7:18 am, February 22, 2023
Car Dealer likes to stay on top of the news in the UK – but there are also headlines from other parts of the world that we feel deserve a domestic audience.
Here’s our latest roundup of what’s caught our eye from around the globe recently.
Inferno at showroom
- India
A huge fire engulfed a car showroom in Surat’s Udhna area.
Residents called firefighters to the scene to deal with the blaze, and dramatic footage of the inferno was widely circulated on social media.
Few details were available – including the cause – but there aren’t believed to have been any casualties or deaths.
(Sources: India Today/ANI)
Body of missing used car dealer found
- Portugal
The body of a used car dealer was found just metres from his home nearly a month after he was reported missing.
Authorities haven’t yet ruled out foul play in the death of Filipe Silva, who was 49 and a father-of-two.
After 27 days of inquiries and searches involving drones, Silva’s body was found in a property next door to his parents’ home near his own residence in Alcorochel, Torres Novas.
(Sources: Portugal Resident/Portgual Posts English)
Ferrari takes a plunge
- USA
A malfunctioning car elevator shaft left a Ferrari dangling at a Florida dealership.
Crews from Palm Beach County Fire Rescue had to cut power to stop fuel from leaking as they worked to free the luxury sports car.
A towing company was brought in to help remove the vehicle in an operation that took some four hours and involved a 45ft boom plus a number of 50,000lb winches.
Fortunately, nobody was hurt.
(Source: Local10.com)
Are UFOs carrying ET? No, they’re just used car balloons, says White House
- USA
Used car balloons are behind the sightings of countless UFOs.
That’s according to the White House, with officials saying the countless unknown objects seen above us are perfectly benign and hail from our own planet, rather than being visitors from another galaxy.
After US military shot down three unidentified flying objects, White House homeland security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall told governors in a virtual briefing: ‘There are no UFOs. This is not an invasion of the aliens.’
She said there were ‘hundreds, if not thousands’ of objects up in the sky, with most reckoned to range from ‘used car lot balloons’ to aircraft that have been launched by commercial firms.
The three objects shot down – off the Arctic coastline of Alaska, over the Yukon Territory in Canada and over Lake Huron – are still to be identified.
(Source: New York Post)
Salesman sentenced over speeding videos uploaded to Instagram
- Australia
A car salesman was given a 15-month intensive corrections order and must carry out 150 hours of community service after posting footage on Instagram of him dancing and driving at speeds of up 131mph in a Mercedes on a motorway.
Ali El Skaf, of Cecil Hills, Sydney, who worked at his family’s Best Buy Autos showroom in Moorebank, was arrested in March 2020 and convicted of four charges of driving dangerously.
He unsuccessfully appealed against his conviction last November, then appealed against the severity of his sentence in January this year.
Judge Andrew Scotting was quoted as saying: ‘The appellant deliberately drove at a speed and in a manner dangerous to the public for the purpose of filming and publishing his actions on social media.
‘He intended to create notoriety for himself, to encourage others to copy his actions and to publicly express his contempt for the authority of the police.’
Details of the original sentence weren’t given.
(Source: 9News)
Dealership accidentally lists Porsche at bargain price
- China
A Porsche dealership in Yinchuan was swamped by potential buyers when it mistakenly advertised a new Porsche Panamera for sale at roughly five times less than the luxury car’s true starting price.
The online advert gave the Panamera a price tag of 124,000 yuan – circa £15,000 – and the showroom was understandably inundated by hundreds of people placing a reservation fee for the sports car, whose UK starting price is £72,900.
Porsche said there was ‘a serious mistake in the listed retail price’ and the promotion was hauled off the website immediately.
With only one of the Panameras available, the dealership negotiated what was described as ‘an agreeable outcome’ with the first customer who placed a reservation fee.
Everyone had their reservation fees refunded.
(Source: BBC News)
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