General Motors takes stake in British car tracking startup as it looks to driverless future February 12, 2019 US car giant General Motors (GM) is taking a stake in a British technology startup as it prepares for a driverless future. The deal, which values Chester-based Wejo at $275m (£213m), includes a $25m cash injection into the connected cars firm. Read more: General Motors cuts costs with 8,000 redundancies It also gives Wejo access [...]
Breakdown group AA boosts full-year profit expectations February 12, 2019 Breakdown cover group AA today raised expectations for its full-year profit after retaining or extending its key business contracts. In a trading update AA said it expects its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) would be not less than £340m, having previously said it expected profit to be in the range of £335m [...]
Chris Grayling says it will be the EU’s fault if Britain leaves without a deal on 29 March February 5, 2019 Transport secretary Chris Grayling has said the blame will lie with Brussels if the UK crashes out of the EU without a deal on 29 March. The Cabinet minister said the UK government had done all it could to secure an agreement and that it would be down to the EU's failure to compromise me if a [...]
Full speed ahead for motor insurers on the legal road to self-driving cars January 21, 2019 In the last twelve months alone, the government has spoken loudly about the direction in which it wants advances in self-driving cars to go. And yet, though these developments are certainly innovative, and exciting, speed bumps remain – especially for the motor insurance industry – on the road to autonomous vehicles becoming an everyday reality. [...]
Off road: Is the car industry in reverse? January 14, 2019 The automotive industry faces recession and decline. Driverless cars are on the horizon, but has the moment for motors already passed? The first Model T Ford rolled off the production line in 1908. Available in “any colour… so long as it is black”, in the words of magnate Henry Ford, the car marked a breakthrough [...]
Chinese ride-hailing app Didi Chuxing expands into fintech as driver regulation rears its head January 2, 2019 Chinese ride-hailing app Didi Chuxing has expanded into financial services, as fresh domestic regulation threatened to put a dampener on its driver numbers. The firm has today launched a suite of financial products, including crowdfunded health insurance, wealth management and lending, all aimed at short-term workers on temporary contracts. The move comes after Didi announced a [...]
Own, loan, or Drover: How the subscription economy is shaking up the car industry December 7, 2018 Felix Leuschner looks far too young to have founded three successful businesses. This German-born entrepreneur was just 23 when he launched what became Europe’s largest marketplace for gaming goods, where players could trade virtual products. After selling that company just nine months later, he moved to London and started a fast-fashion website called Stylistpick, collaborating with [...]
Addison Lee launches self-driving taxi trials in Canary Wharf November 7, 2018 Private hire firm Addison Lee has begun trialling self-driving car technology, created by UK startup Oxbotica, on the streets of London. Driving around the skyscrapers of Canary Wharf, Addison Lee's manned cars are creating a three-dimensional street map of the city in order to create the backdrop for future driverless cars. Organised together with Canary [...]
Insurer Hastings share price plunges after it warns of competitive market October 25, 2018 Investors slammed insurer Hastings this morning after it warned that a competitive market meant that it was likely to perform at the lower end of its announced range. Its share price crashed more than 16 per cent this morning. Having started the day on 216p it hit a low of 183p before recovering slightly to [...]
DEBATE: Should the government set guidelines on meat consumption to combat climate change? October 16, 2018 Should the government set guidelines on meat consumption to combat climate change? Ben Glover, a researcher at Demos, says YES. Last week, the UN’s IPCC warned that to avoid disastrous levels of climate change we must make “unprecedented changes in all aspects of society” – including cutting meat consumption. That’s because livestock counts for about [...]