From the Chair: January 2022
Last month, Daimler Benz announced that it had received authorisation from the federal traffic office to equip its car with level-three automation, effectively hands-free driving. The first appearance of this will be on the new S Class Mercedes due for launch during...
From the Chair: December 2021
With the AGM behind us, From the Chair comes from a new Chairman this month. Many thanks to Robin Roberts for his many years of hard work for the Group as chairman and deputy chairman. The Government’s stated intention to ban the internal combustion engine from...
Carlos Ghosn and the ‘Collision Course’ factors that got him locked up
A recently published book explores the multiple factors at play in the downfall of one of the auto industry’s celebrated executives, Carlos Ghosn. The story of Carlos Ghosn’s time as the head of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, while leading both companies – and his...
Driving on the M96? I don’t think so
The shortest motorway in the UK is in the Cotswolds but you have got special permission to drive on it and it’s only 500 yards long! Not many people have heard of the M96 which is a four lane motorway and which has more crashes on it than all the other motorways put...
New Car Sales October 2021
Volkswagen dominated UK sales in October and scooped 8.52% of sales, writes Robin Roberts. BMW, Kia, Mercedes-Benz and Audi all out performed the rest and left Ford and Vauxhall, traditional leaders, trailing behind. Regionally, Wales bucked the trend and grew new car...
From the Chair: November 2021
If it has struck you that there seem to be more and more Teslas about, it is not an illusion. According to analysts Jato Dynamics, in September the Tesla Model 3 was Europe’s best-selling car, with 24,571 cars sold. In second place was the Renault Clio at 18,268 and...
From the Chair: October 2021
The Western Group of Motoring Writers recently held its first face-to-face meeting for over a year courtesy of Honda UK and to whom we are very grateful. By the way, there was no truth in the rumour that Honda PR Emma Butler used the meeting as a rehearsal for...
WOMEN ON THE MOVE AGAINST CANCER SINCE 1979
Women On The Move Against Cancer – better known as WOMAC – is an organisation founded with one aim in mind, to donate to charities that support people who are suffering with the big C – cancer – one of the scariest words in the English language. Since 1979, WOMAC has...
From the Chair: September 2021
Electric cars are slowly improving, a development that some members of the WG recently were able to ascertain for themselves driving Honda’s new battery entry to the European market, the E. But while their manufacturers energetically promote them, electric cars remain...
Goodbye to the Honda Civic, your home grown car
Looking back four years Honda was enjoying a purple patch, building cars in Swindon and employing 4,000 people. Who would have thought that come 2022 the factory would have been shut and all the jobs would have gone. So say goodbye to the Honda Civic, your home...
From the Chair: July 2021
While the pandemic with its daily statistics and intermittent lockdowns has naturally dominated the news for a year-and-a-half, other matters of interest, not to say concern, have often been overlooked. A case in point is the rise and rise of urban clean air zones,...From the chair June 2021
Slowly, very slowly, things are getting back to normal for motoring journalists, prs, the industry and dealers but no-one knows what that “new normal” will be or how it will work out and that is potentially a sticking point for everyone which will not take...
Robert Opron: Designer of the DS and the Citroën Maserati
Robert Opron whose memorable designs included the Citroën Maserati and the Alfa Romeo SZ has died aged 89. Born in Amiens, he was unable to complete his ambition to become an architect because of a bout of tuberculosis which confined him in a sanatorium for two years....
From the Chair: April 2021
The recent Evergreen affair underlines just how much the motor industry is at the mercy of supply chains over which it has little control. The Suez Canal bottleneck will probably result in some shipments arriving three-to four-weeks late and for car manufacturers it...
Electric Future?
JLR figured large in the UK business pages last month with the announcement that from 2025 the company would build only EVs. The man delivering this news was JLR’s new CEO Thierry Bolloré, who until October 2019 was CEO at Renault, no stranger to electric cars. Also...Our Social Wall from Members
The number of vehicles on our roads reached a record 41.4 million in 2023, according to the latest SMMT figures
https://automotiveblog.co.uk/2024/04/record-number-of-vehicles-on-uk-roads/
Awesome classics on display at the Drive It Day event (Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs) at my local pub, in aid of the NSPCC’s Childline
Ferrari 412GT sells at auction
My official souvenir picture from this week's Mazda Epic Drive in Morocco, courtesy of photographer Dave Smith
My official souvenir picture from this week's Mazda Epic Drive in Morocco, courtesy of photographer Dave Smith
Hispano Suiza teases design of new Carmen Sagrera #hypercar https://tinyurl.com/yrfek7cn #Spain #supercar #luxury @HispanoSuizaCar
The new CX-80 - the biggest ever #Mazda to be brought to the UK by the company - will arrive in the autumn https://tinyurl.com/yrfek7cn
#Hyundai reveals pricing & specs of new Santa Fe https://tinyurl.com/yrfek7cn @Hyundai_UK
