Horse power - 2 June 2026

OXFORD STILL WON’T GO ELECTRIC FOR MINIBMW is still reluctant to actually convert the Oxford Mini plant to enable their electric cars to be built. Thanks to Brexit, from the 1 January 2027, the UK is expected to be hit by the EU’s Rules of Origin after being delayed for three years. Additionally, production costs are increasing at the UK facility. For more on this, click here to read an electrive article.ASTON MARTIN GET A NEW CCOAndrea Baldi is the new Chief Commercial Officer of Aston Martin Lagonda Limited. He was previously working for Lamborghini. To read more, click this Motor Trader article link here.MILEAGE ALLOWANCE INCREASEDIf you use your car for work and claim on the mileage driven, then there is some good news as the Government has increased the amount for the first 10,000 miles to 55p. This is backdated to the start of April 2026 too. You can read more by clicking this Money Saving Expert article link here.TOYOTA SLOW DOWN ELECTRIC ONLY DEVELOPMENTToyota are pausing the development of their electric saloon, based on the concept LF-ZC, which was revealed at the end of 2023. The vehicle was to herald the introduction of many new technologies to the production of their cars, such as gigacasting, solid-state batteries and production lines where the vehicles moved themselves. For more on this item, click this link to an electrive article.MERCEDES COULD BE BANNED FROM US SALESA proposed US bill, the Motor Vehicle Modernization Act of 2026, if brought into law could ban Mercedes-Benz from building and selling their cars in the US due to the largest shareholder being Chinese and are a foreign adversary Government in the US’s eyes. If you wish to find out more, click this link from The Autopian here.GRIDSERVE NOW SERVE MOTO LYMMGridserve have announced that they have opened an ‘Electric Super Hub’ at the M6 services at Motor Lymm. There are 24 ultra-rapid charging bays, with a potential for 400kW charging. To read more, click this electrive article link here.UK CLASSIC BMW OWNERS REJOICEBMW is trialling its Classic Partner Program, in the UK, at four dealerships. This gives manufacturer-approved support for classic BMWs that includes sales, servicing and body repairs. There is no news on if this will be expanded in the future. For more on this, click this link here to a Classic & Sports Car article.On Thursday 4 June at 20:00 BST, we will be going live with a Q&A on our YouTube channel. We need your help though, send us your automotive and motoring related question you would like to hear us answer. To send one in use our Contact Page, linked to here, and put “Q&A” in the Subject Line so it does not get lost in all the spam, or any other way you can send a question to us.NEW NEW CAR NEWS -Lotus EmiraLotus has announced that they will be ditching the EV Emira and replacing the powertrain of the combustion engine versions with a V6 hybrid from Horse Powertrain. This will give 536bhp and 516lb ft of torque, more details will be released at a later date. Click this EVO article link here to read more.Genesis GV60 MagmaGenesis has revealed more information about the GV60 Magma version, that goes on sale next month. Prices start at £75,915 and that gets you an electric SUV with 641bhp, 583lb ft of torque, resulting in a 0-62mph time of 3.4 seconds and a top speed of 164mph from a car with a range up to 311 miles. Click this EV Powered article link to read more.Ferrari F355 restomodSome don’t like the looks, some don’t see the point of this as the F355 isn’t that old, yet some think both. This will not be cheap as you need to find a F355 before paying roughly £600,000 depending on your exact taste. Click this Hagerty link here for more.LUNCHTIME READ: THE GENIUS OF BRUNO SACCOPeople look at Mercedes-Benz cars from a certain period of time with great fondness, thanks to how well Sacco designed. His philisophy was that Mercedes’s should look good even when they’re old. Click this link from Hagerty, to read more.LIST OF THE WEEK: 120 YEARS OF LANCIAClassic & Sports Car provide the slideshow for you to check out and run through. Do you agree with either of the chaps? Click this link here, then go through the options to see what you would pick.AND FINALLY: HAS HOT WHEELS GOT LEGO LICKEDThanks to an expired patent other companies are trying to get a slice of the ‘click bricks together', market. The Mattel Brick Shop currently has seven models available to build at home. Click this Design News article link here.