Musical Chairs - 22 November 2022

GOVERNMENT BUDGET STATEMENTThe Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that electric vehicles will, from 2025, be required to pay Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) for the first time. This will be £20 in the first year, if brand new, then rising to £165 per year after that. The extra charge for cars over £40,000 will also come into force at the same time. Fleets will also be impacted, not just via the introduction of VED but at the Benefit in Kind rate is changing. They will rise 1% from 2025 to 2028. Added to this, there are changes to National Insurance contributions, charging costs and workplace charging point installations. These are all protected to some degree, but home charging will not be as the Government is reducing the help it gives households, from April next year. To read more, click this Autocar article. For more context, click the Autocar article from Alex Grant here. THIERRY BOLLORÉ TO LEAVE JLRThierry Bolloré has announced that he will be leaving Jaguar Land Rover, after only a couple of years in charge, due to “personal reasons”. The news is on the back of another round of losses, albeit much less than previous results. To read more, click this link from EVO. For some context around his departure, click this Autocar link to read what Steve Cropley has to say. And, if you fancy it, you can find more context with Peter Campbell and his tweet here. MAZDA EXITING RUSSIAN MARKETMazda has sold their part of the joint-venture operations to Soller, for €1, with a three year buy-back clause in place. They are the latest manufacturer to make such a move. Click this MSN article link, to learn more. DfT ORDERED TO RELEASE FORECAST BEHIND NET ZERO PROJECTIONSThe Information Commissioner has ordered the Department for Transport to release traffic level forecasts, which are behind the Net Zero projections. Professor Greg Marsden of Leeds University, submitted the Freedom of Information request as he states transport professionals and the public need to know what choices are behind the scale of change required to meet targets. Click here to read the TransportXtra article, for more on the story.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 PODCASTWRC: DRIVER MUSICAL CHAIRSNow is the brief window between a season ending and the next starting in Monte Carlo, early next year, for WRC. That means it is silly season, where there is a scramble for drivers and teams to get seats filled. The not so unexpected news came from M-Sport, announcing that they’d parted ways with Craig Breen. Click here to learn more. However, quickly Hyundai stepped in to cheer Craig up by giving him a seat, as well as Esapekka Lappi, who has swapped a part time Toyota deal for a full time one with the i20. Click here to read more on that. That just leaves Toyota to now announce something. They have promoted Takamoto Katsuta to the full WRC roster, sharing the car with Sébastien Ogier. Click here to read more from Gazoo Racing.LUNCHTIME READ: MENTAL HEALTH AND CLASSIC MOTORSFriend of the show, Chris “The Pollitt” Pollitt, has written a very good piece about mental health, his own struggles, how cars fit into this all and associated organisations and communities that can help. We urge you to read this and if you are lucky enough not to be affected but know someone who is, please pass on the link to the article. LIST OF THE WEEK: THE 21 LARGEST CLASSIC AMERICAN CARSJohn Redfern has compiled an excellent list for us to all run through, but particularly Alan as he needs to know all these facts to continue staying in the good ol’ US of A. Do you agree with the choices made? Let us know which you would have blocking your street. Click here to see the Motoring Research article. AND FINALLY: RECYCLE TOY CARS FOR VULNERABLE KIDSA charity scheme, called the ‘Scrap Car Santa’, has been set up with the hope that people will donate their used toy cars that can be passed onto families, nurseries and schools for Christmas. We have until 4 December to get donations in, let’s help out if we can! Click here to learn more from the Motoring Research link.