Motoring Podcast - News Show

FOLLOW UP: APPEAL AGAINST FCA RULINGConsumer Voice, a consumer group, is to appeal against the FCA car finance miss-selling redress scheme. Their argument is that the way the compensation has been calculated does not reflect the real world and those affected will not be paid what they are actually owed. To find out more on this matter, click this Motor Trader article link here.FOLLOW UP: APPEAL AGAINST VAT RULING FOR PUBLIC CHARGERSHMRC has decided it will appeal against the tribunal ruling that found that VAT on public chargers should have a VAT rate the same as those who can charge their EVs at home. Apparently the specific definition of “a month” and “premises” is the focal point of their case. Once again the Government manages to miss an open goal by announcing that they are dropping the VAT rate. For more on this, click the EV Powered link here.CROSS-PAVEMENT CHARGING MADE EASIERThe Government has announced that they will be brining in rules that will make the installation cross-pavement charging gullies permitted development, meaning residents no longer have to seek planning permission for them. This will speed up and cut costs for households. Click this EV Powered article link here to read more.Additionally, following a Freedom of Information request from Vauxhall, which councils already allow cross-pavement charging gullies to be fitted and how they go about that has been established. Only four out of ten do permit, with some giving financial aid and others have a fee of £1000 for the work to be completed. Click this Motoring Research article link for more.AT LEAST ONE EUROPEAN OEM PREDICTED TO DISAPPEARA survey of used car dealers has found that six out of ten believe a European car brand will cease to exist within ten years. On top of that, nearly fifty percent believe that Japanese and Korean car makers are under the same pressure from Chinese companies. The transition to electrification and cheaper products from China are cited as the major reasons. If you want to read more on this, click here for a Motor Trader article link.PORSCHE SELLS OFF BUGATTI RIMAC SHARESPorsche is selling their 21 percent stake in the Rimac Group, enabling them to focus on their “core business”. Rumours have been swirling about tensions between the two companies for over a year now. The venture capital group, HOF Capital, are buying the shares. Click this electrive article link here, to read more.FOUR YEAR HIGH FOR SPEEDING FINES22 out of 24 police authorities have responded to a Freedom of Information request, confirming that they have had an increase in the number of speeding penalties from 2024 to 2025. London was, by far, the area with the most and double that of West Yorkshire in second. If you want to find out more, click this Motoring Research article link here.RIVERSIMPLE DROPS OWN DESIGNED CARRiversimple has, with a group of other companies, been awarded £1.7 million to develop a vehicle for the Zero Emission Lightweight Long Range (ZELLOR) project. The aim of this is to produce a vehicle that has zero emissions, is light weight and a com,es with a 400-mile range. They will be converting two Audi A2s to demonstrate the technology that is being developed. You can read more by clicking this FuelCellWorks 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 PODCASTNEW NEW CAR NEWS -Mercedes-Benz C-ClassMercedes has revealed the looks and specifications for the new electric C-Class. Coming with 800v hardware, enabling quicker charging where conditions allow, a 94.5kWh battery pack and at launch the dual motor 400 4Matic powertrain. Combined this will produce 483bhp and 590lb ft of the torques, which enables a 0-62mph time of 4.1 seconds. Range is significantly down on the recently revealed BMW i3, with a 472 miles maximum. Prices are indicated to start below £60,000. The interior can come with the very silly full width screen, lots of mood lighting which also includes being in the panoramic roof. Click this Autocar article to learn more.Smart FourtwoSmart are brining back the Fourtwo, although it will be known as the #2. Full details will not be known until October, during the Paris Motor Show, but what has been revealed is a maximum range up to 186 miles and a 10-80% charging potential of 20 minutes. The brand is aiming for a more premium product. Click this Autocar article to learn more.Farizon V7EFarizon has launched a new compact electric van, called the V7E. This will be priced from £28,000 on the road (that is without VAT and any Government grant). There will be two battery options, 50.23kWh and 67.67kWh, which have a claimed maximum range of 149 miles and 204 miles, repectivley. The company is pushing the value for moeny aspects of this vehicle. Click this Proffessional Van article link to learn more.LUNCHTIME READ: THE BMW 02 SERIESParanjay Dutt, via Hagerty, brings you our recommendation to read over your sandwiches. He is discussing the BMW 02 Series, the one that lead to the 3-Series. We have linked to both articles Paranjay has written as they are both excellent and linked. Click here for Part One. To read Part Two, click here.LIST OF THE WEEK: WINGSAutocar are back providing the slideshow for you to check out, this time all about rear spoilers. They have selected some of the most memorable for you to choose from. Click this link to see what your options are.AND FINALLY: MODEL PARKINGDo you have a lot of Hot Wheels sized model cars taking up space in your house? Are you at a loss to know how to store and display them? Fear not, Fun-Tech Labs has a solution, the Parksible, the world’s first smart die-cast model car park. This is a model sized version of the automated parking lots that move the car to the correct space without human intevention. Yes, really! This is currently a Kickstarter campaign. Click this Design News article link here to read more and see a video.

