Industry

German rival to Welsh luxury SUV

22 November 2019

The new Welsh-made Aston Martin DBX will have another rival for sales in 2020 after Mercedes announced a luxury Maybach version of its big SUV at the same Chinese show where the St Athan model was publically revealed on tuesday. The German car maker, who supplies the DBX 4.0V8 petrol engine, will use a hybrid version in its newcomer as well and aims to sell … [Read more...]

Dealers optimistic of road-to-zero strategy working

22 November 2019

A new survey of UK car dealers by Close Brothers Motor Finance has found that a third (34%) believe that half of cars will be ultra-low emission by 2030, meaning the Government’s ‘Road to Zero’ strategy will be successful. A quarter (25%) aren’t sure, whilst 41% believe the 2030 deadline won’t be hit.The finding comes amid a raft of positive news in 2019 … [Read more...]

Aston Martin St Athan officially opens next month

20 November 2019

Wales newest car plant for Aston Martin will be officially opened on friday 6 December. This week it hosted the European exclusive unveiling of the DBX SUV which goes into production at St Athan and Economy Minister Ken Skates said, “Seeing the company deliver its first vehicle out of Wales is a very proud moment for Aston Martin and for Wales. In 2016 … [Read more...]

Aston Martin DBX unveiled in Welsh assembly plant

20 November 2019

The first Aston Martin DBX five-seat SUV will roll off new production lines in South Wales in Spring 2020, writes Robin Roberts. Breaking new ground for the 106-year-old luxury British marque, the DBX was unveiled simultaneously in the Beijing, China motor show and in the £250M St Athan, Vale of Glamorgan assembly plant today. The … [Read more...]

Petrol & diesel popularity dominates buying plans

19 November 2019

Petrol and diesel cars will dominate vehicle sales in the foreseeable future, according to a poll for information agency Somo. Despite the environment being the biggest driver for switching to an electric vehicle, new research by digital transformation agency, Somo, has identified that the interest in petrol vehicles is not declining. In fact, … [Read more...]

Drivers sceptical of “smart cars”

18 November 2019

Britain’s motorists are highly sceptical over the future use of driverless cars according to comparethemarket.com. In its Road Ahead research series looking at the future of driving, it was found that only 55% of people expect driverless cars to be in use in the next ten years. According to a survey of over 2,000 British motorists, 80% are worried about … [Read more...]

Fuel research saves 1,400tonnes in tests

15 November 2019

Britain’s first research project to assess the viability of biomethane in heavy goods vehicles has saved over 1,400 tonnes of well-to-wheel CO2e emissions compared to diesel in a two-year trial. The Dedicated to Gas project deployed 20 Euro VI vehicles running on biomethane to the three fleet operators, in a combination of compressed natural gas (CNG) and … [Read more...]

Newslines 15 November

15 November 2019

The new Mazda CX30 from £22,895 is the safest family car you can buy, according to the latest Euro NCAP crash tests. It produced a near perfect 99% score for adult occupant protection, slightly better than the MB GLB and Ford Explorer and a star above the new Vauxhall Corsa. Land Rover puts fans inside the New Defender on the set of No Time To Die, the … [Read more...]

Falling out of PHEV or bridging a gap

13 November 2019

The issues facing the British car market with the decline in Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle sales in the UK this year has been outlined to media by Conor Twomey, General Manager Internal Communications and Government Affairs for Mitsubishi Motors in the UK. Mitsubishi with their Outlander PHEV more or less pioneered the launch of the PHEV market quickly … [Read more...]

Tradelines 13 November