Euro NCAP is a safety testing program for cars in Europe. It runs crash tests and uses results to judge how well a car protects people. Here, it’s also the organization that checked whether MG’s fix for the MG3 seat problem was good enough.
The MG3 is a small hatchback car. In the podcast, it’s mentioned because it didn’t do well in a safety test (Euro NCAP), especially for the front driver area. Safety test results like this can affect how safe people think the car is.
A front crash test is a standardized collision used to evaluate how a car’s structure and restraint systems behave in a head-on impact. Seat movement during such tests can affect occupant safety by changing how the seat and occupant are positioned during the crash. This segment specifically discusses the driver’s seat sliding forward in the MG3’s front crash testing.
JLR is Jaguar Land Rover, the company that makes Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles. They’re talking about how trade tariffs and weaker sales in China can hurt the company’s finances.
SAP is a computer system companies use to manage day-to-day operations. If hackers disrupt it, it can mess up ordering parts, scheduling work, and financial processes.
Warranty costs are what the car maker pays when it has to repair cars under the warranty. If warranty claims are high, it can hurt the company’s finances.
A recall is when a car maker has to fix a problem in cars that are already on the road. The hosts mention recalls as a sign of how often problems are being found and addressed.
Liquidity basically means how much money a company has on hand to pay for things. They’re using it to show JLR could keep going even when problems hit.
Business continuity means having a plan to keep working when something goes wrong. They’re saying JLR had enough planning and financial caution to get through the cyber attack.
Cost-cutting is when a company tries to spend less money. The worry is that if they cut too much, the cars might be built with lower-quality parts or less thorough testing.
The Range Rover is a large, luxury SUV made by Land Rover. It’s designed to be comfortable for everyday driving and capable on rough roads. The podcast mentions it because an electric version would be a big change for the model.
Pre-production means the car is still in an early build stage, before it’s made in large numbers. People may get to see it or drive it briefly to help improve the final version.
Brake horsepower is a way to measure how strong an engine is. It’s measured before the power goes through the car’s drivetrain, so it can be higher than what the wheels actually get.
Rebranding is when a company changes how it presents a product—often including naming, model strategy, and identity—so it feels new or aligned with a new direction. In automotive terms, it commonly affects how future models are labeled and marketed.
“Type 00” is a name used to identify a particular car model. The podcast is debating the correct numbering—whether it should be called Type 00 or Type 01. This is mainly about getting the model label right.
Jaguar XJ is a well-known Jaguar luxury car model. The hosts are saying Jaguar has used names like this for a long time, and the new naming approach is trying not to reuse them.
Jaguar XK is a famous Jaguar model name from the brand’s sports-car history. The hosts are comparing it to the new naming scheme and saying Jaguar doesn’t want to reuse old names.
Stellantis is a big car company that makes lots of different brands. Here, they’re mentioned because they’re signing a deal involving factories and production in China.
Dongfeng is a Chinese car company. They’re mentioned here because they have a factory in Wuhan, and the deal is set to start producing something there in 2027.
The BYD Seal 5 is an electric car from BYD. The hosts are talking about it because it’s one of BYD’s newer “Seal” models getting attention.
Term
DMI
DMI is BYD’s internal name for the “base design” its cars are built on. Think of it like the car’s underlying setup that helps the company make different models more efficiently.
The ID. Buzz is an electric van-style vehicle made by Volkswagen. It’s built to carry people comfortably, similar to a minivan, but with an electric powertrain. It’s mentioned because it’s a major new EV model in Volkswagen’s lineup.
The Volkswagen Golf is a common compact car that many people use for everyday driving. It’s been around for a long time, so it’s a familiar reference point. The podcast mentions it while talking about newer Volkswagen models and how they compare.
This is Volkswagen’s electric version of the Polo GTI idea. The point is to keep the sporty “GTI” vibe, but with an electric powertrain.
Concept
second generation of EV
When they say “second generation of EV,” they mean a newer version of the electric-car design. Usually that brings improvements like better efficiency or a more modern setup.
The Volvo XC40 is a small SUV. A “Special Edition” is a dressed-up version with extra features, and here they’re mainly talking about how far it can go and how fast it charges.
The Volkswagen ID Polo is an upcoming electric version of the Polo idea. They’re talking about how far it can go, how quickly it charges, and whether it still looks like a normal Polo.
DC charging speed is how fast an EV charges at a fast charger. The higher the number (kW), the quicker you can add energy—though real results can vary.
“10% to 80% refill” means how long it takes to charge from a low battery level to a fairly high one. It’s used because charging is often quickest in that middle range, so it’s a useful real-world comparison.
The ID. Polo is an electric car idea from Volkswagen meant to be like a smaller Polo-sized vehicle. The podcast is saying that the ID Polo range will share a similar look, and that a GTI version has been revealed. It’s mentioned because it’s part of Volkswagen’s move to electric cars.
The BMW 3 Series is a popular car model that’s meant to feel sporty but still work well for daily driving. People often talk about how the dashboard and interior look in different versions. The episode is mentioning it because the speaker wants the option of a specific dashboard style.
The E36 dashboard is the instrument layout from the BMW 3 Series from the E36 era. The host prefers that older, clearer look over newer instrument graphics.
The E30 dashboard is the older BMW 3 Series layout from the E30 era. The host is saying they prefer that simple, clear look compared with newer digital-style screens.
The Volkswagen ID 3 Evo is an updated electric hatchback from Volkswagen. They’re saying the changes are part of a broader update strategy across the ID range.
The Volkswagen ID 4 is Volkswagen’s electric SUV. They’re using it as a reference point for how Volkswagen is updating other electric models in the same lineup.
One-pedal driving means you can slow down and even stop mostly just by lifting your foot off the accelerator. It’s an EV feature that changes how you drive in traffic.
“Creep” is the slow inch-forward movement some automatic/EV setups do when you take your foot off the pedal. They’re saying this version doesn’t rely on that anymore and can stop fully instead.