FOLLOW UP: EU INDUSTRIAL ACCELERATOR ACT THREAT TO UKWe last covered this story on the episode Its talcum powder - 10 March 2026, but more have noticed the huge threat the ‘Made in Europe’ element is to the UK automotive industry. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has become increasingly vocal in its warnings. As it stands cars and parts made in the UK would not receive the incentives those made in the EU would. To read more, click this EV Powered article link here.AUTOCAR GREAT WOMEN 2026Autocar held their Great Women 2026 event last week, where the winners were announced for a variety of categories showcasing the breadth and depth of the talent, quality and excellence that is brought to the automotive world. Lisa Brankin, Managing Director and Chair of Ford UK & Ireland, won the overall award. Click this link here, to find out more about the event. Then click this link here, to see all the categories, nominees and winners.CUSTOMERS CAN TAKE ARNOLD CLARK TO COURTArnold Clark suffered a cyber attack in 2022 that resulted in customer data being available to anyone on the internet. The company has tried to argue that it should not face a claim in a Scottish court as they were already doing so in England. The highest court in Scotland rejected this argument as people had bought their cars in Scotland and this case was not connected to England. You can find out more, by clicking this Yahoo!News article link here.STELLANTIS TO END CAR PRODUCTION AT POISSY FACTORYStellantis has announced that it will be winding down car production at it’s Poissy factory, in France, from 2028. Once this is completed the site will still make parts for other Group sites. To read more, click this electrive article link here.VW WRITES-DOWN $500M IN US BUSINESSVolkswagen has had to write-down $500 million due to the cancellation of the production of the ID.4 at their Chattanooga factory, in the US. This comes after pausing the production line when the US Government cancelled the previous administration’s EV subsidies, causing sales to plummet. If you wish to find out more, click this article link from electrive, here.NISSAN SEEKING PRODUCTION PARTNER FOR SUNDERLANDNissan’s Sunderland plant is running at about 50% capacity currently and is seeking to sub-let that spare capacity to another brand. Discussions are ongoing with Chery and Dongfeng. For more on this, click the link here to an electrive article.STELLANTIS PARTNER WITH MICROSOFTStellantis has partnered with Microsoft, who will be providing their software and AI to allegedly assist the group in becoming more efficient and better, as well as offering customers supposed improvements to their car ownership. You can read more by clicking this CarScoops article link here.On Thursday 23 April at 20:00 BST, we will be going live with a Q&A on our YouTube channel. We need your help though, send us your automotive and motoring related question you would like to hear us answer. To send one in use our Contact Page, linked to here, and put “Q&A” in the Subject Line so it does not get lost in all the spam.NEW NEW CAR NEWS -Nissan JukeNissan shocked everyone with the reveal of their radical looking next generation Juke, which will be all electric. Taking its cues from the Hyper Punk concept of last year, this is a stylised vehicles with lots of sharp angles to the bodywork. Click this Autocar article to read more.Volkswagen ID.3 NeoThe VW ID.3 is being updated once again and this time it also partially gets a name, Neo. The exterior is recognisably close to the previous version but the interior gets upgrades, including adding buttons to the dash and steering wheel. Materials will also be of higher quality and better feel. Click this Autocar article for more.Denza Z9 GTDenza is a new to the UK brand from BYD and they are bringing a £100,000 performance EV. Technical specs include an 122kWh battery pack and triple electric motors producing 1140bhp, enabling a 0-62mph time of 2.7 seconds. The car will get access to BYD’s Flash charging network once it is up and running. Click this Autocar article for more.DESIGNERS MOOD BOARD: KEMEL CURIC WILL LEAD MCLAREN’S DESIGNKemel Curic has been announced as the new head of design at McLaren. He joins at a time when the brand is trying to reinvent itself. He leaves Ford, more specifically Lincoln, where he was working. You can read more by clicking this Autocar article link here.LUNCHTIME WATCH: RUSTIVAL 2026To help yours and our FOMO, if you didn’t get to it, we are linking to four videos about Rustival 2026. We have picked the three channels that helped organise the event and one more, but do search YouTube for Rustival 2026 and spread some love to those who aren’t linked below.Click this link here for Steph’s I Drive a Classic channel’s video.To see what Furious Driving’s video is like, click this link here.HubNut produced a slightly different video, giving us a peak at what it takes to put on the event. Click this link here to see that.Click this link here for Jon Coupland’s take on the day.LIST OF THE WEEK: HERE ARE OUR NINE FAVOURITE OFF-ROAD ESTATESTop Gear, once again, has a cracking list for you to check out. Do you agree with Alan’s choice? Which of the nine would you pick? Click this link here to see what the options are.AND FINALLY: COME FEEL THE NOISEThis week we effectively give you another Lunchtime Watch, with Mr Patina beginning the restoration process of a classic Renault 4. Do sit back, relax and enjoy some ASMR restoration. Click this link to watch.

FOLLOW UP: NTSB REPORTS ON FATAL BLUECRUISE INCIDENTSThe National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has published their report on two fatal incidents that involved Ford’s BlueCruise semi-automated driving system, that allows for ‘hands off eyes on’ driving. Some blame is being put on the driver’s “over-reliance” in the systems, but also it is made clear the company and regulations played a part. if you wish to read more on the findings, click this CNN article link here.However, the findings fail to discuss the inherent flaw in the system that has been documented from as far back as April 1948, when it comes to humans supervising automated systems. Click this Sage Journals link to N H Mackworth’s research examining this issue.MOTABILITY DRIVERS SINGLED OUT AGAINThanks to the victimisation of those using the Motability scheme, originating from a far-right ‘think-tank’, all drivers under 30 and those newly entering the scheme will have to have black boxes fitted. These boxes will record their journeys and from the binary inputs of those drivers they will be ‘judged’ on how well they drive. This is despicable because the technology cannot judge because it is only using the binary inputs on braking, accelerating and steering with absolutely no knowledge of the environment or anything occurring around the vehicle. For more on this story, click this article link here from The Canary.NEW MOT RULES FOR 2026There are new MOT rules, for the UK, in 2026. Most of the onus is on the garages themselves, but you should be aware of them. The Government is asking for the centres to do more but is keeping the price cap where it is. To find out what the changes are, click this link to a MotorCheck article link here.LUCID COMING TO THE UK IN 2027Lucid is bringing their next to be revealed car, the Cosmos, to the UK in 2027. This will be an electric SUV which is aiming at the likes of the BMW iX3 and Volvo EX60. There are no images yet, nor any technical details. Click this Autocar article link here to find out more.SCOUT LAUNCH IN THE US PUT BACK TO 2028The launch of Scout, in the US, by Volkswagen is being delayed until 2028. Thanks to the change in Governmental policy the company is reportedly re-engineering the cars to take range extender technology when they were to be EV only. For more on this story, click this electrive article link here.STELLANTIS RECALLS 44,000 UK CARSAround 44,000 Stellantis cars, fitted with the 1.2 litre petrol engined mild hybrid, are being recalled in the UK due to a potential fire risk. The vehicles were built between 2023 and 2026. To find out if you car or the car of