Forthing madman - 14 October 2025
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Brand
Stellantis
Stellantis is a big car company that owns several brands like Jeep, Ram, Maserati, and Alfa Romeo.
Car
Dodge Challenger
The Dodge Challenger is another muscle car from Dodge, similar to the Charger. It's known for its strong engines and classic design that looks like older muscle cars.
Term
V8 muscle car
A V8 muscle car is a type of car that has a powerful engine with eight cylinders. These cars are built for speed and are often very popular in America.
Car
Dodge Charger
Car
Jeep Wranglers
The Jeep Wrangler is a tough SUV that can go off-road and handle rough terrain. It's popular with people who like to explore nature and go on adventures.
Term
auto loans
Auto loans are loans that people take out to buy cars. You borrow money to buy the car and then pay it back over time, usually with extra money added for interest.
Car
Aston Martin Valhalla
The Aston Martin Valhalla is a new supercar from Aston Martin that uses both a traditional engine and electric power to go really fast while being more efficient.
Company
Monroe EV
Monroe EV is a company that makes electric vehicles, specifically four-by-four types. They are based in Scotland and focus on eco-friendly cars.
Car
Tesla Model
Car
Tesla Model 3
The Tesla Model 3 is a small electric car that is known for being fast and having a long battery life.
Part
18-inch wheels
18-inch wheels are the size of the wheels on a car. Bigger wheels can make a car look sportier but might make the ride bumpier.
Term
hubcaps
Hubcaps are covers that go over the wheels of a car. They can make the wheels look nicer and protect some parts of the wheel.
Term
horsepower
Horsepower is a way to measure how powerful a car's engine is. The higher the horsepower, the faster the car can go.
Term
0-60 time
0-60 time is how long it takes a car to go from a complete stop to going 60 miles per hour. It's a way to measure how fast a car can speed up.
Brand
Dacia
Dacia is a car brand that makes budget-friendly cars. They are known for being affordable and practical.
Term
WLTP
WLTP is a testing method that helps measure how much fuel a car uses and how much pollution it produces. It gives a better idea of real-world performance.
Car
Aston Martin Db12S
The Aston Martin DBS is a fancy sports car known for being very fast and stylish. It's famous for appearing in James Bond movies, which makes it even more special to car fans.
Car
Aston Dbxs
The DBX is an SUV made by Aston Martin, known for being luxurious and sporty, offering a different option compared to their traditional sports cars.
Car
Aston Martin Vantage S
The Vantage S is a sportier version of the Aston Martin Vantage, designed for better performance and driving excitement.
Term
twin turbo
Twin turbo means the engine has two turbochargers, which help it produce more power by pushing in more air, making it run better and faster.
Term
0-62 time
0-62 time is how fast a car goes from stopped to 62 miles per hour. It's a way to see how quick a car is.
Term
top speed
Top speed is the fastest a car can go when everything is perfect. It shows how powerful the car is.
Term
Bill Stein DTX dampers
Bill Stein DTX dampers are parts of a car's suspension system that help control how the car moves when going over bumps or during turns. They make the ride smoother and help the car handle better.
Part
anti-roll bar
An anti-roll bar is a part of a car's suspension that helps keep the car steady when turning. It connects the wheels on each side of the car to help prevent it from leaning too much during a turn.
Term
catalytic converter
A catalytic converter is a part of a car that helps clean up the exhaust gases before they leave the car. It makes the air cleaner by changing harmful gases into less harmful ones.
Car
Suzuki Jimny
The Suzuki Jimny is a small, tough car that's great for driving on rough roads and trails. People love it because it's fun to drive and can go places many other cars can't.
Car
Suzuki SJ410
The Suzuki SJ410 is a small, older SUV that was built for off-road driving. It's part of a series of vehicles that are known for being tough and capable in rough conditions.
Car
Isuzu Trooper
The Isuzu Trooper is a type of SUV that Isuzu made for many years. It's built to handle rough terrain, which makes it great for off-roading.
Term
V6 engine
A V6 engine is a type of engine that has six cylinders arranged in a V shape. This design helps the engine be smaller while still providing a lot of power, which is why many cars use it.
Car
Subaru Svx
The Subaru SVX is a special sports car from the 1990s that looks very different from most cars. It was popular for its cool design and good performance, and some people still really like it today.
Term
all-wheel drive
All-wheel drive means that power goes to all four wheels of the car, which helps it grip the road better, especially in rain or snow.
