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Australian clocked at 263kph in makeshift car
SYDNEY: An Australian driver was caught speeding at 263kph in a car held together with plastic cable ties, police said on May 22.
Police said officers conducting speed checks stopped the driver on the Hume Highway near the New South Wales town of Mittagong after clocking him allegedly driving at almost two-and-a-half times above the 110kph limit. They said the driver's turbo-charged 1995 car had a body kit secured with cable ties, an unsecured dashboard and a battery held in place with a rag and bracket.
Police said the 21-year-old driver was charged.
-- AFP
Honda to spend $1.5B on plants for green cars
Tokyo: Honda Motor said last week it will spend $1.5 billion on two new plants as it steps up production of fuel-efficient cars, including a new low-cost hybrid due to be launched early next year.
Japan's second-largest carmaker will build a plant for fuel-efficient engines in 2009 and a new manufacturing facility in 2010, both in Japan, Honda Motor President Takeo Fukui said in a news conference. Honda confirmed it was on track to introduce a low-cost gas-electric hybrid in 2009. It is aiming for initial annual sales of 200,000 of the compact five-door passenger size car.
Honda also plans to introduce a hybrid version of the Jazz along with a new gas-electric version of the Civic.
-- AFP
EU lawmaker wants lower auto CO2 target
FRANKFURT: European Union lawmaker Guido Sacconi wants to cut average carbon dioxide emission levels for new cars to no more than 95 grams per kilometer by 2020, a press report said on May 22. At present the EU is planning to demand that carmakers slash average emissions to 120 grams per kilometer by 2012, a measure many carmakers have already said would pose a great challenge.
"The auto industry would have almost two production cycles [estimated at five to seven years] to develop cars that meet the target," Sacconi said in an amendment to the draft EU bill, a copy of which was cited by the Financial Times Deutschland.
-- AFP
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