There has been plenty happening at our favourite giant automotive group recently. For your delectation, we’ve picked three that caught our eye.
Now Volkswagen bring you safer jam
Ah, the holiday traffic jam. With your ETA out of the window, kids getting restless and only the brake lights of the car in front to look at, they’re no one’s idea of fun. They’re also Olympic-level tests of driving concentration, massively increased the risk of a rear-end shunt. And that can really mess up your holiday plans.
Volkswagen to the rescue! The company has developed an assistance system to automatically maintain a consistent distance from the car ahead. Using radar, their Traffic Jam Assist works at speeds of up to 60 km/h, making it perfect for stop-and-go situations. EuroNCAP estimate that these types of emergency braking systems lower the risk of rear-end collisions by a whopping 38%. Traffic Jam Assist is available on the Golf and its variants, Tiguan, Touran, Passat and its variants and the Arteon.
How many people does it take to name a SEAT?
We’ve blogged before about manufacturers choosing very silly car names. Perhaps wishing to avoid that, SEAT has enlisted help in naming its forthcoming SUV. The Barcelona-based company reached out to the public for ideas, stipulating that these had to make use of Spanish place names. Over 130,000 people responded from 106 countries, offering an incredible 10,130 suggestions. Somehow, SEAT have whittled this down to nine ‘semi-finalists’:
- Abrera
- Alboran
- Aran
- Aranda
- Avila
- Donosti
- Tarifa
- Tarraco
- Teide
After another round of selection to produce finalists, SEAT are throwing things over to the public. From 12th to 25th September, anyone can vote for their favourite. The new model will be christened using the name attracting the most votes. We’re not sure if this is the first democratically named car, but if you want to take part in the process, go to seat.com/seekingname between those dates. The winner, SEAT says, will be named by the 15th October.
SKODA go from strength to strength
A few months back, we blogged how Skoda had started 2017 with a bang, posting record numbers of new cars sold in the UK during 2016. And the good news keeps rolling in for the Czech company. July saw SKODA achieving its best ever six-month sales, with 585,000 vehicles delivered worldwide. This represents almost 3% growth over its previous record, set last year.
The growth isn’t confined to one or two countries either. Whilst its core market in western Europe showed a steady increase, SKODA sales in other countries have rocketed up. For example, Poland, Hungary, Russia, India, Israel and Australia all posted double-digit percentage increases.
Although the whys and wherefores of this growth are probably complex, at the core of it, SKODA make great cars at a reasonable price.
That’s all for this round-up. See you soon!
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