LIVE
Welcome to the Motoring Park Car to Weekly Discussion of Motoring News. This is Episode 653 on Tuesday, the 14th of October, 2025. Hello, I'm Alan. Hello, I'm Andrew, and this week you'll hear about a consultation asking if you would like some money back. In new new car news, you'll find out what affordable means to one company. And in points of interest, you might want to prep for the Alan Drinking Game trademark. Be warned. But first, we have a submission or follow-up, and no, it's not JLR.
They're still trying to get everything back up and running. This is to do with the financial redress scheme connection with the misscelling of finance to people between 2007 and 2024.
The financial conduct authority is put a consultation now asking what should be covered, how should this happen, what seems fair, that sort of stuff. And they're asking questions concerned specifically with, and I'm quoting from a broken news article that is linked in the show notes.
Number one is discretionary commission models, which allowed brokers to raise interest rates to increase their own commission.
Number two is high commission structures exceeding 35% of total credit costs and 10% of the loan value.
And the final bit is exclusive lender broker tie-ins that restricted customer choice.
This is all off the back of a Supreme Court case that we covered about two months ago, three months, something like that.
Yeah, where they said, some of what you're claiming is not fair, we're not going to say that that is the finance industry's guilty on that front, but we will about these bits, and that's the bits that are being covered here.
Obviously, there has been some pushback, like the B-V-R-L-A has been come back and gone, hang on, some of this isn't covered, why are you including it in this?
So that will be interesting. The consultation is going to shut on the 18th of November, and then the scheme to pay people back is expected to begin.
It's quoted here from the FTA of early 2026.
Yeah, but begin receiving compensation later in 2026.
Already finance stroke car companies have been calling to speak to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
I presume that's in some way to dodge their responsibility of breaking the law.
I know, I've got four that are sitting, supposedly three with Santa and Aaron, one with RCI financial.
But I'm just putting the whole, well, I'm going to make the claim, if I get something back, I get something back, so be it.
Going a lazy amount with one of the online things, which is what you shouldn't do, you can do it yourself, of course.
Yeah, go on money saving expert, because I'm sure he's got something that tells you how to do it.
He did, yes, that was after I'd already gone off and done the lazy way of doing it.
Meanwhile, it's Dilanthus, which is something we're going to say a couple of times, I think, today.
Santa's European operations for Samantha's bit of musical chairs at the top.
The wonderfully named Jean-Philippe in Pirata has been sidewaysed from his previous role.
I'd say head of European operations to be the CEO of Maserati.
This will allow him to focus full time on driving performance improvements.
I'm sure, until he has to spend family time somewhere or something.
In the meantime, Emmanuel Capiano, the head of Stellantis's commercial vehicle business has been named as his successor.
In Pirata as well, by the way, he's now being tasked with taking more of a role with the Stellantis and you, the firm's retail network.
Lucky you.
Yes, he just feels like he's been punished for something more than anything else there.
It does a little bit. The thing is, it's all a bit mucky at the top of that area of Stellantis,
and particularly where it comes to the non-standard parts of Stellantis Europe.
By which I mean the ones that don't have a small hatchback, so Maserati and Alfa Romeo.
What doesn't help as well is as soon as Tavra's left, the temporary person then cleared house and put new people in.
At the time, I think I asked this, are these people just being put in place so they can get a nice golden parachute as they get booted out because the new boss will come in and go know these are the people I want, actually.
It just seemed a really odd thing to have done and a really expensive as well.
Yes, but speaking of Maserati and Alfa Romeo, by the way, they are trying to work together to increase product competitiveness, improve marketing of the cars and to re-engage with the data network.
They've obviously fallen out with quite badly. They're also going to be exploring synergies between the two organizations as they are considering developing a new range of mild and plug-in hybrid models.
So we'll see, I mean it's all as clear as mine, to be perfectly honest.
Meanwhile in North America though, Stellantis are going to invest around $10 billion in US operations, apart from Jeep and Ram.
Basically, any other Stellantis brand you can think of as a Dutch and Chrysler really might as well be lying on their backs wiggling their legs in the air because they're just not anything.
They've got no models, they've been squeezed out of showrooms, it's just a real mess, a Chrysler and Dodge.
Basically just name badges at the moment. To bring back, to try to bring back Dodge, then one of the things that some of that $10 billion is going to go towards a new V8 muscle car to replace the charger, the Challenger and all the other ones that they finished off recently, I know.
They just pull in sort of squinty ear faces, which is understandable because that's what they had. Obviously that wasn't the way the world was going and then incomes, a new political bunch and then all of a sudden any kind of EV or anything like that is dirty and so you can go back.
