Ten Predictions For 2013…

In time honoured Car Articles tradition, I am going to provide you with the following predictions in the view that at least some of them will come true. They have in the past and unfortunately not all of them will be good, particularly financially. However, others are at least positive. This is the definitive list for 2013:

1) Fuel costs for petrol will reach over 148p per litre. Diesel will equally rise. This will prompt further, though minor, protests at the high pricing. Duty will not rise as the government will maintain it at current levels in order to present a positive face to motorists.

2) Road tax costs will rise with inflation whilst the government investigates the best way to raise them further in the following year, whilst maintaining the escalation remains an environmental question.

3) Aston Martin, having finally been bought and significant investment made, will introduce a new design language and new model or two.

4) The UK road network will remain underfunded this year, meaning pot holes, poorly marked roads and missing signs.

5) The Fiat 500L will become one of the sellers this year – the proportions are right and the added flexibility means showrooms will be inundated with buyers.

6) The new Bugatti Veyron will be capable of in excess of 270 miles per hour and very few people in the world will ever see it up close. It will have a price tag of beyond £1.5 million.

7) The used car market will be densely populated with large, inefficient and sometimes powerful used cars. Few will see the attraction when fuel bills are so high.

8) CD players will become a thing of the past as standard on many models as touch screen displays rise in popularity and cheapness to produce.

9) Two cylinder engines with a low power output will become de rigeur for small city cars.

10) Sales of electric cars will continue to rise, albeit extremely slowly. The fact will remain that many see the range issues, cost and requirement of replacement batteries during ownership as massive hurdles.

So there you have it – the Car Articles top ten predictions for 2013! Agree? Think we should have included something else? Let us know in the comments section…