Alfa Romeo 159 Multimedia on 2040-parts.com

Hot deals now available on Dacias

DACIA now offers a finance package to allow buyers to buy the car on hire purchase from £99 per month. The £99 deal applies to the entry-level Duster Access 1.6-litre petrol model with front-wheel drive. This offer will be available until the end of 2013 and also requires a £3112 deposit and the finance is offered at 9.9% APR.

Chevrolet UK has its best ever year

Now admittedly, Chevrolet UK is not starting from a point of market dominance in the UK, but any manufacturer who has managed to increase sales in 2008 is obviously doing something right. Chevrolet UK has announced that in 2008 it managed to increase its market share in the UK by 12.5%, from 0.76% to 0.86%, with total sales for the year of 18,372 cars (which is only a smidge higher than 2007, but the lower total sales for the UK Car market in 2008 meant a significant increase in market share for Chevrolet). Chevrolet Cruze - Launches in the UK in 2009 These are not figures that are going to frighten the pants off Ford and Vauxhall, but they are an indication that a certain part of the car buying public in the UK are looking at price as a major factor, and are prepared to sacrifice a degree of driving joy to get in to a new car at a lower price.

The scramble for scarce tires

North American automakers are struggling with a nagging shortage of tires, caused in part by tire plant closings and rising demand for low-volume specialty tires. Automakers are paying much higher prices -- double-digit percentage increases from a year ago -- as tire makers gain pricing power. "We have been bombarded from every side for additional tires, and we can't keep up," said David O'Donnell, Continental Tire's vice president of original equipment in the Americas.