Author: Robin Roberts

It may be a throw-back to Nordic history, but when there is news of a new Volvo, heads turn towards the horizon. They are not always the first to introduce a feature or model in a sector, but you can bet their version will be significant. And you cannot get much more significant that the latest Volvo XC40 R-Design with its new three-cylinder 1.5 litre petrol engine, the first of a new generation, and one of the latest small SUVs which are now sweeping up sales around the world. The XC40 won European CoY 2018 to join its larger XC60…

Wales bucked the UK trend and pushed up new car registrations in November by 1.03% to 5,579 models. [aoa id=”1″] This compares to a rise of 7.1% in Scotland with 12,407 new cars and 3,8% in Northern Ireland 3,253 while a decline of 4.1 %was experienced in England when figures dipped to 137,039, so the market in the UK went down overall by 2.98%. British new car sales fell by 6.9 percent in the first eleven months of the year due to stalling consumer confidence, stricter emissions rules disrupting supply and double-digit drops in demand for diesel, according to an…

A Welsh businesswoman has launched Motokiki, the UK’s first truly independent tyre comparison website. [aoa id=”1″] Unlike other retailers who simply offer a comparison of their own stock, Port Talbot-based Motokiki gives free and impartial information on prices of a huge range of tyres from the widest range of manufactures and suppliers across the country. Currently, no comparison website in the UK offers this service which provides a genuine ‘whole of market’ tyre price comparison which also includes ratings on fuel efficiency, water displacement and noise levels. Motokiki will totally transform the industry by giving the country’s 37 million motorists…

Hemmels of Cardiff is probably one of the least known success stories in Britain’s automotive sector but rapidly gaining recognition around the world. It specialises in nut and bold regeneration of classic Mercedes-Benz sports cars and prices for their year-long rebuilt models begin at £225,000. For that an owner with a post-war Mercedes-Benz sports car hands it over to the 45-strong craftsmen at Hemmels and sits back while the Neugeboren Process is completed. [aoa id=”1″][/aoa] The owner can watch on-line the gradual strip down, cataloguing, and painstaking rebuilding with genuine Mercedes-Benz parts, retrimming and repainting before it’s handed back, often…

Bridgend Engine Plant (BEP) makes working for Ford as family friendly as possible. In fact, its efforts to integrate working life with family life has been recognised in the Chairman’s Leadership Awards for Diversity. The management team at BEP was singled out for the way it has developed policies over the last few years which allow production staff to share duties and about 20 employees have Flexible Working Arrangements. The BEP programme has evolved to provide flexible working arrangements in almost every department in the plant and Neil Davis, assistant plant manager, said he was delighted they had won the award.…

A multi-million pound three-storey state-of-art paint shop is nearing completion and engineers have started installing assembly lines, fitting out offices and preparing customer areas as well as constructing a dynamic assessment test track including an ‘active hill’. The 90 acres site started life as a series of £100M Ministry of Defence Super-Hangars and over two years is being completely transformed into one of the world’s most advanced luxury car plants. With the unveiling of Aston Martin Lagonda’s first DBX SUV scheduled for the last quarter of 2019, work is progressing apace to complete the new St Athan production facility. Nearly 200…