The Freelander is a smaller Land Rover SUV meant for everyday driving with some off-road ability. The podcast is talking about a specific version or layout change, like a three-door style. That’s relevant because it affects how many people can sit comfortably and how the car is used.
The Renault Twingo is a small car made for driving in cities. It’s designed to be easy to park and maneuver. The podcast mentions it because it’s a notable Renault model that was part of the news discussion.
The “FF” here is referring to the Jensen FF, which is a specific older car model. The podcast is confirming the full name “Jensen FF.” It’s brought up because it’s a notable, unusual model from the past.
Four-wheel drive means power goes to all four wheels, which helps the car grip the road better. The hosts mention it because the Jensen FF was an early example of this in a production car.
Ferguson is mentioned as the company that provided the four-wheel-drive system for the Jensen FF. It’s a way of saying the car’s 4WD tech came from a specialist supplier.
Dunlop is mentioned as being involved with the Jensen FF’s braking technology. The hosts are connecting Dunlop to the tech behind EBS through something called Maxite.
EBS is a name for a braking-related technology the hosts say was used on the Jensen FF. The key idea is that it was an early, notable production-car braking setup, but the exact meaning of the acronym isn’t fully explained in this clip.
Term
Maxite technology
Maxite technology is the name of a technology Dunlop is credited with in this story. The hosts are using it to explain where the Jensen FF’s braking tech came from.
The Honda S800C is an older Honda car that’s a small two-door coupé. The podcast describes it as a compact “runaround,” meaning it’s meant for short, easy driving. It’s mentioned because it’s a notable classic model in their history segment.
LIVE
Welcome to the Mostly Podcast, your weekly discussion on Mostly News.
This is episode 686 on Monday, the 18th of May, 2026.
Hello, I'm Alan.
Hello, I'm Andrew.
This week, you'll hear how some companies are learning no-money moe problems.
In new, new car news, you'll find out that summer is on its way.
In points of interest, you'll question whether time is real or just something made up to
hurt us.
At first, we leap into some follow-up.
Sorry, sorry, you forgot the thing I said we had to do, which is make a Nordic hotel
room audio apology.
If I'm a bit echoey and a bit distant, well, that's been normally, but if I'm worse than
that, then it's because I am in a hotel room on the other side of Copenhagen and soft furnishings
are not a thing.
No, no, no, not at all.
Okay, moving on to a follow-up, and last year, we talked about how the MG3 failed a Euro
NCAP test because the front driver's seat, as opposed to the back driver's seat, but
the driver's seat even slid forward in a front crash test.
Now, it did not slide forward as this car scoop's article that is linked in the show
notes.
It's one meter, 11 and a half centimeters or 4.4 inches.
It moved 4.4 inches because otherwise the quote of increasing the risk of injury would
be increasing the risk to certain death.
However, MG did come up with a solution, Euro NCAP tested it and agreed that this solution
was suitable, but most owners of MG3s have not got this fixed.
It's not just the UK, but that's Europe-wide and Euro NCAP is now beginning to get very
vocal, very publicly and going, please get this fixed.
This is really, really important.
Yeah.
Now, we reckon that there aren't going to be that many MG3 drivers who listen to the
motoring podcast.
It's not a motoring podcast, listen to the car, but if you know someone who has one,
please check they know that this recall exists and that they're actually going to get it
done.
It's serious.
It's a safety one.
There is a solution for the problem, but goodness sakes, get it done for free.
Yeah.
Please make sure to keep your friends and loved ones, but also that irritating bloke in the
corner of the pub.
Just make sure he's away.
Absolutely.
That's a hot, warming consumer news for me.
Okay.
Well, do you want to go to some stuff that's a bit less hot, warming then?
Well, it's JLR.
I'm going to let you all decide how you feel about that, but they made a post tax loss
of £244 million last year.
That's down quite a bit from the £1.8 billion profit they made a year before, but there's
a number of factors for that.
Obviously, tariffs became a challenge in the US, JLR's biggest market.
They're also affected by the same falling sales in China as pretty much any manufacturer
that isn't Chinese.
There was a pause in production, according to the CEO, PB Balaji.
I think we would call what happened as a result of these cyber attacks to be a little more
serious than a pause in production, what with the knock-on effects across the whole of
their SAP installation.
The extra bonus as well, there was a fourth issue that caused significant impact on their
finances and it's the warranty costs they're having to pay as well.
Well, yes, but that's been the same story since the year dot for JLR.
They are not really recognized for their quality and their lack of issues.
It's a bit like hearing Ford say they're going to improve their reliability and quality
stuff and you see that they break records for the most number of recalls in America.
Yeah, to be honest, they've got a cash balance of 2.8 billion pounds, liquidity at 31st of
March was at 6.9 billion pounds and including that was 4.2 billion pounds worth of undrawn
loans.
So money that theoretically they have access to, but they've decided they're not using
at the moment.
And all of that, by the way, that's a good sign that we've had that many challenges
over here, particularly the cyber attack, that was serious that it could have taken them
right down.
Yeah, absolutely.
But there's obviously been a certain amount of business continuity, financial prudence
over the last little while that's meant that they could weather that.
It wasn't easy.
It probably still isn't easier, I imagine, but given some of the challenges they had
last year, it could have been so, so much worse.
Well, they did surprisingly well in the last quarter because they made a post-tax profit
of £356 million, so that's after the cyber attack and the impact of that.
But also the knock-ons from all this is that they have said that they want to save £1.7
billion over the next two years.
And you kind of worry a bit and you go, where are you saving that amount of money from?
Are you sacking a load of people or have you suddenly discovered how inefficient you are
in areas?
Or what is it?
Because whenever I hear we're going to save money, that always makes me think, particularly
when it's phrased as cost-cutting, that makes me worry about the impact on quality and reliability.
And as we've just said, that they've already got a mountain to climb in terms of that.
They've got a huge year this year because they're going to be launching the Jaguar, which
we'll get onto in just a moment, but they're also going to be launching the electric Range Rover
apparently as well.
