Motoring Podcast - News Show

Motoring Podcast
  • 4.9 (80)
  • AUTOMOTIVE
  • UPDATED WEEKLY
Motoring Podcast - News Show

Motoring enthusiasts Alan and Andrew discuss their takes on the week's motoring news in this 45 to 60 minute audio podcast.

  1. 5 DAYS AGO

    And the handcuffs - 25 February 2025

    FOLLOW UP: DAZZLING HEADLIGHT RESEARCH RESULTSThe College of Optometrists, working with the RAC, has conducted research into if headlight dazzle is a problem. The results from the first research suggest there is, particularly for under 35s and those not in SUVs. If you wish to find out more, click this article link from the College here. FOLLOW UP: AUTOPIAN THINKS APPLE SHOULD BUY NISSANMatt Hardigree makes the case, in The Autopian, as to why Apple should buy Nissan. He does however admit that he’s not using logic. Click this link to read more, if you so wish. RENAULT SHARES BATTERY SUPPRESSION SYSTEM WITH INDUSTRYRenault has developed a system to allow for EV and hybrid battery fires to be put out quicker than is currently possible. An access port has been added to the battery pack which will be opened by the pressure of a fire hose, enabling water to get directly into the battery cells and cover them with water. Renault has named this the Fireman Access system and is sharing it with the entire car industry. To read more on this excellent move by Renault, click this Autocar article here. BMW PAUSES INVESTMENT IN OXFORD EV PLANTBMW has paused the planned £600 million investment in the Mini Oxford plant that would enable EVs to be made there. They have cited “multiple uncertainties facing the automotive industry" and not taken up a £60 million grant from the UK Government, as a result. If you want to read more, click this BBC News article link here. BRAKE DUST PARTICULATE TOXICITYResearch from the University of Southampton has suggested that brake dust particulates, when the brakes have copper as part of their construction, is more damaging than diesel vehicle emissions. Removing copper from the brakes drops this. Click this Top Gear article link to read more. FAKE SPEAKERS IN SOME CHINESE VOLVOSCustomers in China have discovered that some of them have fake Bowers and Wilkins speakers fitted, as the displayed names are Bowers and VVilkins. Not only that but the drive selector is not as advertised by Volvo. This is embarrassing, to say the least. To find out more, click this Ars Technica article link here. TESLA AUTOPILOT RULED DEFECTIVE IN GERMANYA German court has agreed with a Tesla owner and ruled that the company’s Autopilot was defective, due to phantom braking issues. Either the owner is to be fully compensated or have their Model 3 replaced with a car that has non defective Autopilot. You can read further on this, by clicking the link here to a CarScoops article. If you like what we do, on this show, and think it is worth a £1.00, please consider supporting us via Patreon. Here is the link to that a href="https://www.motoringpodcast.com/support/" rel="noopener noreferrer"...

