Motoring Podcast - News Show

FOLLOW UP: VW SEEKS DAMAGES FROM FORMER EMPLOYEESFollowing the conclusion of the independent internal investigation into the dieselgate situation, Volkswagen Group has released a statement where they announce they will be seeking damages from former employees, for failing in their ‘duty of care’ for the company. To read more, click the Car Dealer article here. HONDA FINDS BUYER FOR SWINDON PLANTHonda will stop production of the Civic in July, thus ending their time in the UK. Panttoni, a logisitcs and industrial site developer, has confirmed it will be investing heavily in redeveloping the site. They should take ownership from early 2022, after Honda has finished decommissioning equipment. To read more, click the Autocar article here. RIMAC OPENS R&D CENTRE IN UKRimac, has opened a new Research and Development Centre in Warwick Enterprise Park, at the company edges closer to the launch of their new hypercar, the C_Two. To read more, click the Autocar article here. UK AV AND EV ACT PARTIALLY COMES INTO FOR

PLUG-IN GRANT REDUCED OVERNIGHT BY GOVERNMENTThe Government announced, with immediate effect, the reduction in the plug-in grant they were making available for cars with a price up to £50,000. Not only has the grant amount been reduced from £3,000 to £2,500 but also the eligibility price is cut to a maximum of £35,000. There was much howling at the timing, immediacy and depth of cut. To read more, click the Motoring Research article here. As a counter to this FleetWorld has an opinion piece giving some explainers as to why the Government has made some of the decisions it has. To read that, click the link here. To find out which cars are affected, click the Autocar article here. To read about Citroën tackling the issue with their e-C4, click the ZapMap article here. COMPUTER CHIP SHORTAGE HURTING CAR INDUSTRYThe global shortage of computer chips was already impacting the global car industry, however this situation has been made worse by a fire at one of the main production plants, in Japan. But this points to

FOLLOW UP: BATH CLEAN AIR ZONE GOES LIVEBathe has implemented a Clean Air Zone, which remains free for passenger cars and motorcycles to enter, but could cost up to £100 per day for older lorries and buses. Find out more here. FOLLOW UP: CONSULTATION ON ENDING THE SALE OF NEW ICE/HEV CARS AND VANSThe Uk government has concluded its consultation on the sale of new petrol, diesel and hybrid cars and vans. You can read the official response here.NEW ENGINE DEAL FOR DAGENHAMFord has announced that Dagenham will build the engines for the next generation of Transit Custom. The engines will be exported to Turkey, where the van is to be built alongside its Volkswagen sibling. Read more on this story here.ASTON JOB LOSSES AT ST. ATHANAston Martin has announced job losses at its St. Athan factory. The DBX production line is being “downsized” to help a return to profitability. 95 employees are to lose their jobs alon with around 100 contractors. You can read more here from Autocar and here from the BBC.CONCERNS OF EV CH

FOLLOW UP: ANDREW GOT LOST IN LIVERPOOL Thank you, to the keen eared listener who corrected Andrew on where Aigburth Road actually is in Liverpool, when he described Edge Lane. FOLLOW UP: DEALERS UNHAPPY WITH VOLVO PLANSThis week’s ‘well knock me down with a feather’ news item is that the dealerships who found out that Volvo wants to ditch a lot of them for sales, are less than happy with this idea. To read more, click The Truth About Cars article here. NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURES FEBRUARY 2021This will be the last month that does not compare restricted UK, year on year, when looking at registration figures. Considering the country has been in another ‘full’ lockdown, manufacturers and dealers have done well to only be 35% down on last year. To read more, click the SMMT figures here. In our not very regular segment about LGVs, it is interesting to see that vans are still going strong, with registrations being up 22% on last year. To read more about that, click the SMMT article here. FUEL DUTY NOT RAISED IN B

