Motoring Podcast - News Show

The 2025 Tokyo Mobility Show took place between 30 October and 9 November 2025. We sat down to run through some of the exhibits that caught our eye. Some of what is discussed is out of this world, whilst others are very much for only one person at a time.To see more about the Honda Super-one Prototype, click this Carscoops link here.For more on the BYD Racco, click this Top Gear link here.To join the chaps in their adoration of the Daihatsu Kayoibako K, click this Carscoops link here.You can see more about the Toyota Land Cruiser FJ, by clicking this Carscoop link here.Click this Top Gear link here, to read more about the Subaru STi Concept.To see more of the very attractive Mazda Vision X Coupe, click this Top Gear link here.The Lexus LS Concept take luxury MPV to the next stage, you can see more by clicking this Carscoops link here.Toyota revealed concepts that considered mobility needs of a variety of people, click this Carscoops link to see their vision for handling children. Then for those with restricte

Earlier in the year Andrew was invited, by Kia, to attend the Milan Design Week and their Eclipse of Perceptions exhibition. In this they showed off the Concept EV2, the PV5 electric van in passenger form and the PV5 WKNDR concept.You can hear about all three and listen to the designers involved as they tell you more about the vehicles and ideas behind them. Do note, that the interview took place at the exhibition, therefore the sound quality is different.Special thanks to Kia and their photographer for supplying the majority of the photos you see. The copywrite to the images lies with Kia and the Motoring Podcast, dependent on who took them, they cannot be reproduced without permission.

FOLLOW UP: JLR SILENCE BRIEFLY BROKEN10 days after the story first came to light that Gerry McGovern, the design chief of JLR, had unceremoniously left the company, they state that isn’t the case and nothing else. No further details, no explanation, nothing. Instead of clearing things up, this has only caused more confusion. Click this Autoevolution article link here to read more. FOLLOW UP: CRIT’AIR STICKERS STILL NEEDED IN FRANCEDue to the chaotic nature of French politics, currently, the proposed legislation that would have removed clean air zones from the country’s cities has not been passed into law. Therefore, we are warning all that intend to visit the country in the next few months to make sure they have the appropriate stickers and paperwork. If you wish to read more, click this link from The Connexion. FORD SIGNS DEAL WITH RENAULT Ford has signed a deal with Renault that will mean the Blue Oval will be gaining the small electric car platform from the French firm. This will allow them to create more

FOLLOW UP: MOTOR FINANCE CLAIMS TO RESTARTThe Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is restarting finance mis-selling claims on 31 May 2026, which is earlier than previously announced. The FCA states this should be enough time for companies to ready their compensation schemes. You can find out more, by clicking this Motor Trade article link here. NOVEMBER 2025 NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURESThe SMMT has released the new car registration figures for November 2025. The overall market dropped 1.6%, year on year. Battery electric, plug-in hybrid and hybrid numbers all rose, with petrol and diesel dropping. Fleet once again is the major market, at 61% of all registrations, whilst Private and Business make up the rest. Click this link to see more, from SMMT. VAUXHALL LOSE THEIR MD Steve Catlin has left his role as managing director of Vauxhall, after only eight months in charge. Citing “personal reasons”, his seat will be taken over by Stellantis UK managing director Eurig Druce. If you wish to find out more, click this

UK AUTUMN BUDGET ANNOUNCED The UK Government finally announced the autumn Budget, after weeks of leaks and rumours. There was some motoring related aspects, most notable being from 2028 new electric and plug-in hybrid car drivers will have to pay-per-mile which is additional to previously announced measures. How this is to be run has yet to be decided, with a consultation being conducted in early 2026.More money is being allocated the Electric Car Grant, increasing the pot by a further £1.3 billion. Additionally, the luxury car tax will increase, only for EVs, to £50,000, following a lot of lobbying by industry. Click this EV Powered article link here, to read more. MOTABILITY FORCED TO REMOVE PREMIUM CARS FROM SCHEMEThanks to a dishonest and disgusting campaign, that attacked those with extra mobility needs, Motability has been forced to removed premium brand vehicles from their scheme before the Government caved to such abhorrent pressure and pushed to remove nice things from a segment of society. There are

One last solo show from Alan before Andrew returns and regular service resumes.This week, we have a follow-up on the Dutch/Chinese Chip Wars and the prices of the new Nissan Leaf.New news includes management changes at Gordon Murray Group, VW’s Chief Strategist making an exit, Hyundai opening a new testing centre in Germany, Bollinger Motors shutting up shop, and Wrightbus covering EV buses into, err, EV buses.New Car News includes the MG S6 EV, the Jeep Recon, and the crazy-powerful Porsche Cayenne Electric.In Points of Interest we look at the moments people become interested in “automotive stuff”, we have a list of 20 affordable coachbuilt cars, and we round off with a look at the Hot Wheels Legands finalists.

