Providing clarity - 30 July 2024

NEW ICE ONLY CAR SALE BAN TO BE 2030 IN UKThe Department for Transport has stated that they will ‘provide clarity’ by announcing that new internal combustion petrol and diesel only cars will be banned from sale in 2030. Further details will be issued in ‘due course’. Questions are being raised over vans, which are not mentioned. To read more, click this FleetNews article link here. STELLANTIS PROFITS HALVEDStellantis revealed their first half financial results and they were bruising. A reduction in sales and that they are going through a big model refresh, across their brands, contributed to this. CEO Carlos Tavares has announced he would be reviewing all brands and threatened to close down those that are not profitable. He also stated that the UK’s zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate was damaging the company and unfair it did not take into account that they built such vehicles in the country. Click here to read about the profit issues via this Autocar link. To read more about the UK and how that has proved tricky for the company, click this AMOnline article link. If you wish to consider which brand or brands may go, click this Autopian link as they run through those under the Stellantis group. FORD POSTS SMALLER THAN EXPECT PROFITSFord also announced their financial results for the last quarter, which did not meet the expectation of many. They put the less than hoped for numbers down to the huge expense of repairing vehicles under warranty. On top of that the Ford model e division, for electric vehicles, operating loss was another $1.1 billion. Click this Reuters article for more information on this. Click this Jalopnik article to read more about the warranty costs for Ford. SOME WELSH ROADS WILL REVERT TO 30MPHThe Welsh Government has announced that it has put aside £5 million for some roads to be returned to a 30mph limit where councils think the new law was inappropriately applied. This is following “feedback”. If you wish to read more on this, click the Wales Online article link here. NEW SPANISH CAMERA CATCHES SPEEDERSA new camera system, to be rolled out across Spain, detects if a vehicle bakes heavily before a speed camera and accelerate quickly after. Any vehicles spotted doing so can result in a €600 fine and 6 pints being added to the driver’s license. The cameras will be fitted anything up to one kilometre either side of the traditional speed camera. To read about this, click the article link here from The Mayor. 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 - Kia EV3 Pricing and specifications for the EV3 have now been released by Kia UK. Starting at £32,995 which will have a maximum range of 267 miles, at Air trim level. Prices top out at £43,895 for the GT-Line S (fitted with a heat pump) but that gives you a max range of 322 miles. But for the most range you will want the Air with the 81.4kWh battery pack, resulting in a claim of 347 miles, costing £35,995. The order books open on Thursday 1 August. Click this Autocar article link for more. Cupra Formentor and LeonCupra has updated the Forementor and Leon, bringing the interiors up to date with VW Group stablemates. Additionally there are new plug-in hybrid powertrains, revised chassis and external designs to incorporate the ‘shark-nose’ fronts. The Leon starts at £31,090, with the Forementor starting price being ££33,450. However, if you would prefer the First Edition versions be prepared to pay £45,850 for the Leon and £51,790 for the Forementor. For more information, click this EVO link here. Mitsubishi to join the Honda-Nissan allianceMitsubishi is set to join the Honda-Nissan EV alliance. The expectation is for them to license the new software platform created and possibly fill in model gaps of the other two. If you wish to learn more, click this Autocar article link here. LUNCHTIME READ AND WATCH: THE FESTIVAL OF THE UNEXCEPTIONALWhilst trying to avoid all the arguing and moaning, regarding Hagerty’s Festival of the Unexceptional, we want to enjoy what happened on the day, the cars that were there and the people who’ve shared their experiences with all of us. Firstly, we link to Hagerty’s own post about the Concours de l’Ordinaire and wider event, with an original 1982 Toyota Hilux taking the overall prize, click here to read all about that. There are a huge number of excellent videos on YouTube, about this year’s event, which we have no hope of suggesting to you. But, to wet your appetite, we have three links for you to try before you go searching for other creators offerings. And do go searching for them. Support all who make stuff for our entertainment and enjoyment. Steph from I Drive a Classic - click here. Furious Driving - click here.Jon Coupland Cars - click here. LIST OF THE WEEK: 13 BRITISH CARS FLOORED BY FLAWSAs we are looking back in time, during Points of Interest, we have a selection of cars, thanks to Autocar, that were hampered by very real flaws. There is, you’ll be pleased to hear, no Allegro in sight - we do have a rule about that sort of thing. Click here and see if you agree with Dan’s choice. Don’t forget to let us know your selection.Oh, and for anyone interested in racing online with others, on Forza Motorsport, click this link here to DARL’s (Distinctly Average Racing League) Discord channel. AND FINALLY: IMBERBUS TIME APPROACHINGOn Saturday 17 August the annual ImberBus will run, taking a double decker bus through a closed off military firing range on Salisbury Plain. Running every 15 minutes the buses will cover the route with the ticket fee going to charity. Certainly one for the bus and burnt out wreck aficionados. Click this link from Ian Visits to read more. To read up about Imber, here is the link to the Wikipedia article. DANIEL PUDDICOMBE CONTACT DETAILSTo contact him via Twitter - click this linkTo contact him via LinkedIn - click this link