Dieselgate was a big cheating scandal where Volkswagen made their diesel cars seem cleaner than they really were, which caused a lot of problems for the company.
Many new cars have big touchscreens that show maps, music, and car settings. Honda said they are behind other companies in adding these screens to their cars.
This means the electric car uses a higher power system that can charge the battery faster and help the car perform better.
LIVE
Welcome to the Merchant Podcast, your weekly discussion of murdering news.
This is episode 675 on Tuesday, 17th March, 2026.
Hello, I'm not Alan, I'm Andrew, and this week you'll hear me idly wondering what the
saying is about Butterfly flapping its wings on one side of the world.
In new new car news, you will have to reach for your sunglasses just to sit inside one
new vehicle.
And in points of interest, you will learn how tiny can be mighty.
And we jump straight into the new news.
This could have possibly been a bit of a follow up because I did mention it last week.
But the SMMT had their get together last week about the SMMT Electrified, I think it was
or Electric.
And during it, they asked or urgently called for a review of the zero emission vehicle
mandate.
They were very explicit in saying that the economic and political matters have changed
in the past five years since the last version of the ZEV mandate came out that there's
no way that it's possible to achieve with the current conditions that are out there.
The government was there in terms of they had a representative, but they immediately
rejected that demand and stated that they would carry on with their plan, which is to
start a review in 2027.
Oh, dear.
On the one hand, you've got people and companies who are invested in us moving to an electrified
future quicker.
They say don't slow it down.
On the other hand, you've got the industry saying we can't sell more.
We're already giving millions of pounds away in discounts and the like just to get people
through the door.
And then you've got the government sat in the middle sat on its hands effectively.
I don't see any changes really happening anytime soon.
It might do later on in the year, but as it stands now, they're worrying about other
things rather than this.
As we've said last week, the original figures were frankly plucked from thin air.
They didn't reflect reality.
They really do not reflect reality now.
There are many, many factors which have hampered them.
One of the largest of which at the moment is the geopolitical factors.
Car companies are being hit as we'll find out in this show.
Car companies are being hit heavily in terms of the amount of money that they're making
or not making, what their losses are in many cases, and therefore they cannot sustain the
levels of discounting and what they're doing to get people like I said through the door.
At some point this comes to a head.
Some companies like Stellantis have said unless there is a change and they will be reducing
their UK operations is how they've put it, but there is an article towards the end of
the first part that is a brief glimmer of good hope in this week's really very grim news
that would make the situation worse if they were to leave.
Right, I am going to move us on and a Renault has announced their new strategy which will
take them up to 2030 and it is called the future ready where they have mashed together
future and ready in one word.
Well, I mean, it's better than the previous one which was the Renault solution plan.
What they're going to be doing is they're going to release 36 new models by 2030.
This will be split across Europe and international markets.
That will also be split between hybrid, internal combustion engine and electric depending on
the market.
There is a lot of talk here of them building on what they're already doing well when it
comes to the three brands they have, like Desha will continue to look at four-wheel drive and
hybrid type of tech, Alpine will go deeper into trying to keep customer loyalty and also
there's some really lovely wording here which should make everybody worried but they're
saying the quiet bits out loud but they're aiming for every stage of the lifetime of
the car sold to become a source of revenue optimization.
Yes, and there's a lot of talk about how technology and software is going to help them.
They are doubling down with Google to use the Android automotive platform with that
which makes me worried and depending on how much you look into software and technology
that may be a no-no for you and that may just cross them off your potential list.
But they're also talking about using or helping evolve their software defined vehicle platform
into an artificial intelligence defined vehicle which Renault claims paves the way for truly
intelligent cars and can control infotainment, ADAS and the chassis.
Well, no, frankly that couldn't be a big a no if you tried it.
Do remember everyone who's listening.
AI cannot meet the criteria of safety critical software.
I cannot understand how the car industry is going down this route.
I cannot understand how the safety experts and legislators are allowing it to happen.