friends and family is covered, click this Autocar article link, which breaks down how many from the individual brands.On Thursday 23 April at 20:00 BST, we will be going live with a Q&A on our YouTube channel. We need your help though, send us your automotive and motoring related question you would like to hear us answer. To send one in use our Contact Page, linked to here, and put “Q&A” in the Subject Line so it does not get lost in all the spam.NEW NEW CAR NEWS -Kia EV2Kia has announced the EV2 prices, ahead of them going on sale later this year. There is some complication to all this as there is a First Edition option, which will be, yes you guessed it, the launch edition but that starts at £26,995 and has a 42kWh battery and 198 miles range. However, the entry to the range, available later, is the Air trim which will get a 61kWh battery and 281maximum range. Click this Motoring Research article link here, to run through the trim levels and see if one meets your needs.For the link to the Special Edition about Kia at Milan Design week, click here.Leapmotor A05Leapmotor is expected to be bringing the A05 to the UK later this year. The car is aimed at the VW ID.3 and is expected to be priced around £25,000. Unfortunately, the external looks leave a lot to be desired. Click this Autocar article link for more.Seat and Cupra Ateca sales endSeat and Cupra are ending the sale of the Ateca. Originally launched a decade ago, this SUV is now not seen as worth updating in its current guise. Click this Auotcar link here to read more.LUNCHTIME READ: THE ISUZUS JUST GET US THEREHagerty and John Voelcker are our recommendations to you this week. John explains why he and friends take their old Isuzus on a long road trip and how the car is just the ‘vehicle’ (pun intended, for a change) for friends to get together in a shared joy. Click this link here to read more and maybe you too will be inspired to do something similar.LIST OF THE WEEK: 20 ALFA ROMEO CARS NEVER MADEClassic & Sports Car has a list of 20 Alfa Romeos that were never made, for you to peruse and chose from. Do you agree with Alan and Andrew’s choices? Click this link here to see your options.AND FINALLY: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE RENAULT 21We refused to believe that the Citroën Saxo is 30 years old, recently. As did some of you. Another car that we cannot believe is the age it is, is the Renault 21. Once a common sight on UK roads, time has not been kind but when a company decides one platform/layout is not enough, it is easy to see why. Click this Hagerty article link here for more.

FOLLOW UP: MCGOVERN OFFICIALLY LEAVING JLRFollowing an ‘is he/isn’t he’ saga which started back at the beginning of December 2025, Gerry McGovern is officially leaving JLR at the end of March 2026. He will be starting his own consultancy. Details are almost non-existent outside of that. Click this Autocar article for the story.AUDI MAKES £2.9 BILLION PROFITAs expected, more brands from within the Volkswagen Group have been announcing their financial results for 2025. Audi, despite it being a difficult year, managed to make a £2.9 billion profit, from a revenue of £56.6 billion. This was all done whilst fewer overall vehicles were delivered. To read more, click this Autocar article.BENTLEY TO CUT JOBSBentley had a difficult 2026 and as a result are going to shed 150 jobs. Some are open positions they won't fill but the rest will come from office based roles. Additionally they have had to tweak their product plans partly due to Porsche postponing their platform development. If you want to learn more, click this Autocar article link here.ROLLS ROYCE NOT GOING 100% EV FROM 2030Rolls Royce has announced that it will no longer be producing EVs exclusively, from 2030. They state that customer wishes mean that they will still offer internal combustion engine options. For more on this, click this link here to take you an EV Powered article.THATCHAM SPLITS FROM EURONCAPThatcham, after 22 years in partnership, are splitting from EuroNCAP and developing their own systems for testing car safety systems. They mention real world safety quite a bit and also how they believe the technology should not be intrusive and annoying. Time will tell if they can deliver on this. Click this link here to read more from Autocar.EU RELAXES CO2 RULES FOR LORRIESThe EU has listened to lorry manufacturers and softened the requirements of their fleets, in terms of CO2 emissions. Whilst the fixed jumps, from the interim targets at 2025, 2030 and 2040 still stand, the intervening years will not have moving requirements. This means, if a brand manages to exceed the target they can carry over that extra to the next year, thus companies are rewarded for pushing. If you want to find out more, click this electrive article link here.LYTEN BUYS MORE OF NORTHVOLTLyten, a US based company, has continued to purchase operations from the collapsed Northvolt electric car battery and recycling company, this time they have bought the Swedish battery recycling facility at Skellefteå. For more about this story, click this electrive article link here.FRESH ZEBRA FUNDING MADE AVAILABLEThe Government has announced a new raft of funding for the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) to a total of £73.2 million. There are 10 areas across England that will receive money to help pay for infrastructure and electric buses. To read more, click this electrive article link here.FIRST YEAR ZEV MANADATE REPORTThe UK Government has finally published their report on compliance with the car and van zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate for 2024. No brand has been fined as all reached the required minimums through a combination of registration numbers and purchasing credits from others who had exceeded the requirements. Click this electrive article link here for more.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 PODCASTNEW NEW CAR NEWS -BMW i3After much teasing BMW has finally taken the wraps off their i3 electric saloon. Boasting an astonishing range of up to 559 miles, with looks, both inside and out, that have divided opinion but cannot be trusted as we have only been given heavily rendered images so far. Further details are to be announced later, including the price. Click this Motoring Research article link here for more.DS No7The latest Stellantis brand to utilise the mid sized SUV platform is DS, being the premium one of the group they will be charging a suitable price, above their sister brands. Click this Autocar article link here to read more.KGM Musso EVKGM are bringing their first electric pickup to the UK from May 2026. With four wheel drive and payload capacity of 690kgs, the vehicle will have a maximum range of 240 miles. This is the fourth four wheel drive pickup for the UK market and it will be competitively priced at £42, 495 (inclusive of VAT and £2,500 Plug0In Van Grant). Click this Autocar article link here to read more.LUNCHTIME READ: INSIDE GM’S DECISION TO HELP RESTORE A RARE EV1 FOR THE FIRST TIME EVERGM have seemed like a company embaressed by their pioneering EV1 which was available to the public on a strict leasing deal for two years in the later 1990s, with many examples having been destroyed and recycled. However, one person has managed to legally get hold of a damaged EV1 and is in the process of restoring it. GM heard and instead of deploying a fleet of lawyers to stop this their President heard and has ordered the company to help. Click this article link here from The Drive to find out more.LIST OF THE WEEK: FORGOTTEN CARS OF THE 1990SAutocar are where we are sending you this week. They have a slideshow dedicated to cars you might well have forgotten, if you are not Alan. Do you agree with chaps choices? Click this link here to see what your options are.AND FINALLY: WALKING AROUND AND POINTING AT THINGSThis week we are recommending you click this HubNut YouTube video link to check out their interesting spots from the NEC Restoration Show. As ever, this is a lovely, relaxed film that will allow all of us who missed out to experience the sights and sounds of last weekend.

