Plugs & POINTS ; in Association With Fish4

HYUNDAI has slashed the prices of its Sonata range by more than pounds 3,000. The company says that the price cuts are intended to stimulate interest during the quiet summer period and prices will go back up again in October. The cost of the least expensive 2.0-litre CDX model falls from just over pounds 17,000 to just under pounds 14,000 and the automatic version gets a similar reduction from pounds 18,000 to pounds 15,000. Turbodiesel prices tumble from pounds 18,000 for the manual to pounds 15,000 and from pounds 19,000 to just under pounds 16,000 for the automatic.

NEW car sales accelerated ahead again last month, increasing nearly 5% compared with the July 2006 total. There were 176,277 new vehicles registered in July 2007 - 4.9% more than in the same month last year, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said. Last month's figure took the year-to-date total to 1.44 million - an increase of 2.4% on the January-July 2006 figure.

MORE than a third of motorists cannot read a basic road map, a survey has showed. And more than four in five fail to recognise that blue-coloured roads on maps signify motorways, the poll from esure car insurance found. Based on responses from 1,000 UK drivers, the research also revealed that 16% no longer keep a map in their car. More than three in five say they could not live without their sat- navs.

LISTENING to music while driving can reduce motorists' chances of having an accident, according to some road users. More than four in five drivers believe music helps them to relax while 65% say it keeps them awake, a survey from Sainsbury's Car Insurance found. But 14% of those polled reckoned they drove faster while listening to music, while 9% were distracted by it and 6% drove more aggressively.

MODERN cars may be bristling with DVD players and MP3 systems to entertain children, but new research proves that the classic in-car family game of "I Spy" is far from dead. Seventy-years after the first recorded report of the game, Citroen has found that 63% of parents have played "I Spy" with their children in the past few months. The age of the child impacts on the popularity with 38% of 3- 8 years old having played it, compared to just six per cent of 9-11 year olds.

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