It's a bit academic now but the High Court in Britain last week finally ruled that anyone riding the BMW C1 "motorbike with a roof" must wear a helmet. BMW has already stopped production of the C1.
The High Court decision came after an appeal by the Director of Public Prosecutions against a ruling by Bedford megistrates that a helmet wasn't necessaary. When the C1 came into Ireland four years ago, Motor Import Ltd, then importers of BMW asked the Department of the Environment and Local Government to treat it as a "driving" vehicle rather than "riding" bike. This was in line with the position in Germany, Italy, France, Spain and Austria, all of which viewed it as a twos-eater car. Dene McQuaid who had responsibility for BMW motor cycles in Motor Import at the time, recalls a lengthy wait for a Departmental decision. "It went on for about 18 months and then we were told that a helmet would have to be worn for safety reasons." Total Irish sales of the ill-fated C1, he estimates between 50 and 60.
The MG badge is 80 years old and its octogenarian status is being celebrated with an Irish rally involving 50 cars and 200 participants from seven European countries. It starts this morning from the MG Rover base at Sandyford Business Park in Dublin: the organisers are the MG Enthusiasts Club in the Republic and the MG Car Club of Northern Ireland. Today's route includes counties Wicklow and Kildare. The rally tomorrow moves into Northern Ireland.
Average retail prices for new cars in Ireland rose 3.9 per cent during the 12 months to April 2004.
The PricewaterhouseCoopers and eurocarprice.com Index of New Car Prices shows that average retail car prices in Ireland last month were 29 per cent higher than the average for Western Europe and 31 per cent higher than the average for the euro currency zone.
In the last 12 months, the average retail price of a car in Western Europe has risen by 4.6 per cent. The strongest movement in retail car prices was in Denmark where prices rose by 8.5 per cent during the 12 months to April. The weakest price movement was in Greece where retail prices increased by 0.5 per cent.
The current trend is for European retail car prices to rise more quickly than a year ago. Pre-tax car prices in the whole of Western Europe rose by 1.9% in the year to April. The Lower Medium segment of the market showed the largest increase in average pre-tax prices up 9.2 per cent to April. The weakest segment was the Sport Coupe segment, where prices rose by 1.6 per cent.