PRICES UP: Average Irish new car retail prices rose 4.1 per cent during the 12 months to January 2004.
The PricewaterhouseCoopers and eurocarprice.com Index of New Car Prices shows average Irish prices last month 31 per cent higher than the average for western Europe and 32 per cent higher than the average for the euro currency zone.
BANGLE MOVE: BMW has moved its controversial chief designer, Chris Bangle (above), from direct styling responsibility for the BMW brand to silence steady criticism of the firm's design direction. Bangle has been appointed to a new post, director of BMW Group Design, where he will oversee styling departments for BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce. He will have no day-to-day input into the designs.
The new design head at BMW is Adrian van Hooydonk, president of BMW's California design studio. The German firm has said it plans to increase sales to 1.4 million in 2008 with 20 new models and three new engines.
ELANTRA FACELIFT: The facelifted Hyundai Elantra now features air-conditioning, leather upholstery and electric windows as standard for €21,000. The update comes as the South Korean firm reported record earnings last year. Hyundai has made rapid inroads into the US and Europe in recent years and has now surpassed some Japanese rivals such as Mitsubishi in the US market. It holds eighth position on the Irish market.
COMING HOME: DaimlerChrysler is recalling Wolfgang Bernhard from Chrysler in the US to run Mercedes. The announcement is expected at lunchtime today. Shareholders have not been happy since the merger with Chrysler five years ago and it's hoped that Bernhard's return will bolster the Mercedes brand, which has been slipping in quality tests recently.
PORSCHE PUSH: Porsche is to double its production of the Carrera GT (above) from one a day to two. Buyers will still have to wait two years.The decision comes against the background of Porsche again taking the lion's share of the "exotic" segment last year.
FIAT CARROTS: Fiat is offering a five-year warranty for new car customers in Ireland, as was predicted in Motors last October. It's one of three options, the others being zero per cent finance over 24 months and a trade-in bonus for customers with no trade-in. The warranty has a limit of 120,000 kilometres or 74,000 miles. The zero per cent finance arrangement requires a trade-in or cash deposit equal in value to at least 50 per cent of the car's open book price.