Motoring Podcast - News Show

HYUNDAI AND KIA RAIDED IN GERMANYGerman officials have raised the offices of Hyundai, Kia and Bosch over the possibility of a defeat device being fitted to their diesel engines. Details are scant so far, and the chaps will be keeping an eye out for any updates. To read more, click the Autocar article here. EUROPE CONFIRMS 2035 NEW ICE SALE BANThe EU has voted in favour of banning the sale of new combustion engined cars and vans, from 2035. There is a glimmer of hope though, left for e-fuels, which have been given more time to demonstrate if they can be made both environmentally friendly and economically. To read about the ICE ban, click here for the Reuters article link. To read about e-fuels, click the Autocar link here. GOVERNMENT LAUNCHES INCIDENT INVESTIGATION BRANCHThe first ever road incident investigation branch has now been formed, by the Government, following a campaign and consultation to create such an organisation. They will independently investigate incidents and use their findings to make recomm

FOLLOW UP: FORD ENDING FOCUS PRODUCTIONWe discussed that Ford was considering the future of the German Saarlouis plant, three weeks ago during Screaming In Your Car episode. That now seems to have been decided, as Ford are investing in their Valencia plant for EV models. After 2025 the Focus will be end, which has caused an obvious conclusion that the German factory will close. For more on this, click the JustAuto article here. FOLLOW UP: PRIVATE PARKING CODE OF PRACTICE PAUSEDIn February this year, the Government proudly announced it was introducing new rules to cap fines, have a transparent and independent appeals system and essentially make parking fairer. Much more quietly, in fact so quietly it was almost silent, they announced that this would be withdrawn after legal action from parking firms. To read more, click this RAC article link. FOLLOW UP: FLEETS URGED TO SUBMIT EV DATA TO HMRCTwo fleet industry organisations are asking their members to submit information to HMRC so that they can see the effect

UK HOUSEHOLDS GET CLEAN AIR MONITORSHouses in Tideford, Cornwall, along the A38, are having plug-in air purifiers installed as part of a project to understand how bad the air in that area is, thanks to the traffic. The results will be shared by the local council, with Highways England so they can all understand how much affect the number of vehicles have. To read more, click here for the BBC News article. EXPERIENCE SCORES FOR CARSThe EPM Advisory Council, a collection of automotive brands and suppliers, has come up with a recommendation that cars are scored on the experience they give drivers and passengers, called the EPM. The Experience Per Mile is supposed to help evaluate how positive the in-car experience has been. Aspects such as remaining connected, how productive one is and entertained will all be given a score. More can be found on this by clicking this Autocar link. MG HALTS SALESDue to the rocketing demand for their vehicles and the continued effects of the semi conductor crisis, along with covi

PETROL PRICES REACH NEW RECORDAverage petrol and diesel prices have increased, on a daily basis over the last week, to new heights. Consumer groups, as well as those of us who use a car, have called on the Government to do something to help in this extraordinary situation. To read more, click the Autocar story here. The UK is not alone in being hurt by fuel price rises, the French Government are aiding those who have to travel far due to work or to get to work. For more on this, click The Connexion article link here. SCOTLAND TO ‘DISCOURAGE CAR USE’Plans to be unveiled this week, from the governing SNP and Scottish Greens, on the transport side of their net-zero aims will be focused on discouraging car use. Being considered are such actions as charging drivers per mile, only allowing investment in road infrastructure if it meets very tight criteria and encouraging active travel. Click here for the MSM link explaining more. VOLVO ELECTRIC TIPPERS NOW IN UKThe first electric tipper trucks, in the UK, are alread