It just beggars belief they need to stop it.
Just drives me insane.
Anyway, I don't want to harp on too much about that because then this show could just
be me doing that for half an hour or so and that's not fair on you.
I'm going to move on to some positive news for VW Group and that is that Seat and Cooper
have posted record sales.
However, that only meant they made one million euro in profit.
That is because they got hammered by the tariffs involving bringing Chinese built EVs into Europe
and also they have put a huge amount of capex into future projects such as a new EV battery plant
as well as developing new models that are yet to come and updating existing models.
That's got to be quite gutting if you're in there.
But the great thing is to see how they have actually increased their sales, increase the
registrations and that's a really good positive thing to take from it because moving on to the
next article, that's the only good bit of news that the Volkswagen Group has.
They had an awful 2025.
They had an operating margin of just 2.8% which is according to this article linked
is the equivalent of 8.9 billion euros of total revenues.
That is down 53% on 2024's 19.1 billion euros.
Again, they're making it clear that trade tariffs, particularly with the US,
as well as exchange rate fluctuations and a cost associated with Porsches
right down on top of that China will have been even worse for them than the previous year.
Again, somebody deciding and having a bit of a tantrum in one country is having such a huge
knock-on effect to everybody everywhere and for that I feel very sorry for the car industry.
I am happy to point out their own self-inflicted wounds but that is not one of them.
You have to add on top of everything as well for Volkswagen Group.
The costs associated with Dieselgate, no one makes that just disappear easily.
They're already worse starting from behind the marker and I can't see how that isn't affecting
them now and maybe the fact that there is such geopolitical turmoil that they can hide all those
facts and blame it on that. In terms of what they're going to do is they are looking to have
at least 6 billion euros savings per year by 2030. They reckon they've managed to save a
billion already. This is including now 50,000 jobs going. The problem I've got here is because
we've talked about this previously. We talked about it last year where the Volkswagen Group
mentioned 30,000 to 40,000 job losses. I don't know if this is an additional 50,000 jobs or
whether this is just upping what it was before. Equally the amount of money they're looking to
save. I don't know if this is upping that amount or if that is additional to what they already
said they were saving. We are seeing so many announcements from the VW Group going it's worse
than we thought we need to save. It doesn't sound like they're saying save more but it could equally
be that. It's very unclear as to how much money they are actually needing to save and how bad a
situation they're in. I think it's pretty bad for the company. The Porsche thing is a huge, huge
dent and we will find out Porsche's own financial results soon I would imagine by next week. Of
course, we'll bring that to you in the show. Write more bad news. I know it's just so grim at the
minute but Honda has quite shockingly decided to scrap the Zero Series Saloon and SUV. They were due
to be launching them in a few months but you remember we discussed these when they revealed them.
I was less than complimentary on the looks. I was less than complimentary on the price that
they thought they were going to be charging and I was very much less than complimentary about the
range and performance they've talked about. Just none of it was good enough in my opinion.
However, irrespective of my thoughts, this will mean that they are going to have losses
because of writing this down just in this financial year of £1.62 to £2.7 billion.
They expect more pain in 2026 to 2027 as well. They make it clear that this is down to how the
US has changed its policy on EVs and the fact that there just isn't the market there for it,
which is where they were hoping to sell most of these. They also are making it very clear that
how they produce or have produced vehicles historically, i.e., not about software, not about
big shiny screens that allegedly us consumers want, allegedly. They say that they are behind the curve
on that sort of thing. I thought that the new EVs were going to help fix that for them in some
cases because of the way that they were going about it, but clearly not. That's a real tough one
for Honda. We have yet to hear what their plans are going to be moving forward in terms of Europe
and that sort of thing. I couldn't finish this part of the show out with it all being quite so
negative. I had to have some positivity in here. Whilst there is the threat hanging over from the
story that unless the Zevmandate is reviewed, Stellantis will move out. In the meantime,
they are investing 50 million in Ellesmere Port to add a new fresh electric van assembly line,
and that will take the Vauxhall, Strogopal, Vivaro-sized electric van that they've got.