    40 min

  2. 19 FEB

    Easy to say - 18 February 2025

    FOLLOW UP: COURTS REFUSE GOVERNMENT REQUESTThe UK’s Supreme Court has blocked the Government’s attempt to reduce the compensation due to those sold finance for their car purchase. The fear was it would stop or reduce car loan availability. We now wait until April to find out the final ruling. Click this BBC News article to read more. ASTON MARTIN GIVEN DEADLINE TO BE FIXEDAdrian Hallmark, the new CEO of Aston Martin, has outlined that the company must be “going in the right direction’, in terms of towards profitability in the next 12-18 months. Aston will not be following a volume model, but one where they maximise the profitability from each vehicle. If you wish to learn more, click this CarScoops link here. For the more bizarre ideas from Aston Martin, you can click this Top Gear article link to read further. NISSAN CANNOT GUARANTEE SUNDERLAND FUTUREAs the fall out of the collapsed merger continues to rain down, one step Nissan is taking is to continue it’s global cost saving exercise. Unfortunately, that means the Sunderland facility is under threat as three international plants are earmarked for closure. This is a step up on November’s original announcement, where only job losses were thought to be enough. If you want to learn more, click this Autocar article link here. PORSCHE TO REDUCE WORKFORCEAnother car company not immune from the issues of the industry, Porsche has announced that it will be reducing the workforce by around 1900 staff. The expectation is this will be achieved by natural retirement and turnover. Some reports suggest 1500 positions will also go for temporary staff. This is the latest in a number of announcements from Porsche that show just how badly hit they are. Click this electrive article link to learn more. NEW UK CAR PARK GUIDANCE ANNOUNCEDOn Monday 17 February new guidance came into affect, from the new organisation, the Private Parking Scrutiny and Advice Panel (PPSAP). They have brought in a rule that offers greater protection to those struggling to pay upon arrival at a car park, if they are privately run and use ANPR or CCTV to enforce and monitor parking. To read more on this, click here for an article link from Motoring Research. CONIGITAL GOES INTO LIQUIDATIONConigital, once heralded as beacon in the UK autonomous vehicle world has called in a liquidator as it voluntarily folds. This is after the company claimed to have raised £500 million from a private equity group. However, the UK Tech News outlet was suspicious of this and published an article back in June 2024 questioning the validity of this claim. Click this article link to read about that. Then, click here, to...

    25 min

  3. 12 FEB

    Written in crayon - 12 February 2025

    FOLLOW UP: NISSAN HONDA DEAL OVER ALREADYBefore it even really got going, it appears Nissan are to walk away from the deal as Honda are accused of changing the agreement, with a proposal that made Nissan a subsidiary and not equal partner. When you look at the market evaluations of them, you can see why Honda may suggest they are the bigger company. Click this Autocar article link here to read more. FOLLOW UP: VAUXHALL LUTON TO SHUT BY JUNE 2025Stellantis has confirmed that the Vauxhall Luton plant will close by June this year. The announcement of the closure came in November 2024, with this one now being the specific date. Ellesmere Port will continue to operate. For more on this story, click this Autocar article link here. JANUARY 2025 NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURESThe Society of Motor Manufacturer and Traders has revealed the new car registration figures for January 2025. They are down over all, but BEVs are at 21% market share. Unfortunately, Private is still down with Fleet doing all the heavy lifting. Many “commentators” have tried to tie in Tesla’s drop to the CEO’s actions in the US, but this is not the case due to the length of time it takes to get a delivery from order, especially if specific options are wanted. Click this SMMT article link to read more on the state of the market. STELLANTIS RESHUFFLE CONTINUESLinda Jackson, the CEO of Peugeot, will retire as the reshuffling of Stellantis management continues, following the departure of the previous CEO. To read more, including other moves, click this Autocar article link here. MOT CHANGES WORRY INDUSTRYA new change expected to MOTs, where any recalls that have not been completed must be noted as either an advisory or fail, is worrying the industry. The fear is this could overwhelm workshops as there is an estimated 5 million vehicles on the road with recall work to be performed on. If you wish to find out more, click this AMOnline article link here. BID TO STOP GHOST MOTSThe DVSA is taking the next step in using photographic evidence, in a bid to prevent ghost MOTs. These are where a workshop gives an MOT without even seeing the car. Following an initial trial they are now working on honing the process of confirming the car is in the garage and being inspected. Click this article link from the UK Government. ELECTRIC VAN MOT PROBLEMFleet operators are asking for an approved deferral for electric van MOTs as they need to be handled at a commercial vehicle testing station due to their weight. As they fall into the heavy goods vehicle category, they must be tested at one year. However, the Association of Fleet Operators seems to...

