Motoring Podcast - News Show Motoring Podcast

FOLLOW UP: BYD HELPED BY CHINESE GOVERNMENTA report is claiming that BYD has received $3.7 billion, in funding from the Chinese Government, to help it to reach its dominating position. This is all part of the EU’s investigation into whether companies from the country have an unfair advantage thanks to state aid. Click this Yahoo Finance article link for more information.
FOLLOW UP: BRITISHVOLT SITE TO BE SOLD BY COUNCILThe site of the ill-fated Britishvolt battery factory is to be sold by the local council, to a company that wishes to create a data centre, after the new ‘owners’ Recharge Industries, have still failed to pay the monies owning. If you wish to learn more, click this BBC News article link here.
WLTP DOES NOT REFLECT REAL WORLD USE REPORT FINDSTwo reports from the European Court of Auditors have shown that the testing regime, WLTP, results, do not come close to real-world usage on the public roads. Other conclusions have also been inferred by the investigation, however we would urge caution as not enough detail has been provided in how the data was calculated and if that was correct or even valid. But, there are now calls for the system to change, once again, at a time when the car industry is under enormous pressure from multiple vectors. You can read more, by clicking this Autocar article link here.
2023 LOSSES FOR LOTUSLotus announced losses for 2023, of £594 million. Whilst this does sound a lot and quite scary, we must all remember the transformation that is undergoing the company right now. They are fundamentally changing how they do things and the cars they produce in an incredibly short period of time. For more detail, click this Autocar article link here.
BIT OF A WEEK FOR STELLANTISStellantis, and in particular their CEO Carlos Taveres, had quite the last seven or so days. First off there was the public spat about the Italian Government trying to cosy up to foreign car companies, to encourage more manufacturing jobs in the country, which Taveres warned over such moves. You can read more, by clicking this link to a Reuters article.
That’s not all though, Taveres then had to fend off questions over which brand or brands the Stellantis Group were going to ditch. He refuted these claims as “fake news”. Click this Autocar article link for more.
You’ll have to wait till New New Car News for the third piece of Stellantis news.
VW INVESTING MORE IN CHINAVolkswagen has announced that it will be investing $2.7 billion in a Chinese manufacturing site. This is quite odd, as only recently the “roof is on fire” speech from their CEO and huge cost-cutting efforts across the group. On top of which, there is ever...

FOLLOW UP: RENAULT AND VOLVO GROUP PRESENT EV VAN JVFlexis is the name of the joint-venture between Renault, the Volvo Group and transportation company CMA CGM, that will develop EV vans aimed at urban and last mile deliveries. This will fill the gap in both Renault and Volvo’s offerings to the commercial vehicle industry. For more information, click this Autocar link here.
TOYOTA UPDATES ON CAR THEFTSToyota GB has issues a statement regarding thefts of certain models and a fix that will be fitted by dealerships to affected vehicles. To read more on that, click this link here.
Friends of the show Ken Tindell and Ian Tabor found the vulnerability over a year ago. Ken has written a post on LinkedIn that we recommend you read. Particularly the last sentence, which we echo and hope the car industry improves communication with security researchers. Click here to read that piece.
MARCH 2024 NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURESThe Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has issued the registration figures for March 2024. They are up on 2023 but still significantly down on 2019. Fleet is propping up what growth there is as Private is down again. On top of that, the BEV registrations grew in number but market share dropped causing SMMT to call, once again, on Government assistance for Private buyers. Click here to read the information from SMMT.
Also, the chaps want to thank the SMMT for changing the top ten model chart title to Best Models from Best Sellers, which they always grumbled about.
INVESTIGATION INTO HEADLIGHT BRIGHTNESSThe RAC has been calling on the Government to do something about the number of complaints regarding dazzling headlights. The response, following a petition to Parliament, is that the Government will seek to investigate the issue and then be in a better position to propose a reaction if it is required. You can read more about this, by clicking this Autocar article link here.
AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE SOFTWARE IS HARDDevelopers in Australia has admitted defeat in trying to create software that would help vehicles avoid kangaroos. They state that the animals are too irrational to be able to do the job. If you wish to read more, click this Ars Technica article link here.
Meanwhile, Bentley, sounding like they are actually trying to be safety first, announce they will not be pursuing Level 3 automation. They will, instead, release a Level 2 ++ system. The chaps get quite cross about this. Click here to read the Carscoops article.
Andrew commented on this issue on LinkedIn, you can read that by clicking this link here.
TIME RUNNING OUT ON EV CHARGER GRANTS An excellent article from EV Powered by