Goodness knows what Jeep's doing with stuff with some of its more luxurious models and the prices of Wranglers and things like that.
They're going to have to do something about that, I suppose.
And then Wrang just makes big pickups.
But also with the US economy, having the troubles it is having, so is everywhere else, but it is really biting and the number of auto loans that are over 60 days behind and then rears increasing at an alarming rate.
Yeah, I think it doesn't really matter what scientists try and do. There's going to be massive problems on top of all the other political decisions that have been made which make making a car itself so difficult now.
Yeah, that was a bit of a sort of tongue-in-cheek joke when I was over there that it didn't matter what your credit score was, you could probably get yourself a challenger.
Much larger. Stellantis is having a particularly tough time with it, so if you hear Americans online, American online motoring pundits, the way they're talking it's as if the entirety of Stellantis is on its knees and it's about to die, they're really talking about Stellantis North America.
They're not talking about Persia, it's a trend for you.
No, all those on the parts.
Americans on the top of Stellantis are very much at North American focus on Dodge, Christy Jeep, etc.
Yeah, not really the rest of it.
Right, so I'm going to move on to another company that's struggling and this is news from Astid Martin as they have issued a profit warning.
Thanks to, they say, weak demand and delays in the Valhalla, which has hampered their turnaround hopes.
They are going to remain lost making through 2025 and when it was hoped they would be out of it towards the end of the year.
They made another loss, but it wasn't as bad as some people were expecting, so that's good news.
By Astid Martin standards, that's pretty good.
Yeah, I suppose, but I did see another report and I can't find it again.
This was over the weekend, I think it was from the financial times that outlined how much a loss each car being sold by Astid Martin was.
And it is very worrying, I have to say, really astonishingly worrying that you think, how long can the company last because it's had three or four financial bailouts since Strolls been in there that we know of?
I'm sure, something like that.
Unfortunately, you lose count.
Also, what's impacted them as well recently is that Astid Martin do share some suppliers that JLR have and there's been a knock on effect from that because those suppliers,
obviously as we've covered extensively the little laugh for the last few weeks, have been struggling financially as well.
Alan, why don't you take us to Scotland for some good positive news, please?
A few months ago we talked about an electric four by four vehicle manufacturer called Monroe EV based in Glasgow and they have a vehicle called the M series of Froder.
They're not anticipating it being something that gets sold from a from a dealer near you.
It is far more specialized than that.
I think you remember before we talked about mining applications, industrial applications and potentially defense applications as well.
Well, good news is that they've secured another two million pounds in additional funding from one of their existing investors called Elbow Beach and also from other parties in their inverted commas, not mine.
This is going to help expand the production line capacity in their new factory, recruit more engineers and assembly staff.
Amman Road is saying that there's production skills up expects funding to support the creation of 300 new jobs.
They currently have orders for 246 vehicles, that's worth around 17 million pounds to them.
The intent on delivering those before the end of 2026, but over the next six years they hope to reach 5,000 vehicles a year production capacity.
The vehicle itself just as a quick recap has up to 170 miles of range, that's up on and off road intended really for its off road use.
Hence that it's going to be slow and all these kind of things slower than a road car.
Hence the reduced potentially reduced range up to 276 horsepower, one ton load capacity and three and a half ton to end capacity.
But that 170 miles will give it the ability to operate for up to 16 hours per charge off road.
They're aimed on providing, but they describe it as a simple but effective tool for demanding industry.
So this isn't some lifestyle device or quasi lifestyle device.
This isn't born out of someone having a hissy fit in the pub is what you're saying, is it?
I couldn't possibly comment on any else loads of good stuff like that. They're also aimed to secure interest from the Ministry of Defense because they've got currently the land mobility strategy is looking to replace land drovers and pincers.
So try to get there themselves on the radar there, but good luck to them with that because that's going to be really tricky.
They're not promising to be too much to too many.
Yes, exactly, which I think is the right way to approach it.
Yeah, that's the right way to approach most things really.
China, Andrew.
Yes, back to our old friend.
Once again, rare earths they have come to the surface.
Do they have them in their hand?
Well, they've got something in people in their hand.
I think it's the short and curly's because China has decided that they are going to put stricter controls on a number of rare earths being exported out of the country.
Basically, you're going to need license. The government is going to have to approve you are allowed to sell them to the companies you are selling them to and for the purposes the companies want to use them.
This is again going to impact the likes of EVs, but not only that, there was an excellent piece in who's the sky.
The chap who wrote the book about his sky reporter and he did the book about material world.