    41 min

  4. 4 FEB

    One of our strengths - 4 February 2025

    FOLLOW UP: MERCEDES JOINS EU TARIFF LAWSUITBefore we had even managed to publish last week’s show, Mercedes-Benz had joined the lawsuit against the EU over Chinese made EV tariffs. Click this Bloomberg article link to learn more. US PAUSES TARIFFS ON CANADA, MEXICO AND CHINA GOODSThe US has paused imposing 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada, as well as a 10% tariff on Chinese made goods. Even though this has not gone through, the chaps explain the consequences should they come to pass, on the US car manufacturing industry, dealerships and buyers. To find out more, click this electrive article link here. UK GOV INVESTS IN CHARGING AND MININGThe UK Government is investing £65 million in Connected Kerb, who provide on street parking charging solutions. On top of this, £28 million is being invested in Cornish Metals, who mine minerals for EV batteries, solar panels and more besides. If you wish to learn more, click this Autocar article link here. JLR PROFITS DROP DUE TO CHANGE OF DOMINANT MARKETJLR’s most dominant market is now the US, instead of China. With a weak pound against the dollar, the two factors have reduced the year-on-year profit for the company. Another impact was warranty costs. However, they did take in a record revenue, along with an improved profit margin. Click this Autocar article link here for more. MOST RECALLED CARS OF 2024Once again the annual list of shame comes out, where the car brands that were recalled the most in Europe has been published. To find out more, click this Autocar article link here. PROPOSED ASTON MARTIN MUSEUM CANCELLEDA proposed Aston Martin museum, in Newport Pagnell, have been cancelled due to the costs of the project. The Aston Martin Heritage Trust could not find a commercial partner for the museum. If you want to learn more, click this BBC News article link here. HALF OF YOUNG PASSENGERS KILLED IN UK WORE NO SEATBELTThe shocking statistics from the Department for Transport show that 43% of young people who are killed in vehicle incidents are not wearing a seatbelt. To read more about this horrifying data, click this ETSC article link here. If you like what we do, on this show, and think it is worth a £1.00, please consider supporting us via Patreon. Here is the link to that CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST NEW NEW CAR NEWS - Fiat Grande PandaFiat has revealed the full specs and prices for the Grande Panda. It will undercut the sister car from Citroën, the eC3, with a price of £20,975. The 44kWh battery has a maximum range of 199 miles and is able to charge at up to 100kW. There is also a petrol hybrid version. Fiat is making the Panda a model range all of...

    49 min

  5. 28 JAN

    My cheerfulness tonight - 28 January 2025

    FOLLOW UP: GOVERNMENT INTERVENES OVER FINANCE SCANDALThe Chancellor of the Exchequer has written to the Supreme Court to ask them to not penalise car dealers and finance companies too much, for breaking common law. To read more, click this AMOnline article link here. For more context on how we are at this point, click this link here, from The Conversation. FOLLOW UP: WESTERN AND CHINESE EV MAKERS TAKE EU TO COURTBMW and Tesla has joined with BYD, SAIC and Geely to challenge the tariffs imposed on EVs made in China that are brought to Europe. They are arguing that the rates imposed are unfair. If you wish to read further on this, click this AMOnline link here. FOLLOW UP: NHTSA BLUECRUISE INVESTIGATION SHOCKSThe investigation into Ford’s hands-off eyes-on driving system, called BlueCruise, by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the US, has found that the system does not detect stationary vehicles when the car is going over 62mph. This has been implemented to try and prevent false positives being sensed and thus “phantom braking”. Click this Autoevolution article link for more. FOLLOW UP: GOVERNMENT BACKS GREATER MANCHESTER PLANSThe UK Government has assessed and approved the proposed plans from Greater Manchester, to reduce the amount of nitrogen dioxide in the air. This will take place without the need to charge drivers for a Clean Air Zone, as so many other cities have chosen. If you would like to learn more, click this article link from BBC News, here. VW GROUP DITCHES AGENCY MODEL FOR EVSIn the UK, the Volkswagen Group will end its use of the agency model, where they sell directly to customers, for their electric vehicles. They are the latest in a number of companies to make this move. Click this Auto Retail Agenda article to read more. SUBARU HACKEDEthical hackers found a vulnerability in Subaru’s StarLink connected service that allowed them to access incredible amounts of data and even control some functions of cars remotely. This has now been patched and we have only found out after the fix was deployed by Subaru. If you want to learn more, click this link to Sam Curry’s post detailing what he did and found. WAYMO HACKEDJane Manchun Wong, a security researcher, found a hidden element of the Waymo app that allowed her to change what the top dome, on the roof of their vehicles, displayed. Waymo have now closed this off to ‘normal users’. If you want to learn more, click this TechCrunch article link here. MANY THINGS HACKEDPwn2Own Automotive 2025 took place over three days last week and found 49 unknown vulnerabilities in software for head units and EV chargers, including...

