Taking A Fence - 13 April 2021

FOLLOW UP: VW TO PAY INTEREST ON DIESELGATE LOANS

Volkswagen will have to pay the interest on a car loans taken out by customers who bought cars affected by defeat devices. The German judge was quite specific on the ruling, which has left no room for appeal. To read more, click the Automotive News article here.

WORLD CAR PERSON OF THE YEAR

The boss of Toyota, Akio Toyoda, has won the World Car Person of the Year Award. In typically humble fashion, he feels it is the result of the hard work of the Toyota Team, rather than him specifically. To read more, click the Motoring Research article here.

VAUXHALL RULED AS BRITISH

A number of people, who were clearly very bored, have complained to the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA), over the claim by Vauxhall that it has been a “British Brand since 1903”. Those with nothing else to do, cited the ownership by GM and now Stellantis, both of whom are foreign companies, to show they were no longer British. The ASA agreed with Vauxhall’s response that it only sells to the United Kingdom. To read more, click the Automotive Management article here.

CITY CENTRIC THINKING

There were two articles this week, that were based on urban dwellers, but are part of a worrying trend in the discussions over the future of transportation and mobility, seemingly ignoring those outside of towns and cities. Added to this, the analysis and ‘research’ by organisations releasing the ‘news’ to the media is flawed and suspect.

The first was about SUVs and how they should be banned, you can read and mock the BBC News article here. Fortunately, the RAC spokesperson talks sense in that piece.

The second is a survey, which we cannot see the questions asked, that shows city dwellers want new ICE vehicles banned from 2030. Again, the organisation this info comes from is one whose findings we have routinely questioned. Added to this, we all know we can get surveys to say whatever we want them to, if you try hard enough. To read that article, click the Automotive News Europe article here.

CAR MUSEUMS AND EVENTS GET GOVERNMENT GRANTS

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Culture Recovery Fund has been successfully applied for by five organisations and events, from the motoring world. Notably the Coventry MotoFest is getting help, along with the Association of Heritage Engineers. To read more, click the Motoring Research article here.

To listen to Alan chat with Dominic Taylor-Lane from the Association of Heritage Engineers, click here for that Special Edition.

FOLLOW UP: VW TO PAY INTEREST ON DIESELGATE LOANS

Volkswagen will have to pay the interest on a car loans taken out by customers who bought cars affected by defeat devices. The German judge was quite specific on the ruling, which has left no room for appeal. To read more, click the Automotive News article here.

WORLD CAR PERSON OF THE YEAR

The boss of Toyota, Akio Toyoda, has won the World Car Person of the Year Award. In typically humble fashion, he feels it is the result of the hard work of the Toyota Team, rather than him specifically. To read more, click the Motoring Research article here.

VAUXHALL RULED AS BRITISH

A number of people, who were clearly very bored, have complained to the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA), over the claim by Vauxhall that it has been a “British Brand since 1903”. Those with nothing else to do, cited the ownership by GM and now Stellantis, both of whom are foreign companies, to show they were no longer British. The ASA agreed with Vauxhall’s response that it only sells to the United Kingdom. To read more, click the Automotive Management article here.

CITY CENTRIC THINKING

There were two articles this week, that were based on urban dwellers, but are part of a worrying trend in the discussions over the future of transportation and mobility, seemingly ignoring those outside of towns and cities. Added to this, the analysis and ‘research’ by organisations releasing the ‘news’ to the media is flawed and suspect.

The first was about SUVs and how they should be banned, you can read and mock the BBC News article here. Fortunately, the RAC spokesperson talks sense in that piece.

The second is a survey, which we cannot see the questions asked, that shows city dwellers want new ICE vehicles banned from 2030. Again, the organisation this info comes from is one whose findings we have routinely questioned. Added to this, we all know we can get surveys to say whatever we want them to, if you try hard enough. To read that article, click the Automotive News Europe article here.

CAR MUSEUMS AND EVENTS GET GOVERNMENT GRANTS

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Culture Recovery Fund has been successfully applied for by five organisations and events, from the motoring world. Notably the Coventry MotoFest is getting help, along with the Association of Heritage Engineers. To read more, click the Motoring Research article here.

To listen to Alan chat with Dominic Taylor-Lane from the Association of Heritage Engineers, click here for that Special Edition.

REGISTRATION OPEN FOR FESTIVAL OF THE UNEXCEPTIONAL

Hagerty has opened registration for those who wish to enter their car for the Concours de l’Ordinaire at this year’s event. To go to the registration page, click the link here. To read a lovely article about the event, click the link here.

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NEW NEW CAR NEWS: CITROËN C5X

This week Citroën revealed their new flagship model, the C5X, as sort of jacked up large fastback/estate car. Their hope is that it crosses the boundaries between saloon, estate and SUV markets. The car will, they claim, be supremely comfortable thanks to their Advanced Comfort® programme. Prices start around £27,00 for ICE, with it jumping to somewhere near £35,000 for the hybrid versions. We hope this succeeds and we hope it sells lots, although we know it will be hard for Citroën. To find out more, click the Autocar article here.

FORMULA E: ROME EPRIX

Thanks to the track itself and the weather, rather than the layout, there was an action packed Rome ePrix. DS Decheetah, Mercedes and Jaguar had the best of the weekend.

To find out what happened in Race 1, click The Race article here.

To find out what happened in Race 2, click The Race article here.

To see how the drivers were judged, click The Race article here.

LUNCHTIME READ: AN INTERPRETIVE GUIDE TO EBAY ADVERTS

This week Jake Belder, writing for Not2Grand, has given us a cheat sheet of the terminology used in eBay (and elsewhere) car adverts. To read this excellent piece, click the link here.

LIST OF THE WEEK: UNLIKELY TRACK DAY CARS

As the UK opens up again, we note that track days are booking up fast, however, you don’t need to take the latest supercar around them to have fun. Autocar has created an alternative list of affordable cars that will bring a smile to your face as you hurtle around a track in them. Click here for the link. Don’t forget to tell us which one you’d like to take!

AND FINALLY: LIBRARY OF CAR BLUEPRINTS

We stumbled across a site that has a huge library of randomly sorted cars and their blueprints. Primarily aimed at those who need the information for 3-D printing, we couldn’t help but get lost looking at the vast variety of vehicles. To also lose hours in your day, click the Drawing Database link here.