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Sales for General Motors, Vauxhall’s holding company, were up in America for December of last year.
A great December all round
Compared to last year, sales were up by 5 %. Overall it was one the best ever December’s for the automotive industry. General Motors along with Ford and Chrysler reported great sales during December, showing that the car industry is experiencing growth.
Figures for General Motors
General Motors were number 1, selling 234,351 in that particular month. Ford were behind selling 210,140. Passenger cars were up by 12 % with trucks doing one better by being 13 % higher in terms of sales this year.
The Volt
The Chevrolet Volt model sold 1,500 in December, despite being tangled in a highly publicised investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The NHTSA believe that faulty components within the car can cause the vehicle to catch fire. December was in fact the companies best month in terms of sales volume.
Don Johnson – quality range of cars
Don Johnson, the head of General Motors sales over in America said that the wide variety of cars that the company has to offer has greatly improved the industry. He said “GM’s balanced portfolio of fuel-efficient cars, trucks and crossovers helped us make the most of the U.S. economy’s slow but steady recovery in 2011.Importantly, we were able to grow all four of our brands and re-establish Chevrolet as a force to be reckoned with in the passenger-car business.”
Ford at the top overall
Although General Motors were number one for sales in December, Ford were top overall in terms of annual sales. Ford Marketing and Sales Chief Ken Czubay had an interesting view on the matter. His exact words were “The year finished on a high note, with industry sales momentum strengthening as the year came to a close. We saw Ford sales strengthen as well, posting our best December retail sales month since 2005 and closing the year as America’s best-selling brand.”
Ford sold 210,140 in December. This is an improvement in their own record compared to 2010 by 10 % but still not quite as good as General Motors. Sales of cars decreased by 14.9 %. Trucks saw a larger demand this year and helped the company recover a lot of that fallen car sales. Overall Ford sold 28 % more.
Next year will again be an interesting battle between General Motors and Ford.
The new Vauxhall Corsavan ecoFLEX is the latest addition to the company’s range of economical vehicles.
It contains a 16v 1.3 CDTi which is able to produce 95 BHP.
ecoFLEX benefits
The economy and efficiency values offered by the vehicles are second to none. It is able to achieve 78.3 MPG and emits just 95 g /km C02. Urban driving is said to achieve around 65.5 MPG.
Start/stop
The start/stop technology included on the van helps the environmental credentials. When it comes to a halt, in a traffic jam for instance, the engine switches off in order to save fuel efficiency and C02 emissions. The driver has to simply release the clutch whilst the van is in neutral in order to activate the start/stop feature. When the van needs to be driven off again, the engine starts up immediately. Whilst the engine is off, the van’s power steering, ventilation and braking system performance still up and running, ensuring the safety aspect is still present.
Extra technology
Aerodynamic wheel covers, a variable geometry turbocharger, a lowered chassis and a shift up indicator adds to the efficiency technology within the car. These special pieces of technology also allow the van to be Euro 5 compliant.
Not available yet
At present the vans are not able to purchase but orders can be taken. It will cost £13,048 and Vauxhall are offering four years 0% APR with the deal.
Other ecoFLEX
The addition of the Corsavan meant that the Vauxhall are the first car brand to convert all of their commercial vehicles into an eco version.
At present, the Vauxhall Combo, the Vauxhall Movano, the Vauxhall Vivaro and the Vauxhall Astravan (which is British made) all come under the ecoFLEX umbrella. The company are clearly attempting to keep a strong foothold of the fact that they are the nation’s number one provider when it comes to producing commercial vans.
Vauxhall’s Luton, Bedfordshire and Ellesmere Port plants managed to produce 77,000 plus Vauxhall commercial vans were produced last year.
We believe that the Corsavan ecoFLEX is available from showrooms, it will take the country by storm. Fleet companies will be especially attracted to the eco credentials.
The Vauxhall Nova is an iconic car and is very important vehicle in the history of the company.
It helped put Vauxhall map and was one of the first in the generation of supermini’s. It created a platform for how successful the Vauxhall Corsa is today.
It lasted a fantastic 10 years in production before it was finally brought to an end.
We take a look at the best points of the car and why it made such an impact.
Practicality
For such a small car, the Vauxhall Nova offered a generous amount of room within the boot and the cabin. Compared to rivals at the time, the car was one of the best in its class in terms of offering a great amount of practicality.
Running costs
A huge advantage of owning a small car is the low running costs. The Vauxhall Nova can be considered as one the pioneers of offering such low expenditure. Low costs meant performance had to be sacrificed but owners who went for this type of car were not too concerned.
Parts were very cheap and remain that way. The only problem is that since the car ended production a number of years ago, availability of them may be quite difficult to come across.
Reliability
It was hard to find a supermini more reliable than this one during its heyday. It was engineered very well and not many complained of problems. It was so well made that if you find one that has been well taken care of, it could end up being quite a good deal.
Look for all the necessary paperwork of new parts and ensure that the car has full service history. The later variants that came with more electrical components will need extra attention as many of them may not be in perfect working order considering the age of the car.
Conclusion
If were back in the 1980’s or 1990’s, this review would have been describing one of the best small cars available at the time.
Cars have since moved on which offer the car’s advantageous features in a much better fashion.
If you want a cheap, reliable small car, you could do a lot worse than the Vauxhall Nova.
Want an amazing driving experience in a way that you haven’t experienced before?
