With the Le Man 24 Hours just five weeks away, Audi driver Allan McNish is preparing with a full ‘dress rehearsal’ in Germany next Sunday (May 9th).

The Scotsman has won the event twice in his illustrious career and he will be joined by eight teammates, who will all be driving the latest Audi R15 TDI Plus sports-prototypes in a 1,000km preparation race at Spa-Francorchamps.

"We’ll face our fiercest rivals for the first time this year, the factory Peugeot team, which also has a three-car entry at Spa and then Le Mans in June," McNish said.

Spa is the second round of the Le Mans Series (LMS), with McNish and Italian teammate Dindo Capello having won the Paul Ricard LMS event earlier this month.

The Le Mans 24 Hours is the world’s oldest sports car endurance race and has been held annually since 1923 near the town of Le Mans, Sarthe, France.

An auto parts manufacturer has announced that it is creating 100 new jobs as the UK car industry continues to grow in strength, the Express & Star reports.

ThyssenKrupp Tallent, based in Cannock, Staffordshire, had to shed more than 300 jobs during its lowest point of the economic crisis, but this latest news suggests it is returning to good health.

The firm is looking for recruits to join its factory team, which produces structural under-body parts for many leading car brands, and some of the jobs will be permanent, the news provider said.

Paul Everitt, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, told the newspaper: "Headline figures demonstrate a steady improvement in home and export markets.

"But the industry will continue to face tough market conditions with the scrappage scheme closing and limited access to finance and credit."

The car parts manufacturer also has factories in India, Belgium, the USA and China.

The future of Donington Park appears bright once more after its owners announced that it could be hosting motorsport again by August, ThisisDerbyshire.co.uk reports.

For a time it was feared that the famous racing venue would never reopen after closing for the second time in its history when its owners went into administration last autumn.

But this latest development, announced by Kevin Wheatcroft, son of the track’s late owner Tom, has raised hopes of a Donington revival.

"We wanted to reassure fans that we are still working hard to get things up and running again. We have already drained the tunnel under the circuit and moved the top soil back on to the circuit," said Mr Wheatcroft.

"But the main work replacing the track will start in May and hopefully be finished in August. Providing we obtain the necessary racing licences then we will see racing again before the end of the year."

In October last year, Formula One commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone revealed that Donington would not be hosting the 2010 British Grand Prix.

Sustainable mobility remains a strong priority for Volvo, according to the car manufacturer’s Sustainability Report.

It has introduced seven DRIVe models, diesel cars with enhanced fuel efficiency and lower CO2 emissions than normal, while it also plans to start series production of a plug-in hybrid model by 2010.

The Volvo XC60, an eco-friendly SUV compact, has enjoyed continued success as the Swedish firm’s best-selling model in 2009, receiving several international awards along the way.

"Our commitment goes beyond the tailpipe emissions of our cars – we believe that our responsibility starts with our supplier chain, through production, use and recycling, encompassing a holistic environmental approach," said Stephen Odell, the company’s president and chief executive officer.

The company recently announced all its new models would include pollen filters to ease the suffering of Volvo drivers with hay fever.

Earlier this year, the Volvo S80 executive saloon and V70 premium estate models were modified to produce CO2 emissions as low as 119g/km.

Rising petrol costs are not hampering the market for luxury used cars, according to Glass’s.

Despite prices recently exceeding the previous record of 120p for a litre of unleaded petrol, the sales of luxury car, prestige SUVs and supercars have not been negatively impacted.

Those vehicles require more fuel than many other cars on the road, meaning the cost to run them has risen more sharply but that doesn’t seem to be putting buyers off.

"Given the series of fuel price increases, it is perhaps surprising that there has not been any kind of backlash in the premium sectors this time around," said Adrian Rushmore, managing editor of Glass’s, a used car specialist.

"In fact, the sector that could be described as the most fuel inefficient appears to be thriving, namely the prestige 4×4 sector that has recorded price resilience not seen in any other area of the market."

In March, petrol prices rose to an average price of 119.9p, breaking the all-time high set in 2008.

Skoda has seen its profits boosted by increased sales in the first three months of the year.