FOLLOW UP: EU INDUSTRIAL ACCELERATOR ACT REVEALEDThe EU Commission has unveiled the draft Industrial Accelerator Act, which is aimed at making Europe a powerhouse and self contained when it comes to green energy related industries, including automotive. To read more about the proposals, click this electrive article link here.By the fact that so much of the act is pointed inwards to EU countries, this has caused fear in the UK automotive industry that they will be penalised thanks to the idiocy of Brexit. Nissan has declared if there is not agreement on UK built cars then it will close Sunderland. Click this Autocar article for more.FEBRUARY 2026 NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURESSMMT released the new car registration figures for February 2026 and there was a surprising number of vehicles registered, with this being the best February since 2004. BEV market share is no where near where it needs to be as it sits at 22%, lower than last year, with the mandate requirement of 33%. SMMT called on the Government to urgently look at the mandate in the face of market reality. You can learn more, by clicking this SMMT article link here.TRIBUNAL SHOWS PUBLIC CHARGING VAT SHOULD BE 5%In a tax tribunal, Deloitte proved how the public charging VAT rate should only be 5%, using HMRC’s own rules. The use, by an individual, of no more than 1000kWh over a month is classified as “personal use”. To go over this, using public charging, would be very difficult in a EV. To find out more, click this EV Powered article link here.TESLA EU CO2 POOL USERS DECLINEThe EU allows car companies to buy and sell CO2 credits so that companies can avoid hefty fines for not meeting average fleet levels. Tesla has benefited hugely from this, however that is now changing as Toyota and Stellantis leave their pool. If you wish to read more, click this electrive article link here.SUZUKI BUYS SOLID-STATE BATTERY FIRMSuzuki has bought Kanadevia, a company that has been developing solid-state batteries for 20 years. This is a great move by one of the smaller Japanese brands and if batteries can be made affordable at scale, this will help them be competitive or even steal a march on others. Click this electrive article link here, to read more.WRIGHTBUS SELLS 31 EBUSES TO THE ISLE OF WHITEWrightbus is providing 31 double decker electric buses for use on the Isle of White. Using funding from a combination of local and central government schemes, they will help move the islands public transport to being a cleaner service. You can read more by clicking this electrive article link here.ELECQ HIT BY CYBER ATTACKELECQ, a Chinese home and business smart charger company, has been hacked with customer details being accessed. They operate in the UK and Europe and have informed data protection organisations. The company state that their chargers and systems are working and are protected. For more on this story, click the link here from The Register.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 PODCASTNEW NEW CAR NEWS -Genesis GV60 MagmaGenesis has revealed their first performance car that we can buy, with the very orange GV60 Magma. Sharing a lot of the underpinnings with the Hyundai Ioniq 5N expect similar levels of go and stop. Click this EV Powered article link to read more.GM Specialty Vehicles UK launchedGM Specialty Vehicles UK will be importing the large and “luxury” models from the General Motors stables. Think along the lines of the Suburban, Cadillac Escalade and Chevrolet Silverado. The cars will be left hand drive but all requirements to be UK legal will be undertaken by dealership Clive Sutton. Click this Motoring Research article link for more.Lamborghini Lanzador killed offBefore the Lanzandor even made it to market, it has been killed off. The official statement is that it is due to a lack of customer demand for such a vehicle. But it was to share the underpinnings from Porsche but they canned their development meaning Lamborghini would not have anything to make the car from. Click this Motoring Research article to learn more.LUNCHTIME READ: THE GREAT DISGRACEHagerty supply the article we are recommending that you read this week, thanks to Jim Magill for suggesting it! The piece discusses the shocking state of our roads and how that has impacted people’s desire to drive. Click the link here to read it for yourself.LIST OF THE WEEK: 25 OF THE COOLEST MID-ENGINED CONCEPT CARS THAT NEVER MADE PRODUCTIONTop Gear is where we are pointing you to for the List of the Week. And boy, is it a CRACKER! Check out 25 concept cars and try to pick on from this wonderful list. Click here to get overwhelmed by the options!AND FINALLY: CAR SONGSaturday Night Live has produced a song that shows the wider population have had enough with silly and dangerous door handles. Click this YouTube link to see for yourself.

