Perfect Curve - 5 January 2021

FOLLOW UP: VW DID BREAK LAW ACCORDING TO ECJ

The European Court of Justice has ruled that Volkswagen Group, by fitting the defeat device, did break the law. The claim that it was to protect the engine was rejected by the court. This, combined with a separate ruling allowing consumers to sue VW in the country they bought the car rather than Germany, has potentially opened up more financial pain for the company. To read more, click the Car Dealer article here.

FOLLOW UP: MERCEDES UNDER PRESSURE AFTER ECJ VW RULING

You will have seen or heard the adverts from a legal firm telling you that as an owner of a Mercedes you *may be eligible for compensation because Mercedes-Benz are accused of fitting a defeat device to their engines. The Volkswagen ruling in the European Court of Justice has emboldened those chasing compensation. To read more, click the Car Dealer link here.

FOLLOW UP: GHOSN ASKS WHY JAPANESE WON’T VISIT LEBANON

French investigators are intending to meet with Carlos Ghosn, in Lebanon, over open cases, which has prompted his to ask why Japanese investigators are not doing likewise. In Ghosn’s opinion this emphasises how false the charges are against him. To read more, click The Mainichi article here.

FOLLOW UP: MAZDA NOW SELLING PARTS FOR RX-7S

Mazda has confirmed that it will be selling service parts for Gen 2 and 3 RX-7s as there is sufficient demand from owners. This will allow cars to be maintained with genuine parts. To read more, click the Mazda press release here.

WHAT IS ALLOWED IN NEW ENGLISH NATIONAL LOCKDOWN

As this latest national lockdown comes into force, with more nuanced rules than the first one, questions have arisen from drivers over what is and is not allowed. Autocar has compiled an excellent article to take you through the more common questions about what you can do. To read more, click the link here.

DVLA WARNS OF INCREASED NUMBERS OF SCAMS

The DVLA has warned the public there has been a big jump in the number of attempts to scam motorists via email, text and phone calls. We are all urged to be on our guard and know that they would never ask for sensitive information to be given or confirmed via the phone or similar. To read more, click the Motoring Research article here.

FCA-PSA MERGER APPROVED BY SHAREHOLDERS

The shareholders of both the PSA and FCA groups have given the final green light to the merger of the companies, meaning that Stellantis will become a thing. Expect heavy use of platform and technology sharing as they take advantage of economies of even greater scale. To read...

FOLLOW UP: VW DID BREAK LAW ACCORDING TO ECJ

The European Court of Justice has ruled that Volkswagen Group, by fitting the defeat device, did break the law. The claim that it was to protect the engine was rejected by the court. This, combined with a separate ruling allowing consumers to sue VW in the country they bought the car rather than Germany, has potentially opened up more financial pain for the company. To read more, click the Car Dealer article here.

FOLLOW UP: MERCEDES UNDER PRESSURE AFTER ECJ VW RULING

You will have seen or heard the adverts from a legal firm telling you that as an owner of a Mercedes you *may be eligible for compensation because Mercedes-Benz are accused of fitting a defeat device to their engines. The Volkswagen ruling in the European Court of Justice has emboldened those chasing compensation. To read more, click the Car Dealer link here.

FOLLOW UP: GHOSN ASKS WHY JAPANESE WON’T VISIT LEBANON

French investigators are intending to meet with Carlos Ghosn, in Lebanon, over open cases, which has prompted his to ask why Japanese investigators are not doing likewise. In Ghosn’s opinion this emphasises how false the charges are against him. To read more, click The Mainichi article here.

FOLLOW UP: MAZDA NOW SELLING PARTS FOR RX-7S

Mazda has confirmed that it will be selling service parts for Gen 2 and 3 RX-7s as there is sufficient demand from owners. This will allow cars to be maintained with genuine parts. To read more, click the Mazda press release here.

WHAT IS ALLOWED IN NEW ENGLISH NATIONAL LOCKDOWN

As this latest national lockdown comes into force, with more nuanced rules than the first one, questions have arisen from drivers over what is and is not allowed. Autocar has compiled an excellent article to take you through the more common questions about what you can do. To read more, click the link here.

DVLA WARNS OF INCREASED NUMBERS OF SCAMS

The DVLA has warned the public there has been a big jump in the number of attempts to scam motorists via email, text and phone calls. We are all urged to be on our guard and know that they would never ask for sensitive information to be given or confirmed via the phone or similar. To read more, click the Motoring Research article here.

FCA-PSA MERGER APPROVED BY SHAREHOLDERS

The shareholders of both the PSA and FCA groups have given the final green light to the merger of the companies, meaning that Stellantis will become a thing. Expect heavy use of platform and technology sharing as they take advantage of economies of even greater scale. To read more, click the Autocar article here.

TOYOTA TAKE FULL OWNERSHIP OF KOLIN PLANT

Related to the last item, the Toyota Kolin plant was used to build the Aygo, C1 and 108 sister cars, however, Toyota has now taken full ownership of the site which will continue to build this generation of the A-segment cars, but add capacity for the latest Yaris. To read more, click the Toyota press release here.

BMW MAY OR MAY NOT NAME AND SHAME OWNERS

Just before Christmas, the news was released that BMW would alert drivers of cars out of warranty that they could buy a warranty package, via personalised billboard messages. This caused a bit of consternation and has since been clarified that they won’t be highlighting individual cars, more making a general statement when special billboards spot a car outside of warranty that the product is available. Whilst we wait to see what will really happen, you can read more, by clicking the Motoring Research article here.

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FORMULA E: SEASON OPENING CHILE IS POSTPONED

Due to travel restrictions, following the new strain of the coronavirus being found in the UK, the season-opening CHile event has been postponed. No confirmation of when this will now take place can be given at this time. To read more, click The Race article here.

More positive Formula E news is that those taking part in ongoing talks of a race being held in Japan are more hopeful in this resulting in Yokahama being the host. Plenty of hurdles are still to be cleared, however, this would be an excellent addition to the calendar. To read more, click The Race article here.

WRC: MONTE CARLO RALLY DECISION THIS WEEK

Due to the ever-changing covid picture, a decision will be taken this Thursday as to whether the Monte Carlo Rally can take place and if so, with what restrictions. To read more, click the DirtFish article here.

LUNCHTIME WATCH (WHEN IT COMES OUT): SALVAGE HUNTERS CLASSIC CARS IS BACK

This week sees the return of the Salvage Hunters Classic Cars, in their latest series. The show will be on Quest TV, 21:00 each Wednesday for five weeks starting on 6th January 2021. There will also be a Special Edition, where Alan chats with TV’s Paul Cowland about the show.

LIST OF THE WEEK: THE 25 MOST POINTLESS CARS TO IMPORT IN 2021

Jalopnik has compiled a list of cars they feel are not worth importing from 1996, which have just been made available thanks to the US’s 25-year rule on car imports. There are some cars that the chaps wouldn’t even import to the UK let alone the US, in the list. To view what is possible, click the link here.

AND FINALLY: WHICH CAR MAKES YOU MORE ATTRACTIVE

Registration plate specialists, Click4Reg, commissioned research into which cars Tinder users find more attractive when included in a picture. The results may surprise you, particularly the cars that don’t work. We need to thank the Newspress Business Journalist of the Year 2020 and Newspress Automotive Technology Writer of the Year 2020, Alex Grant for bringing this to our attention. To read more, click the article link here.