FORD BUYS BACK FACTORYIn Merseyside, Ford has bought back the remaining stake in a transmission factory, securing the future of 600 workers. This is a glimpse of good news and look forward to finding out why they have made such a move. To find out more, click the Business Live article here. YARIS IS THE EUROPEAN CAR OF THE YEARWhilst many are only grumbling about Geneva, rather than getting ready to go AND grumbling, the European Car of the Year was announced. The winner is the Toyota Yaris. To find out more about which country voted for which cars, click the Motoring Research article here. There is a fun article running through all the past winners, to see how they fared after being hailed as the best, to read about that click the Autocar article here. E10 PETROL TO BE SOLD FROM SEPTEMBER 2021The Government has announced that E10 petrol will start to be sold throughout the UK from September 2021. This has a higher amount of ethanol in it than existing fuel. The expectation is that around 700K vehicles will b

FOLLOW UP: 2000 JOBS TO GO IN JLR ‘REIMAGINATION’There has been further clarification to the information from Jaguar Land Rover, with regards to their ‘Reimagination’ strategy. 2000 salaried, non manufacturing, workers will be lost from the global workforce in the next year, as part of the cost cutting element of the strategy. To read more, click the Autocar article here. FOLLOW UP: MITSUBISHI MAY NOT BE LEAVING EUROPEAccording to reports, Mitsubishi may be about to change their position on Europe, thanks to Renault. Suggestions are that their models will be built in Renault factories that, however there are no new models being designed for Europe and this would not affect the decision to stop selling cars in the UK. To read more, click the Automotive Management article here. FOLLOW UP: BRISTOL CLEAN AIR ZONE STARTS IN OCTOBERBristol has now confirmed the latest idea and map for their Clean Air Zone, following the Government asking the council to rethink the decision to ban all diesels for large portions of t

FOLLOW UP: GHOSN ESCAPE TEAM LOSE COURT APPEALThe father and son team who are accussed of helping Ghosn spring from bail in Japan, has lost their appeal to be extradited to Japan to face charges relating to Carlos Ghosn’s escape. To read more, click here for the Automotive News article. JAGUAR LAND ROVER ANNOUNCE NEW STRATEGYJLR has announced a ‘reimagining’ of their path forward. From 2025 they will be a fully electric focused company. Jaguar will ditch SUVs as they will be Land Rover’s sectors. The XJ, which is so deep into development, has been ditched. There are a lot of aspects to their plans, in order to read more, click the Motoring Research article here to get an overview. For some more in-depth analysis, click here for Professor David Bailey’s take on the news in Car Dealer Magazine. GOVERNMENT POTHOLE FUND DROPSThe Government announced it is injecting £500m into the pothole fund, to help local councils repair the shocking state of the roads. Whilst this is a lot, it is a reduction on last year’s ov

FOLLOW UP: TESLA CHIP RECALL EXPANDED TO UK Tesla has expanded the recall they were forced to initiate in the US, to the UK, for Model S and X cars. The issue is with the type of chip used in their touchscreens, which is not able to cope with the demands of automotive use. There is no timescale on when the recall will begin. To read more, click the Car Dealer article here.JANUARY 2021 NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURESIn January there was a drop of nearly 40% in new cars being registered, which is an excellent effort from the industry considering the country is in another lockdown. The Top 10 *Most Registered* list has a few surprises. To read more, click the SMMT article here. For Tristan Young’s breakdown of registrations due to the ‘fuel put in it’, click the Twitter link here. To learn more about Used Car Transactions, from 2020, click the SMMT link here. DIESEL MOT FAILURE RATE ROCKETSFollowing the introduction of the latest MOT rules, in May 2018, the number of diesel vehicles failing the emission element ha

OLD TYRES BANNED Following a lengthy campaign after a tragically fatal accident involving a coach with old tyres, a new law has come into force that bans tyres over 10 years old from being fitted to lorries, coaches and buses where there is only a single tyre. To read more, click the Motoring Research article here. TOYOTA RECLAIMS WORLD’S LARGEST CAR MANUFACTURER CROWNToyota was the largest car manufacturer in 2020, knocking the Volkswagen Group from the lofty top spot. Whilst all were affected by lockdowns across the globe, the reach of Toyota’s network appears to have softened that blow. To read more, click the Motoring Research article here. JLR POST PRE-TAX PROFIT FOR LAST QUARTERThe impact of the dramatic cost-efficiencies across Jaguar Land Rover are bearing fruit, as they announced a pre-tax profit of £439m, for the last quarter. To read more about this good news, click the Autocar article here. NEW MD NAMED BY LOTUSMatt Windle has been named the new Managing Director of Lotus, taking over from Phil P

