Motoring Podcast - News Show

Alan had the Toyota Yaris Design for a week. Listen in as he explains, to us all, about the differences between this and the last generation, his surprise and we have to find out if Andrew has to pull him up for the lack of balance and justification in his review. Note: For this episode only, the Alan Drinking Game(TM) is suspended due to concerns for the listeners health.

SECURITY VULNERABILITY FOUND IN SMART CHARGERS PenTestPartners has investigated smart EV chargers available to those buying for themselves as well as public chargers, finding many security vulnerabilities. For those interested, click here for PenTestPartners’s own report . However, one concern is the operating system used by some firms. Where Raspberry Pi is used there are more issues, because tha...

Alan had the Hyundai i20 Premium for a week. Listen to us talk about the direction of the corporation, fuel filler caps and Alan’s wonderful circulation in a review that you will get no where else. Also, we do actually discuss the car, so you will find out if Alan rates it or not.

FOLLOW UP: MITSUBISHI AFTERSALES DEAL DONE A deal has now been finalised between The Colt Car Company and IM Group over the future of Mitsubishi aftersales business, resulting in the formation of a new company I.M. MAPS (UK) Ltd which will take the reigns. This is reassuring news for existing Mitsubishi owners. NISSAN OPENS 400 JOB POSITIONS IN SUNDERLAND Nissan has announced there will be 400 pos...

FOLLOW UP: VW APPEALS DUTCH CLASS-ACTION RULING Volkswagen has appealed a Dutch court ruling that gave compensation to owners of new and second-hand VW Group cars that were fitted with defeat device software. VW is adamant that the owners have suffered no financial loss in owning a car judged to have been fitted with the naughty software. To read more, click the Automotive News Europe article here...

Both Alan and Andrew each had a Hyundai Tucson Ultimate Hybrid, for a week. Listen to them explain the multi-dimensional problem that is the spec and option choices, their thoughts on the changes to design both inside and out, as well as if their opinions aligned. Oh, as special congratulations to Hyundai on the deployment of the highest number of acronyms in a car spec, the Motoring Podcast have...

FOLLOW UP: EU FINES BMW AND VW BUT NOT DAIMLER Following the whistleblowing move from Daimler, informing the EU of a technology cartel dating back to the 90s, involving Daimler, BMW and VW Group, which we mentioned in Ep 248 My Turn With The Shovel, fines of $1 billion have been levelled at BMW and VW Group. Daimler does not pay anything due to them being the whistleblower. To read more, click thi...

Andrew, after years of wearing the people at Lexus down, was loaned a LC500h, to try for a week. Have listen to find out if it lived up to his hopes and what he thought of the car.

FOLLOW UP: SECOND UK-BASED VW EMISSIONS CLAIM LAUNCHED The legal firm, Leigh Day, has launched a second emissions claim against Volkswagen, this time connected with the fix. They are claiming that VW “covertly made fundamental changes to affected vehicles” by altering other engine types that were not part of the #dieselgate outcry. Volkswagen responded that they have not been informed of such acti...

FOLLOW UP: GREATER MANCHESTER CAZ STARTS IN MAY 2022 The Greater Manchester Clean Air Zone has been confirmed as starting from May 2022. To find out more, including a reminder of the vehicle classes covered, click the Motoring Research article here . DVLA STRUGGLING TO DEAL WITH CUSTOMERS An ever increasing volume in the complaints about the lack of service from the DVLA is occurring. Added to the...

Alan was joined by Ian Robertson and Richard Dredge of new magazine Classic. Retro. Modern to talk about what makes their new magazine stand out from its competition. You’ll be able to buy the first issue from newsstands on 1st July, 2021 but to find out more about the magazine and other ways to get it digitally or on subscription, go to the website and keep up to date by following the magazine on...

FOLLOW UP: GOVERNMENT STARTS E10 PUBLICITY CAMPAIGN With the new E10 fuel being rolled-out across forecourts, from September, the Government has realised it had better tell the public it is happening and why it is a good thing. To find out more, click the Motoring Research article here . ASTON MARTIN SUES INVESTORS A deal penned by the previous management team, according to the current owners of A...

