Motoring Podcast - News Show

Overwhelming positivity - 5 August 2025

FOLLOW UP: CAR FINANCE CLAIMSThe Supreme Court has ruled on car finance claims follow last years shock appeal decision that could have meant that lenders were liable for billions in compensation for mis-selling car finance schemes. The court has ruled that dealers do not have to work solely for the benefit of customers, which covers most claims, however if the commission rate is excessive then there is a possibility of a claim. What wasn’t covered in this is claims where the dealer and lender could increase the interest on their PCP or HP deal without telling the customer. Anyone who signed up to this is still able to claim. To read all about this complicated matter, click this link here from MoneySavingExpert. FOLLOW UP: RENAULT GROUP ANNOUNCE NEW CEOJust over a week after the interim CEO was announced, Renault Group have found their new permanent CEO, Francois Provost. He has been at the company for 23 years, with his latest position being head of procurement, partnerships and public affairs. Click this Autocar article link to learn more. JLR LOSE ON CEO AND FIND ANOTHERAdrian Mardell is to retire from JLR, after 35 years at the company. The surprise news came out last week and by Monday the company announced his replacement, PB Balaji, who is the chief financial officer of Tata Motors. If you want to read more, click this Autocar link here. STELLANTIS MAKE A BIG LOSSFirst half year results are in for Stellantis and it is brutal. They have made a loss of £2 billion pre-tax. Tariffs are being blamed for a lot of it, but also a slow uptake on their B-segment offerings. The new CEO, Antonio Filosa, has said he will make tough decisions to help turn results around. To find out more, click this Autocar link here. PORSCHE TAKES PROFITS HITPorsche’s operating profits dropped €2 billion in the first half of 2025. Once again tariffs are being blamed, but also they continue to lose market share in China. The company is looking at ways to save money, on top of the job cuts it has previously announced. You can read more on this, by clicking an Autocar article link here. HELSINKI REPORTS NO FATALITIES ON ITS ROAD NETWORK IN A YEARHelsinki has not had a road traffic fatality, for over a year. Reasons for this excellent news are a combination of improved infrastructure, all road users working together, reduced speed limits, improved public transport and targeted police efforts. To find out more, click this yle article link here. TESLA FOUND PARTIALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR FATAL CRASHA jury has found Tesla partially liable for a fatal accident that also caused life changing injuries to a passenger of a struck vehicle, after Autopilot was engaged. The driver of the Tesla vehicle claims he thought the driver assistance system would handle things whilst he retrieved his dropped phone. Tesla is to appeal the ruling. You can read more by clicking this article link 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 PODCAST NEW NEW CAR NEWS - Vauxhall Mokka GSEVauxhall has upgraded the performance and handling of the Mokka, with a hot-ish GSE version of their small SUV. This should be quick, not just in a straight line, but in the bends too. Click this EVO article link to learn more. Jaecoo 5Jaecoo is bringing the 5 to the UK very soon. This is the smaller sibling to the popular 7, with the same design cues, ie. takes a lot of ‘inspiration’ from Range Rover models. Prices will start at £24,505. Click this Autocar article link to read more. Cadillac to return to the UKCadillac is to return to the UK soon, with two models. The first will be the Lyric SUV and most likely the Optiq SUV, both being electric. Other models were being discussed at GM head office. Click this Autocar article for more details. LUNCHTIME READ: PEUGEOT’S BRILLIANT TORSION BAR REAR AXLEWe return to recommending articles after two weeks of videos, with a wonderful piece from Hagerty about Peugeot’s torsion bar rear axle. You get to learn the history of development and where it ended up. Superb nerdery abounds! Do enjoy. Click here to read all about it. LIST OF THE WEEK: THE STRANGEST CAR PUBLICITY PHOTOS EVER PUBLISHEDAutocar provides a slide show of some classics of the genre “what on earth was marketing thinking?”, when it comes to cars and promotional pics. You must click this link here, as some of these have to be seen to be believed. Do you agree with the chap’s choices or do you have a favourite, let them know. AND FINALLY: PETROL & PRIDE MEETINGThe first Petrol & Pride meeting took place at the British Motor Museum recently, where LGBTQ+ petrolheads and their allies, gathered to celebrate their love of cars. This is a brilliant idea and we hope it continues for many year. Click this Autocar article link here to read more.

