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The Australians are fighting the menace of VIN number tampering with new VIN stickers which cannot be removed or altered without being destroyed, making vehicle reconstruction and title washing significantly more challenging. Although we're not sure what's bigger news here, the fact that a cheap $2 AUS decal can markedly deter car thieves, or that the Aussies call VIN tampering "rebirthing." Join us for a collective shudder, and the full afterbirth details after the jump. Although we expect automakers to scream about the new sticker destroying profitability and requiring at least 10 years of development work to implement, we expect the program makes some serious sense. In fact, the numbers we've seen peg the potential savings at $240 million US dollars. Not bad for a cost per-vehicle of just $1.90. Apparently, some automakers have already recognized the writing on the wall. Hyundai is installing the new tamper-resistant stickers on its entire Australian fleet, and...
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It seems that in the Land Down Under the Trev has quite a bit of work ahead of itself. The Hyundai i30 was recently crowned the greenest mobile in all the land, in addition to the overall 2007 Car of the Year in Oz by carsguide. Wait a second! The greenest car in Australia isn't a hybrid? Negative. But who needs a hybrid when you have an i30 with a 1.6-liter turbo diesel that is reportedly capable going 62 miles on 1.23 gallons of fuel? Another big factor in the selection process that eliminated all of the hybrids was simple economics. The judges smacked them down for having high initial cost premiums, especially compared to the $21,490 i30 price tag, which is $16,000 cheaper than the Prius. [ TH ]
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