FOLLOW UP: JUDGE UPHOLDS HUGE AWARD AGAINST TESLAIn August 2025 a jury awarded a payout against Tesla of $243 million, for their partial responsibility in a fatal crash where Autopilot was in use. Tesla appealed this but that has been rejected. The expectation is they will appeal again. To read more, click this article link from TechCrunch.EU TO BRING IN RULES BENEFITTING EUROPEAN BUILT EVSThe European Union (EU) is working on legislation that would push for any state subsidies or incentives to be tied to EVs being made in Europe. The likelihood is that a vehicle will have to contain parts, excepting the battery, that have been 70% made in the EU. If you wish to learn more, click this electrive article link here.The news has caused concern in the UK, as this would mean cars made here would not meet the criteria for state incentives. You can read about this by clicking the link here from Modern Diplomacy.RENAULT TAKES FULL CONTROL OF FLEXISRenault has now taken full control of the electric light commercial vehicle company it created a joint-venture with Volvo Group and CMA CGM to form. Renault has agreed to buy out the 55% that the two other partners held, but the Volvo Group will remain a ‘strategic partner’. For more on this story, click this electrive link here.AUDI GETS A NEW CTOGeoffrey Bouquot is leaving Audi and his role as Chief Technology Officer, after only a year. He will be replaced by Rouven Mohr, who is Lamborghini’s CTO, to become Head of Technical Development. The wording of the electrive article is quite interesting, you can see more for yourself by clicking this link here.STAGECOACH BRINGS MORE EBUSES TO DEVONStagecoach is bringing 110 electric buses to Devon, working on routes from Tobay, Barnstable and Exeter. Let’s hope they have measured the road widths and checked this time! To read more, click this electrive article link here.TFL AWARD RAPID CHARGER CONTRACTTotalEnergies has been awarded the contract for installing 43 rapid charge points across London. These will be a mix of 100 and 200kW power. You can find out more by clicking this electrive 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 PODCASTNEW NEW CAR NEWS -Omoda 5 SHS-SOmoda are bringing a hybrid version of the 5 model to the UK, from March 2026. Called the 5 SHS-S, which stands for “Super Hybrid System - Hybrid”. Priced at £25,740 this undercuts the Nissan Qasqai by around £5,000. The company makes it clear the electric capability of this is to aid economy and efficiency. Click this Autocar article link here to read more.Audi RS5The old RS4 is now the RS5 due to the change in naming conventions from Audi. That’s not the only new thing, the car is a plug-in hybrid too, bringing 630bhp to help propel the 2,370kg vehicle from 0-62 in 3.6 seconds. All this can be yours, starting from £89,400. Click this Autocar article to find out more about the technical details, including the size of the exhausts.Bertone RunaboutFive decades after the Runabout concept was first shown off Bertone are finally making this a real car. Prices start at £400,000 and underneath is a Lotus Exige, which is an impressive base to mount the utterly gorgeous body on top. Click this Autocar article link here to read more.DESIGNERS MOOD BOARD: ANDREAS MINDT TAKES VW GROUP ROLEAndreas Mindt has been promoted from leading the Volkswagen brand design team to overseeing the Group’s design future. To read more, click this Autocar article link here.LUNCHTIME WATCH: RENAULT 5 - THEN AND NOWSiôn Hudson, of the Morsels and Motors You Tube channel, has a video running through the history of the Renault 5, from the original to the new EV version of today. Fabulous video with great insight into the design cue that have made it through or that we thought were always there! Click the link here to watch.LIST OF THE WEEK: THE BEST MOTORING EVENTS FOR CAR ENTHUSIASTS IN 2026Motoring Research has compiled a list of the high profile motoring related events you can attend during 2026. With the weather and everything else being so grim and unrelenting, we all need something to look forward to. Click this link here and work out which one you are going to attend later in the year.AND FINALLY: IDEAS FOR PLANNING A ROAD TRIPContinuing on the theme of looking forward to escaping from reality for a little while, we are suggesting you read a Hagerty article with five ways in which you could plan a road trip. Click this link here and once again, get planning!

JANUARY 2026 NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURESNew car registrations rose 3.4% compared to January 2025. In what is typically a slow month, BEVs rose in total numbers but lost market share compared to a year ago. The industry is not confident it will meet the mandate target of 33% for 2026, when it comes to zero emission vehicles. The calls for the Government to re-evaluate the ZEV mandate grow in volume and validity. Click this article link, from SMMT, to read more.STELLANTIS WRITES-DOWN €22 BILLIONOn Friday, last week, Stellantis shocked the markets by announcing that they had written down €22 billion in a pivot from their EV focus. They have made the move as buyer interest is less than previous assumptions stated. You can read more, by clicking this Yahoo! Finance article link here.Also announced was the news that the company are selling their 49% stake in NextStar Energy to LG Energy Solution. NextStar Energy was a joint venture between the two companies where Canada’s first large battery factory was to be built. If you want to find out more, click this Yahoo! Finance article link here.Automotive Cells (ACC), which is backed by Stellantis, has stated that the planned battery factories in Italy and Germany will no longer be built. They have been on pause for some time. Click this Yahoo! Finance article link here, to read more.JLR 2025 Q4 RESULTS ANNOUNCEDThere is little shock that JLR announced a loss for the final three months of 2025, thanks to the fallout from the cyber attack. The company suffered a £310 million loss, with revenues down 39%. The cost of the attack has risen to £260 million. If you wish to learn more, click this EVO article link here.TOYOTA GETS A NEW CEOToyota announced that they have appointed Kenta Kon, currently the Chief Financial Officer, as the new CEO from 1 April 2026. Koji Sato, who has only been in the role for three years, will move to the role of Vice-Chairman and Chief Industrial Officer. Details are yet to be made clear as to why this change is happening. To read more, click this electrive article link here.OX DELIVERS IN RISK OF LIQUIDATIONOx Delivers is the company that makes the OX, a low-cost flat pack electric truck, stated that they will go into liquidation on 5 February 2026 unless urgent investment can be found. There is no news on whether this has actually happened or not. A franchise, OX Rwanda, will continue to operate. Click this Autocar article link for more.EZO CHARGERS ROLLING OUT TO NORTHERN SCOTLANDEZO has started their project of doubling the charging infrastructure of north and north-east Scotland. Initial steps are converting 177 ChargePlace Scotland chargers to the EZO network. These are the first steps of a 20 year contract, awarded via the Scottish Government’s Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund. To read more on this story, click this electrive 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 PODCASTNEW NEW CAR NEWS -Lepas brand coming to the UKChery are adding to their stable of brands in the UK by bringing Lepas to join Jaecoo, Omoda and Chery UK. Using the same platforms they intend to bring crossovers with combustion, hybrid and battery electric powertrains. Click this Motor Trader article link for more.Kia Niro updatedKia has updated the Niro, with the ‘Opposites United’ design language, meaning it will align with the rest of the range. The interior also gets the latest layout and technology. Powertrains will continue to be hybrid, PHEV and EV. Prices and technology details will be announced next month. Click this Autocar article link, for more.Ferrari Luce interiorFerrari has shown off some of the interior of their new EV, called the Luce. This has been designed by the Jony Ive’s company. Click this Autocar article link here to read more.LUNCHTIME READ: FOTUGRAPHYAntony Ingram has written this week’s recommendation, explaining how to take better photographs of your car. This is especially helpful for anyone who wishes to submit their application to be part of the Festival of the Unexceptional Concours de l’Ordinaire. Click the link here to see more.LIST OF THE WEEK: THE FINEST MID-ENGINED MARVELSAutocar, once again, supplies the slideshow for you to check out, this week covering mid engned cars. Do you agree with the chap’s choices? Click this link to read more.AND FINALLY: WALK THE RAC RALLYAuto Shenanigans walks part of the RAC Rally, in Wales, whilst reminiscing about Colin Mcrae. Click this YouTube link here to see what the stages look like now.