Ouija boards - 29 July 2025

FOLLOW UP: ELECTRIC CAR GRANT FALLOUT CONTINUESAs more details are revealed and more people begin to understand all of the ramifications of the UK Government’s Electric Car Grant. Firstly, the list of car eligible for the two tiers of payments will be confirmed on 11 August 2025. The scheme went live on 16 July 2025. Click here to read an Autocar article on this. Secondly, car companies can self-register cars for the scheme and as the rules include Fleet registrations, this opens up the ability for abuse. Whilst these cars contributed to the Zero Emission Vehicle mandate, now tax payer’s money will be used to support car companies to be compliant. Click this link here to read more on that from Autocar. There are some suggesting that the overall scheme will have little affect, as was discussed on the show last week. Indicata, a motoring related data firm, has calculated that the grant will affect only 5.8% or 14.4% of new car registrations, dependent on which tier is sought. They also have used information from Italy’s attempt as a similar scheme that made a small impact. On top of all that they highlight the danger of dramatic depreciation for newly bought vehicles and those outside of the eligibility of the scheme. Click this link to read more from a Motor Trader article. Some manufacturers are forging ahead and offering discounts on their cars at the same rate as the lower tier of the grant. The likes of Alfa Romeo, GWM, Hyundai, Leapmotor, MG and Volvo have already made their move. Click this AutoTrader article for more.Another issued raised was that the scheme ignores the used market. The Independent Motor Dealers Association (IMDA) has called for a £1000 grant for used EVs. Click this Motor Trader article link here to read more. FOLLOW UP: EMPLOYEE CAR OWNERSHIP SCHEMES IN CROSSHAIRSThe UK Government first brought up, what it felt, was the unfair practice of Employee Car Ownership Schemes back in the autumn. This is where a member of staff gets a new car, for a short period of time and then moves onto a new car, whilst paying a much reduced contribution that anyone outside of the scheme would. Proposed legislation will mean anyone taking advantage of such a scheme will be taxed as though that was a company car. To read more, click this Motor Trader article link here. VW PROFIT DROPS 29% YEAR ON YEARVW financial results for the first half of 2025 show a drop of 29%, with a big hit in Q2 thanks to the US tariffs. Both the profit and revenue was down on market expectations. If you want to find out more, click this Yahoo! Finance article link here. GEELY GROUP WELCOMES BACK FAMILIAR FACESLotus Group has appointed Jim Rowan, ex-CEO of Volvo, to their board. You can read more about that by clicking this Consumer Warranty Solutions page here. Additionally, Thomas Ingenlath, ex-CEO of Polestar, is now a design advisor for the entire Geely Group. If you wish to learn more, click this Electric Vehicles article link here. JLR PUSHES BACK LAUNCH OF ELECTRIC RANGE ROVERJLR is reported to have pushed back the launch of the electric Range Rover, for further development and due to a lack of demand from consumers. Suggestions are this will impact other models lined up for launch. JLR issued a statement that stated “we will launch our new models at the right time”. To read further about this, click here for an Autocar article on the story. 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 - Chery Tiggo 7The second of two SUVs Chery is bringing to the UK, is the Tiggo 7. Aimed at the likes of the MG HS and Dacia Bigster, this will come with both a petrol and plug-in hybrid powertrain options. With the PHEV, the maximum electric only range is 56 miles. Prices are expected to start from £24,995 for the petrol and £29,995 for the PHEV. Both those prices undercut competition. You can read more, including the trim levels, by clicking this link from Autocar. Subaru UnchartedSubaru has revealed the latest tie-in with Toyota, the Uncharted. This is based on the C-HR+ with off-road abilities. Additionally, Subaru are clear to state they have re-engineered the steering and suspension setups to enable a “sporty and nimble character”. Pricing hasn’t been confirmed but is expected to start at under £40,000. Click this Autocar link for more. Kia EV4 FastbackKia has revealed more details, including pricing, for the EV4 Fastback, which is expected in the UK from the autumn. Starting at £40,895, the lowest trim level is the GT Line, rising up to GT-Line S and a £45, 385 price tag. Click this EV Powered article link to learn more about what you can get for the money. DESIGNERS MOOD BOARD: GILLES VIDAL LEAVES RENAULTGilles Vidal is leaving Renault, who he joined in from Peugeot in 2020, to become head of design for Stellantis Europe. He has overseen a resurgance in Renault’s design and is the second big loss for the company following the departure of Luca de Meo recently. If you want to read more, click this link to an Autocar article. DESIGNERS MOOD BOARD: JEREMY OFFER LEAVES VOLVOJeremy Offer is resigning from Volvo thanks to the newly implemented ban on working from home. Offer was commuting between the UK, where his family is based, and Sweden. Nick Gronenthal, who leads automotive design for Volvo, is the interim design chief. You can read more by clicking this Autocar article link here. LUNCHTIME WATCH: FESTIVAL OF THE UNEXCEPTIONAL 2025Festival of the Unexceptional took place last weekend and we could not attend so are having to live vicariously through other people’s content. This week we recommend two videos to watch. The first is Steph, from I Drive a Classic channel, who takes us around the show to see what caught her eye. Click here to see that. The second is Jon Coupland’s video, which you can see by clicking here. LIST OF THE WEEK: HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE FOTUContinuing on a theme, the list of the week is a selection of the cars attending the Festival of the Unexceptional 2025, that caught the eye of Sam Phillips of Autocar. Do you agree with the choices? Click here to see what options there are. AND FINALLY: MODEL MANLast week the sad news came that Shunsaku Tamiya had died. He is created with helping to spread the love of finely detailed model cars, amongst other things, across the globe. Whilst now Tamiya are a byword for radio controlled models, they started in a much more humble beginning. Click this Hagerty article link to learn more about the man’s life and how he shaped the company.

