http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/23360/story.htm
Car Sales Power to New Record UK: January 8, 2004 LONDON - New car sales in Britain set a new record of almost 2.6 million in 2003, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders says, but it warns that 2004 will be a tougher year for car makers. It said the new total, a rise of 0.6 percent from 2002's record figure, was driven by a strong economy, low interest rates and a host of new models but that rising interest rates this year would probably brake sales to around 2.5 million. Sales of diesel-engined cars continued to surge and have doubled since 2000, taking a record 27.3 percent of the new car market during 2003. The Ford Mondeo was the best-selling diesel car. Diesel's market share was nearly 31 percent in December alone, making it likely that the share will continue to climb in 2004, helped by the new generation of thrifty but fast direct-injection turbo diesel engines. Diesel's market share in the UK, however, is still a lot lower than many other European countries where diesel fuel is much cheaper, due to lower taxes, than in Britain, where it is slightly more expensive than petrol at around 78 pence a litre. Britons also have a growing penchant for smaller cars, which will please environmentalists. The class known as "superminis" -- which includes the Vauxhall Corsa and Ford Fiesta -- grew 5.1 percent last year to take a record market share of 34 percent. Story by Ashley Seager REUTERS NEWS SERVICE Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/index.php?list=biofuel Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
