South African Bodybuilder - 26 May 2020

FOLLOW UP: VW PAYS $10M TO END CEO CASE

Volkswagen has paid nearly $10 million to a German court, to end the case against CEO Herbert Diess, who was accused of manipulating market prices by not revealing the scandal that became #dieselgate sooner. VW reiterate that although they have paid they are adamant that the case was baseless. To read more, click the Automotive News Europe article here.

FOLLOW UP: VW LOSE LANDMARK CIVIL CASE

In a different court, Volkswagen lost a civil case where the claimant was seeking compensation akin to that given in the US, for those who had bought affected vehicles unknowingly. VW will have to pay an amount of money if the owner wants to keep the vehicle or buy it back at a rate adjusted relative to the mileage of the car. To read more, click the Automotive News Europe article here.

FOLLOW UP: MORE ARRESTS OVER GHOSN’S ESCAPE

In the US, two security consultants have been arrested in connection with the plot and execution of Ghosn’s escape from Japan. The father and son duo were part of the team that scoped possible escape routes and brought in the large boxes that were supposedly used to smuggle Ghosn from the country. To read more, click the Jalopnik article here.

FOLLOW UP: KHAN AND GOVERNMENT BOTH TO BLAME FOR CONGESTION CHANGES

The mudslinging and accusations over who was directly at fault for the increase in Congestion Charge fee, the time it covers and bringing in changes sooner has slowed sufficiently for us to find out that part of the conditions of the bailout did stipulate changes had to be made, however exactly how much, when and exactly what time they cover was down to TfL and the Mayor of London. To read more, click the link here.

FOLLOW UP: MCLAREN MORTGAGES ASSETS

McLaren has now agreed on a loan, using some of their assets as collateral. However, due to already having secured funding previously, they cannot use all their assets. To read more, click The Guardian article here.

McLaren also announced, on the day of recording, that it was going to make 1,200 staff redundant. To read more, click the BBC News article here.

SHOWROOMS ALLOWED TO OPEN FROM 1 JUNE

The Government has announced that car showrooms and open markets will be allowed to re-open on 1 June, ahead of the other ‘non-essential’ shops date of 15 June. They have done this now to give sites time to put in place the measures required to be allowed to safely operate once more. To read more, click the Autocar article here.

ASTON MARTIN GETS NEW BOSS

Dr Andy Palmer has left Aston Martin, with immediate effect. Three other board members have also left the company. Mercedes-AMG boss, Tobia Moers, will take over from 1 August 2020. To read more, click the Autocar article here.

NEW EURO NCAP TESTS

As part of the way Euro...

FOLLOW UP: VW PAYS $10M TO END CEO CASE

Volkswagen has paid nearly $10 million to a German court, to end the case against CEO Herbert Diess, who was accused of manipulating market prices by not revealing the scandal that became #dieselgate sooner. VW reiterate that although they have paid they are adamant that the case was baseless. To read more, click the Automotive News Europe article here.

FOLLOW UP: VW LOSE LANDMARK CIVIL CASE

In a different court, Volkswagen lost a civil case where the claimant was seeking compensation akin to that given in the US, for those who had bought affected vehicles unknowingly. VW will have to pay an amount of money if the owner wants to keep the vehicle or buy it back at a rate adjusted relative to the mileage of the car. To read more, click the Automotive News Europe article here.

FOLLOW UP: MORE ARRESTS OVER GHOSN’S ESCAPE

In the US, two security consultants have been arrested in connection with the plot and execution of Ghosn’s escape from Japan. The father and son duo were part of the team that scoped possible escape routes and brought in the large boxes that were supposedly used to smuggle Ghosn from the country. To read more, click the Jalopnik article here.

FOLLOW UP: KHAN AND GOVERNMENT BOTH TO BLAME FOR CONGESTION CHANGES

The mudslinging and accusations over who was directly at fault for the increase in Congestion Charge fee, the time it covers and bringing in changes sooner has slowed sufficiently for us to find out that part of the conditions of the bailout did stipulate changes had to be made, however exactly how much, when and exactly what time they cover was down to TfL and the Mayor of London. To read more, click the link here.

