Daft Plan - 4 May 2021

Motoring Podcast - News Show

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.

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FORMULA E: MONACO

For the first time, Formula E will run on the full F1 Monaco track, this weekend, with a slight tweak to one section just before an uphill element. To read more about the layout and alterations, click here for The Race’s article.

The series really needs a weekend of wonderful racing and no controversies after the start to this season. To find out why all is not well in Formula E-land, click The Race’s article here.

NEW NEW CAR NEWS

Kia EV6 GT -

Following on a few weeks after the reveal of the smart looking EV6, Kia announced the specifications for the top of the range GT version. 576bhp, all-wheel drive, 0-62mph in approximately 3.5 seconds and still give around 300 miles of range. Prices will be close to £60,000, but for a car that Albert Beirmann has ‘fettled’ with we are sure the price is justified. To read more, click the EVO article here.

VW ID 4 GTX -

Volkswagen has revealed a ‘hot’ version of the ID 4, electric SUV. GTX will denote GTi equivalent for electric vehicles, in VW. The car will produce 210 bhp, with a 0-62mph time of 6.2 seconds and a range of 298 miles. There will be touches such as red stitching and accents to mark it out as a sporty version. To read more, click the Autocar article here.

VW Golf GTi Clubsport 45 -

Volkswagen has put on sale a limited run special GTi edition adding Clubsport to the package makes this more powerful than the Golf R. The ‘45’ is acknowledging that it is 45 years since the first GTi was launched on the public. To read more, click the Autocar article here.

LUNCHTIME READ: SURVEILLANCE CAPITALISM AND YOUR CAR

Murray Scullion has written an incredibly accessible yet comprehensive article about your car, the data it produces and who wants to get hold of it. Whether you know much about the subject or not you will learn a lot from Murray’s work. To read it, which we cannot stress enough that you should, click here for the Parker’s link.

Bonus Link: If that did not make you go wide eyed enough, click this article link from The Intercept to give a real world demonstration of exactly what can be extracted from your car.

LIST OF THE WEEK: 39 CARS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD

This is a bold claim, of a list, by Autocar however we can find no fault with it. Click your way through 40 slides showing cars that have had a huge impact on the world. To do so, click this link here.

AND FINALLY: BREAKING THE MONOTONY OF THE SUPERMARKET

Gareth Wild completed the work of 6 years last week, by finally parking his car in the last remaining space he hadn’t previously parked in, at his local supermarket. We applaud the dedication, planning and most of all, use of a spreadsheet in accomplishing this feat. Bravo! To find out more, click the BBC News article here. To see more from Gareth himself, click the Twitter thread here.