That's got to be tied into them getting rid of Luton, but obviously the way that there is a
Zevmandate for vans as well, even though that's whilst the car one is bad, the van one is
dreadfully not being kept at pace with at all because the product does not match what many
of the first brand new van owners once stroke need or can live with. The van mandate, whilst
it makes so much sense on paper, was so far out from reality when they first wrote it. It was
just laughable. Anyway, this is great news for Ellesmere Port. That means that there'll be more
jobs as well. For the short term, it is guaranteeing how bright the future is there and that they are
doing a good job with the other stuff that they are building there at the moment, the combo,
the Balingo partner and the Doblo all in electric versions. That's great.
After that whistle stop tour of grim news with the occasional bright spot, that means we are
at guilt minute and that's the quick break in the show where we ask for a Tata financial support
to keep the lights on and the hosting running. If you feel that the motion podcast is worth a small
consideration every month, then you can become a patron. The different levels of patron include
different levels of commitment from us to you, including being able to watch the show recorded
live, although not this week. We also have a small range of merchandise in our spring store
from stickers to mugs and t-shirts. If you don't have any spare cash and we completely understand,
then you can help us by following for free from a podcast player to receive every show as they're
released and by liking and rating the show and whatever your podcast supplier lets you. If you
have done all of that and some of you do so, thank you very much. Then the last thing you can do is
recommend us to your friends or colleagues. Thank you, everyone that does. It is very much appreciated.
I am taking us now into new, new car news. I'm going to start with
Jaku. They are bringing the eight, which is a three row SUV that will be coming in plug-in hybrid
form to the UK from May, and prices will start at £45,500 for the luxury trim.
The only other trim is Executive, which has prices at £47,500. It's going to be using the
superhybrid system that all the other Cherry Group models, such as the Amada 9 and TIGO 9 news,
that means that it is a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine, three-speed auto gearbox,
and that will create, then, as it's all mounted together, 422 brake horsepower with £427
foot of the Torx, and it gives a 0-62 time of, oh my word, 5.8 seconds, which, as this auto car
article that's linked in the show notes points out, is very close to being a Golf GTI in something
this size is to see previous shows where we have said that how silly that is.
There is going to have a combined range of more than 700 miles, apparently, and the electric only
range of 83 miles, which is awesome. There is DC fast charging capability of up to 50 kilowatts,
which allows for a 30-80% charge in around 20 minutes. There isn't, at the moment, an EV-only
version of the eight in the pipeworks, and also they won't be bringing the
2-litre petrol entry level either, so it's just a fev is what we're getting here. Three rows of
seats, but there's different layouts to that. Sometimes you can have it as the captain's chairs
where there's six seats, there's the two front passengers, two middle and two at the back,
and then there's others where it's more benches across there. It's going to have a dual 12.3
inch displays, a Sony 14-speaker sound system, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto,
and heated ventilated and massaging front seats, all as standard.
Yes, £45,000 for a Jacob. It'd be interesting to see if they pull that off. I mean, they've
shifting the seven and the five, so who's to say not? Who is to say not?
Moving on, though, and let's go back a little bit in time. Thank you, Katerin, for this.
The Katerin 7 HWM edition. HWM, apparently, is a dealer that Katerin partners with anyway.
However, if you go back further in time, HWM used to be a racing team all of its own,
and it had its own vehicle. Now, that's what this is all to do with.
This pays tribute to the fact that Sir Sterling Moss won his first F1 race in an HWM car,
and it's going to have the HWM green, which looks lovely. It's a light pale green,
and it's also got the distinctive HWM nose cone grille, which, again, just fits it so well,
and they've also gone for the mudguards that fit over each of the wheels individually,
rather than the long, swooping ones that come down the side. Superb stuff.
