The Welsh Government will allocate £20 Million next year for more cycleways. Its Active Travel investment is in addition to £274.7M for Transport for Wales rail and metro services. Public Health Wales said 352 cases of Covid-19 were identified at the DVLA centre at Swansea since September. Sixty-two cases have been identified at the call centre since the beginning of December … [Read more...]
Industry
Disabled drivers challenged at ev charging points
A new survey of electric vehicle (EV) drivers has found issues around accessibility for disabled users. Zap-Map, the UK’s leading EV mapping service, polled 2,200 EV drivers on their experiences of using Britain’s charging network. The survey has been running for four years and is seen as the go-to guide for tracking EV driver behaviour and charging patterns for the electric vehicle … [Read more...]
SUV sales are stalling as hatchbacks & wagons pick up
November saw a double-digit year-on-year drop in European new car registrations as part of the ongoing impact of the coronavirus pandemic. In November, the market registered 1,045,129 new cars – 13% less than for the same period in 2019 and it has recorded the lowest volume since 2014, when just 989,500 units were registered. Year-to-date figures continue to point to a concerning trend, with … [Read more...]
Newslines 18 December
The Nissan LEAF has reached its 10th birthday. During that time 500,000 LEAF owners have covered over 16 Billion Kms and prevented a massive 2.5 million tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere every year, while covering enough kilometres to drive around the earth 400,000 times! Hyundai UK has confirmed pricing and specifications for its comprehensively updated Kona sub-compact SUV, which now … [Read more...]
Newslines 11 December
Drivers were collectively planning about 13m separate trips by car to see family and friends during the coronavirus ‘travel window’ between 23 and 27 December, although a fifth (22%) don’t expect to make any such journeys this year because of the virus, research by RAC Breakdown suggests. With two weeks to go until Christmas, the greatest number of individual trips – some 3.1m – look likely to … [Read more...]
Battery plant is a non-starter for Wales
Wales has lost another massive automotive investment. The £2.6 Billion Britishvolt gigaplant which held the promise of 5,000 construction jobs and 3,000 permanent posts will not now be built at St Athan and the company says it will go to a 230 acres site in Blythe, Northumberland. The decision follows a few months of talks with Welsh Government during which time Britishvolt appointed Italian … [Read more...]
Microchips take a battering
Vehicle makers have had their chips, as industry watchers report a global shortage of some software used by automotive manufactuers. As China recovers from the CV-19 pandemic it is the first to experience the shortage of microchips used for a variety of in-vehicle applications. Components made or assembled in China are not the only units to suffer as many microchips come from Europe and it is … [Read more...]
Motorbikes rebalancing after virus-hit
November’s motorcycle sales figures confirmed a fantastic year on year performance, during a challenging trading period, with dealers embracing the use of click and collect to meet consumer demand through the second lockdown, said Paddy O’Connell, Head of the National Motorcycle Dealers Association. Commenting on the latest MCIA motorcycle sales figures, he said that Powered Two Wheels (PTW) … [Read more...]
Tradelines 9 December
Aston Martin is seeing “phenomenal” demand, with a rebound in China, said the company’s executive chairman and billionaire investor Lawrence Stroll. “Demand right now is phenomenal,” he told the Financial Times’ The Future of the Car digital conference, adding “China really returned first and strongest, and is gangbusters.” GKN Automotive is strengthening its eDrive technology leadership as 13 … [Read more...]
Newslines 8 December
A New ‘C-Series’ trim level is available on Citroen C3, C3 Aircross models. They will be sold online with five-year extended warranty and have special paint and equipment in their lineup, 1.2 petrol engine and five-speed manual transmission from £13,980 when they get to showrooms in Spring 2021. Suzuki has teamed up with Computers 4 Charity, a long established and renowned not-for-profit … [Read more...]