Fences and Sitting On - 7 July 2020

FOLLOW UP: NORTH EAST ENGLAND TRIALLING E-SCOOTERS FIRST

The first location for trialling e-scooters will be in the North East of the UK, the Tees Valley Mayor announced. Ben Houchen was delighted to be able to provide a location where 100 scooters can test the viability and practicalities of renting e-scooters to the public. To read more, click the BBC News article here.

JUNE 2020 NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURES

The June New Car Registration figures have been released by SMMT and they’re not as bad as feared, however, they were presented with notes of extreme caution and concern. To find out more, click the SMMT article link here.

ELECTRIC CAR SCRAPPAGE SCHEME REJECTED

The Government has apparently ruled out creating an electric car scrappage scheme. The call by the industry to ask for a scrappage scheme, which has become the defacto stance every time there is a bit of trouble in the market, is predictable yet when ‘low-hanging fruit’ is left untouched seems a bit of a risk. Andrew has “views” after his current experience of the car retail trade. To read more, click the Motoring Research article here.

MERCEDES TO SELL FRENCH SMART FACTORY

Mercedes-Benz has announced it is selling off the Hambach factory, where Smarts are built, as part of their cost-cutting and streamlining process. This brought the news that Ineos, the Defender-that-is-not-a-Defender company, is in talks to take over the site, instead of the previously proposed Welsh or Portuguese locations. The recent announcements have caused the chaps to question further the viability of the Ineos project. To read about Mercedes’s decision to close the factory, click here for the Autocar article. To read about the supposed Ineos interest, click another Autocar article here.

BMW LOOKING AT SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE FOR OPTIONS

BMW has announced that it is considering offering options via a subscription model. This will be a departure from selecting and paying for selected options upfront. As with any change, there has been a lot of negative comments, however, some have thought this is might be something customers will embrace. To read more, click the RoadShow article here.

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

FORMULA E: ABT GETS NEW SEAT

NIO 333 has announced that Daniel Abt will fill in for Ma, who is unable to complete the season due to travel restrictions. This is a quick turn around for a driver who was out of a job a few weeks ago. To read more, click the NIO 333 tweet here.

FORMULA E: HANKOOK OFFICIAL TYRE SUPPLIERS

Hankook has outbid Michelin to be the official tyre supplier for Gen 3 of Formula E. This has surprised many, as Michelin has a history with the series and has been a major supporter. To read more,

FOLLOW UP: NORTH EAST ENGLAND TRIALLING E-SCOOTERS FIRST

The first location for trialling e-scooters will be in the North East of the UK, the Tees Valley Mayor announced. Ben Houchen was delighted to be able to provide a location where 100 scooters can test the viability and practicalities of renting e-scooters to the public. To read more, click the BBC News article here.

JUNE 2020 NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURES

The June New Car Registration figures have been released by SMMT and they’re not as bad as feared, however, they were presented with notes of extreme caution and concern. To find out more, click the SMMT article link here.

ELECTRIC CAR SCRAPPAGE SCHEME REJECTED

The Government has apparently ruled out creating an electric car scrappage scheme. The call by the industry to ask for a scrappage scheme, which has become the defacto stance every time there is a bit of trouble in the market, is predictable yet when ‘low-hanging fruit’ is left untouched seems a bit of a risk. Andrew has “views” after his current experience of the car retail trade. To read more, click the Motoring Research article here.

MERCEDES TO SELL FRENCH SMART FACTORY

Mercedes-Benz has announced it is selling off the Hambach factory, where Smarts are built, as part of their cost-cutting and streamlining process. This brought the news that Ineos, the Defender-that-is-not-a-Defender company, is in talks to take over the site, instead of the previously proposed Welsh or Portuguese locations. The recent announcements have caused the chaps to question further the viability of the Ineos project. To read about Mercedes’s decision to close the factory, click here for the Autocar article. To read about the supposed Ineos interest, click another Autocar article here.

BMW LOOKING AT SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE FOR OPTIONS

BMW has announced that it is considering offering options via a subscription model. This will be a departure from selecting and paying for selected options upfront. As with any change, there has been a lot of negative comments, however, some have thought this is might be something customers will embrace. To read more, click the RoadShow article here.

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

FORMULA E: ABT GETS NEW SEAT

NIO 333 has announced that Daniel Abt will fill in for Ma, who is unable to complete the season due to travel restrictions. This is a quick turn around for a driver who was out of a job a few weeks ago. To read more, click the NIO 333 tweet here.

FORMULA E: HANKOOK OFFICIAL TYRE SUPPLIERS

Hankook has outbid Michelin to be the official tyre supplier for Gen 3 of Formula E. This has surprised many, as Michelin has a history with the series and has been a major supporter. To read more, click The Race article here.

FORMULA E: KEY APPOINTMENTS MADE

Formula E has appointed senior marketing and branding executives, to help the series in their efforts for more business opportunities to come out of the series. Personnel from McLaren, the International Cricket Council and Manchester United will try to help them fulfil this aim. To read more, click The Race article here.

DESIGNERS MOOD BOARD: KABAN FINDS A HOME WITH VW

Following quite a tumultuous time, professionally, for Jozef Kaban, he is returning to Volkswagen, where he will head up the car brand. Klaus Bischoff is moving upstairs, to look after the group, taking over from Michael Mauer who once again can focus on Porsche’s look. To read more, click the Forbes article here.

LUNCHTIME READ: WHY WE DRIVE REVIEW

This week’s Lunchtime Read is a review of a book, that has shot to the top of both Alan and Andrew’s ‘books we must buy’ list. Michael Crawford has written about the supposed rush towards technology and autonomous vehicles are making a mistake in not understanding how important cars are to people. To read more, click the Guardian article here.

LIST OF THE WEEK: TOP 25 CAR HACKS (+ EXTRA BONUS HACK)

Forbes has created a list of what they consider the Top 25 Car Hacks. As cars become ever more connected thanks to legislation and companies looking at new ways to make money, risks increase. These risks are made worse when car companies are having to learn about software, attack vectors and realise copying and pasting GitHub code isn’t the greatest recipe for success. To run through the list, click the link here.

Andrew gives us an extra bonus security flaw, thanks to Ian Tabor, who runs Car Hacking Villages at security conferences. Journalists may want to pay attention to this one. To read more, click the link here.

AND FINALLY:

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.