GERMANY REINTRODUCES EV CAR GRANTThe German Government has reintroduced their electric car grant that is between €1500 and €6000. Criteria for eligibility include the vehicle’s size, buyer’s earnings and family size. To find out more, click this EV Powered article link here.RENAULT BECOMES EUROPE’S NO.2 CAR COMPANYRenault Group became the No.2 car maker in Europe after a jump in sales. By doing so they overtook Toyota. They increased their sales by 7.4%, which includes light commercial vehicles. Click this Autocar article link here, to read more.BYD INCREASED BATTERY WARRANTYBYD, the Chinese EV maker, has increased the warranty for their batteries to 155,000 miles. This increases from the previous 93,000 miles but still remains at eight years. To learn more, click this Motoring Research article link here.SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT ALLOCATES £85M TO LOW CARBON PROGRAMMESIn the 2026/27 budget, from the Scottish Government, they announce that they will be allocating £85 million to ‘low carbon programmes’, with vague language about expanding public charging and support for low emission vehicles. The details, currently, are scant and it would be unwise to get too excited until knowing more. More can be found by clicking this electrive 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 PODCASTNEW NEW CAR NEWS -Volvo EX60Volvo has unveiled their new electric SUV, the mid sized EX60. Boasting a ‘game-changing’ new platform and ‘radical in-car technology’. With a range of up to 503 miles, prices start at £56,850 and rise to £70,360. Click this Autocar article link here for more.Leapmotor B05Leapmotor has finally revealed the interior of their B05 hatchback, at the recent Brussels Motor Show. Following the trend of a minimalist space, there are virtually no physical buttons to be seen. A maximum range of 285 miles is better than the Astra Electric but much less than the VW ID.3 and Kia EV4. The brand is hoping the price will sway buyers as it is expected to start below £30,000. Exact prices and availability timings are yet to be announced. Click this EV Powered article for more.Encor S1The Encor S1 is a restomod based on the Lotus Esprit Mk1. See, restomods don’t just need to be 911s! It comes with a carbon fibre body, a 400bhp V8 and will set you back at least £500,000. It looks fantastic. Click this EVO article link here, to see more.LUNCHTIME WATCH: ALRIGHT, WHICH RICH DIPSH*TS COMMISSIONED THESE ROLLS-ROYCESWe are sharing a wonderful article from Victoria Scott, where the bespoke configurations of Rolls-Royce cars from the last year, are evaluated. Not holding back, as you will see, this is well worth your time. Click this link here to the article.LIST OF THE WEEK: TINY BUT MIGHTYHagerty, once again, brings a list that we think you will enjoy running through, being all about kei sports cars. As ever, whilst there will be a few that you do expect, there are others which are not the usual suspects. Click this link here to check out the options.AND FINALLY: HOT WHEELS BRICK SHOPHot Wheels has launched a Brick Shop Speed Series. These are cars you build yourself from plastic pieces that snap together. Sound familiar? However, these do closely resemble the real thing, unlike some we have seen. Click this PetrolBlog article link here to see more.

FOLLOW UP: UK GOVERNMENT MULLS DRIVING SAFETY CHANGESThe UK Government first mentioned it was looking at some of the rules relating to road safety, back in the summer of 2025, but now has published its Road Safety Strategy which gives more information on proposals aimed at making our roads safer. Aspects being covered at young and elderly drivers, giving councils more powers to change speed limits, technology that is fitted to cars and more. To read this story, click the Autocar article link here. If you wish to visit the Government’s page with a link to the strategy and the five consultations, click this link here.FOLLOW UP: GEELY TAKES ZEEKR OFF THE STOCK MARKETAs discussed a few months ago, Geely has taken Zeekr back to being a private company and off the stock market. To read more, click this electrive article link here.FOllow up: jlr cyberattack hit payroll infoDuring the cyberattack on JLR’s systems, information from payroll was accessed. The company has warned staff to be careful of potential phishing and fraud. Click this article link from The Register, to read more.DECEMBER AND 2025 NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURES2025 saw registrations creep over 2 million for the first time since 2019. Battery electric vehicles made another solid gain in December, but it was not enough on its own to get to the Government’s mandated level for the year. SMMT made it clear that the discounts the industry is funding cannot continue, especially when the financial pressures are mounting and the introduction of taxes aimed specifically at EV owners could cause some buyers to look elsewhere. If you want to read more, click this SMMT article link here.GMA LOSES A CEO BUT GAINS £90M INVESTMENTGordon Murray Automotive’s (GMA) CEO, Phil Lee, has left the company. However, Halo Cars Group has invested £90 million and had two of their officers added to the board. The company said the money will help them push forward with the model plans they have. Click this EVO article link here, for more.FORD FORCED TO TAKE A FINANCIAL HITOutside of the EU, Ford is changing plans when it comes to EVs. They are taking a £14.5 billion hit, as a result. The company says this is a “customer-driven change” but equally, the changes in policy by the US Government has had a big impact on the adoption of EVs. To read more, click this Autocar article link here.MERCEDES FINANCE SERVICES MAKES A BIG LOSSMercedes-Benz Financial Services UK made a loss of £365 million, in 2025. The main reason is setting aside £424 million to their finance mis-selling compensation fund. You can find out more, by clicking this Business Matters Magazine article link here.TESLA CANCELS CATHODE MATERIAL CONTRACTTesla has effectively cancelled a contract with L&amp;F, a South Korean battery manufacturer, who were to supply up to $2.9 billion worth of cathode material. The contract is now worth $7000. Click this electrive article link to find out more.CHINA HAS NEW EV ENERGY CONSUMPTION RULESChina has introduced, as of 1 January 2026, new rules regarding the consumption of energy by electric vehicles. These are graded depending on the weight of the vehicle. They are the first country to do so. More on this, can be found via this electrive link here.THOUSANDS INCORRECTLY CHARGED WITH SPEEDINGThanks to a faulty software update, thousands of UK drivers have been charged with speeding incorrectly. Those who have been fined will be reimbursed and points removed from their license. Police are not using the system until they are satisfied that it is working correctly. To