2018 was a turbulent year for new car sales with overall registrations down just under 7 percent. The Ford Fiesta remained Britain’s best-selling car but most car makers, including Ford, suffered sales declines.

The Society of Motoring Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) says the 2018 decline is down to three factors: Brexit, the demonization of diesel, and supply issues caused by new WLTP fuel economy tests.

Indeed, despite the challenges of Brexit, SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes (pictured below, right, with former Brexit secretary David Davis) says diesel is currently the biggest issue in UK dealer showrooms. “Diesel registrations have declined for 21 consecutive months,” he explained in a private briefing attended by Motoring Research. In 2018, they were down a whopping 30 percent.

“In sheer numbers, 316,000 fewer diesels were registered in 2018 – that’s 180 percent of the total decline. Petrol and alternative fuel vehicles are up, but half the diesel loss is down to people not buying new cars: they are keeping their existing vehicle.”

This is bad news for UK air quality, as pollution will only start to fall once older dirty diesels are off the road. Hawes hopes 2019 might be more positive on this front, due to pent-up demand from diesel owners.

Overall, 2.366 million new cars were registered in the UK in 2018. It is the second consecutive year of a decline in new car registrations. Despite the falls, Hawes did say that the trend is roughly on an historic par over the past five to 10 years.

2019, however, is expected to be down again, by another 2 percent. The SMMT predicts 2.32 million new car registrations this year, although Hawes adds it’s hard to predict beyond 29 March when the UK is scheduled to leave the EU.

“It’s potentially serious, and we have been clear: no deal is not an option for the car industry, and would be a catastrophe. However, if a deal goes through, there may be a boost to the economy, which would benefit new car sales.”

Emissions ‘going the wrong way’

2018’s new car registrations reveal a worrying trend for both car makers and the environment: after years of declines, average new car CO2 emissions are going up again.

The average new car sold in 2018 emitted 3 percent more CO2. The figure now stands at 124.5g/km – yet, in just three years’ time, car makers are obliged to hit an average of 95g/km, or be fined heavily for every car they sell over this cap.

Again, the demonization of diesel is to blame, says Hawes: diesels generally emit 20 percent less CO2 than petrol cars. But our love of bigger, heavier SUVs is also a factor – simple switches like moving from a Ford Focus into a Ford Kuga is driving up emissions.

The government hasn’t helped by pulling the Plug-in Car Grant for plug-in hybrids. “We need the fiscal policies, and government consistency: the frustration of the industry was palpable when we have the Road to Zero report one month, then pulling of Plug-in Car Grants in another.”

December 2018 top 10 best-selling cars

1: Ford Fiesta

2: Volkswagen Polo

3: Mini

4: Mercedes-Benz A-Class

5: Vauxhall Corsa

6: Volkswagen Golf

7: Ford Focus

8: Vauxhall Astra

9: Ford Kuga

10: Nissan Qashqai

Forget your average classic car ‘barn find’ discovery. In Bulgaria, a warehouse containing eleven E34 5 Series BMWs, thought to date from 1994, have been uncovered.

Uncovered in a Facebook post by a Bulgarian garage, the photos of the abandoned BMWs have already generated lots of attention on the ‘Rust Free Zone’ page.

Stories of how the cars came to be left there for many years, along with speculators interested in buying them, are all fuelling the interest.

Hiding beneath the sheets

Consisting of ten saloons and one solitary Touring estate, the collection is made up of a mixture of 520i and 525i models. Black and Calypso Red appear to have been the colours of choice.

Due to the later construction of these cars, that means a 148hp 2.0-litre straight-six engine for the 520i models, and a more powerful 189hp 2.5-litre straight-six for the 525i cars.

Although clearly not about ultimate performance, these would offer more than adequate everyday performance. At least one car does have a manual gearbox, too.

Low miles, one previous owner

Whilst the mileage may be zero, being unused for 25 years has taken its toll on the cars. Some have smashed rear windows, or feature missing fuel flap doors. Others also show deteriorating paintwork due to water damage.

Interior photos  do at least show seats still with plastic covers on them. Paperwork and stickers from the initial transport and delivery of the cars also appear present, and only add further to the air of mystery around them.

Initial reports suggested the cars may have been bought for use by a rental company, but were subsequently never registered.

The truth is out there

One commenter, Edis Shaban, claims to know the real story of how the cars came to be there. He believes that the cars were purchased by Nikolay Tadarukov – a former Bulgarian Minister of Agriculture.

Intended for use by members of the Bulgarian National Assembly, the BMWs were apparently abandoned due to politician prefering to use Mercedes-Benz cars instead.

As a result of being snubbed, the cars were then placed in storage in Blagoevgrad, located in southwestern Bulgaria. An old factory full of scrap metal is hardly a glamorous location, although it has at least protected the BMWs from the worst of the elements.

Stop! Hammertime

Given the length of time the cars have been left unused, the eleven examples are likely to need some gentle recommissioning before hitting the road for the first time.

