GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCEMENT CONFUSES INDUSTRY
The Government announced that there could be “self-driving” cars on the road towards the end of the year. This caused a lot of confusion because the driver assistance technology they were mentioning is not, nor ever will be, ‘self-driving’ as it is Automated Lane Keeping Systems. These are going to be only allowed to move a car up to 37mph, whilst keeping it in a lane of the motorway, with the driver able to remove hands and feet from the controls but still paying attention to the road and surroundings. To read more, click the Top Gear article here.
TOYODA GOSEI SHUTTING DOWN UK OPERATION
Toyoda Gosei, which is part of the Toyota Group, has announced they will be closing their production facilities in the UK. This will lead to the loss of 458 jobs, which the company is blaming on “a significant reduction in key UK customer demand”. They supply Toyota, Honda and Nissan in this country. To read more, click the Autocar article here.
DIESS LEAVES SEAT AND SKODA BOARDS
Volkswagen Group CEO, Herbert Diess, is leaving the supervisory boards of SEAT and Skoda, to allow more focus on the software division. VW has struggled with their new software, both in terms of deploying and the quality of it. SEAT and Skoda are now worried their voices will not be heard as much by the Group Board. Only time will tell if the move helps the software and reduces those brand’s influence. To read more, click the Autocar article here.
MOTO OPENS LARGE MOTORWAY EV CHARGING SERVICES
Moto has opened a new service area, on the M6 at Junction 1, which will have 24 ultra-rapid chargers, split between Tesla and open market charging. This is another step on their move to upgrade service areas with the latest charging technology. To read more, click the ZapMap article here.
SUBARU EXPANDS IN UK
Subaru is expanding their dealership network, in 2021, having added four new franchises in the first part of the year and expect a further 10 to be added by the summer. We, on the show, had been worried for Subaru, especially after the plan to pre-register cars backfired last year. To read more, click the Business Leader article here.
GENESIS ANNOUNCE UK LAUNCH
Later this year, Genesis will come to the UK, Germany and Switzerland. They will be bringing an aggressive model launch strategy for the first 12 to 24 months following their arrival. To read more, click the Autocar article here.