FOLLOW UP: VW APPEAL $20M SPANISH CLAIM After a Spanish court order Volkswagen to compensate owners €3000 each, who bought a car with the defeat-device fitted. The company has announced it will appeal the ruling. To read more, click the Reuters article here. FOLLOW UP: VW SEEKS US RULING ON EMISSION UPDATEWhen Volkswagen agreed to settle the criminal and civil actions, in the US, to the tune of $20 billion, it did not get liability protection from state and local governments, according to the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals. VW disagree and are taking the ruling to the US Supreme Court to attempt to protect themselves from state and local governments claiming penalties for the defeat-devices. To read more, click the Automotive News Europe article here. VW FACING FLEET CO2 FINEVolkswagen Group missed their required target for fleet CO2 levels, in 2020, and is now facing a potential fine of €95 for every g/km missed per car sold. Diess tried to put a brave face on it, by stating VW and Audi brands exceeded the

FOLLOW UP: SOME CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST WINTERKORN A Lower Saxony court has dropped the charges of market manipulation, against former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn, preferring to focus on the accusation that he knowingly sold vehicles fitted with defeat devices. Winterkorn’s lawyers maintain his innocence of all charges. To read more, click the DW article here. STELLANTIS LAUNCHES ON STOCK MARKETSThe newly formed company, following the merger of the PSA and FCA groups, has launched on several stock markets across the globe. Their share price has been positively welcomed by traders. To read more, click the Automotive Management article here. JURGEN HUBBERT PASSES AWAYThe former Chairman of Mercedes-Benz, Jurgen Hubbert, has passed away at the age of 81. He took on the role in 1989, holding it for 15 years, ushering in many changes to the company and their models. To read more about what he managed in that time, click here for the Autocar article. RENAULT ANNOUNCES NEW STRATEGY Ignoring the dreadful mashi

NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURES FOR DECEMBER AND ALL 2020 The New Car Registration figures are dissected for December and the whole of 2020. That the overall figure is only down 29% for 2020 is remarkable. The Top 10 registered cars (not sellers!) has a different look to it. As a side note, the Ford Transit Custom had more registered than the third place Golf for 2020. To read more, click the SMMT article here. 56,000 VW GOLF MODELS RECALLEDVolkswagen is issuing a “voluntary service measure”, to fix software issues with the Golf’s infotainment and reversing camera systems. VW has struggled with software issues for both the Golf and ID.3, which were launched last year. To read more, click the Reuters article here. SUPERMARKETS ACCUSED OF FUEL PRICE RIP-OFF Supermarkets have increased their forecourt prices well above the cost of wholesale fuel. This has led to anger from motoring groups and customers. To read more, click the Motoring Research article here. ANPR CAMERAS USED BY DEVON AND CORNWALL Devon and Cornwa

Alan was joined by television’s Paul Cowland to have a chat about the latest series of Salvage Hunters: Classic Cars. We talk about jeopardy, flouncing off in a huff on screen and Jensen Interceptors amongst other things. We mention the show on occasion.You can find out more about Paul’s background in his Rear View chat with Andrew. You can follow him on Twitter here and on Instagram here.Drew Pritchard is on Twitter here, Instagram here and his autobiography is here (affiliate link).You can learn more about Quest here and Discovery+ here.

FOLLOW UP: VW DID BREAK LAW ACCORDING TO ECJThe European Court of Justice has ruled that Volkswagen Group, by fitting the defeat device, did break the law. The claim that it was to protect the engine was rejected by the court. This, combined with a separate ruling allowing consumers to sue VW in the country they bought the car rather than Germany, has potentially opened up more financial pain for the company. To read more, click the Car Dealer article here. FOLLOW UP: MERCEDES UNDER PRESSURE AFTER ECJ VW RULINGYou will have seen or heard the adverts from a legal firm telling you that as an owner of a Mercedes you *may be eligible for compensation because Mercedes-Benz are accused of fitting a defeat device to their engines. The Volkswagen ruling in the European Court of Justice has emboldened those chasing compensation. To read more, click the Car Dealer link here. FOLLOW UP: GHOSN ASKS WHY JAPANESE WON’T VISIT LEBANON French investigators are intending to meet with Carlos Ghosn, in Lebanon, over open cases,

