#UK

Living with container transit times in your head, you know when the parts pipeline from Japan to overseas locations should run dry. Japan to Europe is about four weeks. And exactly 4 weeks after the tsunami hit in Tohoku, Honda will set its Swindon plant in the UK to max conserve. According to Reuters, Honda will reduce its UK output by half, starting on April 11.

Tesla has sued Top Gear for depicting its Roadster running out of electricity in the 2008 segment shown above. According to the San Jose Mercury News, Tesla is suing because

Top Gear’s allegation that the car’s range is 55 miles is defamatory because it suggests Tesla “grossly misled potential purchasers of the Roadster,”

But Top Gear spokesfolks tell the BBC

We can confirm that we have received notification that Tesla have issued proceedings against the BBC. The BBC stands by the programme and will be vigorously defending this claim.

And, as long as the Tesla Roadster that Top Gear tested was a first-generation machine (and we think it is), Tesla’s going to have a little problem making the case that the BBC defamed their car…

The Daily Mail reports

Motorway speed limits could rise to 80 mph to shorten journey times and boost the economy under a radical review of road safety, Transport Secretary Philip Hammond signalled today.

He is concerned that anti-car campaigners have for too long used ‘road safety’ as a convenient excuse to both stymie raising speed the limit on motorways from the current 70mph, and to push for more 20mph zones in urban areas – even when they are inappropriate.

Britain has some of the safest roads in Europe, and within that motorways are by far the safest.

In future, Mr Hammond will demand that safety alone cannot be the sole determining factor when changing limits and that a thorough cost-benefit analysis which takes into account the economic impact must also be carried out when deciding such matters.

Now, imagine that lede in the US media. Tough, innit?

When I was a budding young copywriter in 1973, older, more settled advertising types smoked a pipe, had two basset hounds at home and came to the office in a British racing green, topless Morgan. In wintertime, their lips were blue. Our generation was too drunk to even drive a car – even in the more lenient 70s. Now, Morgan, one of the last remaining true British carmakers, is going back to its roots: Three-wheelers.

How many people do you think called their neighborhood Rolls Royce dealer and asked: “Do you have a plug-in Phantom?” Never mind. BMW-owned Rolls Royce shows one anyway at the Geneva Autoshow. Don’t worry, they don’t really mean it, it’s a prototype only.

The new year doesn’t start well for UK auto sales. New car sales on the islands are down 11.5 percent for January. This is the gist of data given by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) to UKPA (via Google). The society is not surprised, said they expected it, and that the decline was in line with its forecast.

Do you live in a challenging neighborhood, like, say, Afghanistan, Sudan, Downtown Detroit, or St. Louis? Then you’ll like Land Rover’s latest offering: The new Discovery 4 Armored, a car impervious to road rage of all kinds.

London Mayor Boris Johnson finally fulfilled his campaign promise to cut 230,000 residents out of the area where the UK capital’s congestion tax is imposed. The last £8 (US $12.40) toll imposed on motorists driving through the boroughs of Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster during business hours was collected Friday at 6pm. These areas were part of the so-called Western Extension Zone added by former Mayor Ken Livingstone, just before voters threw him out of office in 2008.

Speed camera operators in the UK are looking to hike costs for “educational courses” and redeploy cameras to more lucrative locations to address a growing budget deficit. The options for the Thames Valley Safer Roads Partnership were discussed in an August 11 strategy meeting, the minutes for which were obtained from a freedom of information request. The partnership consists of local police agencies, local council members, the courts and the staff who run the speed cameras themselves.

What’s better than a Bentley 8-litre? A Bentley 8-litre with a 42 liter Packard V12 from a World War II-era torpedo boat, of course. [via The Telegraph]

Surf on over to dodge.co.uk, and you’ll find that the only vehicle being offered for sale is the Journey crossover. Look a little closer and you’ll find that Dodge has announced new electric vehicles, an online reminder of the embarrassing bailout-era ENVI project which has since been expunged from Chrysler’s corporate history. Given this sorry state of affairs, is it any wonder that Dodge is getting the heck out of Dodge, er, Old Blighty?

Automobilwoche [sub] has it on good authority (Mini chief Wolfgang Armbrecht) that BMW plans a minier than Mini car. They want to show a prototype at the Detroit Auto Show next year. They probably can bring it as carry-on.

You want a McLaren? You know, the car made by the folks who usually only do Formula 1? All you need is exactly €200,000. Or $262,940 in today’s dollars. According to Automobilwoche [sub], that buys you: