The Fiat 500, along with the Citroën C5 and the Jaguar XF, were selected as the finalists for the last round of judging at the New York International Motor Show, with Fiat’s chic and sophisticated small car taking the top design prize.

Four international design experts, namely Silvia Baruffali, Editorial Director of Auto & Design magazine, Robert Cumberford, design critic and journalist for Automobile and Auto & Design magazines, Akira Fujimoto, Editor-in-Chief of Car Styling magazine and Tom Matano, Executive Director of the School of Industrial Design at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, voted the Fiat 500 absolute winner of this year’s award.

“We are proud to receive this prestigious international award, as further endorsement of Fiat’s commitment to creating attractive, innovative cars, which express the best of Italian manufacturing capability,” commented Roberto Giolito, Fiat’s Head of Design. “Italian design has often been a step ahead of future trends in the automotive world and our latest models, spearheaded by the Fiat 500, are an expression of ‘practical beauty’, which is what the world expects of Italian cars. We will continue to work untiringly on innovative design, and endeavour to combine the best of the future with the historical, cultural and industrial identity of the Fiat brand.”

The Fiat 500 is available in the UK with a choice of three frugal, ultra-low emissions Euro 5 engines, including 69 bhp 1.2-litre and 100 bhp 1.4-litre petrol units, and the 75 bhp 1.3-litre MultiJet turbodiesel.

Power is delivered through manual or Dualogic (automatic) transmissions, while Fiat’s fuel saving Start&Stop system is also available.

The first ever car insurance in the UK was taken out 114 years ago in 1895, however, it only became compulsory when a law was passed in the UK Parliament in 1930 following on from the Americans who had made it a legal requirement 3 years previously.

Some motorists take the view that car insurance is another unwanted cost but with an estimated 1.3 million uninsured motorists driving about in the UK, if an accident were to occur involving one of the uninsured it is then that your insurance cover would be invaluable.

Should such an unfortunate event occur the Motor Insurance Bureau was set up to compensate those victims of uninsured or untraceable drivers following an accident; they also operate the Motor Insurance Database, which has the details of every single insured vehicle in the UK.

The Car Hub is now pleased to offer free online car insurance quote services provided by Quotezone who searches and compares scores of insurance companies and brokers who are able to supply some of the cheapest car insurance UK quotes, and frequently extra discount deals can be obtained which are not normally advertised and only available via brokers. In addition to car insurance, The Car Hub also provides a comparison site for van, bike and breakdown cover as well as general insurance quotes for home and travel.

Car audio is important, but what’s important in car audio? The rush of vehicle manufacturers to accommodate the changing preferences of audio consumers proves that car makers, at least, view audio features as a key differentiator.

Is it sound quality consumers look for? A car is not the ideal acoustic environment for a concert experience, and for many years factory-fitted car audio was kept inexpensive and basic. Eventually, prestigious audio brands such as Harman, Bose, and Bang & Olufsen were brought in to work closely with vehicle manufacturers to design systems that addressed such challenges as overcoming road noise and creating a sound stage to serve the relative positions of drivers and passengers.

However, despite lots of attention, a new report available at Electronics.ca Publications shows that this type of premium sound system is still a relatively small market found only in 7.9% of all light vehicles produced in 2008.

So what is the focus of consumer demand? A potential buyer today is more likely to look at what types of connectivity the audio system is offering; USB connection, SD card slot, Bluetooth slots etc. Basically, what is interesting is what types of portable music devices you can bring into the car (without having to upgrade the audio system). Radio and music can be listen to and stored in so many ways: mobile phones; iPods; thumb drives and SD cards. So what a growing category of people is looking for in a car audio system is the possibility to bring that versatility into the car basically to take your life with you into the car.

Helena Perslow, the author of the above mentioned report, agrees: “It’s not uncommon nowadays for people to be drawn to a particular car for one reason alone: the type of portable device connectivity offered, for example iPod connection. The deciding factor is not necessarily fuel consumption or CO2 emission but often something as simple as a car audio feature.”

Car manufacturers have acknowledged this, and car models aimed at a younger generation are competing by offering portable device connectivity as standard equipment, whereas many luxurious cars such as BMW and Cadillac only offer them as optional extras.

