The UK government has issued new guidance which is expected to reduce the risk of pothole formation by ensuring companies that dig up roads replace them properly.

Around 90,000 remedial works are carried out each year on poorly-replaced roads, which are inconvenient to drivers, pedestrians and cyclists.

Transport minister Sadiq Khan published a revised Code of Practice, outlining new methods to ensure the provision of better quality road surfaces, which would result in fewer potholes.

The new guidelines will also reduce the chances of the roads having to be replaced for a second time.

Recently, the government announced a £100 million investment in the repairs of potholes on local roads.

Following wear and tear damage caused by one of the coldest winters on record, there are now more than one million potholes on Britain’s roads.

Some 40 per cent more road craters were filled over the past year compared with the previous one, according to a report published last month by the Asphalt Industry Alliance.

According to a new survey, there has been a sharp rise in the number of prospective car buyers over the past six months.

Compared with the last six month period, almost one-and-a-half times as many people (47 per cent) plan to buy a car, research conducted by Sainsbury’s Finance has shown.

Collectively, people may spend £49.1 billion on new and used cars over the next six months.

Sainsbury’s found that 24 per cent of prospective buyers will take out a loan to purchase their new car.

The findings may come as a surprise as the end of the government scrappage scheme was expected to have an adverse effect on new car sales.

"Overall, these latest figures should provide a great deal of optimism for the car industry", said Steven Baillie, head of loans at Sainsbury’s Finance.

The scheme was implemented after the Budget 2009 to provide a boost to new car sales during the recession.

Almost 400,000 cars have been traded in for new, more eco-friendly models since then.

It is too early to judge the effects of the scrappage scheme ending, it has been claimed.

According to the government, the scheme, which ended yesterday (March 31st), resulted in the sale of 400,000 new cars, which was one-fifth of the total sales since May 2009.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said that a "slight dip" in sales was predicted by the initiative finishing.

It said that the scheme had provided a "much-needed stimulus" during the recession.

The initiative "undoubtedly" helped "to underpin a very important sector of the economy" at a time when "car sales were going through the floor", said Mark Swift, media relations manager for the manufacturers’ organisation, EEF.

Mr Swift said that it was too early to tell what the effects of the scrappage scheme ending would be.

Particularly in the last quarter of 2009, the initiative "clearly brought forward a number of purchases", he said.

Kia is increasing the prices of some of its range but is keeping it to a minimum, with three and four per cent price rises from today (April 1st).

It is introducing the changes at the same time as the government’s new Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) rates to minimise confusion to car buyers.

The recently launched new Sorento and Venga models will not be affected by the price changes, neither will the popular Soul.

VED rates have come into force to encourage buyers to purchase low-emission models and rewarding them if they do.

The manufacturer recently announced an alternative scheme to replace the government scrappage scheme, which finished at the end of last month.

Buyers can trade in their old cars, aged between seven and ten years old for a brand new Kia.

They can save up to £2,000 off new models, which all come with a seven-year warranty as standard.

There is ongoing stability in the used car trade market, with balanced supply and demand, it has been revealed.

In the latest edition of the CAP Black Book, it was found that overall average trade values were slightly higher at three years/60,000 miles in every sector.

The continued instability in the new car sector and a dramatic reduction in short-cycle business has lead to oversupply in the sector.
CAP expects the balance to carry on as the scrappage scheme end could bring "renewed focus by customers on used cars".

Consistently rising in value ahead of the rest of the market, CAP is cautious about used 4×4s.

According to online car retailer, Carsite, the value of large family cars and 4×4s is expected to drop over the next six months due to the rising fuel prices.

They could lose up to ten per cent in value as petrol prices are set to reach record highs of 120p per litre.

New research has shown that using a hands-free phone while driving can dramatically impair driving performance.

Some 97.5 per cent of the drivers tested by the University of Utah were worse at driving when using a mobile phone.

Motorists using hands-free phones took 20 per cent longer to apply the brakes when needed and following distances increased by 30 per cent as drivers could not maintain the pace with other simulated traffic in the test.

Ellen Booth, campaigns officer for Brake, a UK road safety charity, that provides support for road crash victims and carers, said that the evidence overwhelmingly proved that using a phone while driving was dangerous.

She said it was important for politicians to begin to take notice and ban any sort of mobile phone use by drivers.

To drive in a safe manner, motorists must pay full attention to the road, she said, the only safe way to check a phone is to pull over in a sensible place first.

From tomorrow (April 1st), motorists buying new cars will be subject to a brand new first-year rate of vehicle excise duty (VED), which is designed to encourage buyers to opt for low-emission models.

All new cars in their first year of registration will have the one-off tax imposed upon them, based upon the CO2 levels they emit.

Drivers will pay the first-year rate of VED when they purchase their vehicle then new standard rates for each subsequent year, which are all calculated on emissions levels too.

Cars emitting 121g/km to 130g of CO2 will see a first-year reduction of up to £120 on current rates and, according to 2009 sales, they account for approximately 7.2 per cent of the new car sales market.

Although the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) hoped the government would scrap the new VED rates, it did make some announcements related to manufacturing, particularly in the low-carbon industry.

One of the proposed changes was for company car tax, which has been lowered by the government to five per cent for any vehicles emitting between one and 75g/km of CO2.

The government scrappage scheme, which officially ended today (March 31st), has saved around 4,000 jobs in the automotive sector, it has been claimed.

At least 330,000 cars have been sold as part of the scheme, which was implemented after the Budget 2009 to provide a short-term boost to the new car market during the economic downturn.

Business secretary Lord Mandelson said he was "pleased" to see the result the government wanted when it first introduced the initiative.

The government put around £400 million into funding for the scheme, which paid consumers £2,000 to trade in their old car, which was at least ten years old, for a new, greener model.

According to Jonathan Visscher, media manager at the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), the scheme was responsible for 20 per cent of average new car sales.

He said the initiative had boosted green credentials, putting more eco-friendly cars on UK roads.

Electric cars need smart grids to provide an interactive system for them when the market takes off, it has been claimed.

Investment in smart grids should give consumers greater control over energy bills too.

Matthew Knight, business development manager for Siemens Energy, transmission and distribution, said that implementing smart grids would make the system more user-friendly and cost effective for electric car owners.

He said the new system would allow users to balance the generation and demand of their usage, meaning when the costs of electricity were cheap, consumers could choose to charge up their electric vehicles.

Making electricity grids smarter, makes better use of the entire network, Mr Knight added.

Julien Groues, vice president of EMEA sales for Oracle Utilities, warned that more money needs to be invested in smart grids for the UK to seize the opportunity to reduce carbon emissions through additional investment in the expanding electric car market.

Nissan has announced that it is extending its scrappage scheme, allowing Nissan owners to trade in their old models for new ones.

Despite the government-funded scheme finishing this month, the manufacturer is offering owners of Nissan cars aged at least seven years old the opportunity to scrap their car and receive £2,000 off a brand new one.

The only models eligible for the scheme are British-built ones, which would have been manufactured at the UK’s largest car production plant in Sunderland.

Nissan’s scheme will begin on April 1st and is due to end on June 30th.
Managing director at Nissan, Paul Willcox, said he hoped the extended scheme would help the brand "sustain the positive results seen to date" and, at the same time, continue to support the UK economy.

The brand’s new all-electric model will be manufactured at the Sunderland Nissan plant, it was recently announced.

From 2013, the Sunderland plant will be responsible for the production of the LEAF for the whole of Europe.

Around £420 million has been invested by Nissan, which is expected to safeguard 2,250 jobs at the brand in the UK.