FOLLOW UP: MCLAREN MORTGAGES ASSETS

McLaren has now agreed on a loan, using some of their assets as collateral. However, due to already having secured funding previously, they cannot use all their assets. To read more, click The Guardian article here.

McLaren also announced, on the day of recording, that it was going to make 1,200 staff redundant. To read more, click the BBC News article here.

SHOWROOMS ALLOWED TO OPEN FROM 1 JUNE

The Government has announced that car showrooms and open markets will be allowed to re-open on 1 June, ahead of the other ‘non-essential’ shops date of 15 June. They have done this now to give sites time to put in place the measures required to be allowed to safely operate once more. To read more, click the Autocar article here.

ASTON MARTIN GETS NEW BOSS

Dr Andy Palmer has left Aston Martin, with immediate effect. Three other board members have also left the company. Mercedes-AMG boss, Tobia Moers, will take over from 1 August 2020. To read more, click the Autocar article here.

NEW EURO NCAP TESTS

As part of the way Euro NCAP works, they update their testing regime every two years. In this installment, they will be adding driver assistance technology, a new mobile barrier test and other improvements. To read more, click the Waynes World article here.

JLR SEEKING AID FROM GOVERNMENT

Jaguar Land Rover is in discussions with the Government over financial aid, due to the current crisis. To read more, click the BBC News article here.

GENEVA MOTORSHOW UNLIKELY IN 2021

The Foundation that runs the Geneva Motorshow has turned down a grant from the Canton of Geneva, as it is unable to accept the conditions of the aid. This means that the 2021 show is “unlikely” and in their press release, they advised exhibitors to plan for 2022. Some took this to mean there will never be a show again, however, Alan is a little more optimistic. To read more, click the GIMS release here.

We are pausing our Patreon for the foreseeable future due to the ongoing crisis, however, if you are still able to help someone, we recommend supporting Mission Motorsport’s COVID-19 Response Fund. To find out more click this link here.

FORMULA E: RACE FROM HOME

During Saturday’s race, Daniel Abt, the Audi driver, employed a pro-sim racer to take his place for qualifying and the race. Abt has subsequently explained they thrashed out the idea just before qualifying and disguised the fact it was not him in the main event. Formula E found out and disqualified him, banned him from the rest of the competition and recommended he donate €10,000 to charity, the sim driver is also banned for the rest of the series. Abt claims this was all done in jest and to entertain the fans with some different and interesting content. To watch Abt’s video statement, click the YouTube link here.

Audi, on the day of recording, also announced their punishment which was to ‘suspend’ Abt from driving for them. The expectation is he won’t drive for Audi again. To read more, click The Race article here.

There has been an increasingly poor reaction from real-world drivers and some of the press, who have used straw-man arguments such as “it’s only a game”, “it’s only online”, “it’s just meant to be fun” and the likes. Those are disrespectful, nonsense statements that could easily be tweaked and used about real-word racing. To read some balanced thoughts on the situation, click The Race link here.

LUNCHTIME READ: RECREATING ICONIC IMAGES WITH LEGO

We have selected another from the series of #GetCreativeWithPorsche to feature as our List of the Week. This time, automotive photographer Dominic Fraser takes us through the process of recreating iconic photos with the help of Lego. To read more, and hopefully, get inspired, click the link to the Porsche article here. If you create any shots like this, do remember to tag the podcast in!

LIST OF THE WEEK: ARE THESE THE BEST RALLYING SUPERCARS OF ALL TIME?

SuperUnleaded has created a fab list of rallying supercars. Click the link here, to run through the short list and try to select your favourite!

AND FINALLY: OFF-ROAD BUS WINS RED DOT AWARD

The heavy-duty off-road bus, built by Torus, has won a prestigious Red Dot Design Award. The amazing looking bus is designed to help workers get to inhospitable areas relatively easily. To read more, click the SuperUnleaded article here.

THE ZOOM ZOOMERS

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.