Screaming In Your Car - 7 June 2022

Motoring Podcast - News Show

FOLLOW UP: EU ADVISOR APPROVES PURSUING DEFEAT DEVICE DAMAGES CLAIMS

An EU court advisor has stated that owners of vehicles fitted with defeat devices should be allowed to pursue damages. This is not a final ruling but very rarely do the judges not follow such advice. This case is against Mercedes-Benz. If this is ruled upon, it will be up to individual countries to calculate damages that align with loss and damages caused by such devices. For more, click the Automotive News story here.

NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURES MAY 2022

The weakest May, in three decades outside of 2020’s lockdown situation, meant that there was a 20.6% drop in registrations. Supply chain issues, including Covid lockdowns and the war in Ukraine are all contributing factors. You can learn more by clicking the SMMT link here.

MERCEDES TO RECALL 1M CARS

Mercedes-Benz is recalling nearly one million cars that could have faulty brakes. Owners of some R-Class, ML and GL models, built between 2004 and 2015, are being advised not to drive their cars until they have been inspected. To read more, click here for the Autocar article link.

HMRC NOT KEEPING PACE WITH ENERGY PRICE RISES

HMRC has now brought in their new mileage rates, which company car drivers can claim, however they do not match the rise in energy prices. They, in fact, do not rise at all, unlike petrol and diesel rates. This has caused much frustration from those who may well be out of pocket as prices continue to rise. More can be read on this, just click here for the Autocar article.

FUEL PRICE SURGE IN MAY

Petrol and diesel prices surged in May, rising on average 10p per litre. The war in Ukraine is being blamed for the 17% increase in wholesale costs. For more, click this Autocar article link.

CARZAM CLOSES DIGITAL DOORS

Carzam, one of the new breed of online only car purchasing sites has gone into voluntary receivership. Unlike Cazoo and Cinch, this entity was created by people from within the car retail industry and therefore thought of as one of the better prospects. For more on this story, click the Car Dealership Magazine link here.

MERCEDES DITCHES MOST B-CLASS VARIANTS

Prior to the facelift of the B-Class, later this year, Mercedes-Benz has cut all but two model options from the range. Only the 200 and 200d, a petrol and diesel respectively, versions will still be available to buy. Trim levels are also, well, trimmed down to now only give four options. More can be found out about this by clicking here for the Autocar link.

FORD CUTTING FOCUS PRODUCTION

In a move that likely indicates the demise of the Focus mode according to somel, the Saarlouis plant in Germany will reduce production of the model at the end of August. Ford has been vocal about prioritising more profitable models, therefore this does imply that the Puma is more favoured by management. To read more, click here for the Autocar article. ——————————————————————————-

We are at the MOVE 2022 Conference at ExCel, London. Alan will be moderating a panel titled "All these EV targets, where's the charging infrastructure?" with Katie Black, head of the UK's Office for Zero-Emission Vehicles; Daniel Tibble, Director of Data Science and Analytics of the connected vehicle data company, Wejo; and Hui Zhang, the Vice President for Europe of EV company, NIO.

More details on the conference can be found by clicking this link here.

We have some complimentary tickets, which you can apply for, if you wish to attend the conference yourself. To do so, click this link here and fill out the details required.

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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

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WRC: RALLY ITALY

Sardinia once again proved to be very tough, with an unlikely winner in the form of Tanak, who has shown no hint of his talent nor an appearance of being a leader this season, until now. He drove with purpose and intelligence to bring home a win for himself and Hyundai. Second was Criag Breen in the M-Sport Puma and Sordo rounding out the podium for Hyundai with another impressive drive. Championship leader Rovanperä was fifth, whilst Evans had a rally to forget, or is that a season to forget? For a review of the event, click the DirtFish article here.

For the DirtFish What We Learned article, click this link.

For the Colin Clark Driver Ratings article, click here for the link.

DESIGNERS MOOD BOARD: MELVILLE LEAVES MCLAREN

Rob Melville, McLaren’s design director, has announced he will step down from his role. He is credited with giving McLaren their distinctive style. There is no indication of who will replace him yet. For more, click here for the EVO article.

NEW NEW CAR NEWS:

Hyundai i30N Drive-N -

A very limited run, of just 75 examples coming to our shores, plus improved interior and design cues along with a £1535 premium on the “normal” i30N marks this out. Mechanically it stays the same. For more info, click this EVO link here.

Mercedes-AMG One -

The much anticipated mega Mercedes-AMG hypercar has now been revealed. Power comes from a combination of the F1 engine, a V6, being mated to four electric motors, to produce 1049bhp. Only 275 examples are being built, with them all snapped up already at £2.2 million. To read more about this car, click the Autocar link here.

LUNCHTIME READ: MERCEDES-AMG ONE OR NOTHING

Michael Banovsky gives us his take on the Mercedes-AMG, well that and Mercedes the company. As ever, very enjoyable read, click here for the Speedster News article.

LIST OF THE WEEK: 10 CARS THAT MASTERED AERODYNAMICS

Hagerty has a list, thanks to Antony Ingram, of some of the most aero efficient vehicles sold, through history. Run through the list, and see if you would pick the same as Andrew. Don’t forget to tell the podcast Twitter account your choice! Click here for the list’s link.

AND FINALLY: US CAR SO BAD A DICTATOR SAID NO

Saddam Hussein was so disappointed by the quality of specially-built 1981 Chevrolet Malibus, that he cancelled the second part of the deal with GM, meaning 12,500 cars did not end up in Iraq. How bad was US car quality at that time? Shockingly so, it would appear. Click here for The Drive article explaining how this all happened.