With over a million hybrid car sales under its belt, Toyota is rightly proud of the success of the Prius. The Prius has been the first commercialized hybrid car on the market and its gaining acclaim more than ten years after its launch. Michael Moroney reports on his recent Prius run as it continues to impress.

Hyundai has introduced the new i30 Cross Wagon to the Irish market. This is a larger version of the i30, giving more space and estate-like space. Sales of the base i30 model are running at over 1,400 since its introduction last year. The new i30 Cross Wagon is a new design for the Hyundai range and it will retail at €21,995 before delivery charges.

Ford's new Mondeo ECOnetic uses a combination of the latest common-rail diesel powertrain together with other carefully-selected features engineered to reduce CO2 emissions to the absolute minimum. The car boasts a 139g/km CO2 rating, making the Mondeo ECOnetic a 'best in class' performer.

The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) has released figures for new car sales for June. New cars sales in June 2008 (7,907) were down 48.65 per cent on June 2007 (15,399), while sales for the first six months of the year (124,146) were 18.83 per cent down on the same period in 2007 (152,938).

If you are waiting for notice of an NCT Car Test you may be left waiting. The NCTS will not guarantee to call every car owner due for a test, according to a recent report, meaning that you as the car owner are responsible for making the contact with NCTS. And the risk of being fined up to €1,500 looms over your head if you don't and you're stopped by a Garda.

Bridgestone Ireland has won an exclusive three-year contract to supply tyres to Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus. The contract, which was awarded to Bridgestone after a competitive tender process, is the largest commercial tyre supply contract in Ireland, valued at approximately €3 million per annum.

With the C3 Picasso, Citroen is introducing a new and more spacious car concept that is expected to play a leading role in the smaller MPV segment. The new car is expected to be available in early 2009.

Mazda's reputation for high quality and reliability, combined with superior service, was confirmed once again on the latest J.D. Power and Associate's 2008 Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) for Germany, Europe's largest economy. The study, which polled nearly 20,000 Germans who own cars registered in 2005 and 2006, ranked car brands, individual models overall and in their own segments according to quality, vehicle appeal, costs and service.

Although many parents take the precaution to fit approved child seats and drive with greater care when children are on board, used car buyers who don't check the history of a vehicle before purchase could be putting their family at risk.

In the UK, RAC Inspections is backing Trading Standards (TSI) warning to young motorists about death trap motor vehicles and is calling parents and guardians to be actively involved in the used car buying decision.