It’s another solo show from Alan this week, and it starts with a follow-up on JLR’s financial situation following the recent cyber attack. New news this week involves Stellantis cancelling contracts to EV raw materials, the possibility that TVR will twitch back to life, calls for the government to support used EV values for fleets, while one fleet provider is trying to make them more attractive through a salary sacrifice scheme. Meanwhile, one EV charging provider is installing ANPR to combat ICE-ing at its chargers. Lastly, Amazon has ordered a lot of electric HGVs for its UK operations.New New Car News covers the Bentley Continental GT Supersports, Maserati and Alfa twinning-up, and Mitsubishi Motors in a proposed return to the UK market.Points of Interest include part 3 of the Citroen DS story, and a list of 10 winter-friendly modern classics.And Finally, we see if Ed March can finish his ridiculous mini-JEEP adventure.

It’s a solo show from Alan this week, and starts with lots of Follow Up. The FCA has extended the motor finance redress consultation, the UK car industry shows UKGov the high price of ending ECOS, and China has made an exception for some Nexperia chips.New News this week includes New Car Registration Figures for October, profit analysis for Bentley and Lamborghini, a new boss at Caterham, and cybersecurity gaps in Chinese buses.New New Car News looks at the just-unveiled Renault Twingo, some likely fleet favourites from BYD and a lot of shiny stuff at SEMA.Points of Interest bring us Jim and Siôn’s epic charity adventure, and some lovely models from Autocar. We end up on a steamy story of an And Finally.

FOLLOW UP: MATT WINDLE OFFICIALLY LEAVES LOTUSBack in August we said that Matt Windle had resigned as Lotus Europe CEO, but actually he was on a ‘leave of absence’. However, he has now officially announced that he has left Lotus after eight and a half years with the company. You can read more, including the challenges facing the sports car maker, by clicking this EVO article link here. VW GROUP PROFITS PLUNGEVolkswagen Group has announced their financial results for the first nine months of 2025 and they are bad. With a 58% drop in profits, described as “unsustainable” by the company, at €5.4 billion and a pre-tax profit margin of 2.3%. The usual reasons were given, Chinese market drop, tariffs and the slowdown in electrified transition with Porsche’s write-down also being mentioned. To fix this they will be ensuring their cost cutting measures really take effect. Click this Autocar article for more. MERCEDES-BENZ PROFITS PLUNGEMercedes-Benz’s third quarter profits fell by 30.8%, surprisingly this was better

FOLLOW UP: IMPACT OF JLR SHUTDOWNProfessor David Bailey has written up a piece on Blogs from the Blackstuff following a report from the Cyber Monitoring Centre (CMC), which outlines the cost of the JLR shutdown and it is large. The estimated cost is in the region of £1.9 billion but could be as high as £2.1 billion. Over 5,000 businesses were affected. The CMC hopes businesses, the Government and insurers to learn lessons. To read more, click this article link here. NEW CHIP CRISIS LOOMINGAnother week and another example of how crucial China is to making things. This time there is a spat between Dutch and the Chinese Governments over the chip maker Nexperia after the Chinese CEO was removed and the European country took control of the company. They supply a lot of the car industry, particularly the electric car making segment. China has restricted exports of their chips, which means the company cannot guarantee reliable supply. For more on this story, click this link to an electrive article here. PORSCHE PROF

