Death Angle - 7 March 2023

FOLLOW UP: SAUDI ARAMCO JOINS RENAULT-GEELY VENTURE

Saudi Aramco has agreed to invest in the Renault-Geely engine join-venture by furthering technological progress with synthetic fuels and hydrogen propulsion. They will take a minority stake in the partnership. Click this Automotive News Europe article link to read more.

FOLLOW UP: GERMANY AND ITALY GET COLD FEET OVER ICE BAN

Germany and Italy are now expressing doubts over the EU’s proposal to ban new ICE and hybrid vehicles from 2035. Italy have said it is a flat no, from them, as they claim industry and consumers will be affected. Germany, however, want some changes, mainly around synthetic fuel use being allowed in new ICE vehicles after 2035. The formal ratification vote has been delayed as a consequence. Click this link here to read more, from Euroactive.

NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURES FOR FEBRUARY 2023

February was a genuinely impressive month, after several that were only good when compared with Covid affected years, with 74,441 new cars registered. The breakdown of ‘what you put in it to make it move’ is continuing along the trends, with BEVs slightly up, PHEVs slightly down and diesel down again. The real surprise is petrol, a big jump there and that is not great in terms of CO2 emissions.

Click here for the SMMT article explaining the month’s figures.

Click here for Tristan Young’s breakdown of what makes the cars go.

ASTON MARTIN FINANCIAL RESULTS ARE NOT ALL BAD

Aston Martin announced a loss of £495 million in 2022, but the last quarter saw an operating profit of £6.6 million. Whilst the losses are not good, there is a glimmer of hope that things are being turned around for the company. Click the link here to read more from The Guardian.

TATA EXPANDING UK R&D FACILITY

Tata, Jaguar Land Rover’s owner has announced they are expanding the workforce of their UK R&D centre at Leamington Spa. They are looking for an extra 350 staff. You can read more by clicking this Autocar Business article link here.

JLR OWNER SEEKS GOVERNMENT FUNDING FOR UK INVESTMENT

Tata, the Indian owner of Jaguar Land Rover, is looking for funding assistance from the UK Government in order to build a battery factory in this country, rather than Spain. There are serious question marks over the Government’s commitment to the UK car industry and this is a real test. JLR has already moved some production out of the UK. To read more, click this AM Online article link.

VW SAVE THE GTI FESTIVAL

Having been famously staged at Wörthersee for many years, the region had decided to no longer approve the festival. Volkswagen, though, has stepped in and will stage the event at Wolfsburg.

FOLLOW UP: SAUDI ARAMCO JOINS RENAULT-GEELY VENTURE

Saudi Aramco has agreed to invest in the Renault-Geely engine join-venture by furthering technological progress with synthetic fuels and hydrogen propulsion. They will take a minority stake in the partnership. Click this Automotive News Europe article link to read more.

FOLLOW UP: GERMANY AND ITALY GET COLD FEET OVER ICE BAN

Germany and Italy are now expressing doubts over the EU’s proposal to ban new ICE and hybrid vehicles from 2035. Italy have said it is a flat no, from them, as they claim industry and consumers will be affected. Germany, however, want some changes, mainly around synthetic fuel use being allowed in new ICE vehicles after 2035. The formal ratification vote has been delayed as a consequence. Click this link here to read more, from Euroactive.

NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURES FOR FEBRUARY 2023

February was a genuinely impressive month, after several that were only good when compared with Covid affected years, with 74,441 new cars registered. The breakdown of ‘what you put in it to make it move’ is continuing along the trends, with BEVs slightly up, PHEVs slightly down and diesel down again. The real surprise is petrol, a big jump there and that is not great in terms of CO2 emissions.

Click here for the SMMT article explaining the month’s figures.

Click here for Tristan Young’s breakdown of what makes the cars go.

ASTON MARTIN FINANCIAL RESULTS ARE NOT ALL BAD

Aston Martin announced a loss of £495 million in 2022, but the last quarter saw an operating profit of £6.6 million. Whilst the losses are not good, there is a glimmer of hope that things are being turned around for the company. Click the link here to read more from The Guardian.

