KEY POINTS:
Congestion charge
Traffic congestion in Budapest is so bad that the Hungarian city's mayor wants to impose a congestion charge on motorists from 2010. Mayor Gabor Demszky says there is "no other solution to ease the environmental damage caused by the ever-growing traffic". Two charges are planned - $3.75 bridge tolls across the River Danube and a $7.50 fee to enter the downtown business zone. Commuters will be encouraged to use buses, trams and trains. The Good Oil was in Budapest for the launch of the new VW Tiguan, an all-wheel-drive rival to the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V.
Carmakers V Governments
A British transport report called Towards Sustainability claims annual carbon dioxide emissions from cars and car plants have fallen 36.5 per cent from 2.14 million tonnes to 1.36 million tonnes in just four years. It says carbon dioxide emissions from new cars fell 12 per cent in a decade, saving an estimated one million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. But the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders criticises politicians "battling to out-green each other with a series of disproportionate and unworkable policy measures for carmakers and their customers". It says car companies in Europe spend $55 billion a year developing cleaner technologies and argues that governments must do their bit - like encouraging the use of biofuels and easing traffic congestion.
Singing for insurance
It's a marketing first - a car insurance brand crossing into mainstream pop culture. British company Sheilas' Wheels has released its first single, [I'm So] Happy Happy [You're Mine]. It was recorded by the three professional singers - Cathi Ogden, Carly Romain and Emma Robbins - who have fronted the company's television ads since it began business two years ago. Sheilas' Wheels marketing manager Chris Bowden said: "From the day the adverts first aired, the Sheilas have been much in demand to perform in clubs, where they have gone down a storm." Sheilas' Wheels offers women drivers tailor-made car insurance, including cover on handbags stolen from cars.
Lexus digs deep for hybrid
Luxury carmaker Lexus is spending $16 million over the last three months of this year promoting its hybrid models in Britain. The advertising campaign will mostly centre around the launch in a couple of weeks of the long-wheelbase, petrol-electric LS 600h, the company's flagship limousine, which is already on sale here. The TV ads move through prairie and desert panoramas to gradually reveal an LS 600h driving in an urban landscape. The tag line says: "One day, high performance will come with lower emissions ... not one day but today." The same ad appears on Virgin Atlantic flights through to Christmas.
Time lost in traffic
Drivers in the US waste nearly an entire work week each year sitting in traffic on the way to and from work, says a study. The nation's drivers languished in traffic for 4.2 billion hours in 2005, up from 4 billion the year before, according to the Texas Traffic Institute's urban mobility report. That's about 38 hours a driver. The study also estimates that drivers wasted 11 billion litres of fuel while sitting in traffic. That's about 99 litres a year for each driver. Together with the lost time, traffic delays cost the country US$78.2 billion, the study estimates.
We are the world
A pedestrian in Wales was run over by a police car - then fined for denting the car. The man suffered a broken foot when the police car mounted the pavement and hit him. In pain, he thumped the bonnet. The Daily Mail said he was fined $215 for criminal damage.