FOLLOW UP: EU ADVISOR APPROVES PURSUING DEFEAT DEVICE DAMAGES CLAIMSAn EU court advisor has stated that owners of vehicles fitted with defeat devices should be allowed to pursue damages. This is not a final ruling but very rarely do the judges not follow such advice. This case is against Mercedes-Benz. If this is ruled upon, it will be up to individual countries to calculate damages that align with loss and damages caused by such devices. For more, click the Automotive News story here. NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURES MAY 2022The weakest May, in three decades outside of 2020’s lockdown situation, meant that there was a 20.6% drop in registrations. Supply chain issues, including Covid lockdowns and the war in Ukraine are all contributing factors. You can learn more by clicking the SMMT link here. MERCEDES TO RECALL 1M CARS Mercedes-Benz is recalling nearly one million cars that could have faulty brakes. Owners of some R-Class, ML and GL models, built between 2004 and 2015, are being advised not to drive their cars

Super short this week as Andrew was plagued by microphone issues. As a result, there are many more stories here in the notes than were covered in the show.FOLLOW UP: VW SETTLE UK CONSUMER LITIGATIONVolkswagen has agreed to pay UK consumers £193 million in compensation for fitting defeat devices to their diesel cars. Around 70,000 people will benefit from this payment. To read more, click here for the Automotive Management article. FOLLOW UP: STELLANTIS REACH PLEA DEAL OVER EMISSIONS PROBEStellantis, via their FCA unit, has reached a plea deal with the US Justice Department over a probe into emissions from their vehicles. FCA has pleaded guilty and will pay in the region of $300 million. Three FCA employees are also to be charged. More on this story can be found by clicking this Reuters link here. JLR LOOKING ABROAD FOR EV PRODUCTIONJLR is in talks over building EV models abroad in Slovakia, which is a blow to UK production. This also raises the issue that there are not enough battery plants in the UK now nor,

FOLLOW UP: AN EXPERT RESPONDS - CIRCULAR ECONOMYThank you to Tom Lipscomb, from PriestmanGoode who are a design company who's purpose "lies in designing a better, more sustainable. He got in touch with the show, to help us understand what Circular Economy actually is. As explained its one of the key pillars of good design and relates heavily to the way products are made in that individual components should be easily disassembled into their constituent parts. GERMANY SALES BAN FOR FORD DUE TO COURT ORDERFord has been taken to court by Japan's IP Bridge Inc, as their patented technology was being sold in Ford cars without the US car company paying for it, according to the German court. Ford can appeal, but if IP Bridge puts down a €227 million security payment this ruling becomes enforceable. For more on this, click here for the Reuters article link. LONDON ULEZ EXPANSION CONSULTATION OPENEDLondon has opened the public consultation regarding the expansion of the ULEZ to cover most of the capital. To set date fo

FOLLOW UP: VED PRICES FROM LAST SPECIAL EDITION ERRORAs was kindly pointed out, by Tony Williams, the VED prices for the Toyota Yaris Cross, explained in the last Special Edition, were for the first year only. They change following that. Thank you Tony, for raising the point and the nice way you did it! GOVERNMENT INVEST £200M IN ZERO-EMISSION LORRY FLEETThe UK Government is investing £200 million to help accelerate the move to zero-emission HGV vehicles. The money will be used to create a demonstrator fleet to help businesses know what is possible for them and their work. To read more, click the MoveElectric story link here. NEWCASTLE CLEAN AIR ZONE POSTPONEDNewcastle transport chiefs have announced that they are postponing the introduction of the Clean Air Zone (CAZ), which would’ve meant a charge of £50 for lorries, buses and coaches, whilst vans and taxis would pay £12.50 a day if their vehicles did not meet the requirements. Private cars were not included in the proposal, at this time. For more on this,

Alan had a Toyota Yaris Cross, a Yaris-based SUV, for a week and gave it possibly the hardest test he could. Does it deserve its “2022 World Urban Car” award? We find out.