FOLLOW UP: UK DIESELGATE TRIAL BEGINSA trial has begun in the UK High Court to decide if some manufacturers used software to pass emission tests but then acted differently outside of test conditions. The brands all deny the charge. To read more, click this Motor Trader article link here. FOLLOW UP: JLR RESTARTS ALL PRODUCTION LINESJLR has now started the last of their production lines following the chaos from the cyber attack at the start of September. Halewood was the last facility to get back up. If you wish to find out more, click this Autocar article link here. PORSCHE FINDS A NEW BOSSFollowing the announcement that Oliver Blume would relinquish his role as CEO of Porsche the company has been searching for a replacement. Ex-McLaren CEO Michael Leiters returns to the brand to lead it, allowing Blume to focus on his Volkswagen Group role. You can learn more, by clicking this Autocar article link here. TOYOTA GB FINDS A NEW BOSSToyota GB has announced that Luigi Ksawery Lucá will be the new prsident and mana

FOLLOW UP: FCA FINANCIAL REDRESS CONSULTATIONFollowing the Supreme Court’s recent ruling that some forms of historical car financing was illegal the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has opened a consultation into how those effected should be compensated. Some from within industry are unhappy at what is being covered and the potential exposure in terms of repayments. To find out more, click this article link here from Broker News. STELLANTIS MANAGEMENT AND PLAN CHANGESStellantis are getting a new European boss, with Emanuele Capellano taking over from Jean-Philippe Emperato, who takes the reigns at Maserati. This is the latest move by the new CEO of the group, Antonio Felosa, as he continues to shape the company in a way he feels will bring success. Click this Autocar article for more. Talking of shaping the company, in the US Stellantis announce a huge investment of over £10 billion to help the North American brands bring new models to market including, it is being suggested, V8 power plants. Click this Carc

FOLLOW UP: JLR WOES STILL CONTINUE BUT MORE PROGRESSJLR continues to battle the effects of the cyber attack that caused them to shut all systems on 1 September, 2025. They are still waiting on signed approval of the Government guarantee for 80% of the loan they are seeking. In the meantime, they are going to inject up to £500 million into their first tier suppliers to help them after no payments for over a month. Click this Business Matters article link here, to read more. The phased restarting of factory operations is expected to begin on 8 October, 2025 (day of publication of this episode). Click the link here, to find out the latest update from Autocar’s coverage. SEPTEMBER 2025 NEW CAR REGISTRATIONSThe Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has released the new car registration figures, for September 2025. This is the best September since 2020, with BEVs taking a market share, for the month of 23.3%, whilst petrol still remains the most popular fuel. Fleet sector did most of the heavy lifting,

FOLLOW UP: JLR WOES STILL CONTINUE BUT SOME PROGRESSWhilst JLR is still battling against the hack that caused them to shut all their systems down on the 2 September, there is some positive progress. The company has started a phased process of turning back on some systems and they expect to begin limited car production later this week. On top of that, the Government has guaranteed 80% of a loan the company is seeking to take out to help cover the costs resulting from the shutdown. To find out the latest, click this Autocar article link here. Link to Professor David Bailey’s piece explaining about the loan JLR has taken out and the UK Government has guaranteed a portion of, can be clicked here. VW GROUP PAUSING EV PRODUCTIONDue to a lower demand than anticipated, the Volkswagen Group is pausing EV production in several factories. The factories in Zwickau and Emden in Germany, as well as Tennessee in the US, will pause production of various electric models in the coming weeks. Tariffs are also impacting the fina

FOLLOW UP: JLR WOES STILL CONTINUEJLR have put back their proposed production restart from 24 September to 1 October as they continue to try and deal with the hack on their systems where the effects became apparent on 1 September. What has only started to be appreciated is the knock-on effect the closures have had on suppliers to the company. Staff have been told to apply for Universal Credit, due to stopped wages, and many are calling on a furlough scheme to be instigated by the Government. To read more about the ongoing issues for JLR, click this Autocar article link here. To gain an understanding of the affects down the supply chain, click this article link from The Record. CITROËN ISSUES NEW NO-DRIVE WARNINGCitroën UK has issued a new no-drive warning, covering the C3, ë-C3, C3 Aircross and ë-C3Aircross, due to potential brake failure. This no-drive notice is on top of the other two the company is already dealing with. Click this Autocar article link here to read more. PORSCHE DELAY EV MOVE GIVING VW GROU