Starts at £57,900. It's going to have a two-litre 210bhp Duratec four-cylinder engine,
five-speed manual gearbox, 0-62 in a brisk 3.8 seconds,
and a top speed of 136 miles per hour. Good luck if you were ever trying to do that,
not on the road, obviously. Obviously not. The interior looks fabulous as well.
The supersprint dashboard with hand-turned aluminium Smith's chrome dials,
retro Moto-litre polished wood wheel. It looks wonderful. Ah, please.
But the seats are a bit more modern. Don't worry, they're not. They're not tied to the
1950s for that. Wonderful thing. Do click the Evo link to have a look at the pictures.
That just looks great. Oh, I really need to drive a catering.
Really do, if I could fit in one. That's probably my first challenge.
Right, moving on from that, and we are going to something that is very much
now, and that is the Mercedes VLA. That is a van which they claim is equivalent to the E-class,
but in van form, and has the same drag coefficients as the EQE SUV.
This is a lot. There's a lot to this. The outside, fairly decent looking van,
although the front grille is the ridiculous Mercedes front grille. Also, please stop with
the three pointed stars on absolutely everything for every light and all the rest of it.
Round the back, I think Hyundai want to have a word about the Ioniq 9 rear that you've nicked there,
but at least it's visually interesting. The real stuff is on the inside. My word.
There is an LED light strip everywhere in this car. You will need your... Well, first of all,
I presume you can switch this off, because if not, you're going to get very bored of it.
It makes a Twitch streamer look like they're not trying hard enough with their setups, honestly.
Should we say a bit much for me? That's me being kind, because I don't want to edit my swearing
too much. They are talking about how it's luxurious and it's all the rest of this,
and most of that is to do with tech. We're still stuck in that. Oh, technology means luxury.
There's a huge tally and there's an option of one of them. It's more like an S-class than it is
a V-class van, obviously. You're going to pay a pretty penny for this looking at some of the
ways they've laid it out, but when it comes to the electric drive side of it, then the first
variant according to this article is going to be the VLE 300, which will have 268 brake
horsepower, a range of more than 435 miles. That's great, but they need a 115 kilowatt hour
nickel manganese cobalt battery to do that. That's massive and it's enormous. It's going to run off
800 volts, so they haven't made the mistake that some other manufacturers have made by coming out
400 and then saying a week later, actually, we're going to be 800. It claims that if you can find
the right type of charger and it is powered off the grid suitably and the environmental conditions
are also advantageous, you can get 199 miles in just 15 minutes, which if that happens, that's
excellent. Also, we'll do bi-directional charging. There will be a more powerful four-wheel drive
VLE 400, which is going to have over 400 brake horsepower and 6.5 seconds to why does a van
need to get to 62 in 6.5 seconds? That's so silly. Give me another 50 miles range and take it to 10
seconds. Anyway, there's also mentions that there's going to be an entry level model, which will only
have just a mere 80 kilowatt hour lithium ion phosphate batteries. Also, there will be combustion
engine variants connected with the same sort of platform at a later date.
The technical side of it sounds impressive. I cannot see this costing less than 100,000 pound.
There's no way. And then there is the tick box exercise of just how
you want to do the interior, frankly. Stop with the mood lighting for goodness sake.
Anyway, let's go on to points of interest. And this week, we're going to have a long read or big read
from Top Gear. And this is a tale of both. One that I hope is again inspiration for
planning a road trip or planning an expedition or just looking forward to doing something
involving a car later in the year. But it's also a tale of warning that
perhaps you really do want to make sure you plan and understand, particularly if you're going to say
as Ollie Marriage and Mark Riccione did go to Georgia in a Toyota Land Cruiser.
There's some ups and downs in this story. There's some moments, but do click the link. It's a fabulous
read. It sounded an amazing time, despite some of the more dramatic moments. And the pictures
love absolutely gorgeous. It's one of those. It's again why we've done it recently.
Everything out there, he says waving his arm just generally at the universe.