We were teased lots of images about that last year and people had first drives and all this
sort of stuff while it's still pre-production.
They're two huge models for them, particularly in the current market, which doesn't seem
to be favouring luxury and expensive EVs.
Yeah, I see previous comments where I didn't mention Donald Trump.
But overall, actually, that's a pretty positive story really.
They weathered one heck of a storm, they've come out the other side and financially at
least right at the moment, according to the accounts, looking healthy enough.
But anyway, sticking with Jaguar and they have finally named the new electric GT that's
going to be coming out with 1,000 brake horsepower and all other silliness, they're going to
call it the Type 01, which apparently is part of a tribute to the brand's legendary sports
cars and its era-defining status according to this auto car article.
The well-known Type C, Type D, Type E and even the more recent Type F, yes.
Yeah, absolutely.
That's it.
I don't understand.
But then again, I don't understand this car yet and the rebranding.
There's so much I don't understand.
And I don't mean that from a gammon, oh my word, they should all be going around with
walnuts and full leather, et cetera, you know, on the interior and there's no need to do
anything.
I'm not bothered about that.
I just still don't know who the car is aimed at, apart from somebody with lots of money,
why they would buy it and why we should care.
Regarding the naming thing, I don't get it because, I mean, surely you would make it
the 01 Type or the 00 Type if you want to refer to Type.
Obviously, we understand why you don't necessarily want it to be XJ or XK, you know, you've been
using those for decades, for many decades.
That doesn't hint at heritage, that hints at baggage.
A little bit, yeah, yeah, which is the point I totally get, understand, agree with.
I don't know why they haven't tried to choose a name, a proper name.
I don't know what that proper name would be.
I mean, I'm just joking, they say, sovereign.
But if they wanted to move away and they wanted it to show this and you start and all these
kind of things, then I would be looking to name it because Jaguar's traditionally haven't
been named.
It might be that it's very difficult to find a name that people haven't already pinched
or used, or which doesn't sound overly tween in some form, the genuine bucking them.
It's just a bit naff and obviously can't use Silverstone or any of these things.
But to do something like that and attempt something like that, it would make a bit more
sense to me.
I just think that it's bland when everything else isn't.
I don't think mechanical to have this sort of brutalist, slightly crazy, whatever it
is, car with really quite a traditional name.
I think that might be kind of cool as a sort of juxtaposition of one against the other.
I can see the sense in that because like I was saying with the I'm struggling to understand
who it's for and why, there's nothing in the naming that would make me go, well, obviously
that's Jaguar.
That could be from, like I said in the past, when we've talked about how it could be from
BYD.
Yeah, that's right.
It could be any Chinese car company that is here now or we've not heard of yet and
he's coming here.
Because it doesn't shout Jaguar to me, it doesn't even whisper Jaguar to me.
It couldn't be BYD because that'd be a tape and blue whale or something that is BYD.
DMI.
Yeah, it could be if it was a Moda or something like that.
Can I just say before we move on though, because we have been long on this story, there is
an auto car article linked in the show notes which goes all through this and for the first
time ever, I'm going to recommend going to the comments of auto car.
Now I know normally that's the bottom half of the internet, but this time I think everyone
should read the comment that at the moment of recording is the top when it's sorted
by best by a high frist that's H-Y-F-R-I-T-H posted on the 13th of May with a theory as
to why Jag are doing what they're doing and a wider discussion of the car industry and
more.
This one, when I read it, it actually made a lot of sense to me.
I'm not saying necessarily it is true or that is what's happening, but I'm not saying
that it isn't either.
I really like this comment and it made me think.
There's one club by someone called D-Stage 5 which is like the second one down which
also makes a lot of sense as well.
High frist's one, I think he's got a very good point there, but my counter argument
is I don't think it's expensive enough or obviously exclusive enough to achieve what
High Frist is saying, but I think he makes a good point.
Well anyway, do you want to take us onto something that is eye-wateringly expensive though?
Ask the Martin.
Yes.
It's not as eye-wateringly expensive as it was.
It depends if you're trying to run it.
Well yes, a few years ago, they were valued at 5.8 billion and according to this car
scoop article, since 2018 when that happened, it is now worth about £430 million or $584
million.
One of the reasons why the value was so low is because for the eighth time since going
public then they went off looking for a cash injection.
They received it, they received £50 million from a consortium of investors led by Stroll.
That doesn't seem a lot.
£50 million does not seem a lot.
I mean, I know that's an enormous amount of money to URI personally, but to the company.
Given that last year they lost £364 million, then yeah, it's not looking so great.
This car scoop article, after that point, I feel it goes a little bit off the wall because
they do start to look at whether or not Geely might swoop in and save it whilst at the same
time Geely has reduced its stake.
Mercedes-Benz has reduced its stake.
That's totally at odds with that.
Also, I think Geely are having enough trouble with British firms that they've bought up
over the years.
LEVC was meant to the London Electric Vehicle Company who made London Times.
It was meant to be expanding and have multiple models of stuff.
We've already seen that other than the van, which was not wonderfully successful.
I have seen two of them.
I've seen a couple.
I have seen a couple, but it's not exactly a success.
No.
And of course, Lotus, which is something of a disaster at the minute given they're getting
rid of 500 people and lost £195 million in the first half of 2035.
No, I don't think that that actually is realistic and I doubt that will be the case.
Andy Palmer, well-known talking head on these, just about everything British automotive
these days, says he believes the company should welcome Chinese partners with open arms, but
he doesn't say that about quite a lot of things.
So I wouldn't.
I don't know.
Yeah.
I've told the story of literally bumping into Andy Palmer in the Sunderland plot.
I knew it was important because he had no shame in his shoes, but he didn't have steel
toe caps.
It was the only way you can tell important people in the Sunderland plot.
But it is worrying for us to Martin.
I mean, they are continuing to be us to Martin traditionally lurching from crisis to crisis.
I mean, yeah.
It is.
By the way, just scrolling through the pictures here, I've seen an uptick in the number of
DBX I've seen.
All right.
Okay.
