Aston Martin Lagonda has started car building at its new multi-million pound St Athan plant. They are pre-production models of the carmaker’s first SUV, the Aston Martin DBX, and have been assembled by the mostly locally recruited workforce and will be used by the luxury brand for engineering, testing and special projects. The 90-acre, former Ministry of Defence site at St Athan in Wales was … [Read more...]
Green drive threatens to push makers into the red
Alternatively fuelled vehicles, pure electric, petrol-electric hybrids and plug-in hybrids saw a 21% increase in UK new car sales last year to 141,270 units but only 15,474 of those vehicles were pure electric models, writes David Miles. So far this year only around 2,000 battery electric cars were sold in the first five months of the year. Still small steps might lead to big strides as … [Read more...]
Future on wheels is not what you think
From driving to the nearest shop to get some essentials, commuting to work by train or flying to your dream holiday destination, getting around the world has never been easier in 2019. In the last 200 years especially, transport has completely transformed. With the first steam railway built in 1804, the first credited automobile created by Karl Benz in Germany in 1885-1886, to the first powered … [Read more...]
Newslines 7 June
JLR and BMW will jointly develop their future electric motors and powertrains. The German company will design them and the UK business will build them for both companies after reports BMW will also supply new V8 engines to JLR models for certain markets. Fiat Chrysler has withdrawn a $35 billion merger offer for France's Renault, blaming a breakdown in discussions on the French Government … [Read more...]
Tradelines 5 June
The next generation Land Rover Defender will be unveiled at the Frankfurt motor show in early September. It is one of the car makers still pledged to the German motor show, despite 22 other makers missing it as they revisit their sales and marketing strategies, but the new Ford Puma SUV is expected to be their highlight at the event. The planned Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Renault Group … [Read more...]
Newslines 21 May
Toyota Yaris is the UK’s most reliable second-hand purchase, with BMW 1 Series the least reliable, reports What Car? More than 18,000 owners rated their vehicles, aged between four and 10 years and Japanese models dominated reliability rankings although a third of all owners experienced a fault, usually suspension issues. The UK’s four big supermarkets have raised the price of petrol almost … [Read more...]
Firms and drivers must be prepared for EU exit
Chevin Fleet Solutions is urging fleet managers to check their fleet management software capabilities to make sure that it can cope with additional paperwork and compliance demands ahead of EU Exit decisions. Fleet Managers need to be sure that their drivers have the right paperwork in place before travelling into Europe and fleet management software readily assists with this. The tools … [Read more...]
New car sales’ steep fall in Wales
New car sales have fallen the steepest in Wales during April, says the SMMT. They dipped over 10% compared to the same month last year to 5,379 new models registered and in Britain as a whole sales slipped just under 4% with 160,606 registrations, and Wales's best sellers in April were: Fiesta, Focus, Kuga, Qashqai, Ecosport, Polo, A-Class, Duster, GrandlandX, Golf and Tiguan. Following … [Read more...]
UK car production plunges
Car production in the UK fell by an annual 14.4% to 126,195 cars in March, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. Exports were down by 13.4 % and these account for 80% of production. The SMMT said analysis it had commissioned predicted output would fall this year to 1.36 million units from 1.52 million in 2018, assuming there’s a transition deal with the EU. If … [Read more...]
New Peugeot 208 deposits accepted
Customers can reserve the all-new Peugeot 208 GT Line with a £500 deposit. Reservations have also opened on the GT Line PureTech petrol, BlueHDi diesel and 100% electric e-208, which comes with a 50kWh battery and 100kW motor, capable of a zero-emissions range of up to 211 miles from a full charge. … [Read more...]