It feels pretty grim and awful and uncontrollable. So doing something like this, like going on
an expedition, even in this country or especially in this country, because it's going to be difficult
to go anywhere else at them soon. But doing something like this, even over a weekend,
just getting out of your comfort zone, taking a car, going and doing something just fun and
different and explore. Why not? We should be exploring more. So that's part of the reason
that these types of articles keep cropping up. But it's a great read. Yeah, Ollie has a wonderful
turn of phrase in there. For list of the week, we are sticking with Top Gear. As it's only me,
I'm not picking a big list because that seems a waste as then Alan can't talk about something
he was going to pick. So what I have picked is title seven brilliant and perfectly formed
tiny concept cars. Tom Ford has helped compile this. And frankly, they're all wonderful. However,
I would ask you to scroll down to number four and have a look at the Toyota moguls.
And according to these texts in here that Tom Ford wrote said, accessing those parts of the
forest that other SUVs cannot reach the Toyota moguls plowed a lonely but ingenious niche.
Proper ground clearance was achieved by doing away with a prop shaft in favor of valves and pumps
with independently driven wheels enjoying half a meter of suspension trouble. The seats are offset,
allowing for a narrow footprint. It just looks ace. It looks absolutely fabulous. Wonderful.
If that wasn't there, then I would have definitely picked seven. And if you are a long time listener
to the show, you will have heard me bemoan and complain and rage against the universe that
this never actually was made into a thing because it's utterly fabulous is number seven. You do
need to click the link in the show notes to check out what on earth I'm talking about.
That brings us to the and finally. And for the and finally, we return to classic and sports cars
with some motoring art. This time from Jesus Perdentio, who is a graphic designer. And he
is also a graphic designer and illustrator. He has been involved in tons of automotive
works. But probably his most famous collection or project is the cars and films one.
And this is what the classic and sports cars article is all about.
I'm sure you will have seen at least one of these when you scroll through.
But now you'll know who it's from. And also at the bottom of this is a few article links
to see more of his work. One to his Etsy shop. That's on a pause at the moment. But just bear
in mind if you're looking for stuff. But then it's got the cars and films and his own website,
where you can see more of his work, which is utterly lovely. The way these are compiled and
the way the use of color and the clean lines and the choice of the fonts and how it's all
done is just superb. These are absolutely lovely. And you'll probably now want to go off and buy
some and have them stuck on your walls, but we can't get them at the moment. They're just brilliant.
Love this. Love this sort of stuff. Always love the automotive art.
And that is the show this week. Sorry that Alan couldn't make it this week, but it's just the
way that he is unfortunately panned out. But what that does mean is that between now and next time
when he hopefully he is back, you can give us any feedback and share your thoughts with the show
at motoringpodcast.com on Blue Sky. Or we're also on Instagram and Facebook and you have the contact
page www.motoringpodcast.com hub of all our activities. Remember, you can support us financially
via Patreon and please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcast YouTube or however your podcast
lets you do such a thing. What's the best way to get in touch with Alan will be Blue Sky,
where he is at AJP Bradley. I have dipped my toe back into Blue Sky so I can be found there under
CrackWindscreen. If not, more likely I'm linked in under my name. With all that, we'll be back soon.
But until then, he's not been Alan Bradley. I've been Andrew Clues and Safe Motoring.
About this episode
The discussion covers the automotive industry's struggles with the zero emission vehicle mandate, highlighting calls for its review amid economic and geopolitical challenges. Renault's ambitious 2030 strategy and VW Group's financial woes are examined, alongside Honda's cancellation of new EV models. Positive news includes Stellantis investing in an electric van line in Ellesmere Port. New vehicle launches such as the Jaku 8 plug-in hybrid and the retro-inspired Katerin 7 HWM edition are featured. The episode also explores inspiring expedition stories and showcases innovative tiny concept cars and automotive art.