I don't know.
I mean, obviously we hope it does well.
Yeah.
But it is the next in Martin's long history of cash crises.
Yeah.
It's, you know, they make lovely cars and crisis.
Okay.
I'm now going to take us all the way to China.
We are going to talk about Solantis and Dongfang.
Solantis has signed a deal with Dongfang who have a plant in Wuhan that from 2027 they
are going to build two new Peugeots and two new Jeeps, which are going to be initially
for the Chinese market and then go on to global export.
They're going to be using Dongfang's software and underpinnings as part of this.
Apparently the Peugeots are going to be based on the concept six and concept eight that we're
recently shown at the Beijing motor shows.
This does feel like it's a long way off compared to what some Chinese manufacturers do in terms
of we've shown you a picture.
Now we're going to build it for you.
Here it is three weeks later.
But I think that is a consequence of the, I don't want to say traditional because that's
not the right word because China has traditional car makers now.
They've been there long enough.
Yes.
Those not in the local market.
It's like history repeating, the last couple of stories like history repeating themselves,
but it's Dongfang building four Peugeots and the global market as opposed to the other
way around just for the Chinese market.
Yep.
We talk about traditional manufacturers and something's been around for about 40 years
on for 50 years now.
It's almost as though all those things that people warned would happen have happened.
Well, yes.
Next up, XPeng in talks with Volkswagen the latest in the list of Chinese companies who
are looking to share some of that underused and expensive factory space with European
brands.
XPeng in talks with Volkswagen to buy at least one European factory or at least rent space
with anyone.
We'll see where that goes.
Yep.
Okay.
That means I can move on to the UK.
And last week, the government announced that it is going to ease some of the rules for
electric vans that are plated up to 4.25 tons in weight.
They will now be considered the same as a 3.5 internal combustion engine van.
That means that there is some bureaucratic side of things that no longer have to be done
such as an annual MOT test that drivers don't have to use tachographs and this sort of thing
which is coming into play from the 1st of June.
It's a playing field leveler.
He's about to go nuts about it.
But it's not a playing field leveler, is it?
It is changing the rules to allow something that doesn't fit to the rules to now be in
the rules.
And those rules are in place for our safety and they have been in place for years and
they were deemed to be successful.
Okay.
Then if we can do it for electric, let's just change it and do it for diesel and petrol
vans as well.
Yeah.
That's not quite the point.
I don't think.
I think the point is that you're doing it so that you can make sure that there is adoption
and the rules may well change again in the future.
I wouldn't hold my breath on that happening, by the way.
Yeah.
That's exactly what they're doing.
They're doing it is because there isn't the products out there that will fit the same
need as a three and a half tonne diesel van.
So they've had to go, okay, well, let's just pretend that the safety stuff we've got in
place doesn't matter because it's electric and let's think because we're only going to
focus on this one narrow bit.
In other countries then what's plated here is a three and a half tonne van.
It's also plated as a four tonne van or a quarter tonne van.
So just because it's considered something in this country does not mean it's the same
cross that at least the Continental or wherever.
It's like seven and a half tonne trucks are a British construct everywhere else are an
eight tonne truck.
It doesn't make any difference to the components being used, it doesn't make any difference
to anything else.
It's all the same stuff.
There's just a different number written on a little plaque on the driver's B pillar.
I don't think that this is, okay, my captain sensible heart odd.
I understand why you're making a big deal about it, but I don't think it's as big a
deal as you're making.
And I'm not saying you're wrong either.
But if we're going to bend for this one, why don't we bend for all of it?
That's my thought.
But really, you saw a professional van all about this.
So as they have a link here in the show notes, I'd go have a wee read of that.
Andrew, what are you going to get angry about next?
I'm not.
You're going to talk about this.
You're going to talk about...
Oh, am I getting angry about it?
My apologies.
You're going to tell people how we pick a unique identifying marker and we just display
it to everybody and then think that that's okay when it comes to security.
But there was a perfectly good reason for displaying it to everyone.
It was so that everyone could see it and compare it between the front of the car and the back
of the car.
And as a result, cotton shots, the attendant safety issues, the legality issues have almost
been eliminated.
No, and that still should stand.
Absolutely.
100%.
That's right.
Yeah.
However, when you have a unique identifier for your vehicle that is on display through
the bottom left-hand corner of the windscreen or ever, then maybe don't make that the unique
identifier that you can use to register a vehicle with the vehicle's online presence.
Howdy.
Oh, God.
It's so depressing.
But it's very easy.
When you're a data guy and you're sitting down, you're going, oh, am I going to write
my database with your adenoids on show and you're sitting there and you go, well, what's
a unique identifier for this column in this table that I'm going to link to my vehicles
for their online registration?
And you go, well, there's a vehicle identification number.
That's unique.
It does a change.
And whatever the third thing is, I can't remember, which is how you choose a primary key.
I like to link between tables and databases.
There's your nerdy text off for the evening.
Go make it the thing that's on the outside of the car.
But data architects don't necessarily think of these things.
That underlines the attitude of car industry.
There is never an adult there who goes, but it's a great idea, lads.
However, that isn't going to work because of X, Y, and Z.
I'm going to get in trouble for this again, but this is the problem with data architects.
This goes way back into the people who make databases that that's actually all the problem.
It took me years.
I thought all this data stuff was really, really complicated for a long time.
The problem is the data architect.
I'm not saying all data architects like that, but I have met a few.
And that's where it comes from.
There's a sort of like, we've got this great thing, but then it's not necessarily understood
how it's used in the real world.
Anyway, the MyOD app and a multiplicity of other things on the Volkswagen platform
do seem to use the VIN as the login and the identifier for the vehicle.
This is all being reported.
It's on the Code.Cloud.
There's a story there.
Go have a read of it.
I'm surprised this didn't turn up as a lunchtime read.
It's sort of a natural news story.
Go have a read.
It's very interesting and it's kind of cool.
But ultimately, if you connect to a vehicle using its VIN,
you link yourself through the app as a guest user.