APRIL 2022 NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURESApril 2022 figures are down 15.8% on even last year’s poor results, due mainly to supply issues with continued effects of the chip shortage, the Ukraine War and China’s zero Covid policy that has shut down large amounts of the economic centres of the country. For more information, click here for the SMMT article. To get a bit more detail on the figures, click here for Auto Retail Network’s Tristan Young’s Twitter thread. TOBIAS MOERS LEAVES ASTON MARTINAston Martin’s CEO, Tobias Moers, is set to leave the company, being replaced by the ex-CEO of Ferrari Amedeo Felisa. This comes not long after Stroll, the owner of Aston, said he wouldn’t be going anywhere. However, rumours had grown increasingly loud that changes were coming. For more on the departure, click the EVO article here. To learn more about his replacement, click this link to the Top Gear article. LOTUS OPENS NEW MANUFACTURING FACILITY AT HETHELLotus has officially opened their new manufacturing facility at Heth

Andrew had a Genesis G70 Shooting Brake for a week, to see what the latest company trying to crack the premium market can do. Listen in to explain to Alan what it was like, who the car is really for and how well all the aspects of ownership have been thought through. Less suspense in this one, we are afraid, as Andrew’s enthusiasm is not really kept in check.

SUZUKI AND STELLANTIS DIESELS INVESTIGATEDProsecutors in Germany, Italy and Hungary are investigating Suzuki, Stellantis and supplier Marelli, over use of defeat devices in Suzuki vehicles. Stellantis are engine suppliers for Suzuki and Marelli are a supplier of engine parts. For more, click the Nikkei Asia article link here. FEAR OF FINES FOR BOX JUNCTION MISTAKESWith local authorities outside of London, allowed to prosecute those who misuse yellow box junctions from June 2022, the fear that drivers could be mistakenly fined was announced. The RAC said that many are incorrectly painted, laid out, located and even hidden from clear view for those approaching. They have called on the Government to clarify the guidance on yellow box junctions, clarifying their use, design and maintenance once in place. To find out more, click the link here for the Motoring Research article. MOT TEST COULD BE EVERY TWO YEARSWith a suggestion that has been roundly condemned by nearly everyone who has heard it, the idea to move MO

Alan took one for Team Motoring Podcast, recently, by going to Barcelona for the European launch of the Toyota Aygo X (pronounced cross). No longer is this part of a joint venture with PSA, but a stand alone product from within the company. Listen to Alan explain this to Andrew, as well as a fascinating interview with Stijn Peters, Senior Project Manager at Toyota, who tells us the lengths they went to for this car to be on the roads today.

FOLLOW UP: FRANCE ISSUES ARREST WARRANT FOR GHOSNAuthorities in France have issued an international arrest warrant for Carlos Ghosn, in connection with £12.6 million payments made to Suhail Bahwan Automobiles, in Oman. The claim is money was funnelled illegally to the company which Ghosn took advantage of to use personally. There are another four other individuals also implicated. To learn more, in yet another twist of this tale, click here for the Autocar article. UK GOVERNEMENT MAKES AMENDMENTS TO HIGHWAY CODEThe Government has announced changes to the Highway Code, readying it for when we have self driving technology on the public roads. For cars that are classified, by the Minister for Transport, as self driving and in that mode, we will be able to have our “eyes-off” the road. Currently there are no vehicles on the Minister’s list. To read an accurate report on all this, click The Register’s link here. To read the Government’s own release, click here. For The Register’s article on AI and ML, click here.R

HYUNDAI IONIQ5 WORLD CAR OF THE YEARHyundai has scooped the top prize of the World Car of the Year awards. Added to which it won the World Electric Car of the Year and World Car Design of the Year too. They were up against the Ford Mustang Mach-E and the Kia EV6. To run through the full list of winners, for all the categories, click here to read the World Car Awards articles and further links. For Autocar’s article, click here. NCAP SCORES DACIA JOGGER ONE STAREuro NCAP revealed their latest round of testing. One car stood out and not for a good reason, the Dacia Jogger, as it was awarded one star. Upon further investigation, a few things came to light which has caused many to start questioning how NCAP goes about things. To see the Jogger’s score, click here for the NCAP link. To see some of Dacia’s response to this, click here for the Autocar article. This has cause a lot of debate, around the tests, what is included, what will gain scores and by some if NCAP is fit for purpose. One article that delves int