find out more, click this Yahoo! News article link here.BMW SOFTWARE FAULT HITS X3 STEERINGBMW steering software on some US-based X3s has a fault that causes the steering wheel and front wheels to move without any input from the driver whilst stationary. Owners can either download an OTA update or take the vehicle to their local dealer for it to be fixed. Click this Carscoops article link here.VOLVO TO RECALL SOME EX30SVolvo is in the process of setting up a recall for UK owners of EX30 Single Motor Extended Range vehicles, due to the risk of fire. There is a problem with the battery pack on this specific model that could ultimately lead to a fire. Until the recall is organised, Volvo has asked that the cars are not charged beyond 70%. You can read more on this, by clicking this EV Powered 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 PODCASTNEW NEW CAR NEWS -Alpine A390The French sports car company are coming out with a 2.1 tonne electric SUV, called the A390. There will be three trim levels on launch and various maximum ranges dependent on where the model sits in those levels. Prices are starting at £61,390. To read more about the vehicle, click this electrive article link here.Kia K4 SportswagonKia are adding an estate to their K4 hatchback model, to take on the likes of the Skoda Octavia and Peugeot 308 SW. The car is expected to have the same powertrain options and a slight increase to the price. Click this Autocar article to read more.Mitsubishi to return to the UKMitsubishi is returning to the UK with the latest Outlander PHEV and L200 pickup. The company left the market in 2021 but returns this coming summer. The main question will be can it compete in an increasingly competitive sector? If you want to find out more, click this Autocar article link here.DESIGNERS MOOD BOARD: INGENLATH RETURNS TO VOLVOThomas Ingenlath is returning to Volvo, to be the chief design officer, after a stint as CEO of Polestar. To learn more, click this Autocar article link here.DESIGNERS MOOD BOARD: WAGENER LEAVES MERCEDESGordon Wagener is leaving Mercedes-Benz after 28 years at the company. He has been the Chief Design Officer for the last nine years, with his role being filled by Bastian Baudy, the head of design at Mercedes-AMG. For more on this story, click the EVO link here.LUNCHTIME READ: DRIVING THE TATA NANOAntony Ingram learns more about the Tata Nano thanks to Siôn Hudson and Jim Magill. Click this Hagerty link here, to find out how the car came to be and what it is like to drive.LIST OF THE WEEK: 10 OF THE BEST BADLY DRIVEN CARS ON UK ROADSPetrolblog supplies the first list for you to peruse, in 2026, thanks to Major Gav having to drive an awful lot of miles recently. Do you agree with Alan’s choice or do you have strong feelings about another car? Let him know! <a...

The 2025 Tokyo Mobility Show took place between 30 October and 9 November 2025. We sat down to run through some of the exhibits that caught our eye. Some of what is discussed is out of this world, whilst others are very much for only one person at a time.To see more about the Honda Super-one Prototype, click this Carscoops link here.For more on the BYD Racco, click this Top Gear link here.To join the chaps in their adoration of the Daihatsu Kayoibako K, click this Carscoops link here.You can see more about the Toyota Land Cruiser FJ, by clicking this Carscoop link here.Click this Top Gear link here, to read more about the Subaru STi Concept.To see more of the very attractive Mazda Vision X Coupe, click this Top Gear link here.The Lexus LS Concept take luxury MPV to the next stage, you can see more by clicking this Carscoops link here.Toyota revealed concepts that considered mobility needs of a variety of people, click this Carscoops link to see their vision for handling children. Then for those with restricted mobility, click this link to a Parametric Architecture article.Toyota had a busy show, they also presented a vehicle platform that would allow the owner to add just the elements required for their needs. Click this Autocar article link here to see more about this clever and fascinating idea.Honda explored their full catalogue of companies to show off what they are or potentially are capable of. Click this link here for the HondaJet Elite II. To see more about Honda’s reusable rocket, click this link here.

FOLLOW UP: JLR SILENCE BRIEFLY BROKEN10 days after the story first came to light that Gerry McGovern, the design chief of JLR, had unceremoniously left the company, they state that isn’t the case and nothing else. No further details, no explanation, nothing. Instead of clearing things up, this has only caused more confusion. Click this Autoevolution article link here to read more. FOLLOW UP: CRIT’AIR STICKERS STILL NEEDED IN FRANCEDue to the chaotic nature of French politics, currently, the proposed legislation that would have removed clean air zones from the country’s cities has not been passed into law. Therefore, we are warning all that intend to visit the country in the next few months to make sure they have the appropriate stickers and paperwork. If you wish to read more, click this link from The Connexion. FORD SIGNS DEAL WITH RENAULT Ford has signed a deal with Renault that will mean the Blue Oval will be gaining the small electric car platform from the French firm. This will allow them to create more affordable EVs following how badly their larger electric SUVs are doing in the marketplace. Click this Autocar article link here to read more. BMW GETS A NEW CEOBMW has announced that they have chosen their production expert, Milan Nedeljković, to take over departing Oliver Zipse’s role as CEO. The change will officially take place on 14 May 2026. If you wish to learn more, click this Autocar article link here. MERCEDES-AMG GETS A NEW CEO Mercedes-AMG has announced Stefan Weckbach will be taking over the role of CEO after leaving Porsche, where he headed up the Taycan product line. To read further about this, click this Autocar link here. ITALDESIGN SOLD TO A LITTLE KNOWN US FIRMAudi has sold their stake in ItalDesign to a US firm that most will not have heard of, named UST. It is difficult to understand, via their website, exactly what it is they do too. Lamborghini retains their shares. Click this Carscoops article link here, to read more about this story. EU MOVES ON 2035 ICE BAN REQUIREMENTSFollowing hard lobbying from both nations and the automotive industry the EU is proposing some tweaks to the legislation regarding 2035 ICE bans. To read the first rumblings of this matter, click here for an electrive article link. To find out the apparent shift in the EU’s position, click this Autocar link here. RENAULT HITS THE BRAKES ON MOBILIZE PROJECTSRenault has halted most projects that are part of the Mobilize division, with the rest being reduced in scope and size. For more on this, click this electrive 