You can do all sorts of fun things like to the horn and lock doors and all that kind of thing,
which you really shouldn't do.
It has obviously all been reported to Hode and fixes are underlay,
if not, or something we're already in place.
But how I read of this story, if you want to understand in more detail,
and I think some of you, maybe who are motor and journalists,
should have a wee read of this.
And there's a bit you don't understand that you can touch with,
either the author or you might be able to help.
Not a huge data, not really my thing.
But if you need the chance about it,
then do stop looking at me, Andrew, you're freaking me out.
It's just depressing as every week there's something really stupid, isn't there?
I know.
I know.
And everyone should know better by now.
Cars, connectivity, everything's been around for over a decade.
Why is this still new?
Why is this so amateurish?
And then you realise that actually it's like that and companies do.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, it definitely is not just a car industry problem.
However, the ramifications from the car industry are a bit more total.
Cars are on every street corner.
Yeah.
That's where it becomes a big deal.
And also, leaves.
People much, much better generally are protecting trains
and these kind of things than cars and cars are everywhere.
And people have more time to stand down to poke at them.
Yeah.
Anyway, that brings us to guilt minute.
Guilt minute.
Of course, the quick break and show.
We asked for a tad of flash support to keep the lights on and the hosting running
and to remind you that we have a patron.
Also, I'm going to remind you that on the 4th of June,
June, because I got it wrong last week and I didn't spot it.
I didn't spot it.
Nobody spotted it.
That was you who spotted it.
That 4th of June, then we're having Q&A live stream.
Questions coming in already.
Thank you so much for those of you who sent them in.
But yes, do get in touch by any of the usual channels
and obviously there's the contact page on MotorPockups.com.
As well as LinkedIn, Blue Sky, Patreon.
Those are really the best ways, aren't they?
Yeah.
To do it.
But yeah, get in touch.
Let's make a question.
It can be a bit lighter.
It can be something heavier.
For goodness sakes, don't ask about JLR.
20 minutes was plenty on that topic.
Thanks.
Anyway, in the meantime, then you can help us by following for free for podcast player.
Receive every show as they're released and by liking,
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The last thing you can do is to recommend us to your friends or colleagues.
Thank you everyone.
It does very much appreciate it.
Yeah.
Loads of nice comments about the BYD seal thing.
I always get it wrong.
A Seal 5.
Seal 5.
DMI.
DMI, yeah.
Much appreciate it.
Glad you enjoyed it and it was time to put together.
Right.
New, new car news then.
And I'm going to start with the Volkswagen ID Polo GTI has now been revealed.
And apparently, according to the article from AutoCar,
it has everything that belongs to a real GTI,
quoting Volkswagen's technical chief.
Okay.
This is an important car though.
It is a very important car for Volkswagen,
but it is a very important car in terms of electric vehicles.
And crossing more over into mainstream.
This is Volkswagen's second generation of EV.
I really want this to be the generation that Volkswagen
really wanted to be building the first time around
if they hadn't been such a man who rushed because diesel
gave all of these types of things.
Yeah, absolutely.
It's going to have a 223 brake horsepower from a single front-mounted electric motor.
It's going to hit 62 miles an hour in a brisk 6.8 seconds
and has the top speed of 109 miles per hour.
Well, actually, all of those seem really sensible
because the Polo is a smaller car.
It doesn't need to be like the Golf GTI
and the 50th anniversary one,
which is even more powerful than the R.
It doesn't need to do that because the electricness,
as we keep saying, it makes it quick off the line anyway.
This seems like a good sensible spec for this type of car.
And it also sounds like it will then manage
the balance between performance and range.
Because if you go into some of the more powerful things
unless they have absolutely enormous batteries,
which a Polo just can't have just from the physical space,
then you are compromised with using the performance
and having a range that you want.
If you're interested in hearing more about that,
then go way back in as the Volvo XC40, isn't it?
Yep.
Yeah, XC40 Special Edition,
where somebody maybe gets a little warm under the collar about that.
For good reason.
But talking about the range though, the range-wise,
they did say that it is going to,
whilst it is not, it is going to be down on the ID Polo,
it is going to be 263 miles
with maximum DC charging speed of 105 kilowatt,
which will enable 10% to 80% refill in 24 minutes.
To like to point out, that's still 80 miles
from where my Yaris GRM gets in the tank of fuel.
Did I say at the start, I think this looks really good?
No, we haven't talked about the looks yet.
I can't remember if I did.
I do, I think it looks good.
And that's going to go for all the ID Polos as well,
and then this is just icing on the cake, really.
Yes, you look at it and you think that's a Polo, not ID3.
Super cool.
Like lots.
I love that they're offering,
they seem to be offering the retro dangers as one of the options
you can choose, drives, instrument, binoculars.
Yeah, absolutely.
I wanted to talk about that.
I did want to mention that.
I'm glad you brought it up because I'd forgotten.
You know when I went off on one about the CarPlay Ultra
and in the Aston Martin, this was exactly the point
I was trying to make is look what Volkswagen have done.
Okay, it's digital, but they are reminding everyone
this is where we came from because they were really,
really good dials.
We didn't need to mess with them.
They were so clear, so excellent.
I wish BMW let you choose the sort of E30 dashboard
or the E36 dashboard.
As well with the swinging economy at the bottom of the ref counter.
But I wish they'd let you choose that instead of all of the angles.
Can you tell I was driving my dad's car today?
Just to finish this off though,
that the GTI is going to cost from around £33,500
and the ID Polo is going to start at just under £22,000.
Okay, that sort of makes sense.
I'm really intrigued by this one.
I hope it's successful and I'd love to give it a drive
and just see what it's like.
And I hope Volkswagen have knocked this out the park
in terms of bringing it in.
Like Alan said, this is what we always wanted to produce.
We've just had to go through four or five years of pain
to get to this point.
I would love to try a £23,000 ID Polo.
Yeah.
Very interested to know what that would look like and feel like.
283 miles.
It might not be that big a battery if it's at the lower end,
but yeah, 200 more than ever miles.