As we were not allowed to record the Pubcast in-person this year we managed to convince those who were there for the last one, to join us again! You can listen to Alan and Andrew chat with Erica Haddon from Toyota, Ian Robertson from Diesel Car and Eco Car magazines, Scott Brownlee from Toyota and Phil Huff from Front Seat Phil and Editor of Pick-Up Truck and Professional 4x4. Simon Branney was unable to join us due to a cursed internet. You can hear what positives came out of the year, the mocking of last year’s prediction quality and what everyone thinks will happen in 2021. Happy New Year to all our listeners and hope you have a safe and prosperous one! To follow our fine guests on Twitter click the relevant links below;For Erica, click the link here.For Scott, click the link here. For Ian, click the link here. For Phil, click the link here.

How often do you think of saying to someone, “If you’re considering selling, can I have the first refusal?” Way back in midst of the first lockdown Alan said just that to Chris Pollitt referring to the Car & Classic Mercedes 230E project car. A few months later Chris sent the “you know you wanted first dibs…” message and, well, it spiralled from there.In this Special Edition Alan talks about the car, what attracted him to it and why it’s now on his driveway.To see more about Arrows, who were mentioned, click the Motoring Research link here. To go directly to Arrows own site, click the link here.

FOLLOW UP: SSANGYONG GB AND MITSUBISHI END TALKSSsangYong GB and Mitsubishi have now ceased, over the possibility of the Korean brand taking over the UK operation from the Colt Car Company. Suggestions were that the price both wanted was too far away from each other to satisfactorily conclude negotiations. To read more, click the CarDealer article here. PORT DELAYS AND COVID AFFECT BRITISH FACTORIESThe ongoing delays at British ports, for both import and export goods, has caused some problems for manufacturing sites in the UK. The most notable examples of this are Honda, which had to halt production last week. JLR’S site Castle Browmich, has been hit by a slow down of parts from suppliers due to the impact of Covid. Whilst Swindon has started up again, the West Midlands site has not. To read more, click the Autocar article here for Honda and click here for the JLR Autocar article. TFL CONSIDERING CHARGING NON LONDON CARS A FEE TO ENTERThe financial hole that TfL is trying to fill could mean that cars, that ar

FOLLOW UP: ASTON MARTIN ANNOUNCE INTERNAL INVESTIGATIONTobias Moers, the CEO of Aston Martin, has announced that there will be an internal investigation into the involvement of the company in the report that has been so thoroughly debunked, in terms of the information supplied, after questions were raised over the connection between the PR company that produced the report and individuals within or close to the company. To read more, click The Guardian article here. NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURES FOR NOVEMBER 2020The SMMT has released the November New Car Registration figures, which are predictably down on last year, due to the lockdown that England went into. Of note is that electric cars, in some shape or form, exceeded the amount of diesel cars registered for the first time. To read more, click the SMMT article here. COMPETITION WATCHDOG TURNS EYES ON CHARGING NETWORKThe Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating the electric vehicle charging industry to see that a competitive and fair market de

When Alan last tried the Hyundai i10 it was competent but slow. With a turbocharged 1.0 triple delivering 100PS and set of subtle suspension changes, has Hyundai cured its Achilles heel? Alan tried the i10 N-Line for a week to find out.

FOLLOW UP: GREEN IS GO FOR NUMBER PLATESFrom December 8, the Department of Transport has confirmed that a green flash on a number plate, to denote a zero-emission vehicle, will be allowed. To read more, click the Motoring Research article here. FOLLOW UP: ZERO CARBON WORLD CHARITYThere is a new Autocar article about Alexander Sims and the Zero Carbon World charity, we mentioned a few weeks ago, who are giving away free charging points to businesses that customers can use in their car parks. To find out more about this surprisingly aged charity, click the link to the article here. 50,000 MILES EV CLAIM QUESTIONED On Friday and over the weekend, several media outlets published articles claiming, thanks to research sponsored by some well know auto industry organisations, that an electric car needed to run for nearly 50,000 miles before it offset the carbon debt of production and energy needed to run it during its life. However, following dissection of the figures quoted by a world-renowned academic, who pointed