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 - Vauxhall AstraThe Vauxhall Astra is getting an update, with the external visuals being brought in line with the rest of the range. Additionally a slightly larger battery pack is being fitted which will result in up to an extra 22 miles of range. Click this Autocar article link here to read more. Lexus LFA conceptBased on the same ‘core technologies’ as the Toyota GR GT, we discussed last week, Lexus has revealed their LFA concept. This is an all electric two-seater coupe. Details are still scant and the vehicle is clearly more of a real concept than production ready one. Click this Top Gear article link to read more. Citroën ELO concept:Citroën has revealed, once again, a small, clever concept that showcases many useful and interesting aspects that would make this MPV a real treat for families and the likes. Unfortunately it won’t get built but to see more about it, click this Autocar article link here. LUNCHTIME READ: GERRY MCGOVERN WAS A LARGER THAN LIFE CHARACTER AT JLRFriend of the show, Matteo Licata, has written a wonderfully balance piece on Hagerty’s website all about JLR’s design chief Gerry McGovern. As the situation is as clear as mud, this is well worth your time in reading it. Click this link here to see more. LIST OF THE WEEK: BEST CHEAP CLASSIC CARS TO BUY IN 2026Honest John has provided the list for you to choose from, this week. Do you agree with Alan’s choice? Don’t forget to let us know. To read more, click this link here.AND FINALLY: GYMKHANA 2025 TIMES 2There is a new Gymkhana set in Australia and powered by a restomod Subaru Brat. Not only that, but we are recommending you watch this video first, to warm you up, from the Mighty Car Mods channel, as they appear in the Hoonigan video too. Click here to see that. To watch the full Hoonigan video, click this link here.

UK AUTUMN BUDGET ANNOUNCED The UK Government finally announced the autumn Budget, after weeks of leaks and rumours. There was some motoring related aspects, most notable being from 2028 new electric and plug-in hybrid car drivers will have to pay-per-mile which is additional to previously announced measures. How this is to be run has yet to be decided, with a consultation being conducted in early 2026.More money is being allocated the Electric Car Grant, increasing the pot by a further £1.3 billion. Additionally, the luxury car tax will increase, only for EVs, to £50,000, following a lot of lobbying by industry. Click this EV Powered article link here, to read more. MOTABILITY FORCED TO REMOVE PREMIUM CARS FROM SCHEMEThanks to a dishonest and disgusting campaign, that attacked those with extra mobility needs, Motability has been forced to removed premium brand vehicles from their scheme before the Government caved to such abhorrent pressure and pushed to remove nice things from a segment of society. There are many reasons, both factual and moral, why this did not need to happen. Click this Autocar article link here, to read more. NCAP TO REVISE ADAS TESTING As this show has stated many times, along with others in the automotive media, the current raft of ADAS safety systems are not fit for use on public roads. NCAP has announced they are revising the testing standards and procedures for them. After admitting they are not good enough, by the way they will now be tested, NCAP is finally doing something. To read more, click this Autocar article link here. SOUTHEND-ON-SEA GETS BIG CHARGER BOOSTEV charging company Zest has been selected to install 3,000 public charging points across the city. This will be a mix of on-street chargers in lamp posts, as well as fast and rapid charging stations. If you want to read more, click this electrive article link here. NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE GETS SOME NEW CHARGERSBeliev has been chosen to install up to 470 fast and rapid chargers across the region, over the coming years. Very limited details have been revealed, such as some of the charging stations will be fitted to some ‘key’ car parks. To learn more, click this electrive article link here. GOVERNMENT DECIDES PHYSICS DOESN’T APPLY TO E-VANSThe UK Government, following hard lobbying by fleet operators who didn’t pay attention to details, is going to reclassify electric vans in a way that removes them from being classified as HGVs, even though they are overweight. One of the key elements of doing this will be not requiring a first year MOT. In the same week as it was shown that a quarter of all vans fail their first MOT. For more on the reclassification of e-vans, click this electrive article link here. To learn about one aspect that makes this a very dumb idea, click this Motoring Research 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 - Dacia JoggerDacia are updating the seven seat, affordable family car for only £25 more than the outgoing version. The revisions include external and internal design features, plus revised technology to match the rest of the range. Click this Top Gear article link here to read more. Renault Traffic E-TechRenault has shown the world their new electric van, the Traffic E-Tech. With ranges from nearly 217 miles all the way up to 278, there is flexibility across trims. There will be a two tonne towing weight and a load capacity of 1.25 tonnes. 15-80% charging is expected to be 20 minutes if the right charger and environmental conditions are met. Click this EV Powered article link here to read more. Genesis Magma GT ConceptGenesis wants to go GT racing, or more specifically set up the ability to enable customer racing, which they announced with the Magma GT Concept. They will need to build 200 road going versions to be eligible to join GT racing series. This is not the final design as that is still being worked on but will largely remain the same when finally revealed. Click this Top Gear article link to read more.LUNCHTIME WATCH: PROJECT BINKY EPISODE 42The ongoing and lengthy project run by Richard Brunning and Nik Blackhurst, turning a rusty old Mini into a monster version of itself continues with the latest video. Episode 42 sees them tackle more jobs on the interior. Click this YouTube link to see more. LIST OF THE WEEK: 31 TIMES HONDA GOT IT RIGHTOnce again Classic &amp; Sports Car provides the list we are recommending you lose some time to by checking out some of the best Honda cars. Do you agree with the chap’s choices? What would you pick, if you could have any from the list? Click this link here to see your options.AND FINALLY: RENAULT AUCTIONS OFF THE VAULTOn December 7 2025, Renault will be selling off a huge number of cars from their vault. These include models, concepts and motor racing vehicles. Think of this as a second List of the Week. There are some stunning and evocative cars to check out. To see more, click this Carscoops article link which has a number of slideshows embedded in it.