A year-on-year comparison revealed a 25 per cent jump in the number of vehicles delivered for the Czech Republic’s bigger car manufacturer, with post-tax operating profit up from CZK 787 million (£26.7 million) to CZK 2.7 billion.

The company’s improved performance is largely down to a growth in the Chinese market, with sales up a huge 121.9 per cent, while there was also a rise in European sales, particularly in central Europe, where it recorded a 12.9 per cent rise.

Its Octavia and Superb models both experienced strong sales growth during what has been a very strong start to the year for the firm.

"The sales results show that the markets in Western Europe are recovering from the economic recession. The only exception is Germany, where the automotive market slumped by nearly 25 % over the first three months as compared with the same period of last year," said Reinhard Fleger, of the sales and marketing department at Skoda Auto.

Earlier this year, the car manufacturer’s UK branch won the Human Touch and Customer Care award for the fourth time in five years.

The number of registered vehicles in the UK rose by just 0.1 per cent in 2009 compared to the previous year, the lowest year-on-year growth in almost 20 years.

At the end of 2009, there were 34.3 million vehicles registered in Great Britain, just 52,000 more than in 2008, figures from the Department for Transport revealed.

It represents the lowest growth since 1991, when the number of licensed vehicles actually fell.

In total, 2.4 million vehicles were registered for the first time, an 11.3 per cent drop on the previous year, and the lowest number of new registrations since 1995.

The figures cover all types of vehicles and also show that new car registrations fell by 6.8 per cent, far less than the 35 per cent decrease in the registration of light goods vehicles.

New car sales in the UK were up more than a quarter in March compared to last year, according to data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

Michael Schumacher’s year goes from bad to worse as Stirling Moss labels him ‘past it’, the Metro reports.

The German driver returned to Formula One this season but is yet to claim a podium finish and is some way behind his team mate Nico Rosberg, and Moss, one of the sport’s biggest legends, says he can’t understand why Schumacher came out of retirement.

"He’s a highly intelligent bloke, and I really can’t see (why he’s come back)… all he’s going to do is damage his achievements," Moss told the Metro.

"People are going to say he’s past it now, which he probably is."

Moss won 16 races in his illustrious career, and is widely considered as one of the most talented drivers the sport has ever seen, and now the 80-year-old has cast some doubt over Schumacher’s credentials.

"People say he’s the best because he’s won seven world titles, but that doesn’t mean anything really," he told the news provider, before adding: "Well, it does mean something – it’s a hell of an achievement – but it doesn’t mean he’s the greatest ever."

Schumacher is tenth in this year’s Formula One world championship standings, 50 points behind leader Jenson Button.

Toyota has said it hopes to have fixed 90 per cent of the 1.7 million cars it recalled in Europe earlier this year by the end of July, Auto Car reports.

Work started on the mass recall in January, and the Japanese manufacturer has since inspected one million Auris, Avensis, Aygo, Yaris and Prius models.

With two-thirds of the total now processed, Toyota is optimistic that it will rectify the problem in over 1.5 million of the affected vehicles, but admits it will not be able to fix the lot as some people have not responded to the recall notices.

A spokesman for the company explained: "In the UK… we expect completion will reach around 95 per cent, even though we have sent three letters to each customer," the car news provider adds.

The problems faced by Toyota this year have lead to a decrease in the company’s market share, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

Volvo is offering a solution to motorists faced with the irritation of hay fever.

All of the manufacturer’s new models will be fitted with a pollen filter, which will provide some relief for the nation’s sufferers, estimated to number between eight and ten million.

The high-quality filter is designed to keep the interior of the car free from the pollen which triggers the irritation, and which is prominent at this time of year, known as the hay fever season.

"The filters we fit to clean the passenger compartment air also remove the particles that cause allergies. A ride in a car can actually make breathing easier for many sufferers when the problem becomes acute," says Andreas Andersson, manager of allergy-optimised car interiors at Volvo Cars.

Characterised by sneezing and itchy eyes, hay fever is brought on by airborne pollen released by trees, grass and plants, the season runs through spring and summer.