I think it is.
Oh, I can't remember his name.
I'm so sorry.
Yeah, I can't either. I'm sorry, but he has a newsletter and he actually produced a version of it today.
Brilliant timing for the show.
Actually, it's good of him to have looked at our Trello and found that he was there.
He talked about how some of the...
Is it Ed Conway?
That's it. That's it. Thank you.
He talked about how some of the material is actually used in things like speakers and cars and how whilst it is only a small amount of that material,
it's still going to put the price up or if because of the geopolitical stroke trade tensions,
we're going to be using lots of these words that the media use.
It's mainly mainstream media are using overall this at the moment, far too polite from what we said earlier.
If they get more or if America and their leader plays more and is stupid enough to continue down the line he has gone down,
the prices are going to go for everyone if you can get them out the country at all.
And that's the kind of playing, which means that if anybody would like US-grown sorry beans,
there are plenty of them going spare because China's not buying a single one.
Yes, lots of stuff like that going on.
So this is ahead of a meeting between President Xi Jinping and obviously US President Donald Trump.
It's all a little bit.
It is diplomatically fraught.
Yeah, but Europe isn't out of the line of this either because of the tariffs they are put in place on Chinese-made EVs.
Therefore there is some leverage for the Chinese when it comes to negotiating that as they are doing at the moment to try and come up with a minimum price.
Keep your eyes on that because that is just one of the very easy ways for China to throttle the global manufacturing network.
It is worth remembering that's not just a car-related story, despite my jokes about soybeans.
That does cover an awful lot of stuff.
But do you want to take us to, well, back to Stellantis and what are two problems?
Well, it's better that I take us back to Stellantis because I'm less likely to become a frothing madman than you are.
And he says that we'd love, by the way, everyone.
That's something I have.
D-Pounds are reporting that an over-the-air software update is disabling their vehicles we love and over-the-air update.
They're great.
It appears to be causing somewhat models to go into a limp mode or otherwise as the autopian puts it fail to operate.
The update was released on Friday.
Manufacturers love these, by the way.
They really like these because this is super cheap.
Yeah, because they don't have to develop the software properly.
But that's not really why.
Yes, it is.
They can rush stuff out and then go, oh, we'll fix it in post, basically.
And it's just ridiculous.
Yeah, okay.
Yes, but it also means that you don't have to go to dealers and it means that everybody's vehicles get the update.
Which is very difficult when otherwise it means people have to go to dealers and people don't want to do that.
And why? It's just a software update is working fine as it is.
Whereas maybe, you know, the manufacturer wishes to release some special new feature which definitely won't involve doing any tracking whatsoever or breaking things.
Basically, cars driving along just break themselves.
And every single light and whole thing came to a halt.
Brilliant, really good, really safe thing to do.
For goodness' sake people, if you aren't offered the choice and you're driving your car and it offers an over-the-air update.
For goodness' sake, don't do it then.
Wait until it is at home parked on your driveway.
You're not going to be taking it anywhere for a while.
And on level ground.
Oh, yeah.
And on level ground and not near anything that might rule into.
That was BMW, wasn't it, that released one which released the handbrake.
Good work, folks.
They now have it that you've got to be on level ground otherwise it won't update.
Yes.
Yeah, and now the vehicle does, yeah, but they did.
But this just goes...
That, you know, and in this auto opinion article as well, there's a bunch of other examples.
We've covered them ourselves recently from over-the-air updates that suddenly brought in unintentional acceleration to not switching, you know,
changing the brakes, how the brakes worked, to back to not accelerating properly.
And all sorts of things.
This is from all car companies, by the way.
This is not specific to Stellantis.
It's not specific to any of those here.
They're all very, very bad at this.
None of them spend the time and get their software right.
And legislation allows them to do this.
Yeah.
Legislation should be in place that says, until this has been demonstrated to be safe, you are not allowed to release it.
Yeah, but this isn't, you know, you can't appeal to people's heart strings and declare it's an online safety act.
And if you don't agree, then, you know, the kiddies will be, I don't know, whatever.
I'm sure they could find a way.
Because the car industry demonstrated they can't do it, so stop doing it.
Just stop it.
Yeah.
Because you're not safe.
You're not doing it well, and you are alienating customers who now go, you know what?
I don't want a new car, which is a brilliant move, lads.
So instead of getting all shouty at the microphone, do you want to give us a statistics lesson instead?
Yes.
Good.
The UK government has released from the Department of Transport.
Reported road casualties of Great Britain and your report for 2024.
Great.
We covered 2023.