Simon Joyce, Sales Director of Anchor Vans, spoke enthusiastically about the change. “It’s a relief to see the measures that we’ve heard so much about on the news starting to be seen at the sharp end of business. It took some time to see any kind of change in the banks lending criteria, but now we’ve noticed a definite shift.” The availability of credit for vehicle financing has a significant impact on businesses that rely upon the use of commercial vehicles. “It’s certainly a relief for our customers,” Simon added. “It will have a very positive impact on the small to medium businesses that have really suffered over the last year from the unavailability of credit.”

When asked how the increased availability of vehicle financing credit has become apparent, Simon answered; “We’ve noticed a general easing on the underwriting criteria. At one point, only a very small percentage of applicants were eligible, but now the credit rating doesn’t have to be absolutely perfect for a van finance application to be successful. The figures also bear this out; if we look back at November and December 2008, and January 2009 the percentage of van finance customers whose applications were accepted was significantly lower than over the past couple of months. The required deposit has lessened too.” With the effects of quantitative easing now being seen outside of the banking system, the future is looking brighter for any companies depending upon credit to finance commercial vehicles that underpin their business.

About Anchor Vans

Anchor Vans specialises in quality new and used vans in the South East of England. Anchor Vans is already the largest centre for new and used vans in Basingstoke, Newbury and Reading run from its main road Padworth site. Anchor Vans is well known for its competitive “lease to buy” schemes and for the quality of its website which allows customers to view pictures of all 350 new and used vans in stock. Anchor Vans has an extensive service centre with facilities for all classes of MOT for cars, vans and minibuses. Recently granted Ford approved service agent status, Anchor Vans has built a reputation for dependability and supplying high quality new and used vans.

Car Tax Prices Online was created to help every consumer learn the new laws that are being implemented as well as provide them with all the information they need to understand the laws as well as utilize the tools on their website to calculate their (http://www.cartaxprices.co.uk) car tax.

On the Car Tax Prices Online website, you will find a wealth of information that will give you all the details concerning the new car taxes and how they are determined. Throughout the website, you will find such topics as Car Tax Prices, car tax bands. C02 emission rates, cheaper car insurance, electric cars, petrol costs, hydrogen cars, and more.

Informing consumers with all the tools, they need to find a cheaper car insurance, economical cheap electric cars, and economical cheap hydrogen cars. Discovering how CO2 emission rates effect the tax rate placed on cars in the UK is very important to every driver. As stated, on their website, “Up to now, C02 emissions did not seem a subject important enough, but now Chancellor Alistair Darling is now adamant to change the view. New car (http://www.cartaxprices.co.uk) tax rates UK, present an upward shift with the car gas emission statistics.”

For this reason alone, Car Tax Prices Online was created to provide car buyers the opportunity to learn all there is to know about the car taxes and how to calculate what the costs will be for every make and model of car. For those, looking to purchase a new car in the UK, the website offers all the information so consumers will know what the car tax prices will be for all cars to help them make an educated decision on the type of new car to purchase with less car tax to pay.

Going a bit farther than just car tax prices, the website offers help to find cheap car insurance as well as cheaper cars. With the aid of Car Tax Prices Online, UK residents will find the information they need to choose a cheap car, have cheaper car tax prices to pay, and save money.

As Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio eagerly await approval of their year-old merger attempt, media watchers wonder whether satellite radio anywhere else can copy the success achieved by those space-age broadcasters in the U.S. market. While Sirius and XM operate in the U.S. (and to a small extent, Canada) the other regions of the world are in the hands of a collection of four other broadcasters. Of these, WorldSpace may be showing the most promising signs of life.

Thanks largely to OEM relationships with vehicle manufacturers, Sirius and XM have built up a clientele of some 17.3 million subscribers. Collectively the two carriers offer satellite radio as a popular feature in nearly every vehicle brand in the U.S. market. But according to a market research report available at Electronics.ca Publications, “The Worldwide Market for In-Car Audio, Infotainment & Driver Information/Telematics Systems”, that model has not yet been replicated by the world’s other satellite radio players - which include TU Media (serving South Korea), MBCO (Japan), Ondas Media (Europe), and the most ambitious of the lot, WorldSpace, which plans to serve Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

The Korean and Japanese services, launched in 2005 and broadcasting to the two countries from a shared satellite, have had little penetration into the automotive market. In fact they’ve had little impact overall and face stiff competition from terrestrial systems designed for mobile digital media.

In-car satellite radio may receive a better reception in Europe. Though commercial service there has yet to be launched, both Ondas and WorldSpace have announced their first OEM deals with automakers - Ondas with Nissan, and WorldSpace with Fiat.