FOLLOW UP: JLR WOES CONTINUEAs expected, there is no quick resolution to their IT woes, following the hack reported on 1 September, 2025. Also, again as expected, they have confirmed that data has been accessed including personal data. However, we do not know who’s data that is. Reports suggest the company is losing around £5 million per day, thanks to the global shutdown. As a result there are increasing calls for the Government to step in and support the JLR. To read more about the situation, click this Autocar article link here. SHOCKING FAIL FOR MG3 DURING EURONCAP TESTSDuring the latest round of EuroNCAP tests the MG3 driver’s seat, when in the frontal offset crash test, twisted upon impact due to the latching mechanism failing. MG has confirmed that this has now been rectified but cars bought before August 2025 will not get the fix. Added to this is that the driver’s airbag was only sufficient for an “adequate” rating. If you want to find out more, click this Autocar article link here. EU AUTOMOTIVE IND

NEW CAR REGISTRATIONS AUGUST 2025August registration figures are down on 2024. Typically a quiet month prior to the number plate change in September, it was still a disappointment. We also do not know how much of an effect the mishandling of the ECG approval list had on the overall numbers. BEVs took a 26.5% market share. There are also some returning models to the Top Models list and a newcomer. To read more, click this link from the SMMT. JLR HIT BY CYBER ATTACKJLR have been hit by a cyber attack that has halted all sales, aftersales and production work. The group claiming responsibility are the ones who hit M&S and others on the UK highstreet. The company has employed specialists to help address the problem but communication has been limited as to what has happened and what is going on. If you want to learn more, click this Autocar article link here. PORSCHE CHANGES TACK ON BATTERIESDue to recent financial performances and market conditions Porsche has reviewed their high performance battery projects a

FOLLOW UP: ECG TWEAK AND FIRST BAND 1 CARS ANNOUNCEDThe Government has tightened the loophole where if one vehicle in the range is eligible for the Electric Car Grant (ECG) then all others with the same powertrain configuration are, no matter their price. This has been capped at £42,000. Click this Autocar story link here, to read more. Additionally, the Government has announced the first two cars to be eligible for Band 1 of the grant and thus the full £3750. The Ford Puma Gen-E and the E-Tournio Courier. Click this Motor Trader article to read more. LOTUS CUTS MORE STAFFIn the continued troubling news from Lotus there is the announcement that they are cutting another 550 jobs in the UK, roughly 40%. This follows another poor first half to the year, as sales dropped 42%. If you wish to learn more, click this Autocar article link here. DACIA LOSE A CEO BUT FIND ANOTHERDenis Le Vot has decided to leave as head of Dacia, with Katrin Adt taking over the reigns. This is one of several changes in Renault Group ma

GOVERNMENT CUTS RESTORATION RED TAPEFollowing a long campaign from the Historic and Classic Vehicles Alliance and other similar associations, the Government has simplified the red tape around modifying and restoring vehicles. Notifications can be sent to DVLA for ‘significant structural modifications’ and the vehicle can retain the original license plate number and Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). This is a big step forward. Click this Hagerty article link here to find out more. ARIEL DOUBLING PRODUCTION CAPACITY WITH NEW FACTORYAriel, the Somerset based specialist performance vehicle manufacturer, have agreed a deal to buy more land that will allow them to double their production capability. If you want to read more, click this Autocar article link here. HMRC RAISES EV MILEAGE CLAIM RATEAfter lots of complaints were raised over the last announcement of the rate business mileage for electric cars could be claimed back at, HMRC has revised them. Now there are two tiers, home charging and public charging. H

FOLLOW UP: GOVERNMENT CONFIRM ECG ELIGIBLE CARSThe UK Government has released the list of car models that are eligible for the Electric Car Grant (ECG). There are a few surprises, including how no cars meet the Band 1 £3750 grant requirements. Click this link here, from EV Powered, to read more. To see Nick Gibb’s Bluesky post, adding context to the question of how the Nissan Ayria was eligible, click this link here. For the UK Government’s official list of eligible car models, click this link here. FOLLOW UP: CITROËN ADDS MODELS TO ‘STOP-DRIVE’ RECALLCitroën has now added new models to the previous ‘stop-drive’ order over faulty airbags. Car Dealer is reporting that before this around 120,000 vehicles were affected by the issue. Now that the C4 and DS4, built between 2010 and 2011, plus the DS5 built between 2010 and 2013 there is just a fraction under 10,000 additional vehicles. Citroën was already receiving a backlash on the perceived slowness in addressing the problem, this will not help. If you wish to l