The present owner of the warehouse, and the BMWs, is reported to be considering auctioning the cars off. Given the level of interest seen on social media, it is unlikely he will have any trouble finding buyers for these forgotten retro machines.

However, with more than 1.3 million examples of the E34 BMW 5 Series built, these particular cars are unlikely to reach staggering prices come sale time. In the UK, similar examples of the E34 range from £2,000 – £5,000 dependent on condition, with the rare M5 able to command much more.

London’s Tottenham Court Road will be out of bounds for use by cars, lorries and taxis in peak times from March – and motorists who breach the ban face heavy fines.

The one-way street will be converted to two-way use in March. Between 8am and 7pm Monday to Saturday, only buses and bikes will be allowed to use it.

Camden council is investing £35 million to transform the street as part of plans to improve air quality and road safety.

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Motorists who use Tottenham Court Road when restrictions are in place face a £130 fine.

Cabbies have already slammed the new scheme. Steve McNamara, general secretary of the Licenced Taxi Drivers’ Association, called it an “ill thought out scheme.

“The major arteries of London are just that,” he told the Evening Standard. “They are the main method of London’s lifeblood moving around.

Camden council’s Adam Harrison countered by saying “not having taxis in the daytime will lead to 25 percent less traffic, with all the benefits for air quality and congestion that go along with it”.

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The taxi industry insists that congestion and pollution will instead worsen on surrounding roads.

Other changes on Tottenham Court Road, a key road in London’s West End, include wider pavements and bigger pedestrian crossings.

The six bus routes that use Tottenham Court Road will also benefit from improved timetabling, allowing up to 114 buses an hour to use the street during peak times.

With over 900,000 trucks sold during 2018, the Ford F-Series has recorded an impressive 42nd year as the best-selling pickup in the United States.

More than 87,000 examples were sold in December 2018 alone, with 10 months throughout the year seeing sales above 70,000 – a new record. Average sale prices also increased, with Ford experiencing high demand for upmarket models of the F-Series.

Compared year-on-year to 2017, overall F-Series sales increased by 1.4 percent in 2018. Yet overall sales for the Blue Oval saw a 3.5 percent decrease against the previous year.

Vans up, cars down

Ford has made no secret of plans to end the sale of traditional cars in North America. The strategy seems to be clearly supported by the sales figures from last year.

A total of just 486,024 Ford cars were sold during 2018 – a hefty 18.4 percent decrease from the 595,390 cars sold in 2017. Despite the launch of a heavily updated model, the Mustang also saw a drop in sales by 7.4 percent.

Intriguingly, the GT supercar was one of the only Ford cars to record an increase in sales – albeit from 89 to 126 models sold.

Along with modest growth for pickup trucks, one of the biggest climbers in sales figures was the Transit van. Over 137,000 units were sold in 2018, making the Transit the best-selling commercial vehicle in the United States.

Ford and Lincoln SUVs also see growth

Overall sales of Ford SUVs in 2018 saw a marginal increase at 0.1%, buoyed by the large Expedition SUV recording 54,661 units sold. That 5.4 percent growth was, along with the Police Interceptor Utility model, the only Ford SUV to see higher demand.

The Lincoln brand also saw a 6.8 percent decrease in sales during 2018. Lincoln cars dropped by a staggering 27.7 percent compared to 2017, although SUV models did see an additional 4.7 percent models sold.

Launched in late 2017, the revised Lincoln Navigator was responsible for the higher overall SUV sales. With 17,839 units sold during 2018, the luxury SUV recorded a 69.5 percent increase compared to 2017.

A cross-party group of MPs is supporting a petition that calls for the setting up of an independent fuel pricing watchdog to ‘stop excessive prices at the fuel pumps’. 

The petition was set up by campaigning body FairFuelUK, and already has more than 14,500 signatures. 

“Drivers need reassurance that they are not paying way over the odds for fuel,” said Kirstene Hair, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Fair Fuel for Motorists and Hauliers.

Highlighting the need for an independent fuel price regulator with @STVNews – motorists deserve fair fuel prices no matter where they’re fuelling up across the country. @FairFuelUK pic.twitter.com/Btd1pBcf3j

— Kirstene Hair MP (@Kirstene4Angus) January 3, 2019

“In rural communities where public transport is poor and unreliable, people need their vehicles to get from A to B. It is essential that they pay the fairest price. That is where a price monitoring system would support them.”

Garages that charge fair prices would display a ‘kitemark’ logo.

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However, Brian Madderson, chairman of fuel industry trade body the Petrol Retailers Association, rejected the idea. He told the BBC that a watchdog, although a well-meaning idea, “would be pretty impractical.

“Who is going to check prices at 8,500 forecourts? And if you have a kitemark, what’s going to be the acceptable margin?”

Profits made by filling stations rose from 8p on a litre of petrol to more than 13p a litre by the end of the year. Diesel profits currently stand at around 11p a litre.

Calls for a ‘petrolwatch’ come as RAC Fuel Watch reveals that although fuel prices fell in December 2018, it calculates they remain 8p a litre too high. “Drivers should feel cheated prices have not come down further,” said spokesperson Simon Williams.

