Awfully appealing - 1 October 2024

Motoring Podcast - News Show

FOLLOW UP: GHOSN ORDERED TO RETURN YATCH

Carlos Ghosn has lost his appeal over the ruling that he must return his luxury yacht and repay approximately $32 million, to Nissan. This could prove tricky as he is in Lebanon and due to geopolitical issues, it may be tricky to send someone to go pick it up. To learn more, click this article link from The Autopian.

JLR INVESTS £500M IN HALEWOOD PLANT

In order to build hybrid vehicles and prepare for their electric future, JLR are updating the Halewood plant to the tune of £500 million. They will also be able to build combustion engined vehicles at the same facility. Click this article link to The Guardian.

NISSAN BUYS MORE SHARES BACK FROM RENAULT

Nissan is buying another 5% of shares back from Renault as the Rebel Alliance continues to dissolve. Estimated to be worth around $551 million which will help Renault’s finances. If you wish to learn more, click this article link from Automotive News Europe.

UK GOVERNMENT HAS NO PLANS FOR PAY-PER-MILE CHARGE YET

In a surprise move, the UK Government has confirmed that it will not be announcing a pay-per-mile charging scheme, which many expected as a replacement for fuel duty and VED. That is not to say it isn’t going to happen at some stage. Click here to read more from Top Gear.

KIA DEALER PORTAL VULNERABILITY FOUND

Security researchers found a flaw in the Kia dealer portal which allowed them to take remote control of vehicles, find their location, examine details of customers and more using only the license plate information. This was reported to Kia who have fixed the issue and confirm no one maliciously accessed their systems via this method. To read more on this, click here for the Bleeping Computer article.

LUXURY VEHICLES STILL GETTING TO RUSSIA

Sky News has followed up an earlier investigation and found that luxury vehicles, including those from British manufacturers, are finding their way to Russian customers via other countries. We are not sure what the car brands can do to prevent this, as it is not from them directly. If you want to see what is going on, click this link here to read more.

POLESTAR ANNOUNCE INFOSYS AS SOFTWARE PARTNER

Polestar is going to partner up with Infosys, the Indian IT giant, for their infotainment, driver assistance and connected services software. We REALLY hope Polestar has the people to check and tripple check the software that is produced. We are not confident this will be a good move. You can read more by clicking this article link from The Register.

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NEW NEW CAR NEWS -

Leapmotor T03

Leapmotor, the joint venture between Stellantis and Leapmotor International, will start selling their T03 in Europe soon. An electric city car, with a combined WLTP range up to 165 miles but costing around £16,000, will be an attractive proposition to a select number of buyers. To learn more about the car, click this Autocar link here.

Kia OTA update for the EV9

Kia has announced that there will be an over-the-air (OTA) update for the EV9, which will allow the driver to switch off the notification of the speed limit warning system, via a steering wheel button press. Click this Twitter link to read more.

DESIGNERS MOOD BOARD: BRUNO SACCO PASSES AWAY

Over the weekend, the motoring world received the sad news that legendary Mercedes-Benz designer Bruno Sacco had passed away. What a legacy, designing the cars that were peak Merc. Click this Top Gear article link to read about him and his work.

LUNCHTIME READ: EXPERIMENTAL CREATIVITY

Hagerty brings us the story behind the Californian design studio for Nissan. Click this link here, for a mammoth read and fascinating retelling of what happened and why.

LIST OF THE WEEK: THE 39 BEST CAR MOVIES EVER MADE

For once, it is a movie buff who created this list, therefore it is about good movies with cars, and not as we might all have done listed good movies only about cars. Do you agree with the choices made? What is your number one from the list? Do let us know. Click here to check out your options.

AND FINALLY: IT IS CHILD’S PLAY FOR ONE COMPANY

Autocar chat to the head of design at Hot Wheels to find out what it takes to make toy cars that grab the attention and imagination. You can read about it by clicking this link here.