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In November new car sales were down 36.79%, which was a further drop from 23% in October and 21% in September.

The Winners - If you can call them that are Audi down 13%, Ford down 12%, Jaguar suprisingly only down 11% and the least affected Volvo only down 6.72%

The BIG losers were BMW down 40%, Mercedes and Porsche down 57%, Renault down 64%, Alfa down 68% and finally Mitsubishi down a staggeringly 70%. But saddest of all must be Corvette who failed to sell a car in November. - they sold 4 in November 2007!

With this huge drop in new car sales, it must be affecting the number of trade in vehicles, which is where windscreen replacement or repair is required. 

This plus the large number of garages shutting their doors is affecting the whole industry.

I do hope the new owners of RAC Autowindscreens know the state of the industry.  

Two good quality resins used within the windscreen replacement Industry but both very different.

Esprit - The market leader by far and one of the worlds leading brands sold in many countries in Europe and the Rest of the World. Meets BS AU 251:1994 and BS AU 242A:1998 which are related to Specification for performance of automotive laminated windscreen repair sytems. Esprit only sell their own resin and DO NOT supply any other company with their own brand resin (including REJEL) Esprit resin is distinct in that it has a slight straw colour and comes in a white bottle with a black lid.

REJEL resin - Rejel's own brand resin is a top quality resin, being produced in America and used by other leading windscreen repair companies. Also meets BS AU 251:1994. Rejel resin is clear and comes in a white bottle with a white lid.

If you go to Sainsbury's you have a choice of Kellog's cornflakes or Sainsbury's own brand. Both are suitable as a breakfast cereal and give excellent nutrition but people have a preference. Some like Kellog's because it is a long established brand and they feel the quality is better. Some prefer Sainsbury's because it offers better value for money, meets you nutritional needs and still fills you up at breakfast time. 

But to sum up, both perform an excellent job giving good results. It is just that people make their own choices with which resin they want to use!!

I prefer to drive my Lexus rather than a Mercedes or BMW but I am sure you have all got your own views on that........................ 

RECYCLED AUTO GLASS
Tiles are made from recycled auto glass. It is used in flooring, landscaping materials, counter tops and porcelain. Auto glass is traded overseas in the secondary commodities exchanges. Indonesia and Southeast Asia imports auto glass to be used for making art glass beads and jewelry. Every ton of recycled glass avoids using 1,330 pounds of sand, 433 pounds of soda ash, 433 pounds of limestone and 151 pounds of feldspar according to EarthWorks Group. Using recycled glass to make new glass cuts related air pollution by up to 20%. Mining and transporting raw materials produces about 385 pounds of waste for every ton of glass that is made. If recycled glass is substituted for even half of the raw materials, the waste is cut by more than 80%! Recycling 1 ton of glass saves the equivalent of 10 gallons of oil. Most bottles and jars manufactured today contain at least 25% recycled glass. Glass never wears out and can be recycled forever.

By visiting www.autowindscreens.co.uk, customers can make an appointment to either visit one of the company’s 121 fitting centres nationwide or have a mobile technician visit them to complete the work.

Commenting on the new online service Abu Shafi, managing director of Auto Windscreens, said: “With the UK boasting the most active internet users in Europe we anticpate high demand for our new online booking service. We are committed to listening to our customers and doing what we can to reduce the inconvenience of glass repair and replacement and make the end-to-end process as quick and straightforward as possible. The online system, our customers tell us, plays a big part in this.”

With reference to Abu's quote about UK boasting the most active internet users in Europe, this is now the opportunity for everybody to make sure they have a web presence. Even if it is only a free package from BT or one of the other service providers - at least you will be found.

There are some windscreen related sites like smashingwindscreens.co.uk but these are often out of date and include companies sourced from yell.com. More and more these days people are using the internet to find the services they need on the world wide web but they often choose a local company because they believe they will get a more personal service. If you are not there you will not get the call! - so get moving fast...........  