FOLLOW UP: LUCID RAISES $1B FROM SAUDI ARABIATHe luxury EV maker, Lucid, has received a further $1 billion in investment, from the Saudi Arabian sovereign fund, Public Investment Fund. They also increased the number of vehicles they expect to produce in 2024 compared to 2023, still only 9,000 cars though. If you wish to learn more, click this link to a Reuters article.
FOLLOW UP: CANOO BUYS UP ARRIVAL EQUIPMENTThe bones of Arrival are being picked over as the administration team try to recoup as much money as possible by selling the assets off. Canoo has swooped in and bought a lot of equipment at bargain prices. Click this electrive article link to read more.
JLR NAME THREE BRAND DIRECTORSJLR has named three new directors to head up the brands in the UK. Alan Nicholson takes the helm of Range Rover. Leonie Raistrick will be in charge of Defender and Discovery. Whilst Santino Pietrosanti will be brand director of Jaguar. Don’t forget to click this link, from AMOnline, to see even the directors are having to follow the dress code.
FCA QUESTIONS INSURANCE WRITE-OFF VALUATIONSThe Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has expressed its concern that insurers are not correctly valuing vehicles that have been written off or stolen. Taking from customers both top and bottom, nice. They has stated they will take steps and do have powers to do so if the industry doesn’t sort itself out. Click this AMOnline article link to read more.
For the article explaining the issue with Gap Insurance, click this AMOnline link here.
CAMPAIGN TO REGULATE THE CAR RETAIL INDUSTRY Due to a “volume” of complaints, mainly around second hand car dealers and repair operations, the calls on the Government to regulate the car retail industry are getting louder. Recommendation includes a certification process, with minimum industry standards met. To read more, click this AMOnline article link here.
RESEARCH INTO BARRIERS TO EV TAKE UPResearch, on behalf of Transport for the North, has been published with a list of factors that are putting people off making the switch to electric vehicles. This is not a hit piece or anti-EV, but a list of real concerns from real people. A very interesting read. If you wish to learn more, click this TransportXtra article link here.
CONSULTATION OVER HYDROGEN FARM AND PLANT MACHINERYThe Department for Transport has opened a consultation on permitting hydrogen farm and plant machinery on the roads. To learn more, including the link to the consultation, click this Fleet News article link...

FOLLOW UP: RENAULT VOLVO JV FOR EV VANS IS ONLast week we discussed the Reuters article that stated Renault and Volvo will announce that their joint venture for electric vans will shut in early April. This turns out not to be the case. Thanks to Renault sources we can confirm the JV is still very much on. Click this article link from AMOnline to read more.
FOLLOW UP: FISKER TALKS WITH NISSAN BREAK DOWNThe electric car company Fisker, has had their shares suspended following a huge drop in price after news that talks with Nissan had ended. The terms for the extra funding from an existing investor were dependent also on these talks continuing. The expectation is for the company to announce bankruptcy very soon. You can read more by clicking this article link from TechCrunch.
FOLLOW UP: ASTON MARTIN NAME BENTLEY BOSS AS NEW CEOAston Martin name their next CEO, the boss of Bentley Adrian Hallmark. He has left the Crewe manufacturer with immediate effect and will start at Aston by the 1 October 2024. This will allow Amedeo Felisa to finally enjoy the retirement he was in before Stroll dragged him back into the automotive world. If you wish to learn more, click this Autocar article link here.
FOLLOW UP: MCLAREN OWNED BY BAHRAIN STATE FUNDThe Bahrain sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat has converted shares from one form into ordinary shares thus taking the total shares in McLaren to 100%. This will make it easier for them to find a buyer, float the company on the stock market or create partnerships. For more to this story, click this Autocar link here.
FOLLOW UP: INVESTIGATION INTO CAR FINANCE EXPEDITED The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that the investigation into car financing practices between 2007 and 2021 will be expedited. However, this is dependent on the companies involved providing the information. The FCA hopes to state the next stages of this by September 2024. If you would like to read more, click this Motor Finance Online article link here.
To check out the MoneySavingExpert help guide to see if you are eligible to claim, click this link here.
FOLLOW UP: LUTON AIRPORT CAR PARK FIRE DUE TO DIESEL VEHICLEA joint report from Bedfordshire Fire and Police services has been released, with the fact that the fire was due to a faulty diesel vehicle and had nothing to do with any electric, hybrid or plug-in hybrid vehicle. Click this BBC News article link to read more.
LUNAZ GROUP CEASES ALL OPERATIONSLunaz Group, which under two different companies, retrofits classic cars and commercial vehicles, with electric powertrains, has called in the...