During the SMMT Electrified event, held last week, the call went out for an urgent review of the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate, as the reality is far below the assumptions that went into the amount of registrations demanded each year. Government representative immediately poured cold water on that hope, though. A review will not begin until 2027. For more on this story, click this EV Powered article link here.
NEW RENAULT STRATEGY ANNOUNCED
Renault Group’s new strategy will be called Futuready. Using the previous as the basis they will now launch 36 new models by 2030. These will be split across European and global markets. The three brands will continue to exploit what they do well and what customers expect from them. Additionally, a lot of talk is about technology and their partnership with Google. Click this Autocar article here, for more.
SEAT AND CUPRA 2025 SALES ARE IMPRESSIVE
Seat and Cupra had very impressive sales figures for 2025, but that did not translate to much of a profit thanks to tariffs and capex investment costs. Tariffs were imposed by the EU on Chinese made EVs, this hit the Tavascan as the company chose to not pass the costs onto customers. They are also investing in a new battery factory, developing new models and updating existing. To read more, click this Autocar article link here.
VW GROUP ANNOUNCE MORE HUGE COST CUTS
After a very rough 2025, the Volkswagen Group has posted an operating profit of 2.8%, which equates to €8.9 billion in revenue. The company announced there would be a new (or is it?) cost cutting drive, which will include up to 50,000 job loses. The aim is for cost savings around €6 billion per year by 2030. If you wish to find out more, click this Autocar article link here.
HONDA SCRAPS NEW EV MODELS
Honda has cancelled the launch of the 0 Series Saloon and SUV. They make it explicitly clear they are blaming the United States change in policy when it comes to EVs. They expect the write-down will cost them between £1.6 and £2.7 billion, this year, with more to come in 2026-27. Additionally, their products in other markets are not meeting customer requirements. You can find out further information by clicking this Autocar article link here.
STELLANTIS TO ADD MORE ELECTRIC VANS TO ELLESMERE PORT
Stellantis are to add more electric van production to their Ellesmere Port. The company is investing £50 million to add a new assembly line to the factory. The electric variant of the Vauxhall/Opel Vivaro will take up the newly created capacity. For more, click this electrive article link 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 -Jaecoo 8
In May Jaecoo will be selling the 8, their range topping SUV, in the UK. Prices will start at £45,500 for the PHEV. That is a £10,000 jump over the 7 PHEV, but it does not offer a third row of seats. Click this Autocar article to find out all the details.
Caterham Seven HWM Edition
HWM is the dealership that Caterham is tied closely to but also was a racing team with their own car that Sir Sterling Moss won his first F1 race in. The latest Seven plays homage to them for this, with cars painted in the HWM Green, also the grille in the nose cone harks back to team. Click this EVO article link to learn all the details.
Mercedes-Benz VLE
Mercedes has revealed the VLE, an electric V-Class sized vehicle that is hoped will bring it new customers. Externally it has the very prominent grille and the rear looks like its been taken from a Hyundai Inonq 9. Inside the press pics show an interior that is festooned with more light strips than a Twitch streamers setup. Click this Autocar article link to find out all the details, including an impressive claimed range.
LUNCHTIME READ: TOWER OF POWER
Top Gear are where we are pointing your attention this week. Ollie Marriage brings to life his adventure with Mark Riccioni as they drove in Georgia. The writing is wonderful and the pictures are stunning, hopefully this encourages you to plan a trip, but maybe one less “tricky”. Click the link here to read more.
LIST OF THE WEEK: SEVEN BRILLIANT AND PERFECTLY FORMED TINY CONCEPT CARS
We stick with Top Gear as the outlet to visit, this time for seven tiny but wonderful concept cars. Do you agree with Andrew’s choice? Click this link here to see what your options are.
AND FINALLY: CARS AND FILMS
Jesús Predencio is a graphic designer who has created some wonderful, striking art involving cars, with his most famous project probably being Cars and Films. Click this Classic & Sports Car article to find out more. Additionally, at the bottom of the piece are several links to Jesús’s work which you must check out.