Of the two, WorldSpace appears to be making the quickest progress - it has secured necessary terrestrial-repeater licenses for Germany, Italy, and Switzerland, and plans to roll out its first European broadcasts next year. Meanwhile both companies may be challenged to retain enough capital to stay afloat until subscriber cash flow starts to roll in.

Will Europeans embrace satellite radio like Americans have? Will the fact that the European market is more varied in terms of language and culture help or hinder satellite adoption? Within a year or two we may finally know the answers.

Spending a vacation with family will be a precious moment. You certainly have understood that working people are usually difficult to have a vacation. This means that when you have a vacation moment, you have to use it effectively. There are many kinds of travels or ours that you can do. Each tour surely offers different exciting things and you can choose a tour that will meet your family vacation needs.

For you who love to experience new and challenging things, you might need to consider adventure travel to Russia. As what you can see at Bestrussiantour.com, there are many interesting tours packages starting from traditional tours up to space adventure. You can choose one that best meets your family needs. You might want to consider adventure tours Latvia as a choice but you will find other tours offered at the website also interesting. The website informs that you can private fly mig. This surely a rare opportunity as you can fly military fighter jet. You will also have complete information about mig 31 foxhound.

Therefore, if you want to make your vacation effective, you can consider adventure travel with MIG offered at the website. Enjoy your family vacation by flying in MIG 31. So, visit the website now to book for your great adventure travel.

A prepaid lease is a new type of lease which has made its foray into the market in recent times. In this lease, consumers forego the cycle of lease payments if they make a large payment at the beginning of the lease.

There are two amounts in a conventional lease that incur charges and determine your monthly lease payments. First, there is a depreciation charge which accounts for the value the car loses during the lease term. Second is a residual amount which is the projected value of the vehicle at the end of the lease. The sum of these two charges gives the monthly payments on your lease.The idea behind a pre-paid lease is to eliminate the finance charges for depreciation and only account for residual value charges in a single, pre-paid payment at the beginning of the lease.

Single-payment leases are devised with spendthrifts in mind: no cycle of monthly payments, a new car every two to three years and no interest in purchasing the vehicle at the end of the lease. You should only consider this type of lease if you are concerned about not being able to make monthly payments and have a lot of cash upfront.

When leasing a car, it’s easier to stick with the same company for your auto insurance. What you don’t know, however, is that you may end up paying too much for your coverage and it’s better to look elsewhere for lower rates.

When you lease, the vehicle that you will drive belongs to the leasing company. They want to make sure that their investment is covered in the event the vehicle gets damaged, totalled or stolen. They typically want to get covered for the difference between what your auto-insurer pays and your outstanding leasing obligations at the time of the accident or damage. This is called GAP, short for Guaranteed Auto Protection, and is usually included in the leasing contract. If your leasing company is called BMW Financial Services, Chrysler Financial or any other finance division of an automaker, then chances are your GAP insurance will be offered by the same lease company.

You are under no obligation to accept GAP insurance included as part of your lease agreement. Why pay an insurance premium if you could get the same coverage for a lower price? Invest some time shopping by comparing quotes from other insurance companies, including your existing one. Ask for discounts that you already qualify for and adjust your coverage accordingly.

Germantown, Maryland 4-7-09: Criswell Automotive announces that Criswell Nissan has moved from Gaithersburg to Germantown, Maryland. Only 3.5 miles away from the old location, the new state of the art facility is worlds above in customer amenities and service facilities.

Located next to Criswell Honda on Amaranth Drive, Criswell has built a unique Import Sales destination in Montgomery County.

To celebrate the dealership’s arrival in Germantown, Criswell Nissan is having a inventory reduction sale for the entire month of April. The new facility is busting at the seams already, with one of the largest selections of new Nissans in stock, some with 0% financing on approved credit.

Criswell Nissan has discounted prices and applied rebates up to $6,000 on select models. There are even a few 2008 models left at never before offered prices. Criswell Nissan invites all customers in Maryland, Washington, DC and Northern Virginia to come see their new showroom and take advantage of great deals.

Criswell Nissan is part of the Criswell Automotive family selling and servicing Nissan, Honda, Chevrolet, Hummer, Lotus, Commercial and Isuzu trucks. Visit www.criswellauto.com to get a great deal on a new or used car.

Criswell Nissan
19525 Amaranth Drive
Germantown, MD
Contact Details: Criswell Nissan
19525 Amaranth Drive
Germantown, MD
gbarmby@criswellauto.com
240-364-7115