FOLLOW UP: RENAULT AND VOLVO TO SHUT EV VAN PROJECTRenault and Volvo will announce that their joint venture for electric vans will shut in early April. There is no detail on why this is. Click here for more information, via the Reuters article link.
UK GOVERNMENT PREPARES TRADE SANCTIONS ON CHINESE EVSAt a SMMT conference, the Transport Secretary, Mark Harper, said that the UK Government could impose sanctions to prevent the market being unfairly in favour of subsidised Chinese electric vehicles. If you wish to learn more, click this AMOnline article link here.
HONDA AND NISSAN SIGN MOU FOR EV DEVELOPMENTNissan and Honda have signed a memorandum of understanding, to investigate working together to speed up the development and production of competitive electric vehicles. They acknowledge that they are behind others, especially newer brands that have come to the market, purely focused on EVs. There are no details on what this partnership will entail. You can learn more by clicking this Reuters link here.
EU TO ALLOW 60 TONNE LORRIES ON THE ROADSThe EU, has voted to allow ‘mega-trucks’, which are a lorry and trailer combination of just over 25m long and a weight up to 60 tonnes, on the roads of the continent. On top of this, the European Commission wants all countries to ensure it is legal for 17 year olds to be able to drive a lorry. Click this European Transport Safety Council article to read more on these insane ideas.
POSSIBLE WIRELESS EV CHARGING BREAKTHROUGH Researchers in the US have built a wireless charging system that is 96% efficient and eight to ten times more power dense than existing wireless chargers. The charger had a five inch gap to the vehicle. This is still early days but could mean we are a step closer to the roll out of wireless charging for all. If you wish to learn more, click this InsideEVs article link here.
JAGUAR CUTS OFF ACCESS TO SOME SMART CHARGINGJaguar has informed owners of the I-Pace that some chargers will no longer have access to smart charging, thus the charging times cannot be controlled. This does not effect all home chargers though. JLR stated that this was due to security and privacy issues. Click this Autocar article link here to learn more.
FISKER AT RISKFisker, the US based EV maker, announced that it is in financial trouble, serious enough to make it public that it may have to go into receivership. The company had previously stated it was in trouble, but this announcement still came as a shock to many. If you wish to learn more, click this electrive article link here.
Late yesterday, news came out that the company has paused production, for six weeks, as it gains $150 million extra investment from an exisiting investor. However, there talks are, apparently, underway...

FOLLOW UP: EU CONSIDERING RETROACTIVE TARIFFS ON CHINESE EVSThe investigation, by the European Union, into if China subsidises the homegrown EV makers has, within an interim report, stated there is enough evidence to show there is unfair assistance. On top of this, imports have increased 14% since the investigation began. The fear is, if the rate of increase continues it will cause harm to the European market before the official conclusions come to light. If you wish to learn more, click this link to a Reuters article here.
FOLLOW UP: VOLTA TRUCKS PRODUCTION TO BEGINFollowing the purchase of the bankrupt company, by Luxor Capital, news is released that they will restart production, in Austria, from May. The aim is for 500 vehicles to be made in 2024 and 2,000 in 2025. There are still questions about the batteries for the trucks after the previous supplier went into receivership and was bought by Volvo. Click here to read more, from electrive.
CHANCELLOR ACCUSED OF IGNORING THE CAR INDUSTRYA large portion of the car industry convinced itself that the Government would offer any additional assistance to encourage the uptake of EVs, especially by private buyers. However, in last week’s budget announcement there was no additional help forthcoming. This caused an angry reaction, with many accusing the Government of ignoring the industry. For more on this story, including the background to it all, click this EVPowered article link.
EU DEMANDS BUTTONS RETURN TO CAR INTERIORSThe EU, via soon to be announced new EuroNCAP criteria, has stated that car interiors must have physical controls for certain functions of the car. There is also a drive to reduce the number of screens within cars. If you would like to read further on this story, click the link here to The Verge article.
FUEL PRICES ROCKET UPWARDS Now we talk about the rise in fuel prices, which was by the highest for two years, off the back of Red Sea disruption and retailers looking to maximise their profits. Click this Autocar article to read more.
NISSAN ACCUSED OF UNDERPAYING SUPPLIERS IN JAPANThe Japanese Fair Trade Commission has accused Nissan of underpaying their suppliers for two years, but warn it could be much longer. The amount is in the region of $20 million and if true, is a clear abuse of power. For more on this matter, click this Nikkei Asia article link here.
57 NEW ELECTRIC BUSES FOR LEEDSFirst Bus has added 57 new electric busses to its fleet serving Leeds. Supplied by Wrightbus, who are providing a mix of double and single decker vehicles. Click this electrive article link to read more.
CAZOO PIVOTS TO ONLINE ADVERTISINGCazoo is to sell off all its stock and no longer sell cars directly but become an online competitor to the likes of...