Close Personal Friend - 11 August 2020

FOLLOW UP: FOUR EX-AUDI EMPLOYEES CHARGED IN GERMANY

In Germany, three ex-Audi executives and a retired engineer have been charged over #dieselgate. Ulrich Hackenberg, Stefan Knirsch, Bernd Martens and Richard Bauder are accused of fraud, false certification and criminal advertising. To read more, click the Automotive News Europe article here.

FOLLOW UP: VW LOSES UK APPEAL AGAINST GROUP ACTION

Volkswagen has lost its appeal against the attempt of a group action lawsuit for compensation to those who bought a VW Group car with diesel engines fitted with, what the court has confirmed is, ‘defeat devices’. The case is not expected to start until 2022. To read more, click the Autocar article here.

FOLLOW UP: LEVANDOWSKI SENTENCED

Bringing to an end the messy chapter of Anthony Levandowski, stolen trade secrets and Uber trying to create autonomous taxis, Levandowski has been sentenced to prison for 12 months which he will serve once Covid-19 has receded. To read more, click the BBC News article here.

NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURES FOR JULY 2020

In a rare and probably brief moment, there is good news from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders as July showed a double-digit increase in registrations on 2019. To read more click here for the SMMT article and charts.

JLR LOSE REGISTERED DESIGN CASE

In a lengthy legal process, starting with a case to cancel the registered design for the Defender, brought by INEOS against Jaguar Land Rover, finally culminating in JLR losing in the court of appeal a design patent for the Defender. The original decision was made on 21 November 2018, to read the original ruling, click the link here. To read more about the design patent matters, click the Autocar article here, but note there is confusion in the reporting on this between trademark and design patent. Thanks to Lee Walton for clarification on the case but also to Ed Callow who was mentioning this whilst no one else was over a year ago.

TESLA WIPER CONTROLS LAND DRIVER IN TROUBLE

A German driver was prosecuted under the nation’s same laws as using a phone behind the wheel when altering the speed of the wipers via the touch screen which resulted in a crash. Who knew putting controls on a screen that takes eyes from the road is dumb? To read more, click the BBC News article here.

TESLA IN TROUBLE OVER MISLEADING DESCRIPTIONS FOR AUTOPILOT

Another German court has ruled that Tesla must stop using misleading descriptions for its Autopilot software, such as “full potential for autonomous driving” and “Autopilot inclusive”. They have also been told off for their advert suggesting self-driving cars are allowed on German roads. To read more, click The Register article here.

UK’S FIRST DUTCH-STYLE ROUNDABOUT OPENS

Cambridge, where else, has installed the UK’s first Dutch-style roundabout...

FOLLOW UP: FOUR EX-AUDI EMPLOYEES CHARGED IN GERMANY

In Germany, three ex-Audi executives and a retired engineer have been charged over #dieselgate. Ulrich Hackenberg, Stefan Knirsch, Bernd Martens and Richard Bauder are accused of fraud, false certification and criminal advertising. To read more, click the Automotive News Europe article here.

FOLLOW UP: VW LOSES UK APPEAL AGAINST GROUP ACTION

Volkswagen has lost its appeal against the attempt of a group action lawsuit for compensation to those who bought a VW Group car with diesel engines fitted with, what the court has confirmed is, ‘defeat devices’. The case is not expected to start until 2022. To read more, click the Autocar article here.

FOLLOW UP: LEVANDOWSKI SENTENCED

Bringing to an end the messy chapter of Anthony Levandowski, stolen trade secrets and Uber trying to create autonomous taxis, Levandowski has been sentenced to prison for 12 months which he will serve once Covid-19 has receded. To read more, click the BBC News article here.

NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURES FOR JULY 2020

In a rare and probably brief moment, there is good news from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders as July showed a double-digit increase in registrations on 2019. To read more click here for the SMMT article and charts.

JLR LOSE REGISTERED DESIGN CASE

In a lengthy legal process, starting with a case to cancel the registered design for the Defender, brought by INEOS against Jaguar Land Rover, finally culminating in JLR losing in the court of appeal a design patent for the Defender. The original decision was made on 21 November 2018, to read the original ruling, click the link here. To read more about the design patent matters, click the Autocar article here, but note there is confusion in the reporting on this between trademark and design patent. Thanks to Lee Walton for clarification on the case but also to Ed Callow who was mentioning this whilst no one else was over a year ago.

TESLA WIPER CONTROLS LAND DRIVER IN TROUBLE

A German driver was prosecuted under the nation’s same laws as using a phone behind the wheel when altering the speed of the wipers via the touch screen which resulted in a crash. Who knew putting controls on a screen that takes eyes from the road is dumb? To read more, click the BBC News article here.

TESLA IN TROUBLE OVER MISLEADING DESCRIPTIONS FOR AUTOPILOT

Another German court has ruled that Tesla must stop using misleading descriptions for its Autopilot software, such as “full potential for autonomous driving” and “Autopilot inclusive”. They have also been told off for their advert suggesting self-driving cars are allowed on German roads. To read more, click The Register article here.

UK’S FIRST DUTCH-STYLE ROUNDABOUT OPENS

Cambridge, where else, has installed the UK’s first Dutch-style roundabout that prioritises cyclists instead of cars. To see more, click Joe Giddens tweet here.

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FORMULA E: MANY, MANY RACES AND A TITLE WINNER

With two races left in the season, Antonio Felix da Costa won the 2019/20 season with DS Techeetah, who also claimed the constructor title. To read about that, click here for The Race’s take on the event. To read about why da Costa won the title click here for another The Race article. However, it wasn’t all sweetness and light in the Techeetah stable, one race saw Vergne become furious with his teammate and the team at large for the failure of the pre-race plan to be followed. To read more about that, click another The Race article here.

In other news, Blomqvist is replacing Calado at Jaguar for the remaining two races. Calado’s season has been poor. To read more, click The Race article here.

24HR LE MANS TO RUN BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

An official statement from Automobile Club de l'Ouest has confirmed that whilst the race will still take place, there can be no crowds. Seems that the Virtual 24hr Le Mans was a dry run for the real thing this year. To read more, click the Autocar article here.

LUNCHTIME READ: INTRODUCTION TO G8 TFX

Lewis Kingston has written a wonderful Long-Term Report on his C4 Corvette. To read more, which we obviously encourage you to do, click the Yes Auto article here.

LIST OF THE WEEK: ESTATE OF MIND - FIVE LUXURY LOAD-LUGGERS

Not2Grand is the provider of this week’s List of the Week, as the country holidays and the roads become clogged with SUVs Chris Pollitt offers some alternatives that will do more than your jacked-up hatchback. To read through, click the link here.

AND FINALLY: BUY A CAR AND BE ON TV

TV’s Paul Cowland is filming a new show, where he helps someone buy the perfect car for their needs, within their budget. If you wish to get involved click here for the link to his Tweet with the info.

AND FINALLY: ZOOM ZOOMERS CALL

Alan takes part in a gathering of folks from the motoring world, on a Monday night, run by Damien Cross. If you would like to see last Monday’s meet up please click the YouTube link here.