    47 min

  6. 21 JAN

    Make your own up - 21 January 2025

    FOLLOW UP: BT ENDS EV CHARGER PILOTAfter converting just a single junction box to enable EV charging, BT has pulled the plug on their project. Originally touted as having a potential to convert up to 90,000 cabinets, the company is focusing on improving wifi provision for EV chargers. To learn more, click this Autocar article link here. FOLLOW UP: FTC SUES JOHN DEERE OVER REPAIR MONOPOLYIn the US, the Federal Trade Commission along with Illinois and Minnesota, have taken John Deere to court over claims of a monopoly on repair to their equipment. The claims explain how due to only John Deere being able to fix farm machinery their is a loss of earnings as the farmers have to wait for a technician. This has potential knock on for the motoring industry. Click this 404 Media article link, to read more. EV POWERTRAIN FACTORY TO BE BUILT IN SUNDERLANDA company owned by Nissan, Jatco, will build a factory in Sunderland that will produce the car company’s next generation EV powertrains. The UK Government is investing £50 million in the project. If you want to read more, click this Autocar article here. STELLANTIS UK MANAGEMENT CHANGESStellantis UK have made changes to their management team, again. This time Nicola Dobson will head up Peugeot. Giuseppe Cava will be the MD for Fiat, Fiat Professional and Abarth. Damien Dally will lead the Leapmotor brand. Nick Richards will be the director of pre-owned vehicles. Tom Ray is in charge of business-to-business for all brands. To learn more, click this AMOnline link here. FTC BANS GM FROM PASSING DRIVER DATA ONFor the next five years, GM is banned from passing driver data onto consumer reporting agencies, in the United States. Additionally, they must make it clear what data they do collect and give people choice over if it is collected and used. Click this article from the Federal Trade Commission for more details. HINO SETTLES US EMISSION BATTLEIn the United States, the Toyota subsidiary Hino, has settled with regulators an emission scandal involving their diesel engines. Fined $1.6 billion, plead guilty and banned from importing their engines to the country for five years. Amazing what happens to non-US companies, compared to their own. Click this BBC News article link for more. CANOO FILES FOR BANKRUPTCYThe EV startup, Canoo, has filed for bankruptcy after it failed to find further funding. To find out more, click this TechCrunch article here. CHARGE CAR HAS BEEN BOUGHTThe collapsed EV restomod company, Charge Car, has been bought and resurrected, by a consortium who plan to follow through on the program of building electric Mustangs. If you wish to read more, a...

    42 min

  7. 14 JAN

    I feel a one what - 14 January 2025

    DFT CLAIMS NO FINES FOR ZEV MANDATE IN 2024The Department for Transport has stated it is confident no car maker will be hit with fines, for failing to meet the requirements of the Zero Emission Vehicle mandate of 2024, due to the many different ways a brand can be compliant. If you want to read more, click this AMOnline link here. JLR STATE GEAR SELECTOR SETUP STAYS FOLLOWING TRAGEDYA coroner has urged JLR to change their gear selector system by including an “intermediary step” to engage the drive as required. A tragic accident occurred when the driver of an electric Jaguar relied on feel to pick correctly but ultimately failed, which led to the death of a child. JLR, whilst expressing sympathy over the incident, stated they comply with all legal requirements. You can learn more, by clicking this BBC News link here. ROLLS ROYCE INVESTS £300M IN NEW PRODUCTION CAPACITYRolls Royce will be upgrading their Goodwood production facility, with a £300 million investment, ahead of a second electric model reveal. More important, perhaps, than the second ev model, is that this will allow even more personalisation of cars being sold. To read more on this, click the link here to an Autocar article. TESLA BEATS FORD TO MOST RECALLED BRAND IN 2024In the US, Tesla has taken the dubious crown of the brand with the most recalls, from Ford in 2024. The latest is 700,000 for tyre pressure sensors not working as hoped. That brings the total of 15 recalls. Click this San Antonio Express News article link for more. TESLA DRIVER ASSISTANCE COMPUTERS FAILINGThe computers controlling Tesla’s ‘Self Driving’ ADAS system are failing. This is causing serious issues, including disabling other aspects and technology in cars. Getting replacements is tricky and there is a long lead time due to how the company likes to do business. If you want to read more, click this Jalopnik article link here. WAYMO TAXI GOES IN CIRCLES TRAPPING OCCUPANTA Waymo in Arizona, trapped an occupant whilst circling the airport car park, which he could not stop or get help. The man nearly missed his flight as it took so long to rectify the situation. You can see more, by clicking this BBC News article link here. DRIVERLESS SCOTTISH BUS ROUTE SHUT DOWNThe much heralded driverless bus project, set up with Stagecoach, called CAVForth, has shut down 18 months after beginning. The claim is a lack of passengers. To read about this, a...

