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Now I know this will cause you to roll about the floor in fits of hysterics but I actually have a soft spot for French cars. No seriously – it’s true. They tend to be ultra comfy, have lots of gadgets and occasionally look a little bit tasty/different.

I remember a Renault 25 V6i that I had years ago. At the time Renault were consistently winning the touring car championship and supplied many of the F1 engines but more than the fact that the engineering was amazing it actually had a graphic equaliser built into the centre console! How brilliant was that? And with seats thicker than the average armchair it was a delight to drive.

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So I was unhappy to read that the French manufacturers are struggling badly. As was recently reported PSA Peugeot Citroen’s finances are in a mess. The group is ‘burning’ 200 million Euros (£172m) every month and sales are not strong. The French Government has already loaned the group 7 billion Euros (£6.03bn) and are now represented on the board but long term the group needs a new industrial and financial partner.

GM has a 7% stake but is showing no appetite to invest further. Rumours obviously involve China with a hot favourite DongFeng (no I haven’t either), but there has been no official comment. In the meantime PSA will continue to bounce along with a grave lack of direction. I for one hope they turn things around. By Graham Hill Car Finance

Related articles

• French Government Said It Seeks Investment Bank for PSA (inautonews.com)

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Researchers at the Polytechnic School in Montreal, Canada have developed a soft polymer based fibre that can be woven into fabrics to be virtually undetectable. So what I hear you ask in amazement? This means that it will be possible for say a car seat to become a touch pad. Touching the seat will enable you to move the seat or open and shut Read more »

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It would seem that the motor industry is doing quite well over the pond in the US as their economy continues to grow mildly. Low interest rates and the need for many to replace cars that they have retained through the recession have been credited for the slight increase in sales over October last year. The sales of ‘light vehicles’ (cars) last month rose Read more »

Sadly it looks as though we are about to lose Saab as a car manufacturer. They applied to the court in Sweden for protection from their creditors but the application was tuned down by a Swedish court yesterday. Whilst Saab are looking to appeal it is unlikely that at this late stage they will avoid bankruptcy. The company was bought from General Read more »

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No sooner have I reported on the new association between General Motors and LG to develop new electric cars than I’m told of the new association between Volvo and Siemens to do the same. It very much looks as though this will be the trend. Apparently Siemens have been having discussions with several car manufacturers but decided upon Volvo Read more »

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Over the weekend I worked out how to download a video on You Tube onto a memory stick then take the memory stick and plug it into a USB port in the back of my new LG TV then watch the video, and jolly good it was too! I am told, by the instruction book, that’s the thing we never read until we’ve tried every which way to use the facility then turn to in Read more »

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You know when you see something and it’s so damned obvious you wonder why no-one has thought of it before like the suitcase handle with built in scales. Well I was reading about the latest electric car technology and a new entrant into the market, the General Motors owned Chevrolet with their impressively named Volt, get it, electric car, volt? Bloody Read more »

Saab are set for a bumpy ride. No I’m not talking about suspension I’m talking about the proposed bid by Chinese manufacturer Hawtai to buy a 30% stake in its current owner Spyker for £134 million. The cash would have allowed the manufacturer to re-start production after a one month shutdown but the Hawtai shareholders refused to back the bid and approve it. Boss of Spyker, Victor Muller, has reportedly continued discussions with other Chinese companies after flying out to China but after cutting off discussions following the Hawtai bid he looks to be struggling putting the future of Saab in doubt.

Any deal by a Chinese company will need to be approved by the Chinese Government. I find this all very sad as I am a supporter of Saab. I hope they manage to pull it off and survive. Any views on this? Please let me know. By Graham Hill

Related articles

• Saab Signs Up Another Chinese Investor (nytimes.com)

DEKRA, Germany’s equivalent to our AA or RAC, has voted the Vauxhall Insignia as Europe’s most reliable car. The findings came about following 15 million inspections of 230 different models so a pretty significant survey. DEKRA is highly regarded for its independent inspections and testing. The Insignia came out on top with more than 96% failure free. Good news for GM as their Corsa topped the chart last year. In second and third place came the Ford Fiesta (95.8%) and the Toyota Prius (95.6%). So surprise surprise we have made the Insignia our deal of the week. Do you run an Insignia, has it been reliable for you? By Graham Hill

Good news for Saab lovers as it has been announced that GM finally agreed a deal with Spyker and that production on the new 9-5 has already begun with cars expected to appear in dealerships later this year. It has been a difficult time for existing owners, dealerships and the manufacturer’s staff but David Pugh of Saab GB now feels that all the problems are now behind them and the future is starting to look good.. They are looking forward to the release of the new 9-5 which will mark the re-launch of the brand. Good luck to them, Saab has been one of our most popular makes over the years and I’m pleased that they have been given another lease of life. By Graham Hill