UK GOVERNMENT TO MANDATE SWITCH TO EVSThe UK Government has revealed that it will mandate the transition from ICE to zero emission vehicles. This will start at 22% from 2024 moving up to the full 100% in 2035. The car industry urged caution on this move. To read more, click the Move Electric article here. Additionally, manufacturers have pressed the Government to define what a hybrid is, during the final phase of transitioning to full zero emission vehicles of 2030 to 2035. For more on this story, click here for the Autocar link.PORSCHE INVESTS IN SYNTHETIC FUEL MAKERFurther to the existing support to the e-fuel manufacturing facility in Chile, Porsche is taking a 12.5% stake in the company leading this development, HIF. This will cost the company around $75 million but are not alone in their investment, with a total of around $100 million being raised. More can be found by clicking here, for the Autocar story. GRIDSERVE HAS REPLACED ALL MOTORWAY ECOTRICITY CHARGERSEcotricity was the former name of now Elect

FOLLOW UP: SSANGYONG SEEKS NEW OWNER AS DEAL FALLS THROUGHSsangyong has started the search for a new owner after the consortium headed by Edison Motors failed to meet a payment deadline. This money was supposed to be made to 95% of creditors and was a condition of the approval of South Korea’s bankruptcy court. For more on this story, click the Autocar article link here. MARCH 2022 NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURESThe Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has published the March new car registration figures. As was to be expected, the figures are down, in fact the worst since 1998, thanks mainly to semi conductor shortages. However, battery electric vehicles had their best ever month, with 39,315 registered. To learn more about the month, click the SMMT link here. To get some more insight into what the figures mean, click here for Auto Retail Network’s Tristan Young’s thread on Twitter. THOMAS MULLER IS THE NEW JLR ENGINEERING CHIEFThomas Muller, who is moving from VW, will take up the reigns of execut

Andrew tested out the Volkswagen Arteon Shooting Brake, for a week. Listen in to him explain his time with VW’s take on the lifestyle estate car. What he thinks of the looks, how he got on with the technology and was the PHEV-ness well done? Once again, he keeps us all in suspense as to exactly what he thinks until right to the end.

NEW PHONE LAWS COME INTO EFFECTNew laws, about the use of mobile phones whilst driving, have come into effect. Effectively, it has become illegal to hold and use your phone except when using it for a contactless payment. Using the phone whilst in a cradle is still permitted in some circumstances, such as the sat nav app. For more on this, click here for the Autocar article. GOVERNMENT AIMS FOR WORLD BEST CHARGING NETWORKTransport Minister, Trudy Harrison MP, announced at an SMMT event, that the Government is aiming for the UK to have one of the best EV charging networks in the world. This will be quite a feat as the announced ‘new’ policies and ideas were not binding in anyway, nor was there any new money being made available. To learn more, click the Move Electric article link here. The Government also announced, this week, they are opening up a consultation on accessibility, for disabled people, at public charging points. More can be found here, on that story. RENAULT HALTS ACTIVITY IN RUSSIAFollowing a bac

ELECTRIC VAN AND LORRY GRANT EXTENDEDThe Government has extended their grant scheme for electric vans and lorries, for two more years. Those looking to buy a qualifying vehicle can claim between £5000 and £16000. For more on this, click the MoveElectric article here. INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY LISTS OIL REDUCTION STEPSThe International Energy Agency (IEA) has outlined ten steps we could take to reduce the amount of oil we need to use. If the ideas were adopted across the globe, the IEA predicts that an amount of oil equivalent to half of Russia’s exports could be saved. To find out more, click here for The Guardian article. VOLKSWAGEN ANNOUNCED PROFITS JUMPVW’s operating profits rose, over 2020, 451% on 2020, which to a certain degree is understandable. Whilst their sales revenue and returns on sale rose very slightly they actually sold 8% fewer vehicles. This is another example of companies targeting their higher profile specs and vehicles. For more on this story, click the Autocar article link here. AUDI G