    45 min

  8. 8 JAN

    Incompetence rather than evil - 7 January 2025

    FOLLOW UP: VW AND UNIONS AGREE ON CUTSAs a result of the intense negotiations between Volkswagen and the unions, agreement has been reached on cuts that are hoped will create $4 billion in savings. Voluntary redundancies, selling one plant, reducing production lines and repurposing other plants are all measures being taken. Click this Autocar article link, to find out more. You can also click this link here to an AP article explaining other aspects of the steps being taken. FOLLOW UP: HONDA AND NISSAN OFFICIALLY CONFIRM MERGERWe covered the rumours of this a few weeks ago, yet it has still caught many by surprise. Nissan and Honda has announced that they intend to merge in an attempt to fight for an increased market share. We cannot work out what the companies will gain from this as they seem to be effectively identical in terms of products and markets. To find out more, you can click this Autocar article link here. FOLLOW UP: UK GOV STARTS FRESH ZEV MANDATE CONSULTATIONThe new Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, has opened a fresh consultation with stakeholders regarding the zero emission vehicle mandate, as the reality of the economy and the market hit home. SMMT is pushing for financial help for private buyers and pushing the charging industry to do better. The charging industry is in a flap over the potential to slow down the move to EVs. To learn more, click this Autocar article link here. DECEMBER AND 2024 NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURES SMMT has released the data for December and the entire year, with regards to new car registrations. Surprising no one, or it really shouldn’t, BEVs had a bumper month as the fear of fines loomed over brands. Fleet buyers completely propped up the market in 2024. The question of the ZEV mandate and economy, going into 2025, will impact the market heavily. Click this SMMT article link to read more. WHISTLEBLOWER ACCUSES JLR AND TATA OF BLACKLISTINGHazar Denli, who was heading up the chassis design element of VinFast’s car for Tata Technologies, raised concerns over parts and quality internally but was ignored. Feeling he had no option he went public, was fired by Tata and subsequently found a new job, via an agency, with JLR. He is claiming that he was blacklisted and unfairly fired by JLR who were told to let him go. To read more, click this BBC News article link here. LOCAL AUTHORITIES GIVEN EXTRA POTHOLE REPAIR FUNDSThe Government has added £500 million to the pothole repair fund and is pushing local councils to get on with sorting the roads. However, to receive the full funding they will need to demonstrate they are tackling the problem to a standard expected. If you would like to read more, click this BBC News article link here. VW CUSTOMER CAR DATA LEAKVolkswagen Group has now fixed a misconfigured cloud storage area that was open to everyone. 800,000 customer’s car’s data...

    43 min
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About

Motoring enthusiasts Alan and Andrew discuss their takes on the week's motoring news in this 45 to 60 minute audio podcast.

Information

  • Creator
    Motoring Podcast
  • Years Active
    2015 - 2025
  • Episodes
    305
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 Motoring Podcast
  • Show Website
    Motoring Podcast - News Show

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