Month: November 2011

A wealth of unseen historic British cars could soon be on display at the Heritage Motor Centre after a trust based there received a lottery cash boost. The British Motor Industry Heritage Trust has received initial support from the Heritage Lottery Fund for a £2.5 million project to create a new building to store and display the Trust’s reserve collection of historic British cars, at the Gaydon centre. Funding of £51,100 has been awarded to help the Trust progress their plans to apply for a full grant in 2012. If two more rounds are awarded building work on the new project could begin in 2013. The Trust has a collection of almost 300 cars, telling the story of the motor industry in Britain from the 1890s to the present and although more than 160 of these vehicles can be seen […]

Bentley has secured the second grant from the British government’s Business Regional Growth Fund (RGF) this year. Earlier the company had received £ 1.68 m to create additional manufacturing jobs and training. Luxury car maker Bentley is one of the few automotive companies in the UK who undertakes all their activities in one site. Every Bentley in UK car is designed, engineered and built in their Crewe site in Cheshire. Bentley is the third largest investor in R&D in the UK. The new grant will facilitate development of new powertrains so as to produce products to export to emerging export markets. Wolfgang Durheimer, the Chairman and Chief Executive of Bentley spoke about the grant by saying, “This is a real boost for Bentley which has one of the most highly skilled automotive workforces in the country and, uniquely, has now […]

The British automobile manufacturer Lotus is recalling its Elise and Exige models over potential fire risks or crashes, due to an oil leak issue. The models produced in 2005 and 2006 have been reportedly subjected to an immediate recall by the company. As slated, in July, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had opened a probe into these Lotus cars to investigate oil cooler leaks for the Elise and Exige models that were manufactured between June 1, 2004 and November 30, 2006. With 17 complaints from the owners of the vehicles reporting oil leaks onto the right rear tires, which resulted into handling problems and a fire incidence as well, the investigation finally triggered a recall announcement from the company. As per the NHTSA official site, the owners of the affected vehicles may contact Lotus at 1-800-245-6887 and get their […]

Trying to break into a new marketplace is never easy – and it’s a damn site harder when it’s the ultra-competitive car market. That, though, is effectively what MG is trying to do as the company’s Chinese owners return to the table with the first new models to wear the MG badge in 16 years. Their task is made even harder by the history involved here. The messy demise of the previous company cost the brand a lot of the goodwill and then there was the, perhaps understandable, scepticism as the Far Eastern conglomerates stepped in to pick over the wreckage. However, the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation seem to be taking the right steps to woo the army of MG followers back. They have set up their UK headquarters in what is retained of the Longbridge plant, which had become […]