Ouija boards - 29 July 2025

FOLLOW UP: ELECTRIC CAR GRANT FALLOUT CONTINUESAs more details are revealed and more people begin to understand all of the ramifications of the UK Government’s Electric Car Grant. Firstly, the list of car eligible for the two tiers of payments will be confirmed on 11 August 2025. The scheme went live on 16 July 2025. Click here to read an Autocar article on this. Secondly, car companies can self-register cars for the scheme and as the rules include Fleet registrations, this opens up the ability for abuse. Whilst these cars contributed to the Zero Emission Vehicle mandate, now tax payer’s money will be used to support car companies to be compliant. Click this link here to read more on that from Autocar. There are some suggesting that the overall scheme will have little affect, as was discussed on the show last week. Indicata, a motoring related data firm, has calculated that the grant will affect only 5.8% or 14.4% of new car registrations, dependent on which tier is sought. They also have used information from Italy’s attempt as a similar scheme that made a small impact. On top of all that they highlight the danger of dramatic depreciation for newly bought vehicles and those outside of the eligibility of the scheme. Click this link to read more from a Motor Trader article. Some manufacturers are forging ahead and offering discounts on their cars at the same rate as the lower tier of the grant. The likes of Alfa Romeo, GWM, Hyundai, Leapmotor, MG and Volvo have already made their move. Click this AutoTrader article for more.Another issued raised was that the scheme ignores the used market. The Independent Motor Dealers Association (IMDA) has called for a £1000 grant for used EVs. Click this Motor Trader article link here to read more. FOLLOW UP: EMPLOYEE CAR OWNERSHIP SCHEMES IN CROSSHAIRSThe UK Government first brought up, what it felt, was the unfair practice of Employee Car Ownership Schemes back in the autumn. This is where a member of staff gets a new car, for a short period of time and then moves onto a new car, whilst paying a much reduced contribution that anyone outside of the scheme would. Proposed legislation will mean anyone taking advantage of such a scheme will be taxed as though that was a company car. To read more, click this Motor Trader article link here. VW PROFIT DROPS 29% YEAR ON YEARVW financial results for the first half of 2025 show a drop of 29%, with a big hit in Q2 thanks to the US tariffs. Both the profit and revenue was down on market expectations. If you want to find out more, click this Yahoo! Finance article link here. GEELY GROUP WELCOMES BACK FAMILIAR FACESLotus Group has appointed Jim Rowan, ex-CEO of Volvo, to their board. You can read more about that by clicking this Consumer Warranty Solutions page here. Additionally, Thomas Ingenlath, ex-CEO of Polestar, is now a design advisor for the entire Geely Group. If you wish to learn more, click this Electric Vehicles article link here. JLR PUSHES BACK LAUNCH OF ELECTRIC RANGE ROVERJLR is reported to have pushed back the launch of the electric Range Rover, for further development and due to a lack of demand from consumers. Suggestions are this will impact other models lined up for launch. JLR issued a statement that stated “we will launch our new models at the right time”. To read further about this, click here for an Autocar article 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 PODCAST NEW NEW CAR NEWS - Chery Tiggo 7The second of two SUVs Chery is bringing to the UK, is the Tiggo 7. Aimed at the likes of the MG HS and Dacia Bigster, this will come with both a petrol and plug-in hybrid powertrain options. With the PHEV, the maximum electric only range is 56 miles. Prices are expected to start from £24,995 for the petrol and £29,995 for the PHEV. Both those prices undercut competition. You can read more, including the trim levels, by clicking this link from Autocar. Subaru UnchartedSubaru has revealed the latest tie-in with Toyota, the Uncharted. This is based on the C-HR+ with off-road abilities. Additionally, Subaru are clear to state they have re-engineered the steering and suspension setups to enable a “sporty and nimble character”. Pricing hasn’t been confirmed but is expected to start at under £40,000. Click this Autocar link for more. Kia EV4 FastbackKia has revealed more details, including pricing, for the EV4 Fastback, which is expected in the UK from the autumn. Starting at £40,895, the lowest trim level is the GT Line, rising up to GT-Line S and a £45, 385 price tag. Click this EV Powered article link to learn more about what you can get for the money. DESIGNERS MOOD BOARD: GILLES VIDAL LEAVES RENAULTGilles Vidal is leaving Renault, who he joined in from Peugeot in 2020, to become head of design for Stellantis Europe. He has overseen a resurgance in Renault’s design and is the second big loss for the company following the departure of Luca de Meo recently. If you want to read more, click this link to an Autocar article. DESIGNERS MOOD BOARD: JEREMY OFFER LEAVES VOLVOJeremy Offer is resigning from Volvo thanks to the newly implemented ban on working from home. Offer was commuting between the UK, where his family is based, and Sweden. Nick Gronenthal, who leads automotive design for Volvo, is the interim design chief. You can read more by clicking this Autocar article link here. LUNCHTIME WATCH: FESTIVAL OF THE UNEXCEPTIONAL 2025Festival of the Unexceptional took place last weekend and we could not attend so are having to live vicariously through other people’s content. This week we recommend two videos to watch. The first is Steph, from I Drive a Classic channel, who takes us around the show to see what caught her eye. Click here to see that. The second is Jon Coupland’s video, which you can see by clicking here. LIST OF THE WEEK: HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE FOTUContinuing on a theme, the list of the week is a selection of the cars attending the Festival of the Unexceptional 2025, that caught the eye of Sam Phillips of Autocar. Do you agree with the choices? Click here to see what options there are. AND FINALLY: MODEL MANLast week the sad news came that Shunsaku Tamiya had died. He is created with helping to spread the love of finely detailed model cars, amongst other things, across the globe. Whilst now Tamiya are a byword for radio controlled models, they started in a much more humble beginning. <a...