TATA EXPANDING UK R&D FACILITY

Tata, Jaguar Land Rover’s owner has announced they are expanding the workforce of their UK R&D centre at Leamington Spa. They are looking for an extra 350 staff. You can read more by clicking this Autocar Business article link here.

JLR OWNER SEEKS GOVERNMENT FUNDING FOR UK INVESTMENT

Tata, the Indian owner of Jaguar Land Rover, is looking for funding assistance from the UK Government in order to build a battery factory in this country, rather than Spain. There are serious question marks over the Government’s commitment to the UK car industry and this is a real test. JLR has already moved some production out of the UK. To read more, click this AM Online article link.

VW SAVE THE GTI FESTIVAL

Having been famously staged at Wörthersee for many years, the region had decided to no longer approve the festival. Volkswagen, though, has stepped in and will stage the event at Wolfsburg. Click this Motoring Research article link for more on the story.

FIRST BUS ADDING ELECTRIC BUSES TO FOUR REGIONS

First Bus, the public transport company, has announced that they will be purchasing 117 electric buses to four regions, York, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Hampshire. They also plan for the Norfolk and York depots to be zero-emission only. Funding from the Government will assist in this transition over the next 12 months. Move Electric have an article on this, which you can read by clicking this link here.

NEW HYDROGEN FUELLING STATIONS PLANNED IN UK

Element 2, a British Company, plans to open a network of hydrogen fuelling stations across the UK by year end. They also expect to add to the initial five sites, with up to 30 locations allowing hydrogen HGVs, light commercials and cars to refuel. You can read more by clicking this Autocar article link here.

HGV BLINDSPOT CAMPAIGN STARTS

To help other road users understand the limitations lorry drivers have with visibility around their vehicle, when on the move, National Highways has started a new campaign. Click this Motoring Podcast article link here, to learn where the blindspots are and help you to avoid putting yourself and the lorry driver at risk.

If you like what we do, on this show, and think it is worth a £1.00, please consider supporting us via Patreon. Here is the link to that CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST NEW NEW CAR NEWS:2023 VW ID.3 -

Volkswagen has revised the ID.3 ahead of schedule, possibly hoping to cut off the complaints about the quality of the software and interior. The exterior has also been slightly tweaked, especially around the front end. Early reports are that the interior does indeed feel better, whilst the underpinnings of the car remain the same. Prices are expected to slightly go up from the current £39, 425 to £47, 450. Click here to see more, thanks to EVO.

Abarth 500e -

If the MINI Convertible we discussed a couple of weeks ago is a bit too pricey for you, Fiat has released details on the Abarth 500e, which isn’t convertible but still is quite close to the MINI in terms of range. The electric motor will produce 152bhp and 173 of the tourques

UK Car of the Year Category Winners -

The UK Car of the Year Category Winners were announced last week. Andrew, who is now one of the judges, was at a driving day to try and pick his choice for the overall winner. We will bring you the decision next week.

These are brought to you in association with heycar who have kindly sponsored the awards.

Click here to read the information about the category winner, from the official awards website.

LUNCHTIME READ: ICE ST MORITZ

This week we bring you an article and a photo gallery of the most amazing event, where really, really expensive cars are taken to an ice lake at St Moritz and hustled around. Click here to read about the stunning event, via Hagerty. Following that click this other Hagerty link to see a gallery of the cars that were there.

LIST OF THE WEEK: 10 HOT HATCHES WE COULDN’T TASTE

For your enjoyment we bring you a Major Gav list of hot hatches we never got in the UK. Glossing over the lack of a specific Yaris which Alan is upset is missing, the list is a cracker. Click this Hagerty link and see if you agree with Alan’s choice in the end.

Click the link here, for the Mighty Car Mods video that was discussed.

AND FINALLY: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO PEUGEOT 205

40 years ago the Peugeot 205 was brought out and released to the world. To those of us of a certain age this is one of THE best superminis ever brought out and that is before you get to the amazing GTi.

Click here for Peugeot’s own press release, including a wonderful logo you can download.

Click this link to read the Top Gear buying guide to the 205.

Click here on this Autocar link to run through a gallery of the GTi.