Kerfuffle - 22 July 2025

FOLLOW UP: UK GOV ANNOUNCES ELECTRIC CAR GRANTFollowing months and months of calling on the UK Government to help private registrations with financial aid, the motor industry has got what it wants. Sort of. The Electric Car Grant has been announced that will be up to £3,750 off the price of a new car that is listed at under £37,000 plus other criteria, including how clean the grid is where the car was built. That last point effectively cuts out Chinese EVs due to their CO2 intensive energy supplies. The grant is active now, with OEMs and dealerships claiming the money back following registration. Added to which, it applies to all buyers and not just private, as was called for. Many within the industry have expressed their disappointment in the scheme, especially how it has ignored the second hand market plus the knock on effect this will have to depreciation. If you wish to learn more, click this Autocar article link here. To read about the expected impact on Asian built cars, click this EVfleetworld article link here. FOLLOW UP: RENAULT GROUP APPOINT INTERIM CEODuncan Minto has taken over the interim CEO position at Renault Group, following Luca de Meo’s exit. Minto was appointed chief financial officer in March. The search for a new CEO continues. Click this Autocar article link here, to read more. CHINA THROTTLES BATTERY MATERIAL EXPORTSChina is once again reminding the world who controls almost all of the supply chain when it comes to electric cars. This time they have, due to being now classed as security relevant, implemented an immediate export restriction on battery material preparation technology, ie. stuff that goes into making battery cathodes used in electric cars and energy storage. No reason has been really given for the sudden move. You can find out more by clicking this electrive article link here. JLR CUTS JOBS AS SALES DROPJLR has announced it is seeking voluntary redundancies from management positions, following the last quarter’s drop in sales. The company said it expects no more than 500 roles to go. The reason for reduced sales is being mainly put at the feet of the US tariff mess. Click this Autocar article link here to read more. GEELY BUYS ZEEKERGeely has acquired the final 37.2% of Zeeker shares, that were listed on the New York Stock Exchange only last year. This will cost the Chinese company around $2.4 billion. Suggestions are this has happened due to the geopolitical outlook and adding them to the group enables greater cost savings thanks to increasing the economy of scale benefits when purchasing parts. You can read more by clicking this electrive article link here. UK GOVERNMENT OPENS AV TAXI CONSULTATIONThe UK Government is asking for our feedback on rolling out autonomous taxi and bus services. They are going to do it, be under no illusion, but we might be able to influence just how that looks, in terms of the information these companies must supply. To read more, click this Autocar article link here. To go straight to the Government webpage to access the proposed rules and the consultation questions, click this link here. HISTORIC WELSH SITES GET EV CHARGERSEvolt has installed electric car chargers at nine historic sites across Wales. This will help to fill in some of the gaps in the public charging infrastructure across the country. If you wish to learn more, click this electrive article link here. UK GOVERNMENT LAUNCHES EV FLEET INFRASTRUCTURE GRANTAt the same time they were unveiling the Electric Car Grant, the UK Government was also starting the Depot Charging Scheme, where they will pay up to 75% of the costs to set up and install charge points for fleet companies. The scheme will only last until November though, so be quick! You can read more, by clicking this electrive article link here. STELLANTIS PULLS HYDROGEN PROJECTSStellantis has shelved projects that were connected with hydrogen power for light commercial vehicles. Citing a lack of infrastructure and the high costs of hydrogen as reasons behind the move. Hydrogen industry has failed to learn the lessons of what Tesla did to bring so much confidence for EV owners. Click this Autocar article link here to find out more. MERCEDES TO ALLOW IN-CAR CAMERA USE WHILST DRIVINGMercedes-Benz is not only adding Microsoft’s Teams to their app store but enabling the use of the in-car camera for calls, on those models that have the facility. Whilst drivers will be able to use the app and have video calls whilst driving, the screen will not show the feeds from other attendees of the call. In a world where there is a mountain of research showing how dangerous hands free calls are, for impairing drivers cognitive ability, this seems utterly insane. If you want to read more, click this link to an article from The Verge. 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 - Chery Tiggo 8 Super HybridThe first of two SUVs Chery is bringing to the UK, is the Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid, capable of a claimed maximum range of 745 miles from one full tank and one full charge. Prices and UK specs are yet to be announced, but in the meantime you can read more by clicking this link from Top Gear. Hyundai Ioniq 9Hyundai has revealed UK prices and specifications for their flagship car, the Ioniq 9. Based on the same underpinnings as the Kia EV9, this is a large, luxury electric SUV. To find out more, click this Autocar article link here. Ariel Atom 4RRTo celebrate 25 years of the Atom (how many years?!?) Ariel has taken a Civic Type R engine and made it, well, more, so that this is the most powerful and quickest Atom the company has produced. Click this article link here to read more. LUNCHTIME WATCH: MONOBOX SPECIALAuto Didakt has taken a dive into monoboxes, with the help of the Renault Twingo Mk1 and the Mercedes-Benz A-Class Mk1. Click this YouTube link here to see the excellent video. LIST OF THE WEEK: 10 OLD CAR FEATURES WE MISSAntony Ingram and Hagerty supply this week’s list, which is all about features we miss on modern cars. Excellent list, thanks to Antony’s choices and his research. Click here to see more and don’t forget to tell us if you agree with Andrew’s choice.AND FINALLY: YESTERDAY’S WORLDWe are recommending an old snippet from Tomorrow’s World, in the 1980s, that talks about in-car CD players and how remarkable they actually are when you think about it. Click here to see the YouTube video that takes you back in time.

