Auto

It is commonplace to see male taxi operators bobbing and weaving through the streets of the Corporate Area, snatching the tiniest gaps in traffic - or making them - as they try to turn a profit by the end of the day.

Earl Jarrett, chairman of the Jamaica Automobile Association (JAA), is advocating that import and other duties on hybrid and electric vehicles be further reduced in order that Jamaican and other Caribbean consumers can purchase them, thereby enhancing fuel efficiency.

Let's face it - the Toyota Yaris has been all that fun for most of us, so I was not expecting much when I travelled to Toyota Jamaica's Spanish Town Road head office to test-drive the 2014 model.

At a time when many persons have to be finding innovative ways of making a living, 36-year-old Portmore, St Catherine, resident Kern Saunders has dared to be different.

Motorists who stop at the traffic lights at the intersection of Barbican, Old Hope and Hope roads in Liguanea, St Andrew, are often approached (or beset) by young men who wish to clean their windscreens - for a price, of course.

In the sweltering heat of the mid-morning sun, as traffic bustles along Hope Road, St Andrew, in the vicinity of the United States Embassy, men from nearby Standpipe dart among moving vehicles to secure parking for motorists conducting business at the embassy.

Women now buy nearly half the new cars in the US, a sharp increase compared with a generation ago, and the auto industry is trying to demonstrate that it's keeping up with the times when it showcases the latest models to the public.

Two men alleged to have been operating a mobile gas station were hauled before the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court last Wednesday.

Acting manager of the Jamaican-German Automotive School (JAGAS), Kevin Baxter, says this year the institution will be introducing new courses as it continues to equip students with the skill sets necessary to remain competitive.

Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) Marketing and Communications manager, Clinton Clarke, says this year, the state-owned bus company will be expanding on initiatives introduced in 2013.

Executive director of the National Road Safety Council (NRSC), Paula Fletcher, says the NRSC will maintain its momentum from 2013 in pushing for the implementation of the new Road Traffic Act. There will also be a stronger appeal for the number of road fatalities in Jamaica to be reduced to under 240, a target that was missed last year but is hoped will be achieved in 2014.

Last Sunday, Automotives looked back at the first half of 2013. This week, we finish the recap of last year, looking at July to December in the rear-view mirror.