According to a poll released in the past few days by Marks & Spencer (M&S) shows that nearly 60% of all drivers in the UK have fallen victim to car crime.

Meaning that a fully protective policy is vital for anyone that is looking for insurance,  which isn’t a problem but it seems a lot of drivers are putting this area of their insurance at risk.

Almost 60% of drivers admitted in the anonymous survey that they do not activate their vehicle’s alarm when it is left parked up. 

Andrew Ferguson, M&S head of general Insurance said:

"It’s important to make sure the vehicle is secure when unattended."

The RSA Insurance group have recently announced the UK’s first online insurance service, RSA customers can now add cover options to their accounts without having to phone a call centre.

The company believe that as the policy is only available online it will help keep premium costs down to a minimum.

Head of RSA Insurance Keith Maxwell said:

RSA eChoice is all about empowering the customer to take complete control of their insurance. Our customers want to be able to pick and mix their covers, rather than buying an off-the-shelf package as traditionally provided by insurers.”

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Volkswagen today completed its takeover of Italian design consultants Italdesign with an overall majority share of 90.1%.

The acquisition now officially makes the VW group the largest car manufacturers in Europe and Italdesign seem happy to be under this umbrella commenting:

“Italdesign has now become a permanent member of the Volkswagen Group. Given the full order books and numerous interesting projects, the perspectives are better than ever.”

The Italian company have been in business for over 50 years and pride themselves on having designed some of Italy’s iconic exports such as the Fiat Punto and the Alfa Romeo 156. Other clients of the company include Volkswagen where Italdesign were responsible for the Passat and Sicrocco.

The remaining 9.9% of shares have stayed with the founding family the Giugiaro’s who will stay on as directors of the company.

No details have been released yet as to whether the IDG would work exclusively for VW or carry on in its contracting business.

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A unique Audi A1 painted by Britain’s number one contemporary artist Damien Hirst fetched around £350,000 at auction last month.

The car which was the centre piece at Sir Elton John’s White Tie & Tiara Ball was sold to raise money for John’s AIDS Foundation and close to 700 VIP guests were there when the car was out to auction.

The A1 which Hirst painted in a spin technique will not actually be available to UK customers until November 2010 and is being billed by the German firm as a premium compact hatchback. Hirst was specifically commissioned by the car company to paint this one-off model.

Sir Elton John commented on the vehicle saying:

“That’s the most exciting object we’ve ever had on auction at the White Tie.”

Audi have built up the latest addition to their fleet in a big way, many early reviewers have already described the car as being competition to the Fiat 500 and Mini and will enter the market at around £15,000.

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The ‘Bio-Bug’ is a custom adapted Volkswagen Beetle that runs on biogas created from human waste.

The concept isn’t brand new but this will be the first of its kind in the UK to run fully on the electric alternative.

Experts believe that the power produced by biogas is enough to outdo electric second to none, and users of the Beetle have the choice between bio material and standard petrol or once one runs out the driver can convert to the other.

The vehicle itself is a standard 2.0 litre Beetle and experts are reckoning that one sewage plant could run a fleet of the vehicles over 95,000,000 miles a year and that consumer’s will not even notice the difference between a regular Beetle and the modified edition.

Developed by GENeco, a UK based sustainable energy and a subsidy of Wessex Water for its company car fleet it plans on trailing the vehicles for a set period of time before converting all of its cars if successful.

Mohammed Saddiq of the sustainable energy firm said:

“Previously the gas hasn’t been clean enough to fuel motor vehicles without it affecting performance,”

Adding:

“Using the latest technology our Bio-Bug drives like any conventional car and what’s more it uses sustainable fuel.”

The fuel conversion rates for the vehicle are impressive averaging 5.3 miles per cubic metre of biogas and around 18 million cubic metres of the materials needed are refined at Wessex Water’s treatment plant in Bristol.

Lord Rupert Redesdale, Chairman of the Biogas Association said:

“This is a very exciting and forward-thinking project demonstrating the myriad benefits of anaerobic digestion.”

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Volkswagen today confirmed that they would be taking over the leasing contract for dishwasher suppliers Winterhalter.

The German company announced they would be supplying 47 vehicles to the company including Caddy Maxi, Transporter and Crafter vans.

Winterhalter designs and manufactures commercial dishwashing systems for catering and hospitality businesses, it will use the vans as part of its national service operation network.

Jason Mackay, Operations Director for Winterhalter said:

We operate a 96% first time fix service for our customers so vehicle reliability was very important in out purchasing decision.”

Adding:

“As a UK based German manufacturer we were pleased to find a German van brand that could meet our standards.”

Interested in leasing cars or vans for your business? Take a look at Leasebam who will search all local dealers to find the best prices for you. Saving time and money.

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Volkswagen has added a further three award to its BlueMotion range at the What? Car Green Awards this week.

The Golf BlueMotion was named best Green Small Family Car and also beat eight other winners to win the night’s biggest prize of Green Car of the Year.

Steve Fowler, Editor of What? Car said:

“The Golf is a well deserved award winner: carbon dioxide emissions are a paltry 99 g/km making it exempt from road tax and its average fuel economy is 74.3 mpg.  So, as well as being impressively green, the Golf is classy, well made, practical, safe, brilliant to drive and an affordable long-term investment.  There surely aren’t many other virtues you need?”

Head of Chassis development Dr Stefan Gies collected the award for Volkswagen and said:

“Ever since the first BlueMotion model was launched in 2007 our strategy for this environmental sub-brand has been to produce class-leading vehicles which are efficient, sustainable, practical, comfortable and competitively priced.  This is what our customers want and all these values are encapsulated in the Golf.”

