UK can still be gateway to Europe for car giants after Brexit, says auto boss January 6, 2021 The UK can still be the gateway to Europe for foreign carmakers despite the challenges of leaving the EU, the head of the country’s biggest auto trade body has said. Mike Hawes, the chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said that the UK would still be able to compete with [...]
Honda halts Swindon car production for second time in a month due to supply chain disruption January 5, 2021 Honda this afternoon said that it would halt production at its plant in Swindon due to supply chain disruption – the second time it has done so in a month. In a statement, the carmaker said that production would stop today and tomorrow, with a view to starting again on Thursday. It said that the [...]
Stars in their eyes: PSA and Fiat shareholders approve mega-merger January 4, 2021 Shareholders in Peugeot-owner PSA and Fiat Chrysler (FCA) have today approved the mega-merger of the two firms, a deal which will create the world’s fourth-largest auto firm. The new entity, called Stellantis, will comprise 14 different brands, including FCA’s Fiat, Maserati and US-focused Jeep, Dodge and Ram to PSA’s Peugeot, Citroen, Opel and DS. Stellantis [...]
McLaren considering listing in bid to raise £500m – report December 10, 2020 British supercar firm McLaren is mulling a public listing in a bid to raise cash in order to shore up its finances after taking a battering from the coronavirus pandemic. The carmaker is looking to raise up to £500m over the next 12 months, and is considering going public via a deal with a special [...]
Car production falls again as nightmare year stretches on November 26, 2020 Car production fell once again in October as the sector’s nightmare year showed no sign of ending. Just 110,179 cars were built last month, down almost a fifth on the same month last year, according to new figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. For the year as a whole, production has dropped [...]
Sign Brexit deal to ‘give us our future’, pleads car industry November 24, 2020 The car industry has pleaded with the government to sign a post-Brexit free trade agreement by Christmas, saying that the failure to do so could cost the sector £55bn by 2025. Speaking at a Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) summit, chief executive Mike Hawes said that a new partnership with the EU “could [...]
Plug-in hybrid cars emit far more carbon dioxide than advertised November 23, 2020 Plug-in hybrid cars emit far more carbon dioxide than advertised, new research published today shows, just days after the government decided to allow sales of such vehicles to continue to 2035. According to a study done by European body Transport & Environment, three of the most popular hybrids all emitted more carbon dioxide than advertised [...]
Ineos inks deal with Hyundai for hydrogen-powered Grenadier 4×4 November 23, 2020 Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos will work with South Korean auto giant Hyundai to assess whether its new Grenadier car can be powered by hydrogen fuel cell. The assessment is part of a new deal between the two firms to explore new hydrogen power technologies across a number of sectors. The Grenadier, which is set for [...]
European car sales fall in October as new restrictions kick in November 18, 2020 The European car market fell again in October having only recorded its first increase this year the month before, new figures today showed. Last month sales of new cars declined 7.8 per cent to 953,615 units as governments across the continent began to impose new lockdown restrictions. The figures, from trade body the European Automobile [...]
Nissan warns UK business hard to sustain without Brexit deal November 18, 2020 A top executive at Japanese car giant Nissan has warned that it would be hard to sustain its operations in the UK should the country leave the EU without a trade deal. Speaking to Reuters, chief operating officer Ashwani Gupta said: “If [the exit] happens without any sustainable business case obviously it is not a [...]