Cowey wowey - 2 April 2024

FOLLOW UP: LUCID RAISES $1B FROM SAUDI ARABIATHe luxury EV maker, Lucid, has received a further $1 billion in investment, from the Saudi Arabian sovereign fund, Public Investment Fund. They also increased the number of vehicles they expect to produce in 2024 compared to 2023, still only 9,000 cars though. If you wish to learn more, click this link to a Reuters article. FOLLOW UP: CANOO BUYS UP ARRIVAL EQUIPMENTThe bones of Arrival are being picked over as the administration team try to recoup as much money as possible by selling the assets off. Canoo has swooped in and bought a lot of equipment at bargain prices. Click this electrive article link to read more. JLR NAME THREE BRAND DIRECTORSJLR has named three new directors to head up the brands in the UK. Alan Nicholson takes the helm of Range Rover. Leonie Raistrick will be in charge of Defender and Discovery. Whilst Santino Pietrosanti will be brand director of Jaguar. Don’t forget to click this link, from AMOnline, to see even the directors are having to follow the dress code. FCA QUESTIONS INSURANCE WRITE-OFF VALUATIONSThe Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has expressed its concern that insurers are not correctly valuing vehicles that have been written off or stolen. Taking from customers both top and bottom, nice. They has stated they will take steps and do have powers to do so if the industry doesn’t sort itself out. Click this AMOnline article link to read more. For the article explaining the issue with Gap Insurance, click this AMOnline link here. CAMPAIGN TO REGULATE THE CAR RETAIL INDUSTRY Due to a “volume” of complaints, mainly around second hand car dealers and repair operations, the calls on the Government to regulate the car retail industry are getting louder. Recommendation includes a certification process, with minimum industry standards met. To read more, click this AMOnline article link here. RESEARCH INTO BARRIERS TO EV TAKE UPResearch, on behalf of Transport for the North, has been published with a list of factors that are putting people off making the switch to electric vehicles. This is not a hit piece or anti-EV, but a list of real concerns from real people. A very interesting read. If you wish to learn more, click this TransportXtra article link here. CONSULTATION OVER HYDROGEN FARM AND PLANT MACHINERYThe Department for Transport has opened a consultation on permitting hydrogen farm and plant machinery on the roads. To learn more, including the link to the consultation, click this Fleet News article link 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 NEW NEW CAR NEWS - Ford ExplorerFollowing an aborted launch, last year, Ford are now putting the electric SUV called Explorer on sale. Compliant batteries are now fitted. This is a handsome vehicle with impressive theoretical specifications and pricing. Click this Autocar article link here for more. Toyota GR YarisA refreshed GR Yaris is about to be offered to the lucky few-ish. Thanks to inflation the price has jumped quite a bit, with tweaks to the engine, suspension and handling. Biggest shock is the dash with is visually challenging, but Toyota is claiming its now better and driver focused. To read more, click this Autocar link here. Mercedes-Benz G-Class The G-Class keep on being updated! This time Mercedes fit touchscreens and a hybrid powertrain. On top of that is a new camera which will allow for a ‘transparent bonnet’ view. You can find out more details and specifications by clicking this Autocar link here. Genesis Neolun conceptApparently previewing the look of the range topping EV, Genesis revealed the Neolun concept. Based on the same platform as the EV9, this is a large SUV which has a fabulous interior and technology fitted. Click this Autocar article link to read more. Genesis Magma performance brandNot content with luxury, Genesis will now also do performance. Welcome to the Magma brand. They will launch a GV60 Magma edition, but others were also revealed. Click this electrive article link here, for more. Nissan revised business planNissan has announced a revised business plan, called the Arc. They will be refreshing a bunch of existing models and bringing some new ones to market. They also discuss aspects of the business they should have, frankly, been doing long before now. The chaps are less than impressed. If you want to learn more, click this Autocar article link here. Ford agency model u-turnFord has announced that it will not be moving to the agency retail model in Europe, as planned, thanks to market conditions changing. Clearly don’t want the financial risk of holding all the stock themselves. You can read more on this story by clicking this Autocar article link here. Lamborghini’s new logoLamborghini is the latest company to reveal a new, flat, logo. This will more easily enable them to light it up from behind and retain detail. Click this Autocar link to chuckle at some of the corporate speak on what the changes mean. LUNCHTIME READ: ASTON MARTIN TOUCH-SCREEN INDUCED ANGER METRICDesigners at Aston Martin have created a metric to log how annoyed they are, or not, at using controls inside the car and especially around touchscreens. You can read this article by clicking the link here from The Drive. LIST OF THE WEEK: THE GREATEST CARS BY PININFARINAThere are 37 slides to try and select just one of Pininfarina’s cars as your favourite. An incredibly difficult task. Do let the chaps know if you agree with them and what you picked. Click here to see the options from Autocar. AND FINALLY: IN PRAISE OF PUSHBUTTONSDrew Smith, from the Looking Out podcast, has written about how the impending changes to physical controls, if a 5-star EuroNCAP rating is wanted, is a actually an opportunity. Will the car industry grasp it? Click this Car Design News article link to read about how physical interaction changes our feelings for a ‘thing’.