When Coke bottle glasses just won't cut it for safe driving, a futuristic windshield might do the trick.
General Motors Corp. researchers are working on a windscreen that combines lasers, infrared sensors and a camera to take what's happening on the road and enhance it, so aging drivers with vision problems are able to see a little more clearly.
Though it's only in the research stage now, the technology soon will be more useful than ever. The 65 and older population in the U.S. will nearly double in about 20 years, meaning more people will be struggling to see the road like they used to.
GM's new windshield won't improve their vision, but it will make objects stand out that could otherwise go unnoticed by an aged eye.
At the same time, the developers say the technology won't cause drivers to plow into trees. It is enhancing just a few objects that are already in a driver's view, not splashing distracting information onto the glass.
For example, during a foggy drive, a laser projects a blue line onto the windshield that follows the edge of the road. Or if infrared sensors detect a person or animal in the driver's path during a night drive, its outline is projected on the windshield to highlight its location.
It's possible because of a transparent coating on the windshield that lights up when struck by ultraviolet light.
Of course, much more goes into it than that. Sensors have to determine the position of the car in relation to the road, while other devices track the driver's head and eye movement to make sure the image on the windshield isn't skewed. The technological issues mean it probably will be a while before the view through the windscreen of a Buick looks anything like a pilot's head-up display in an F-16.
"You can see the difficulty of implementing technology like this," GM researcher Thomas Seder said in a recent interview.
It's also been a bit of a struggle to get skeptics to see how helpful the windshield could be, he said.
"They say, `That would be very frustrating or confusing, to have things on my windshield. I need to see the world,"' Seder said. "I'm enhancing the world. I'll take a feature that should be important to you, like the edge of the road, and paint a line over the real edge."
The windscreen is designed specifically for older drivers, who have vision problems at a much higher rate than other age groups. Currently, 12.4 percent of the population is 65 or older, but by 2030, that percentage is projected to jump to 20 percent, or 71.5 million people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
"They're not only the fastest growing group of drivers on the road in the U.S., but they are driving more miles per year than previous generations," said Cynthia Owsley, a professor of ophthalmology at the University of Alabama-Birmingham. "This has enormous implications for road safety in our country," said Owsley, who has worked with Seder on the high-tech windscreen's design.
Chrysler LLC spokesman Nick Cappa said the company is also working on such windscreen technologies, but he declined to provide details. Ford Motor Co. spokesman Alan Hall said that automaker didn't have any similar plans.
Some cars already feature head-down displays, small screens in the dashboard that show an enhanced view of what is in front of the car.
Head-up displays, so called because a driver doesn't have to look down to see the information, also are available. But the technology is limited -- the head-up display in a Cadillac STS features information such as the speed or radio station projected onto a small area of the windscreen.
Seder's system seeks to solve at least one problem with a normal head-up display -- it can only be seen if the driver's head is in a certain position.
"What's novel here is it's the entire windscreen -- no little headbox I have to have my head in. Here, you can see the image from any position," he said.
Head-down displays can be helpful, but a common vision problem in older drivers is a difficulty adjusting to different visual planes -- looking down at something close and then back up and out to the road ahead.
"If I can keep their eyes out of the vehicle, so they're not looking down as much, that's a really good assistive technology," Seder said.
Some features would be helpful to drivers of all ages. If a driver is speeding, a pink box frames an approaching speed limit sign to draw the driver's attention.
Another feature solves what Seder calls the problem of the last 50 yards in Global Positioning System navigation.
"The GPS got me on some road. What building is it? Point, there it is," Seder said.
But the windscreen mainly is geared to assist older drivers.
Seder said he wants to provide technology that helps them, but at the same time isn't distracting or overwhelming.
AARP spokeswoman Nancy Thompson said she believes drivers heading toward old age will embrace the technology.
"The boomer population has grown up with technology and is comfortable with technology," Thompson said. "Our research shows a willingness to adopt technology to make life easier. It seems like a logical extension of the boomer lifestyle to include technology that makes them safer on the road."
Owsley, who has researched vision in drivers for 15 years, is running focus groups to interview aging drivers about the issues they face, but said there's a common theme among the drivers.
"Older adults are like adults of all ages," she said. "They want to drive."                                                                                   We are all getting older and lets hope this is in vehicles soon