It's good looks.
That's got to be a competitor in the price bracket.
Yeah, yeah.
It's got to be.
Oh, anyway, do you want to stick with Volkswagen then?
Stick with Volkswagen.
It's an update on an electric Volkswagen that I really like,
which is the ID Puzz.
Admittedly, my only experience with the ID Puzz was a GTX
and phenomenally high trim.
But it was very nice.
But it turns out, well, it was very nice,
but there were a whole lot of issues as well to now.
And basically, it's Volkswagen updating the ID Puzz
in line with the ID 4, the ID 3 Evo.
Have I got it right?
Oh, what's it called?
NEO.
ID 3 NEO.
Yes, NEO.
Instead of the long hot tick buttons on the steering wheel,
there are actual physical button.
There are actual physical buttons
to work some of the in-car entertainment,
and that's all been upgraded.
So it's basically pulled the ID Puzz up in alignment
with the rest of the new ID models
in terms of actual, like, real buttons and things
instead of hot ticks and touch screens
and lacks of illumination and all of that kind of thing.
Other thing that they've included is one pedal driving.
Instead of the traditional three-mile-noured creep
that they had originally built in,
they have removed the three-mile-noured creep
and have instead let it come to a complete stop
if you wish, and if you left off the go pedal.
Do you like one pedal driving?
If it's done well?
Do you?
Oh, I don't.
It's been a while.
I'm out of practice.
Sorry, I don't.
No, I tend to be a co-
But you see, in normal cars, I'm a bit of a coaster anyway, so.
Okay, that makes sense.
But range-wise, because they've got a bunch of different batteries,
but range-wise, they're looking at,
from a 79 kilowatt-hour battery, 282 miles.
Long wheelbase model gets 86 kilowatt-hour battery, that's 292.
Top of the range for the only one that Alan will ever drive,
the GTX.
You have that same 86 kilowatt battery,
and that goes 280 miles,
but you do get 336 brake horsepower.
So you can leave people in your dust off the lights.
And lots of the torques as well.
Yeah.
Okay, those are certainly on the other side of the Atlantic,
people making lots of noise about that range.
And if you're running around the place,
picking up kids, dropping off kids,
you're going quite soft to use up 282 miles on a dick.
And even on a long drive, if you have to stop and charge,
then by the time you've corralled a bunch of people
to go for a wee and everything,
then you're going to have got most of the way from 20% to 80%.
You know, in the length of time that it takes,
that it takes families to do that,
get something to eat, whatever else.
So I don't have a big deal with that,
but that's me.
Maybe my imaginary use case is not as realistic as I think it is.
I can't remember the price of them,
but I think they're a bit spicy on the old price front.
But then...
The ID buzz is quite spicy on the prices, yes.
But then the internal combustion engine stroke hybrid.
Traditional transporter Caravelle is spicy
on the old price front anyway.
Yes, there's no...
This is the article that we read in LinkedIn,
show notes from evpower.co.uk.
No mention of price in the article,
so I imagine that also I'm going to have a new stick yet either.
Okay, I'm going to round out new, new car news.
We have not one but two you get treated this week.
And first up, the new Renault for Cliencer.
Is that how you pronounce it, Clien?
God, that was awful.
Well, of course it was, it was me.
Clarsuit.
So I was halfway through a drink there,
I was spat it out, that was so bad.
It's the Renault for Clarsuit.
Clarsuit.
Okay, thank you.
And what that really means is that there is going to be a canvas roof
that runs the full length of the roof on the Renault for,
that you can fold back,
because you can spot summaries on its way,
if you're going to reveal something like that.
The Renault for, if it was my choice in the brief drives
I've had in the five and the four,
the four is the one I would go for,
even though I prefer the looks of the five.
However, as a car to use,
I think it is much more practical,
particularly if you're more than just a couple.
So to put something like this in, great, it's a bit of fun.
How many companies are doing something like this?
Virtually none of them,
because at best you get a glass panoramic roof.
It doesn't open.
This, wonderful.
Marvelous.
I like this a lot.
This is going straight to the heart of some of the small fiends.
Yeah.
Which are no longer made.
Yeah, absolutely.
And then the second treat is only a concept car, I'm afraid.
And this is the JP 4x4 concept car.
It's basically, they've done a bit of a Freelander 3-door on the back,
on this with the, and removed it.
Oh my gosh.
No, but it looks so much cooler than that.
However, I'm just trying to work out how to describe what they've done at the back.
They've sort of made it almost like a coupé over the back three-quarter.
There is part of a door, because it's a concept across there.
And then there's a chap about to go off and do some surfing.
I mean, if this was the 90s, then this would be him holding a hoverboard and in a silver
space suit, because that's the way French concept cars were photographed.
I don't know.
I mean, this is just an image anyway.
I don't believe it's the real thing, is it?
I can't, it's just so heavily doctored.
Supposedly, yeah.
It might be heavily done.
Yeah.
But it looks cool anyway.
I like it.
I like it lots.
I like both of those.
Yes, please.
Thank you very much.
That'll do.
So the exterior paint color, though, apparently in this one, is inspired by the emerald green
and lettuce green offered on the Renault 4L during the 70s and 80s.
Lettuce green.
Okay.
Do check out two articles to see those, though.
Any points of interest, folks, starting off with lunchtime read.
We've been talking lots about, just talking about Renault just there.
And, yeah, Stylantis has been developing lots of interesting cars.
Renault then started developing lots of interesting cars.
And around the same kind of times, you'll be down, moved back from Renault when some
of these cars we've just been talking about, the 5s, the 4s, the new Clio, came to production,
was hired back to be head of, yeah, European design chief for Stylantis in Europe.
Back again to the Peugeot, the Citroens, the Fiat, and other single design over there.
But Twingo was the only new Renault I didn't mention just there.
He's saying some very interesting things.
The article that's linked for your lunchtime read is by Charlie Martin in an auto car,
and it's an interview with Beedah.
