FOLLOW UP: FCA WARNS PAYOUT SCHEME MAY FOLD
The Financial Conduct Authority has warned that there will be a delay of unknown time frame and even the potential for the finance mis-selling scheme to be cancelled, thanks to the appeals lodged. For more information on this, click this Autocar article link here.
APRIL 2026 NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURES
April 2026 had the most registrations, since 2019. All except diesel market share went up, with BEV being the most impressive and ending up with an April market share of 26.2% meaning it is at 23.1% for the year so far. Once again Fleet is doing a lot of heavy lifting, although Private rose taking the year to date up to 40.1%. You can find out more, by clicking this SMMT article link here.
HONDA AUTOMOTIVE UK GETS A NEW BOSS
Michael Doyle replaces Rebecca Adamson, who moves to head up Customer Engagement for Honda Motor Europe. Doyle is coming from Honda Motor Southern Africa, where he was Vice President. Click this MotorTrader article link here, for more.
NISSAN TO MERGE SUNDERLAND PRODUCTION LINES
Nissan is consolidating production lines into one over the next year, at their Sunderland facility. This will apparently not lead to any job losses at the site. Production numbers in 2025 was nearly half that of 2019. For more on this story, click this link to read an electrive article.
PORSCHE COST CUTTING BEGINS
Porsche has announced it will close three subsidiary companies with 500 jobs going as a consequence. Cellforce Group, battery tech; Porsche eBike, electric drives for bicycles; and Cetitec GmbH, software for data communications are to be shut down. The company will now “refocus on its core business”. If you want to read more, click this Yahoo!Finance article link here.
FORD SELLING PART OF SPANISH PLANT TO GEELY
Ford is looking to sell part of their Valencia plant to Geely, which currently only makes the Kuga. This would be Geely’s first European production based. To find out more, click this Autocar article link here.
VW IS RIVIAN’S LARGEST SHAREHOLDER
The Volkswagen Group has upped its stake in Rivian from 8.6% to 15.9%, making it the largest single investor in the company. This moves Amazon to second. Rivian has been hitting the milestones the original deal required, which has meant they have received $3 billion from the German company since the announcement of the investment. You can read more, by clicking this TechCrunch article link here.
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NEW NEW CAR NEWS -
Nissan X-Trail
Nissan revealed their new X-Trail, a few weeks back. The company is aiming at the likes of the Skoda Kodiaq, Kia Sorento and Peugeot 5008 with this vehicle. No technical specifications have been revealed. Click this Autocar article link to see more.
Lexus TZ
Lexus has released images of the TZ, an electric six seat SUV aimed at the Volvo EX90. The vehicle is based on the RZ platform and will have an 96kWh battery enabling a range of up to 330 miles in perfect conditions. The TZ is coming to the UK in 2027 but there are no details as to the price or final specifications. Click this Autocar article link, for more.
Morgan Supersport 400
Morgan has revealed the Supersport 400 which takes the Supersport and makes its more. The retuned B58 twin-turbo straight-six engine will produce 402bhp, bringing down the 0-62 to 3.6 seconds which is 0.2 seconds quicker than the normal version. On the road price starts at £138,883.00. Click this EVO article link here to read more.
LUNCHTIME WATCH: HOW CAR DEALERSHIPS SCAM AMERICA
Longtime listeners will have heard Alan bemoan how awful American car dealerships and the business model are. He has explained how the price is never the price you first see. But to show how really bad it is we are recommending a Wendover Productions video explaining just how dreadful they are, click this YouTube link to see more.
LIST OF THE WEEK: GREAT PEOPLE’S CARS
Autocar have a large slideshow dedicated the cars that helped bring mobility to the world. Do you agree with the choices made? What would you pick? Click this link here to see what options you have to select from.
AND FINALLY: TIME TO ASK THE DANES TO GO FRENCH
A British Engineer, Dave Collins, has created a Lego copy of the Renault 5 Turbo 3E and submitted it to Lego to be considered for making into a model the company sells. Submitted on the 15 April this has already received 8,199 votes (at the time of recording). Click this Top Gear article to read more.
To go see the page on Lego Ideas and vote, click this link here.