Yes.
Now, why I'm bringing this up is I have to give a bit of background here.
This new report has some changes in it because the government has moved away from having contributing factors logged.
And that's where we find out, you know, was it somebody driving recklessly?
Was the road dangerous?
No, it was speed.
Was it, yes, was it speed?
It was probably speed.
We are moving away from contributing factors because in the safe systems that has changed to road safety factors.
This is actually important.
Firstly, not all police forces are reporting in road safety factor categories.
Many, most are still reporting in contributing factors if they report at all.
OK.
And there's no expectation for everyone to have switched until at least 2026.
OK.
I was right.
I speed.
But let me explain why that is particular, though.
I'm going to get to that.
With the new road safety factors, there are new definitions for categorizing instance.
And there are six groups.
There is behavior or an experience, distraction or impairment, non-motorized road users.
That's pedestrian cyclists or a question.
Roads, speed and vehicles.
OK.
I'm only going to pick speed because there are a number of codes they use.
And if you hit this code, it goes under that heading.
So for speed, exceeding speed limit.
OK.
I'm on board with that one.
Traveling too fast for conditions.
Again, I'm on board with that.
Yep.
Following too close.
That's not a speed issue.
Dangerous or reckless driving stroke riding.
Not necessarily a speed issue.
Driving too slowly for conditions, including inexperience with vehicle or driving on left.
I don't think that's all speed.
That's an experience.
Vehicle used in course of crime.
Well, that's not necessarily speed, does it?
Out of those six, only two are actually speed.
They mention inexperience.
And there is a section that talks about behavior or inexperience.
Yes.
Why doesn't it go there?
Do you remember all those?
Because I'm going to just quickly run through the figures.
There'll be a test later.
In 2024, there was a reduction overall in fatalities of 1% on 2023.
Also, the Kilda series, the injured casualties, declined as well down
compared to 2023.
There was also a decline in all casualties that happened.
That was down 4%.
But effectively since 2010ish, it's flatlined.
And we're still on that.
It's a slightly downhill flatline.
So it's ever so, ever so slightly.
Oh, sorry.
1%.
That's rounding error almost.
We've declared that a rounding error.
Yeah.
Most of the issues are people who are in cars.
They are the people who have been injured or killed.
Pedestrians are next.
And then it becomes motorcyclists.
And then it drops down after that.
When it comes to the types of road.
Statistically, the motorway is the safest road in the UK.
Maybe the people who jumped up and down on that bandwagon
about smart motorways were not telling the truth, Alan.
It's quite possible.
Yes.
Which means overall, in when we compare ourselves internationally,
we are now the fourth lowest.
We've dropped a place in that 2023.
We were the third lowest.
For every road fatality per million miles,
we come in at fourth with 24.
Norway, Sweden, and Malta are ahead of us.
And we're actually joint fourth with Denmark.
When it comes to factors contributing to fatalities,
don't forget what I just told you.
Guess what is number one now?
Is it going to be speed?
It is going to be speed, Alan.
It is clearly speed followed closely, well not closely,
but close-ish by behavior or inexperience.
Last year in 2023, when they were using the contributing factors,
speed was fifth or sixth on the list.
Yeah, but that doesn't support what politicians want.
I know.
And what they have done now is they have gone back and retroactively
changed the report for 2023 to reflect the road safety factors.
In 2023, speed was the biggest reason again.
But there has been an absolute ridiculous exceeding of scope
by saying, following too closely, dangerous or reckless driving,
driving too slowly for conditions including inexperience
and vehicle use in course of crime.
Can I just quickly highlight the international one?
We would prefer that there were no road fatalities per million population.
But our number of 24 per million population
is half that of Australia, France and Slovakia.
To give you an idea there of 48.
And it just goes crazy from there.
No numbers for the USA in there are noticed.
No.
I suspect that they would be much worse than Serbia.
Yeah, yeah, they're generally really bad.
If you see someone talking about this
and they start going on about all speed is so dangerous et cetera,
you can go, you don't know the criteria of changed
or you're part of the committee that changed
to bring in stuff that is nothing to do with speed at all.
Yeah.
Yeah, go ahead.
There's lies and statistics, et cetera.
I'm just bored of being gaslit by organizations and stuff
because there's no need for that.
Hmm.
Now what you've done, because I just did a little bit of research,
is you've shown that you've tweaked stuff to have an answer you want.
You've ruined any potential discussion or moral point
and you were trying to make it because you've in effect lied to get an answer.
And on that happy note, it's the end of the first part.
Yes.