The new Vauxhall panoramic windscreen adds a new a dimension to the way drivers look and observe the road ahead.
Unique look
It can be said that looking from the outside in, the windscreen looks a bit out of proportion. From inside the cabin however, those worries are completely put to one side as the spectacular view makes up for the unease within the exterior design.
Wonderful views
The panoramic windscreen may look odd as it extends all the way to the roof, meaning the driver and passengers receive the benefits of wonderful visual views from the car. It has been described by some sources as quite an extraordinary experience. Everyone within gets to enjoy the sunshine, looking at the stars or admire cloud patterns while the car is on the road, something which many other cars don’t offer.
When the sunshine proves a bit too much to deal with, blinds are able to utilised in order to lessen the obscurity of the view. It helps to create a different type of atmosphere within the car too. It’s very easily accessible too.
The layout of the driver and passengers with the Vauxhall panoramic roof over their heads resembles that of pilots in light aeroplanes, which in certain ways adds to the experience.
Previous success
This isn’t the first time that we have seen the Vauxhall panoramic windscreen. Around 18,000 of them were ordered on the previous generation of the Vauxhall Astra GTC. Perhaps more could be ordered with the new generation which went on sale in June.
The engineers of the windscreen, Russelsheim, were able to secure 11 patents for the unique product.
The Vauxhall GTC has five engines available with all of its variants. These include a 1.4 litre 100 BHP and a 1.6 turbo 180 BHP petrol versions. A 2.0 CDTI Common Rail turbo diesel engine that is able to produce an outstanding 165 BHP is also available within the line-up. A 110 BHP and 130 BHP version of the 1.7 CDTI Common Rail Turbo is also included within the range.
The car is fantastic, as mentioned in one of our previous articles named “A further in depth look at the Vauxhall Astra GTC” (LINK)
We are sure that the Vauxhall panoramic sunroof will add the car’s appeal even further.
After already reviewing the Vauxhall Insignia, we take a further look into the Sports Tourer variant of the car.
Practicality
We start off on the immense practicality that the Insignia Sports Tourer offers as it’s the main attribute which sets the car apart from the standard version.
The boot has a capacity of 540 litres when the seats are up. This rivals the Ford Mondeo with the boot sizes not being far apart at all. The older Vauxhall Vectra has space of a very similar size, making this a worthy replacement to the iconic model. When the seats come down, the space is increased by so much that it’s like travelling in a van.
Costs
Running the car will not be very expensive. An Insignia Sports Tourer service is not expensive compared to rival cars. The 1.6 litre turbo variant can achieve a respectable 35.8 MPG and emits a surprisingly low amount of C02.
Buying the car isn’t too expensive when comparing it to its rivals. The insurance group is quite low too.
The ecoFlex versions are your best bets for low running costs.
Performance
The 1.6 litre turbo petrol option is the best option in terms of offering a thrilling drive and strong performance. Despite containing the lowest size engine, the car can reach 0-62 MPH in just 8.7 seconds. It can achieve 178 BHP, can produce 170lb of torque and has a top speed of 137 MPH. Not bad for a family car?
The 2.0 litre turbo variant offers 217 BHP and the V6 turbocharged 2.8 litre variant offers a 265 BHP. These two versions consume the most petrol out of all other variants, which is quite a big price to pay for the superb power that is offered.
The two diesels, which offer 128 BHP and 158 BHP respectively, offer decent performances and are the best option for those who drive longer distances.
Conclusion
There are many more features we could have discussed about the car, such as the comfort and looks.
The Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer was the estate version of the European Car of the Year. It’s clearly a car with great quality and will please any owner.
The Dutch satellite navigation company TomTom have attempted to make up for a fall in demand for their devices.
TomTom and Vauxhall have agreed a deal whereby a tailor made satellite navigation systems will be installed into Vauxhall cars. The device will come as standard amongst certain models as a dealer fitted item.
Sales have naturally declined since more satellite navigation devices have been made available. Smart phones have various other software which offers the same type of service as the TomTom, making it obsolete to some extent. Other handheld satellite navigation devices have causes TomTom to fall from grace too.
Niels de Zwart, who works for ING as an analyst, believes the deal between Vauxhall and TomTom will be beneficial for the company’s growth. He said “the deal will serve to drive growth in TomTom’s automotive unite in 2012 and 2013″.
Giles Shirmpton, the Managing Director of TomTom Automotive, stated the importance of the deal and the relantionship between the Vauxhall and TomTom. He was quoted to have said “Opel and TomTom have been working closely together to offer Opel and Vauxhall drivers the full advantages of real time navigation services”.
“This is an important step in our relationship and I look forward to developing the opportunities this brings for both companies”.
The proposed satellite navigation system that will be installed into the Vauxhall vehicles will be a more sophisticated and advanced version, keeping up with the “Live” features. This means live services such as instant updates on traffic and dynamic routing depending on the traffic situation will be installed as an option. All live updates are utilised and updated through an online portal within the system. Typically, this type of service comes with a subscription fee.
The TomTom satellite navigation system is said to be made available with the Vauxhall Astra J, the Vauxhall Combo B, the Vauxhall Meriva B and the Vauxhall Insignia in December.
Some key features of the TomTom
- HD Traffic – real time traffic updates with dynamic routing
- Updated – The most up to date device available for traffic reports
- Voice recognition – The latest voice recognition capabilities
TomTom and Vauxhall appear to have struck a great deal which will is certain to be useful for many.
