Car makers, component suppliers and the recycling industry across Europe have criticised proposed new legislation on dismantling.
A planned EU law would require the complete recycling of vehicles down to the smallest component, such as a circuit board, but the opponents say this is unrealistic, impractical and would generate more carbon emissions than would be saved by ethically disposing of the parts.
Almost half of motorists (46%) could be in the market for a used car following substantial recent price falls, according to new research, by Startline Motor Finance.
When told that used car prices have fallen by an average of almost 20% in the last year, 21% said that it would make them a lot more likely to buy and 25% a little, shows March’s Startline Used Car Tracker.
The crumbling values of electric cars pushed rental company Hertz to a loss last quarter, caused the collapse of UK EV provider Onto in September and dented the 2023 bottom line of one Europe’s largest leasing companies after it made a loss on EV disposals, reports Autocar.
Stable used car values have become critical to new car sales in that they determine finance costs, so the continued weakness in EV prices is also hurting car companies as they look to increase the percentage of zero-emission cars they sell.
Four months after launching production of combustion variants of the Mini Countryman, the electric version is now being built at the BMW plant in Leipzig, eastern Germany as well.
Effectively, it replaces the now axed BMW i3, and the plant is making four models, three drive types and two brands on a single production line assembling the BMW 1 and 2 Series models including a PHEV.