And it's very interesting what he's saying about differentiating brands and all these
kind of things, how there needs to be a differentiation and everything can't just
be cookie cutter at the other one.
I'm paraphrasing terribly here.
But these are all good points.
These are things that we've been saying, that other commentators have been saying,
for a while now, about what kind of Stylantis needs and what it needs over the next little while.
This sounds like your man's on it, to be honest.
But yeah, it's an interesting look into his thoughts and actually talking about
plans and other stuff that's coming.
I'm trying to talk about it and summarise it about giving anything away and still making
it worth your while to read it.
My real concern is, will he be able to achieve his vision?
Yes.
That's what I hope he can, because we all want exciting different cars.
The trouble is that the vision is going to take four or five years.
It's going to take, because it's got to be that model, so we might see hints of what the vision is,
but the actual vision of them will go away, I would imagine four years, five years,
down the line, because what we're only seeing now from Renault is what his vision was whenever
he joined Renault.
Do be aware of that.
But really good article, try that.
As they have a read, take five, 10 minutes of your lunchtime and tell me what you read
either.
Yeah.
That takes us on to the list of the weekend.
This is from Classic and Sportscar.
Sorry, everyone, but it's 25 cars that are 60 in 2026.
Now, I don't believe, I refuse to believe, in fact, that all of these are 60 in 2026.
I might stretch some of them to 50, but I won't go over that.
No, no, all of these are old enough that I can believe that they're getting on for 60,
because that's so much older than me.
I know you don't have quite the same thing, but you don't have as much of a gap between you and
them.
But yeah, no, these are still, to me, these are still old cars.
So, I don't have a problem.
It's the ones where they're 40 and you're like, no, no, I remember the launch.
I'm sure I can remember the launch of that.
That's where it's difficult.
Well, have you picked?
Do you want me to tell you what I've chosen?
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I'm 14 in your handout.
That's slide number 15, because of course there's a traditional intro slide.
The Jensen Fuffa, the Jensen FF.
Excellent.
The first non-altering production car equipped with four-wheel drive system
supplied by Ferguson.
Also, the first production car to use EBS, thanks to Dunlop and his Maxite technology
from there.
I've always really liked these.
I can tell the difference between these and intercepted by the two wheels.
I think it's really cool.
And I'm trying to remember who designed them.
I think it was Michelotti.
I could be wrong.
It doesn't say just here.
Maybe if I move a little bit.
Touring, pardon me.
It was touring who designed it.
Very cool shape.
Do you like the look of these?
What do I do?
Come on, Mr. Fiverr.
It's 35, it's 212.
Well, I just need you to go back two slides to slide 13, which is number 12, the Honda S800.
Just little cutesy two-door coupé run around.
Yeah, it's just great.
Japanese MG Midget.
Yeah, and considering it was trying to move Honda out of, we just make up half of the F1 stuff,
but we're making utilitarian cars.
I mean, a lot of the things you see the Chinese car makers doing now is they are flexing muscles
and showing, oh, we're not just about cheap and cheerful.
We're not just about a vehicle just to get the population moving.
We can do more.
We are capable of much more than that.
And I just think it's a great little thing because they're so rare as well.
They are fantastic around.
Very cute.
Very cute indeed.
I like the one with the picture and the silver stuff.
It really suits it.
Yeah, there's a bunch of quality cars in this classic and sports car list.
Do you check out the slideshow?
Slowly, carefully and steadily.
Yes, that's directions from classic and sports cars themselves.
Don't we have a reputation for breaking people's list of goals these days?
Well, because the Haymarket and slide shows, we do tend to get eight guys do it like this.
So we pass that on to you as a service.
Well, do you want to take us to the end finally then?
And finally this week comes from the Autopia, man.
It's from a while ago, about a month ago, really.
Let's not go by Thomas Fündahl about essentially racing firefighters.
And it's called New York's Bravest Firefighters Race.
These bizarre trucks in one of the coolest competitions on the planet.
What you have to imagine here, folks, is drag racing over a very short course
and using custom-built fire engines.
At least we're going to face a serious drag car, which people cling on to the back of.
Literally in one of these pictures.
No, literally they don't.
Then they erect a 25-foot ladder.
Some of us decline 25 foot ladder, get the handle at the top.
After they have raised a 475 foot, whatever the heck that is, in real measurements,
course, so they accelerate.
And they can get up to 80 miles an hour and to a stop again.
And then people can climb the ladder, put the handle on the top row,
and that's when they stop the clock.
And that can happen in about 10 seconds.
There is a video embedded in this article as well for you to just to see how insane this is.
And there's like 80 rounds of this across New York State alone.
Happens all over the country in the US because they are all a bit mad when it comes to this kind of stuff.
But they essentially have these class B-fire trucks, which is built just for this.
Basically drag trucks with a ladder and ways for people to hang on to the back of it.
Have a look.
Watch the video.
It's special.
Yes, that's a good way to put it.
It is special.
Only in America type of thing.
Yeah, anything we've missed.
I don't think so.
I mean, yeah.
Apologies for recording on a weird night, especially to you, Patron folk.
It just did just work better.
And you can still watch the video.
Yep.
Can this week.
All of that parish notes, of course, comes down to the 4th of June.
Q&A, the live Q&A.
We need your cues so that we can provide some A's.
Remember, this is your opportunity to guide what we talk about as opposed to us going and picking it
with our news story randomizer.
If you feel like I've got news for you, stay.
Anything else I should say there?
Don't think so.
Fantastic.
Well, then, everyone, don't forget to now next week, you can give us any feedback and share your thoughts
with the show at motoringpodcast.com on Blueskite.
At Motoring Podcasts on Instagram and Facebook.
And on the contact page at www.motoringpodcast.com, the hub of all our activities.
Whoever you support is financially via Patreon.
And please leave a review and rating on Apple Podcasts on YouTube,
or however your podcast app lets you do such a thing.
Andrew, what's the best way to get in touch with you?
The best way to get in touch with me is if you search for correct windscreen on Blueskite,
or under my full name on LinkedIn.
