Motoring Podcast - News Show

FOLLOW UP: PORSCHE TAKEOVER CASE DISMISSED A court in Germany has dismissed the claims for compensation by hedge funds, relating to the failed attempt by Porsche to takeover VW, which resulted in them then being taken over by Porsche. The judge decided there was no merit, whatsoever, whilst the plaintiffs have already appealed and asked for certain judges to be excluded. More information can be fo...

FOLLOW UP: TOYOTA TO CLOSE RUSSIAN PLANT Toyota has announced that it will permanently shutter their production facility in Russia. They closed temporarily in March, following the illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces which led to supply issues. They have not been able to resume production since, nor can they see when the situation may change. For more on this story, click here for the Sup...

FOLLOW UP: RIVIAN PARTNERING WITH MERCEDES Rivian are partnering with Mercedes to build large EV vans, at an existing facility somewhere in Central and Eastern Europe. They will base the vehicles on two platforms, one from each company. You can read more about this, by clicking the link to the The Verge article here . Additionally, Andrew needed to clarify the issues Rivian has with the proposed U...

FOLLOW UP: RIVIAN NOT INTERESTED IN UK According to filings in August, Rivian made it clear that it would not consider the UK as the base for a factory due to the data laws, existing and proposed changes. On the surface, it would appear that Rivian wants to do what it likes with owner’s data and also it naively insists on housing all data in the US, which is not how countries are approaching data...

FOLLOW UP: GENEVA MOTOR SHOW CANCELLED AGAIN For the fourth year on the trot, the Geneva Motor Show has been cancelled. Therefore, only the Qatar element of the new set up will be held next year. This has caused a lot of discussion about the suitability of the location, due to the country’s track record on human rights. As a note, due to the situation in Qatar, this podcast will not cover any aspe...

Finally Andrew talks to Alan about the ‘new” Cracked Windscreen Family Hauler. They run through the remit, what was selected and what it’s like to live with it. Listen to them be childish about trim names, discuss storage options and consider the best cornering technique for such vehicles.

Captain Yaris Fanboi had a Toyota GR Yaris for a week and, yes, the inevitable comparison happened. It couldn’t not happen. In this Special Edition Alan talks about the Toyota GR Yaris while trying to say things other people haven’t said about it in the hundreds of other reviews you’ve read and watched. Comparing and contrasting with his own Yaris GRMN hopefully means that was achieved. To listen...

Andrew attended the Northern Group of Motoring Writers annual event, which was supported by KIA. They brought a selection of cars from their range for us all to try out. Andrew took four cars out for a spin, listen in as he talks about curry hooks, timelines and surprises. Thanks to KIA for helping support the day and the Northern Group of Motoring Writers. Thank you to the Group for welcoming And...

It’s been a long time since we drove a diesel SUV for The Motoring Podcast, but Genesis was keen that we tried their best-selling UK model, the handsome, not-quite-a-coupé, GV-70. Alan drove one to Scotland and back to find out what all the fuss was about.

FOLLOW UP: GREY HACKERS TO DE-SUBSCRIPTION OPTIONS Grey-market hackers are looking to liberate options fitted to BMW cars but not activated from the subscription models being proposed by the manufacturer. You car read more in this article from Vice. DIESS TO LEAVE VOLKSWAGEN Herebert Diess is to leave his position as Volkswagen CEO on 1st September and will be replaced by Porsche boss Oliver Blume...

FOLLOW UP: VW LOSES TEMP CONTROL ENGINE SOFTWARE RULING Volkswagen has been told by the EU Court of Justice that utilising software to protect engines outside a temperature range of 15 - 33 Celsius amounted to a defeat device, as below 15 Celsius is a normal temperature across Europe. This will, obviously, open the risk of more consumer class actions being taken against VW and possibly other manuf...

NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURES JUNE 2022 The June 2022 figures for New Car Registrations has been released by SMMT and they are down nearly a quarter on last year’s figures. Supply shortages are the main culprit, with manufacturers having long lead times to actually get cars into customer’s hands. To read more, click the SMMT article link here . To read Tristan Young’s breakdown of figures by the fu...

HYUNDAI AND KIA RAIDED IN GERMANY German officials have raised the offices of Hyundai, Kia and Bosch over the possibility of a defeat device being fitted to their diesel engines. Details are scant so far, and the chaps will be keeping an eye out for any updates. To read more, click the Autocar article here . EUROPE CONFIRMS 2035 NEW ICE SALE BAN The EU has voted in favour of banning the sale of ne...

FOLLOW UP: FORD ENDING FOCUS PRODUCTION We discussed that Ford was considering the future of the German Saarlouis plant, three weeks ago during Screaming In Your Car episode. That now seems to have been decided, as Ford are investing in their Valencia plant for EV models. After 2025 the Focus will be end, which has caused an obvious conclusion that the German factory will close. For more on this,...

UK HOUSEHOLDS GET CLEAN AIR MONITORS Houses in Tideford, Cornwall, along the A38, are having plug-in air purifiers installed as part of a project to understand how bad the air in that area is, thanks to the traffic. The results will be shared by the local council, with Highways England so they can all understand how much affect the number of vehicles have. To read more, click here for the BBC News...

PETROL PRICES REACH NEW RECORD Average petrol and diesel prices have increased, on a daily basis over the last week, to new heights. Consumer groups, as well as those of us who use a car, have called on the Government to do something to help in this extraordinary situation. To read more, click the Autocar story here . The UK is not alone in being hurt by fuel price rises, the French Government are...

FOLLOW UP: EU ADVISOR APPROVES PURSUING DEFEAT DEVICE DAMAGES CLAIMS An EU court advisor has stated that owners of vehicles fitted with defeat devices should be allowed to pursue damages. This is not a final ruling but very rarely do the judges not follow such advice. This case is against Mercedes-Benz. If this is ruled upon, it will be up to individual countries to calculate damages that align wi...

Super short this week as Andrew was plagued by microphone issues. As a result, there are many more stories here in the notes than were covered in the show. FOLLOW UP: VW SETTLE UK CONSUMER LITIGATION Volkswagen has agreed to pay UK consumers £193 million in compensation for fitting defeat devices to their diesel cars. Around 70,000 people will benefit from this payment. To read more, click here fo...

FOLLOW UP: AN EXPERT RESPONDS - CIRCULAR ECONOMY Thank you to Tom Lipscomb, from PriestmanGoode who are a design company who's purpose "lies in designing a better, more sustainable. He got in touch with the show, to help us understand what Circular Economy actually is. As explained its one of the key pillars of good design and relates heavily to the way products are made in that individual compone...

FOLLOW UP: VED PRICES FROM LAST SPECIAL EDITION ERROR As was kindly pointed out, by Tony Williams, the VED prices for the Toyota Yaris Cross, explained in the last Special Edition, were for the first year only. They change following that. Thank you Tony, for raising the point and the nice way you did it! GOVERNMENT INVEST £200M IN ZERO-EMISSION LORRY FLEET The UK Government is investing £200 milli...

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

APRIL 2022 NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURES April 2022 figures are down 15.8% on even last year’s poor results, due mainly to supply issues with continued effects of the chip shortage, the Ukraine War and China’s zero Covid policy that has shut down large amounts of the economic centres of the country. For more information, click here for the SMMT article . To get a bit more detail on the figures, cli...

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

SUZUKI AND STELLANTIS DIESELS INVESTIGATED Prosecutors in Germany, Italy and Hungary are investigating Suzuki, Stellantis and supplier Marelli, over use of defeat devices in Suzuki vehicles. Stellantis are engine suppliers for Suzuki and Marelli are a supplier of engine parts. For more, click the Nikkei Asia article link here . FEAR OF FINES FOR BOX JUNCTION MISTAKES With local authorities outside...

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