I was trying to work out just where I could tie it in
to find out that it's guilt-minute quick break in the show
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Yes.
Thank you, everyone.
Okay, Alan.
It's new new car news.
I had to fight to get this included, everyone.
It's the new Tesla Model 3 and Model Y, the Standard Edition.
So-called the Standard Edition because they take away anything
that was previously standard.
In the 80s and 90s, certainly in the UK,
our car markets were far better prepared to deal with this kind of stuff.
It doesn't seem to work for people in Silicon Valley.
They're not going to put a little vinyl stripe along it
and call it the Florida Edition.
They've gone with Standard.
I think it's very much more popular or popular plus.
There is a Model 3 and there are Model Y standards in the US.
The Model 3 Standard isn't making it to the UK,
so we're only going to get the Model Y version.
It's going to be ugly as well as empty.
The first thing you'll notice from the outsiders is missing.
What they've done is, I mean, they've not gone quite as far as fitting
sealed beam headlamps, which American brand could have been a possibility.
But they have got rid of that new light strip that goes between the front lights.
I'm along with it, they've taken the badge as well because
you don't really want to show off that you're driving the Polvo Tesla D.
You also get 18-inch wheels instead of the optional 19-inch wheels.
Those come with hubcaps that even pound stretcher would have declared
look a bit on the cheap side instead of dark grey and black.
Especially when you look at the blobby-ness of a Model Y,
they look like somebody's put wheels off a trolley case onto it.
They look tiny with massive arch gap.
This is not an aesthetic choice.
In some ways, you get even less than you did in the already lavish
small Tesla interiors.
You don't get any front seat ventilation.
You don't get any rear seat heating.
One positive that I can find in this is you no longer get the
vegan leather or pleather.
You do actually get fabric on the seats instead, which I think is much nicer
looking as well as I'm sure you're feeling.
You've got a manual steering wheel adjustment.
You get rid of a rear touchscreen and instead of that,
instead of touchscreen for controlling vents of ventilation,
you get actual ventilation.
You also get a more basic center console setup.
What you do still get is a glass roof, which is good.
You can still enjoy all of the benefits of the glass roof,
apart from the fact that you can't.
Inside it's been covered up by a headliner and some sound deadly.
I'm really curious to know what it looks like from the outside.
You can just look down and inside it just say the loser across the inside
or something.
Still visible through the glass.
What you get inside instead on the inside is a whole headliner that just covers it.
I heard that described by or read that described by someone in North America as
the world's largest switch blank, which certainly made me chuckle my way through it.
Last but not least there are some drivetrain changes, but they are very minimal.
You get a single motor rear drive setup.
It's rated at 286 horsepower, which just seems a model 3 long range rear wheel drive.
It doesn't surprise me at all.
You get not to 60 times of 5.8 seconds.
Also, pardon me, that's in the model 3, but it's going to be pretty similar.
5.8 seconds versus 4.9 seconds for a non-standard.
Most of all, I've discussed enough a lot of what's been stripped out,
what's been taken out and what things you're not going to get anymore.
You don't really save that much money.
You save essentially the amount that the US electric car grant was.
It is practically very little, but the model-wise standard is going to be $41,630 in the US.
It's going to be similar to that in the UK, in pounds anyway,
which again, still going to put it too high for any of the grants
that it might possibly have been put there for.
Obviously, the real reason for this, these models,
isn't so much to make up for the loss of the US tax credits for electric cars.
It's ready to show their investors and Wall Street that they're thinking about new models
and it's definitely not stagnated.
If this is the best they can do, then they're even more stuffed than I thought they were anyway.
Frankly, this is pretty shameful showing.
Right, so I'm going to move us on to Dacia, who actually have got a car that is affordable
and show you how to do value engineering.
The phone will leave you're not ashamed to have on your driveway.
The spring has gained some tweaks and it now gets up to 99 brake horsepower
as well according to this AutoCAR article linked in the show notes.
Essentially, they have tweaked and fettled with the driving experience
that is much better than it was.
They've also got the range to be up to 140 miles on the WLTP.
Sorry, no, that's what it was before anyway,
but it remains at 140 miles.
However, it seems to outdo the leap motor T03,
the one that Alan can't look in the eye very long without getting frightened.
Oh, I saw one the other day. It is so weird.
It's kind of funny that one's called spring and the other one's called leap, isn't it?
Yes, we need to push our jumpy in there, but full set.
Pricing-wise, it's going to remain exactly as it was
so it's £15,000 for the base car, up to £17,000 for the range topper.
