed model Aston Martin.


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