Challenging - 15 July 2025

FOLLOW UP: MORE OEMS INVESTIGATED FOR DEFEAT DEVICESThe Times is reporting that more brands are now being brought into the Department for Transport (DfT) investigation into the use of defeat devices. This is where they pass the emissions testing regime but are set up to a different output when used on the public roads. Now there are 72 models from 27 brands being looked at. Click this article link to read more. LEVC TO CUT JOBS IN COVENTRYLEVC is to cut 180 jobs at it’s Coventry facility due to an increasingly difficult business conditions. The site is already running well below capacity, apparently. If you wish to learn more, click this Autocar article link here. CHERY IS COMING TO THE UKChery, the owner of Jaecoo and Omada, is coming to the UK with it’s own vehicles later in the year. They chose to announce this with two vehicles at Goodwood’s Festival of Speed. To read more, click this Motor Trader article link here. MUNRO TO EXPANDMunro, the Scottish EV maker who focuses on rugged commercial type vehicles, is planning to expand their operation following the appointment of a new chairman, Avinash Rugoobur. Following a period of testing the company expects to fulfil the order book that currently have. You can find out more, by clicking this EV Powered article link here. CAR THEFT DATAThe Loop Agency has investigated car theft data and decided to present it as number sold divided by the number stolen. This then gives a different perspective on the DVLA’s information, penalising smaller selling vehicles. If you want to read more, click this Autocar article link here. FRANCE TRIAL IN-ROAD CHARGING SYSTEMOn a short section of the A10 near Paris, in-road electric vehicle charging infrastructure is being installed ahead of a trial due to begin in September for charging your EV as you drive, via inductive charging. To find out more, click this EV Powered article link here. FRAUD CHARGES FOR RUNAWAY CAR DRIVERIn March 2024 the driver of a Jaguar I-Pace called the police to claim his car could not decelerate, this led to an incident that covered the M58, M57 and M62 in Lancashire and Merseyside. After being brought to a stop the police and JLR forensically investigated the car, which has resulted with the individual being charged with two counts of fraud, causing a public nuisance and dangerous driving. Click this EV Powered article 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 PODCAST NEW NEW CAR NEWS - Fiat 500 HybridAfter 17 years, the Fiat 500 petrol platform is being retired as a new mild hybrid version will be sold, based on the 500e underpinnings. Further updates will occur to the exterior, to enable cooling to the engine and the interior. Click this Autocar article to find out more. Aston Martin Vantage SAston Martin bring back the S model, for the Vantage. Along with the badge comes oodles of power and tweaks to the chassis and suspension set up to enable drivers to take advantage of the upgrade to the engine. Click this Autocar article link here, to read more. Bentley EX 15 ConceptBentley has revealed the EX 15, a raised up two-door coupe that is apparently an urban SUV. The company says it is a hint at the direction future models will go, in terms of looks. Click this Autocar article link here to see more. LUNCHTIME WATCH: GOODWOOD FESTIVAL OF SPEED HIGHLIGHTSWe have compiled the list below, of the Goodwood Festival of Speed highlights, they’ve published on their YouTube channel. This should cover your lunches for a week! Click here for Thursday’s highlights. Click here for Friday’s highlights.Click here for Saturday’s highlights. Click here for Sunday’s highlights. Click here for Sunday’s Rally Stage livestream. Click here for the Hillclimb Shoot Out final. LIST OF THE WEEK: THE FINEST MID-ENGINED MARVELSAutocar has come up with a huge and cracking list of mid-engined cars for you to check out. Agree with Alan and Andrew? Click here to see what options you have. AND FINALLY: WHEEL OF FORTUNEHagerty provide a short list of classic wheels, which is too short to be a List of the Week, but is equally too good to not share with you. Click here to read more and take a trip down memory lane.