Really, the only people who are going to be buying this
are people who have home charger who don't drive very far on a regular basis.
But next week, I once again will go through statistics for you
on another news story that will mean that this isn't actually that outrageous
an idea, and Dacia saying, as we were discussing last week on their concept,
we all probably have to start tweaking our mindset to what do we actually do
rather than the fantasy that we will drive across Europe in one go, etc.
I know there are some people who do that. Hello Jim, hope you're having a lovely time.
But not everybody does, and they are outliers.
Absolutely. I like the idea of the spring. I still do.
I know there's loads of arguments against it.
I like the idea, but it's an old car and it's quite a niche.
Dacia know this, they know that they are not aiming for everyone here
and there are a number of nearly new out there, even more affordable than the buying brand new.
They were a fantastic deal, but nearly news, a fantastic deal on the spring.
We don't get the choice of everything obviously, but that breaks.
The trouble is, though, and this was the discussion I'm repeating Jim's words,
actually. He's a loved one, really loved one.
But he knows that he still needs to have a petrol car at home as well.
And that's where the argument falls down for him.
Because for dodging around Anglesy or whatever, he'd love to have either a leak motor or a spring.
But like I say, I'll go into people's use cases next week,
because there is a government EV usage report that's out that is really quite interesting.
There's something to look forward to for us all, isn't it?
I should probably read it beforehand, to be honest, but yes.
Threats and promises, only one goes.
Anyway, why don't you take us on to Aston Martin?
Well, Aston Martin, we were talking about them a little bit earlier on.
Aston Martin have released a new model.
I'm glad they told me, because I would have trouble telling the Aston Martin DB12S
from just about any other Aston Martin that's been released over the past few years.
The idea is that this is a Titan Grand Tourer.
I'm not sure what was wrong with the Lucer Grand Tourer, but obviously something somewhere needed tightened.
And it's a repost to the Ferrari Amalfiq.
In this EVO story by Eastern John, he says that tweaks under the more aggressive skin
could make the DB12S the core Grand Tourer Aston needs.
This follows on from the DBXS and the Vantage S.
Power comes from a Mercedes AMG 4.0-litre twin turbo that's been a gently massaged.
And it now puts out about 692 brake horsepower.
That's a nice around 700 metric horses.
And that's up from 671, so I'm sure you'll feel every single one of those extra ponies.
That's delivered from 6,000 RPM.
Talk is about 590 pound-foot, arriving at 3,000 RPM, so a little bit higher.
And that carries on right the way through to 6,000 RPM as well.
So if you're really holding it as you're grand touring, then you maybe feel some differences in there.
The transmission calibration has been revised for 50% improvements in shift speed,
meaning that 0-62 improves by 0.1 seconds to 3.5 seconds.
And it'll take you on to a top speed of 202 miles an hour.
Throttle pedal calibration has been revised as well.
Do you see all these things that they keep revising, right?
Every single time there is some new special edition from Aston from Air.
They talk about all the same things.
And you think, how bad was it to begin with?
You're increasing this by 50%.
You're increasing this by 30%.
You're increasing this, but why?
Yeah. Why didn't you just do it right?
Yes.
To be honest, if the stuff was pretty much right when it was released,
which lets us assume that that is the case, who's going to be able to tell?
Especially if it's a grand tourer.
Especially if it's a grand tourer.
I mean, we're really down at the Tred Shuffle Club here.
It's for the top trumps brigade.
Ah, I got the 2020-25.
I've got a Tred Shuffle over the Bill Stein DTX dampers for improved roll and pitch control.
It was like, oh, they better than CTX.
Yes.
Does it make a difference?
Does it make it less twitchy?
You know, it's less likely to follow in the rocks left by trucks on the Autobot.
Is it going to make a difference?
I just feel sorry.
I've gone off on one, haven't I?
And I didn't mean to.
And it sounds like I'm going off on one of Ethan and I'm not, I promise.
The day's just ring.
They fitted an anti-roll bar.
You can tell the difference between no anti-roll bar, anti-roll bar.
Here, it's like, oh, we increased the torsional rigidity of the anti-roll bar by 0.3%.
Mmm.
So what?
Yeah.
Anyway.
I mean, the blue is lovely, by the way.
The color in these photos is absolutely stunning.
If you really want one and can tell the difference between the color of gravel you're driving
over, then the order books are now open for both the Coupe and Valente version so you can hear
the different color of the gravel.
Prices start from around about 220,000 pounds and deliveries should begin in the first quarter
of 2026 because there's no other deliveries queued up in front of them.
