The good oil: Tesla Roadster takes on Australia

The Tesla Roadster. Photo / Supplied

The Tesla Roadster, the plug-in flyer based largely on the Lotus Elise, has been given its Australian warrant of fitness and is about to go on sale there from A$206,000, ($269,000). The Aussie model (above) is the Roadster 2.5, the fourth iteration of the all-electric two-door car developed in California by PayPal founder Elon Musk. It is on show at Sydney's Circular Quay today. Tesla says it will revolutionise car ownership in Australia with its team of Tesla Rangers - service technicians who will gallop to owners' calls for help. Tesla has sold more than 1500 Roadsters in more than 30 countries. Its Sydney showroom will open soon.

Jeep positive about sales outside US

Jeep expects to boost sales outside North America by more than 20 per cent this year. The redesigned 2011 Grand Cherokee is the first of Jeep's new models for New Zealand and goes on sale here next month. Sales outside the United States last year were up by 22 per cent, helped by "continued growth in Asia-Pacific", said Jeep chief executive Mike Manley. Diesel engines are expected to account for 20 to 30 per cent of Jeep sales outside North America. In the United States, Jeeps come with petrol-only engines.

Classic Car Show tickets up for grabs

We have 10 tickets to the NZ Classic Car Show to give away. It's at the Ellerslie Race Course on Sunday, February 13. Write your name, address and phone number on the back of an envelope and post to: Classic Car Show, PO Box 3290, Auckland. We'll toss the letters in a sack and draw out the 10 winning names.

Global car sales expected to top 80m

Global car sales may exceed 80 million next year and 118 million in 2020, said Jeff Schuster, director of forecasting for researcher J.D. Power and Associates. Worldwide deliveries for this year are expected to be a record 71.8 million. The previous record was 70.3 million in 2007. J.D. Power estimates sales in the United States will be 12.8 million this year and exceed 15 million next year and 16 million in 2014.

Drop in deaths credited to airbags

The economic downturn and a greater prevalence of airbags have led to a 22 per cent drop in deaths on American highways in the past five years, a University of Michigan study shows. More vehicles are now equipped with side and front airbags and this has contributed to the drop in the number of road fatalities which has reached its lowest level since the 1940s. "A reduction of such magnitude over such a short time has not occurred since road safety statistics were first kept starting in 1913, except for the reductions during World War II," said Michael Sivak, one of the researchers. According to Sivak, American road deaths declined from about 43,500 in 2005 to about 34,000 in 2009. But he also found that although deaths have declined overall, road fatalities caused by distracted driving (talking or texting on mobile phones) jumped by 42 per cent from 2005.

We are the world

Unemployed Darren Suchon, 42, spent most days playing PlayStation. Or he did until his girlfriend drove off with it on her way to work. Suchon drove after her, weaving through peak-hour traffic in Palmerton, Pennsylvania, before forcing her off the road. Witnesses said he "clawed at the windows of her car, screaming that he would break the @x&* per cent! windows" if he didn't get his game back. The cops charged him with reckless driving and assault.

alastair.sloane@nzherald.co.nz