He blamed this on two factors: petrol prices have not been cut sufficiently to reflect falls in the wholesale price, and three major supermarkets appear unwilling to compete with the cheapest retailer, Asda.

“Normally, the other three supermarkets are 1p to 1.5p more expensive on unleaded, but our data shows that since October, they have abandoned this strategy in favour of pricing 2.5p to 4p higher for a litre of petrol.”

He called the situation “highly unusual, the likes of which we haven’t seen before”. Supermarkets are key to sharp competition on forecourts in the UK, as they sell 45 percent of British fuel.

“Drivers could be paying around 3p a litre more for their fuel simply because of a retail pricing decision at three supermarkets.”

Sign the petition to ‘set up an independent pricing watchdog to stop excessive prices at the fuel pumps

Mazda is showing that you don’t need to have a brand new car in order to benefit from Apple CarPlay. Models up to five years old can be retro-fitted with the smartphone-syncing tech. All they need is an MZD Connect infotainment screen.

It’s not just Apple CarPlay; Android Auto can also be integrated into older cars.

The dealer-fit upgrade includes both hardware and software upgrades – the latest version of Mazda Connect is installed, and Mazda dealers also install a more powerful and faster charging 2.1-amp USB port.

Software works using the rotary controller knob in the centre console and, where fitted (and when the vehicle is stationary), the central touchscreen. Voice control (via the built in voice control button) will also work in Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

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The upgrade takes around two hours at a dealer. It offically costs £350 (although some dealers are running special offers, trimming the cost to £299). 

Mazda first introduced MZD Connect in 2014 and it features on popular models such as the CX-3 and CX-5 SUV, the Mazda 6 large family car and the MX-5 roadster range. 

The biggest-selling maker of electric and electrified cars in Europe is BMW, new data for 2018 has revealed.

This places BMW ahead of Volkswagen, Nissan, Renault and Tesla in the EU.

BMW also commands an eight percent share of global electric and plug-in hybrid electric cars, a total bettered only by Tesla and China’s BYD.

Nissan, which builds what’s considered the world’s first mainstream electric car, the Leaf, is way back on four percent worldwide market share. Toyota, the world’s biggest car company, has a lowly three percent global market share of electrified vehicles.

BMW’s impressive performance comes from a combination of innovation with the all-electric i3, and a big focus on plug-in hybrids with its iPerformance range of cars.

It’s this that seems almost one in five brand new BMWs in Germany being either electric or plug-in hybrid. Tesla has a three percent market share in BMW’s home market.

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Here in the UK, BMW’s electromobility vehicles are easily outperforming its market average. In traditional new car registrations, BMW has an 8.1 percent market share; restrict the focus to EVs, and its command of the sector grows to almost 32 percent.

This means BMW GB has a far higher proportion of electric and plug-in hybrid sales than any other major market. In Germany, the share is 21.5 percent, and globally, it’s 8.7 percent.

The BMW i3 was introduced back in 2013 and since then, BMW has sold more than 100,000 cars. This is not as many as it perhaps envisaged (despite hitting the 10,000 UK sales total earlier in 2018), but strong sales of mainstream plug-in hybrids have compensated.

BMW is now delivering well over 100,000 electrified new cars a year, with the latest high-volume model – the new BMW 330e – due for launch in July 2019.

The popular Lego Speed Champions range has gained some extra American muscle. Two of Dodge’s greatest products can now be built in miniature brick form.

Combining two machines into one set, Mopar fans of any age can create the latest 2018 Challenger SRT Demon, along with the 1970 Charger R/T.

Modern or classic?

Although the Lego Challenger SRT Demon might not have a 840hp supercharged Hemi engine, it still has the many of the features recreated in miniature.

That means two sets of wheels – just like the SRT Demon, along with a hood scoop, dual-exit exhaust, and replica decals.

Going retro with the Charger R/T means a removable supercharger, an alternative engine cover, and a faithful recreation of the iconic hidden headlights.

Take it to the strip

Along with the two buildable cars, the set also includes three Lego minifigures. This means a driver for each of the respective Mopar machines, along with a race marshall.

Given the quarter-mile ability of the SRT Demon, the set also includes a Christmas tree start light. Operated by a lever, the Christmas tree counts down to start the race, making it a test of reactions.

Following the impressive array of records set by the SRT Demon, we imagine many Lego versions will be launching down miniature drag strips with their front wheels in the air.

Brick by brick

Whilst trying to find a 1970 Charger or Challenger SRT Demon is likely to need a trip to the auction house, buying the Lego set is much easier. Fans can purchase it right now from the online Lego Shop.

The latest Lego Speed Champions update also sees a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 race car added to the range. Perfect if you need a GM machine to face-off against the two Mopar offerings.

Previous years have seen an ever-expanding collaboration between Lego and major car manufacturers. Last year saw the creation of a life-size Bugatti Chiron in brick form, with the car taking on a global tour.