Esprit production halted

BEsprit halted Lotus will stop making its flagship Esprit at the end of this year. The Esprit, made famous in the James Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me, has been around in one form or another for more than 25 years. A Lotus spokesman said the company planned to build a new Esprit but would meantime concentrate on the development of the Elise. About 10,000 Esprits have been built since 1976 and Lotus expects another 140 to roll off the production line this year.

The Porsche gauge

Want to know how the economy's doing? Check the sales of Porsche cars. That's what an economist once said anyway. New Zealand must be in good shape because Porsche sold 112 cars last year, a 16.5 per cent increase over 2001. Best-seller was the Boxster with 40 registrations. Porsche general manager Grant Smith expects this year to be even better, boosted by the carmaker's first off-roader, the Cayenne. "We currently have over 100 orders for the Cayenne," he said. The new four-wheel-drive is expected to go on sale here in June.

Jazz hits high note

Honda's new Jazz supermini emerged as the top-selling car in Japan last year. Selling more than 250,000, the Jazz (called Fit in Japan) jumped over the Toyota Corolla to secure the sales crown - the first time in 34 years that the Corolla has lost the title. Jazz sales in Japan were 250,791 compared with the Corolla's 226,345. The Jazz has also been a hot seller in New Zealand. Honda predicted at the car's launch last August that it would sell about 800 in 12 months. Five months on it has sold nearly 900.

Slow reader

Our man in Hawkes Bay got stuck behind a Toyota Previa on the main drag between Taradale and Napier the other day. He couldn't figure out why the woman driver was going so slow - until he pulled alongside. She had a large picture book on her lap and, he said, appeared to be reading to two children in the back.

Beacon of hope

The British car industry is singing the praises of an electronic anti-theft system called Tracker, a sort of locator beacon hidden in vehicles. It helped British police to recover more than 1300 stolen vehicles last year and led to 1420 arrests. Tracker is approved by 30 carmakers, is fitted to 433,000 vehicles, and is operated by Britain's 52 police forces. How does it work? Huddersfield hotel owner David Vaughan phoned police minutes after his two-door Mercedes-Benz was nicked from outside his pub. A police helicopter locked on to the Tracker and zeroed in on the stolen car. It was found abandoned within 5km of the pub.

Angry young men

A profile of road ragers: typically young, inexperienced drivers who accept violence as a means to solve their problems. That comes from West Australian University crime researcher Dr David Indermaur. More than 90 per cent of the road rage cases he has studied involve men. Women get as angry as men but men translate that to violence at a much greater rate, he says. Many road ragers see their cars as an extension of themselves and a means to express their masculinity.

We are the world

Lexus was the 680th-most popular name for a baby girl in America last year, ahead of handles like Mandy and Delia. The other Lexus is, of course, the luxury arm of Toyota.