The Golf BlueMotion runs a 1.6 TDI common rail engine and gives its environmental and economic savings through new innovations such as Start/Stop and a configuration that accounts for battery regeneration.

The awards come on the back of the car winning Green Car of the Year award at the 2010 World Car of the Year awards.

The vehicle is a fantastic option for business owners or people wanting to lease a car for business purposes as its low running costs and trademark Volkswagen reliability mean less money spent on your side.

Interested in the Volkswagen BlueMotion range, take a look at Leasebam who will search local dealers for you to find the best price possible all without you leaving your computer screen.

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The Audi A7 Sportback has been designed to fill the gap between the A6 and A8 offering big car interior with a luxury saloon look in what the German manufacturers have called “a four door coupe shape.”

The A7 was previewed as a concept model at the Detroit motorshow last year and the production model has stuck very closely to the prototype, as the video above shows.

Stefan Sielaff, Audi Chief of Design said:

“We wanted to generate a high-end, premium feeling in the A7 that relates very strongly to the A8 in the design,” said Sielaff, “but we also wanted to make it a gran turismo. They are very different types of cars.”

The latest addition to the Audi range does away with the A8’s aluminium space frame but it is made up heavily of metal but still retains a weight of 1695kg, well over 100kg less than its Mercedes rival.

The A7 will be available with a choice of four engines, all V6 with the latest development by Audi in thermal management, ‘Direct Injection’.

Audi are also for the first time offering a head-up display, which projects the cars stats on the windscreen like a fighter jet. The system is already prominent in the latest BMM X5 models and Audi are anticipating a 10-15% take up rate for the extra.

This model will be available in the UK from 16th August 2010 and price is expected to a bit more than £40,000.

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The interior is huge and very practical.   There’s a mountain of room for four adults and still over 540 ltrs of luggage space.  In addition the rear seats fold down in order to give you even more storage space, in fact it almost trebles.  If for some reason you need even more space, there is the option of a fold front passenger seat too. 

Q5:  Lease from around £300pm

The basic trim comes with leather seats, 18” alloy wheels, single zone climate control, four powered windows, parking sensors and automatic lights and wipers.  These are all standard options.   If you want a little more, you could go for the S line version.  This includes more sporty styling touches to the exterior and interior and you get the special xenon headlights. 

There are six engine option available with the Q5.  The diesel options are a 3.0-litre V6 and two 2.0-litre versions.  The two later engine options are the most sensible in regards to economy as they are still strong performance wise and offer significant saving in terms of running costs.  For those of you who are fans of petrol, you can chose from  a 3.2-litre that generates 237bhp or a pair of 2.0-litre turbo charged units.  All are capable performers.  

The Q5 has very firm suspension, which means that it handling is very similar that that of a hatchback, especially considering its size.  The steering  is correctly weighted, loads of grip and solid body control.  You will have fun driving it from day to day however, the firm suspension does mean you make a compromise on the ride.  The ride is understandably firm and you feel every jolt and bump.

On the safety front the Q5 offers a hill-descent control to help you whilst off-roading down slopes.  It also offers off-road programmes that will detect the weight and distribution of the cars load and prevent the car from toppling over.  The Q5 also includes remote central locking as standard.  

The car does come with a load of features and sporty looks.  Prices start from around £26,000 new and lease for around £300 a month

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Audi have kept to their motto by being the first manufacturer to launch its customer magazine as an iPad application.

The firm hopes the release of the app will allow them to take the award winning magazine title to a whole new level.

The app is specifically designed to expand on the content already available in the printed edition, allowing users to see floating text over high definition images, animated boxes, picture galleries, videos and a full screen rotating view.

The app also allows users to check out the latest models for leasing or buying.

Peter Duffy, Head of Marketing for Audi UK said:

"Audi has always been an early adopter, whether it be of mechanical or digital technology, the Audi Magazine app is the latest example of our commitment to Vorsprung durch technik. This product will genuinely enhance Audi Magazine’s already rich content, bringing the excitement of Audi further to life."

Since its release into the Apple Store two weeks ago the app, which is free has received 15,000 downloads and found a place in the Top 50 chart.

Audi Magazine has a circulation of more than 350,000 per issue, but even none Audi owners could be tempted by the app as the technology used by the German manufacturers to animate the magazine is unique and the features revolutionary.

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It has been announced by a leading car leasing site that the Audi TT is the number one leased car of the moment.

It is a unique achievement in many way for Audi as it also spells the first a time a coupe has been top of the most leased list, which could also indicate a change in clientele of leasing as the top spot is usually reserved for the bigger vehicles such as Range Rover Sports, Mercedes C Classes and Audi’s own A4.

What is the cause of the TT’s rise to the top? well it can’t even be described as lust for the new model as the TT has been around in one conception or the other since 1999. One reason could be the range of varieties in the Audi range, which has made it a firm favourite within the leasing market.

A leading expert in the leasing industry said:

“The Audi TT Coupe has mass appeal; iconic design, excellent build quality and sporty performance combined with strong residuals to make this a very desirable car.”

Leasebam can search dealers for you to find the best deal on an Audi TT, for more information on the TT range take a look at our reviews on other Audi models:

Audi A4 Review – Refined and Desirable.

Audi A3 Review – 74mpg.

Audi A6 Review – Firm favourite with executives and business owners.

Interested in taking an Audi TT on a lease deal? Take a look over at Leasbam who will help find you the best price without you having to leave you computer screen.

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