Motoring Podcast - News Show

FOLLOW UP: FRANCE ISSUES ARREST WARRANT FOR GHOSN Authorities 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,...

HYUNDAI IONIQ5 WORLD CAR OF THE YEAR Hyundai 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 . F...

UK GOVERNMENT TO MANDATE SWITCH TO EVS The 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...

FOLLOW UP: SSANGYONG SEEKS NEW OWNER AS DEAL FALLS THROUGH Ssangyong 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 REGIS...

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 EFFECT New 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 W...

ELECTRIC VAN AND LORRY GRANT EXTENDED The 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 STEPS The International Energy Agency (IEA) has outlined ten steps we could take t...

Andrew had a Hyundai IONIQ5 on test, for a week. What does the family man make of the multi award winning car from Korea? Listen to him tell Alan about it, the looks, the tech, the tasks that are easier to be actioned via voice control and orientation of volume control icons. Andrew keeps us all in suspense as to his overall verdict until right to the end!

FOLLOW UP: EXPANSION OF LONDON ULEZ ANNOUNCED Following weeks of rumours Sadiq Khan has announced his plans for cutting congestion and improving air quality, by increasing the ULEZ to cover all of London, which appears to deal with only one part of the problem. To learn more about this story, click here for the YesAuto article . FOLLOW UP: SONY HONDA JV EXPLAINED Nick Gibbs, in this linked Autocar...

FOLLOW UP: GREG KELLY GIVEN SUSPENDED SENTENCE Greg Kelly, the former Nissan executive who was tricked into flying to Japan, has been found guilty on one of the charges brought against him. His sentence was suspended and he has flown back to the U.S. AS the Asian Times article, linked here , points out the ruling is “flawed”. FOLLOW UP: FELICITY ACE SINKS WITH VW GROUP CARS ONBOARD The Felicity Ac...

KIA WINS CAR OF THE YEAR AWARD The KIA EV6 has won the prestigious Car of the Year award, which was announced in Geneva but not whilst the motor show was on due to changes with the event. The EV6 is the first KIA to win and it fought off the Renault MeganeE-Tech Electric and the Hyundai IONIQ third. For more on this story, click the Autocar article here . STELLANTIS EXCEEDS FINANCIAL EXPECTATIONS...

Andrew had a Volvo XC40 Recharge, with the twin motors, on loan for a week. How did he get on? You’ll have to listen to find out. Additionally, you get in-depth discussions on curry hooks and good fonts for driver display information. You cannot say we do not know how to treat you!

SHIP CARRYING VW GROUP CARS ABLAZE A ship carrying cars from Volkswagen Group companies, is on fire in the Atlantic Ocean. Conflicting reports state where the fire originated but that this has spread to the rest of the ship, including the cargo. Whilst Porsche has confirmed some of it’s vehicles were on board, it is not clear what other cars are involved. For more information, click the Autocar ar...

FOLLOW UP: MANCHESTER CAZ “PAUSED’ Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, has announced that the Government has agreed on a delay for the region hitting clean air requirements, until 2026. Burnham has argued that due to the pandemic there is a problem in sourcing the zero emission vehicles needed by commercial and private hire companies. To read more, click the YesAuto article here . FUEL PRICES...

FOLLOW UP: PRIVATE PARKING FINES CAPPED Private parking fines and the rules surrpounding them are to be tightened up. Read the BBC story here . JLR REVENUE BOOST IN Q3 2021 JLR’s revenue has ramped up in the third quarter of 2021, and they also have a new EV platform on the way . ROAD PRICING COULD BE EN ROUTE A story from Evo magazine says that GPS-based road pricing could be here by 2024. BORTIS...

GREY IS THE MOST POPULAR COLOUR Grey is the most popular colour chosen by British new car buyers for the 4th year in a row. You can read the release from the SMMT here and analysis from Autocar here . COUNCILS COULD ENFORCE MOVING TRAFFIC OFFENCES FROM JUNE Councils in England and Wales could be able to follow the examples of London and Cardiff and enforce some traffic offenses from June. They wil...

Alan had Volkswagen’s most important new car since the Golf for a week. Is the ID.3 People’s Car 2.0 or does its hurried gestation in the light of Dieselgate shine through?

FOLLOW UP: MYTHS ABOUT HIGHWAY CODE CHANGES Last week the chaps had an article on the changes to the Highway Code as the Lunchtime Read as they are significant and we all need to understand them. Apparently some did not listen to us, with reports from mainstream media outlets not correctly explaining the issues. In case you didn’t read last week’s recommendation then click this article from The Gu...

TOKYO AUTO SALON Alan and Andrew are rounding up the highlights from the Tokyo Auto Salon 2022, a tuner focused show that is worth paying attention to because a lot of ideas and themes get explored at their most undiluted form, by manufacturers experimenting and trying to wow audiences. PERFORMANCE CAR HIGHLIGHTS There is a huge performance car contingent to the show, with the following highlights...

SMART MOTORWAYS HALTED BY GOVERNMENT The roll out of new smart motorways will be halted for five years, as the Government wants to use that time to collate more data on the safety of the existing sections. Those schemes that are already being built will continue, however. In the meantime, £900 million has been pledged to improving the safety of existing smart motorways. For more on this story, cli...

Andrew had a Hyundai i20N, for a week, to see if it could be as good as so many are saying. Listen in as he chats to a jealous Alan about what he found out whilst battling his local mud strewn roads. To listen to Alan’s review of the i20 Premium, click this link here . To listen to Alan chat to Andrew about his driving day with Hyundai, that included a quick run in an i20N, click here for the link...

FOLLOW UP: PROPOSED MANCHESTER CAZ TO BE REVIEWED Greater Manchester’s Mayor has announced that the proposed Clean Air Zone will be reviewed, ahead of the implementation on 30 May. There are concerns that it will impact businesses heavily. Andy Burnham has called on the Government to do more to support those trying to transition to cleaner vehicles. The CAZ will only charge commercial and private...

FOLLOW UP: CHANGES TO CHARGER RULES ROLLED BACK Over the festive period, the Government quietly rolled back some of the changes they had outlined would have to happen when it comes to installing charging points at non residential properties with a large car park. Now only new or refurbished commercial properties will be required to install at least one charging point. To read more, click The Guard...

FOLLOW UP: CHANGES TO TOWING RESTRICTIONS NOW IN FORCE After recently confirming that the changes to the towing rules had not, in fact, changed, we were informed by one eagle-eyed listener that as of 16 December 2021, they have changed. To find out who is allowed to do what, compared to who was allowed to what previously, click the Government’s own guidance link here . PLUG-IN CAR GRANT ALLOWANCE...

FOLLOW UP: VW RESHUFFLE COMPLETED Volkswagen Group announced a host of senior management changes, which didn’t occur in quite the way some reports suggested, in the previous week. The main one is that Thomas Schäfer is moving from Skoda to head up VW. Brandstätter, who was tipped to take on more responsibility from Diess is sent to head up their China operations. Added to which Diess will take con...