Sea, Sand, and Probably Not Sangria - 8 July 2025

JUNE 2025 NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURESThe Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has published the registration figures for new cars, that took place in June 2025. There is good news, as overall numbers rose, year-on-year. Not only that, but BEVs had a market share of 24.8% as uptake continues. To read more, click this article link from SMMT. MCLAREN CONTINUES TO CHANGE LEADERSHIP TEAMMcLaren has appointed for Ferrari CEO, Luca Cordero Di Montezemolo, as a director. Presumably he is bringing a wealth of knowledge on how to run a successful performance car brand. If you want to find out more, click this EVO article link here. GEELY IS COMING TO THE UKGeely will be launching their own cars in the UK, starting with the EX5 a mid sized SUV. Sales are expected to begin towards the end of 2025. You can read more, by clicking this MotorTrader article link here. RENAULT HIT BY NISSAN STAKERenault Group has reported a €9.5bn loss on their stake in Nissan. This is due to a combination of them reducing their share of the Japanese company and Nissan’s share price dropping by nearly 40% over the last year. Click this Financial Times article link to read more. FERRARI LOSE TRADEMARK CASEFerrari claimed that an energy drink logo would cause confusion with consumers as they think they’ll be buying a Ferrari energy drink, thanks to the use of prancing horses. A Malaysian High Court has thrown the case out, however. The “Wee Power” logo can continue to be two prancing horse over a ‘W’. Click this link, from Free Malaysia Today, to read 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 PODCAST NEW NEW CAR NEWS - Kia EV4Kia has revealed details about the EV4, which is due for sale in the UK in the autumn of 2025. Priced from £34,695, having a 58.3kWh battery pack that gives a max range of 273 miles as a hatch. There will be a saloon option too. For £37,695, you get a 81.4kWh battery pack that has a max range of 388 miles. Click this Autocar article link, to read more. Kia SportageKia are updating their most popular model, the Sportage. Externally the looks will now be in line with other refreshed models. Click this Autocar article link here, to find out more including prices. Stellantis recallStellantis has issued a recall on their 1.5 BlueHDi diesel engine, built between 2017 and 2023, due to potential camshaft chain issues. Click this Bermuda Broadcast News article link for more. LUNCHTIME READ: COMO CAR WEEKHagerty attended the Como Car Week, and we’re not jealous at all, no, nope, not us. Anyway, they have a great article explaining what went on that is accompanied by some fabulous pictures. Click this link here to see more. LIST OF THE WEEK: TREASURES OF THE TOYOTA MUSEUMAutocar has a great slideshow for this week’s list, as they take us inside the Toyota museum. Slightly unexpectedly, it is not all about Toyotas, there are plenty of cars from other brands to see too. Do you agree with Alan’s choice? Click this link to check out your options. AND FINALLY: TV’S PAUL COWLAND’S OWN CAR COLLECTION PT 1TV’s Paul Cowland has released the first of three videos where he explores his own eclectic car collection. Click this YouTube link here to see more and do enjoy!