And Alan, if people would like to get in touch with you personally,
what is the best way for them to do that?
The best way with me is go to Blueskite, where I'm at ADP Bradley.
That's B-I-E-D-N-Y.B-Sky.Social.
Or similarly, my full name on LinkedIn as well.
We'll be back very soon.
But until then, I've been Alan Bradley.
I've been Andrew Clues.
And safe motoring.
About this episode
Hosts kick off with Euro NCAP pressure over an MG3 front-seat crash-test issue, noting MG’s approved fix but saying many owners still haven’t had it applied. The show then pivots to JLR’s shocks—tariffs, weaker China sales and cyber-attack production pauses—before moving into Jaguar’s “Type 01” naming and Aston Martin/Chinese ownership-and-capacity chatter. Later, the discussion turns to UK EV-van rules, connected-car security around VIN-based access, and a run of Volkswagen ID Polo/ID Buzz EV news and specs.
EuroNCAP has called on customers with MG3s to get the free fix to their seats, following the failure under testing in September 2025. A front crash test exposed the issue with one side of the driver’s seat moving forward 111.5cm, mid impact. MG has an approved solution. For more on this story, click this Carscoops article link here.
JLR FINANCIAL RESULTS
JLR posted a loss of £244 million, for the last financial year. The company was impacted by the cyber attack, tariffs, a dwindling Chinese market for Western cars and the transition of Jaguar. The company has also stated that it will be seeking to cut around £1.7 million in costs over the next two years. You can read more by clicking this Autocar article link here.
JAGUAR NAME THEIR FIRST NEW CAR OF REBRAND
Jaguar has named the electric GT due to be launched this year, the Type 01. Apparently, this ties into their heritage, for example the D-Type and E-Type. If you wish to read more, including the incredibly incisive comment from Hyfrith, click this Autocar article link here.
ASTON MARTIN SOUGHT MORE NEW FINANCING
Aston Martin had to seek more emergency funding, just two weeks ago, as it received £50 million from the consortium led by Lawrence Stroll. This is the eighth time they have had to do so, since the company launched it’s IPO in 2018. Click this Carscoops article link here for more.
STELLANTIS AND DONGFENG SIGN CHINA DEAL
Stellantis has signed a deal with Dongfeng to build two new Peugeot and two new Jeep vehicles in China, for the local market as well as export. This is the first step on the company’s new strategy of building partnerships in markets to help expand globally. For more on this, click the Autocar article link here.
XPENG IN TALKS WITH VW OVER BUYING EUROPEAN FACTORY
Xpeng is the latest Chinese brand to seek to buy a European factory from a local market manufacturer, this time via Volkswagen. The two companies already work with each other, as VW is using Xpeng’s software-defined platform for their Chinese market vehicles. To read more about this story, click this EV Powered article link here.
RULES BENT FOR SOME EV VANS
The Government has changed rules for EV vans plated to 4.25 tonnes, which aligns the requirements for running them to those of a 3.5 tonne vehicle. This removes the need for a yearly MOT, the use of tachographs by drivers and more. You can find out more, by clicking this Professional Van article link here.
AUDI USE UNIQUE IDENTIFIER FOR APP THAT ALL CAN SEE
The myAudi app and service has been found to be using the VIN of cars as the unique identifier for authorisation purposes. This means anyone who can read the VIN, which is displayed for all to see, can gain access to that vehicle via the app and mobile service. There are more issues as well, but CARIAD has addressed some of them. However, they have not acknowledged the work of the researcher or paid them a bounty which is unacceptable behaviour from a company like the Volkswagen Group. You can read more, by clicking Andrea Pierini’s blog post on what he found here.
If you like what we do, on this show, and think it is worth a £1.00, please consider supporting us via Patreon. Here is the link to that CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT THE PODCASTNEW NEW CAR NEWS -Volkswagen ID Polo GTI
VW has revealed the ID Polo GTI, including specifications. Recognisable as a Polo this will come with 52kWh battery, giving 223bhp via a single motor, meaning a 0-62mph time of 6.8 seconds and topping out at 109mph. The price is expected to start around £33,500. Click this Autocar article to read more.
Volkswagen ID Buzz
VW are updating the ID Buzz in line with the rest of their range in terms of the interior, infotainment and the return of physical buttons. Additionally, one pedal driving is now possible. The battery and drivetrain specifications remain the same. Click this EV Powered article link here to read more.
Renault 4 Plein Sud and JP4x4 concept
You get an extra bonus this week as there were two announcements from Renault, for their 4. One you will be able to buy, whilst the other is a cool concept. Apologies for Andrew murdering the pronunciation of Plein Sud, but ignoring that it is essentially a full length canvas sunroof harking back to the time when manufacturers made such things. Looks great and will add some fun to the ownership. Click this Motoring Research article link here for more.
The JP4x4 concept is a sort of beach buggy pick-up mashup. Looks fun and cool and it is great to see a brand experimenting like this, especially considering the market conditions at this time. Click this Motoring Research article link for more.
LUNCHTIME READ: RENAISSANCE MAN
For a change our recommendation to you is not an adventure or something whimsical but an interview with the new European head of design for Stellantis, Gilles Vidal. He talks at about the challenges that Stellantis have and how he hopes to help shape their future. We have, particularly in the last few weeks, discussed the company and how it can drag itself out of the mire it is in, therefore we thought it would be interesting for you to read what one of the most important people they have think they can. Click this Autocar article link here for more.
LIST OF THE WEEK: 25 CARS THAT ARE 60 IN 2026
Once again we bring you a slideshow that might cause you to refuse to believe in the passage of time, as Classic & Sports Car has 25 cars that hit 60 years old this year. Click the link here to see what your options are.
AND FINALLY: CRAZY NEW YORK FIREFIGHTER RACING
In New York there is a competition for firefighters that includes a sort of drag racing car and tasks by the firefighters clinging onto the side and back of these crazy looking vehicles. It has to be seen to be believed. Click this link here from The Autopian for more.