Alan spent a week with the Ford Focus in sporty ST-Line X trim with a 155PS mild-hybrid drivetrain. Does the addition of new technology help or hinder the legendary Focus driving experience?

FOLLOW UP: VW REPAID BY EXECUTIVES Volkswagen has now confirmed the story that former executives of the Group will repay around $351 million as a result of the #dieselgate debacle. This does show we were right to mock the excuses of ‘rogue engineers’ or “software issues’ that were initially used. To read more about this, click here for the Automotive News Europe article . GRIDSERVE BUYS ECOTRICITY...

MAY 2021 SMMT NEW CAR REGISTRATIONS As it is the beginning of the month, that means the chaps can run through the New Car Registration figures for May 2021. Due to the lockdown situation last year, the figures this year were always going to be better. Even so, there are some outstanding percentage increases. To find out more, click here for the SMMT article . FIAT GO ELECTRIC ONLY FROM 2030 During...

Alan invited James Browne of digital agency 4 Roads on to explain their view on the multi-channel future of new car buying. To find out more about 4 Roads you can visit their website .

This week Andrew’s away, so Alan is joined instead by Alex Grant . FOLLOW UP: WINTERKORN TO PAY DAMAGES TO VW The ex-Volkswagen Group CEO, Martin Winterkorn is to pay €10 million in damages to Volkswagen. You can read more from Business Insider here . FOLLOW UP: GHOSN APPEALS AND INVESTORS SUE NISSAN As Andrew predicted last week, Carlos Ghosn is appealing the rejection of his wrongful dismissal c...

FOLLOW UP: GHOSN ORDERED TO PAY BACK MONEY In a shock, for Carlos Ghosn, instead of winning a case where he sought €15 million for unfair dismissal from a Dutch registered Nissan/Mitsubishi joint venture, he lost and has been ordered to pay back the €5 million he got through the entity. To read more, click the Automotive News Europe article here . OFGEM TO INVEST £300M IN CHARGING NETWORK Ofgem ha...

In a rare moment of self indulgence, Alan and Andrew held a livestream to celebrate reaching the 400th episode of the Motoring Podcast. They chat through how and why they started, how they’ve continued to try and improve and their plans for the future. Prizes are given away throughout the show and they round it all out by thanking all of the people who have listened, helped and supported them alon...

FOLLOW UP: TOYOTA OFFERS FREE CATALYTIC CONVERTOR PROTECTION Last week, the chaps talked about the police operation to recover stolen catalytic convertors. Toyota has announced it is offering a marking scheme to aid owners of older Toyota vehicles. Free of charge they will mark the convertors so they can be tracked if they are stolen. To read more, click the National World article here . INTERNATI...

Alan spent a week with the ubiquitous Ford Fiesta. In this case, it’s a mild-hybrid, 1.0 ST-Line that took temporary residence in his driveway. Does the Fiesta still deserve its sales success?

APRIL 2021 NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURES There have been some attention grabbing headlines written, which seem to forget that whilst the year-on-year comparison stats are dramatically up on last year, we were all locked in our houses 12 months ago. Against the 10 year average the number of new car registrations are still down. To read more, click the SMMT article here . FORD AND NHS TRIALLING VACCI...

Alan spent a week with one of the most divisive vehicles to have been launched in the last year, the BMW M440i X-Drive. Find out how he got on and just what he thought of “that” grille.

GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCEMENT CONFUSES INDUSTRY The Government announced that there could be “self-driving” cars on the road towards the end of the year. This caused a lot of confusion because the driver assistance technology they were mentioning is not, nor ever will be, ‘self-driving’ as it is Automated Lane Keeping Systems. These are going to be only allowed to move a car up to 37mph, whilst keeping...

Alan was joined by Dan Prosser of The Intercooler to talk about the new digital car-based magazine he’s founded with Andrew Frankel. You can find out more about The Intercooler by visiting their website , following on Twitter and Instagram or by downloading their app for free from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store .