Right.
I'm going to take us into points of interest and this week we are bringing you a lunchtime
watch.
This is from Technology Connections and he's starting a new series on engine-y things and
is the first video in this series.
It's titled catalytic converters are simple, but getting them to work is not.
And it goes into, if you've ever seen any of his work before, it's what you would expect
the level of detail to find out what's what and explain it to you.
Yeah, it's like having a really, really good physics or engineering teacher explain stuff
to you in words of one syllable with the occasional very dry bad joke thrown in as well.
This is a guy, one of his most successful videos is all about how we should actually get our
dishwashers to work better.
But this is really interesting, the start of this series on car and engine stuff and he's
starting out with the emissions equipment and with the catalytic converters.
Well, we're 40 minutes, 42 minutes to have on the background.
I really love his stuff.
I always learn something from it.
Even if it's just painting Christmas lights or whatever, I always learn something from it.
He's got another channel called TechnologyCon extras as well.
There have been a couple of other automotive things on there too recently.
LED headlamp bulbs.
No, they're not necessarily as good as proper headlamp bulbs with a filament.
All right.
Well, it's on the wrong place, so reflectors don't work properly.
I do that anyway, because I'm that kind of nerd.
But yeah, really interesting stuff.
And if there's still the sock advert in there, he's close to the sock offer.
Okay.
Anyway, should we move swiftly on?
Yes, if you warm ladies and gentlemen to chart the glasses.
There's no need to charge your glasses, everyone.
I'm going to be growing up here.
List of the week this week is 34 times Japanese marks got it right in this.
Obviously, classic sports car can't bring themselves to admit that some of the Japanese brands might have got stuff right.
34 times on their own.
So they're just bundling them all together.
It's actually a great list. It really is a good list.
Andrew, what have you chosen?
Where should everyone turn in the handout?
This was astonishingly difficult.
It's very difficult.
However, I would ask ladies and gentlemen to go to, in the handout to number 25, which is slide 26.
And the Suzuki Jimny.
All right.
Oh gosh.
Yes, that's now, yeah.
NLJ10 is really pushing it back.
Yep.
Everybody loves the Jimny, don't they?
That's the car we hold up when someone says SUV's are bad.
And you go really this thing.
Really?
This is bad.
Don't be silly.
But yeah, this is a, the LG10 is pictured.
Looks fabulous.
Just.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Could we have the dead and S.J.?
Yeah.
Which of course was the Jimny as well.
We had an S.J.
S.J. 410.
D145 ESL.
It has gone to the scrap heap in the sky many, many, many years ago.
Yeah.
They're very cool.
They're fantastic.
Last time a drone one that was a very remote part of Scotland in the dark, full of other drunk people.
And the last thing I remember about it is it had a rag that was hauled those in the engine of petrol tanks.
So yeah, I was not to be very careful if I haven't hit any bumps or holes.
So yes.
Yes.
They're very cool though.
Well, how about you then?
I actually went for an off-roader as well.
If I scroll back, I think it's a bit...
Yes, slide seven.
Well, number seven, slide eight.
Any hand out?
The Azuzu trooper.
Which I've always liked.
They're particularly good to just get a bit forgotten amongst the Pajera Shogun.
Yeah.
Again, despite the fact that the trooper was sold under so many different brands as well.
Yeah.
The trooper was cool.
Everything from...
It was on the first vehicle sold in the UK with direct injection diesel.
I remember right there.
I think that was a 3.1 liter as well as 3.5 and 3.2 liter V6s.
And single overhead cam.
Okay, so maybe it's share the chassis and the transmission and everything with a very gross.
So maybe I ended up knowing far too much in the pursuit of parts.
But no, I've always liked trooper.
I do think it is pretty cool.
Lots of...
But so many good things to choose.
There's so many cars to pick from here.
There's so many good ones that you go, oh yeah.
Oh, there's that one.
Oh no, there's this one.
Number 34 is particularly awesome, of course.
But that would just have been too much.
Andrew, do you want to continue the theme until the end finally?
We're sticking with Japan.
And there is an article from John Burgess on Haggerty, where he talks about...
And it's titled the Subaru SVX 30 years on.
Partly this is to say thank you to John for dealing with all the water boutisms that he had to...
That's John Burgess the Subaru SVX owner.
Yes, yes.
That having to put up with all the people who were telling him facts and fun details
that were not in fact true or correct.
And that he managed to make it through just about with his sanity, I think.
But this fabulous article talking about a fabulously mad car
that I'm so happy Subaru made.
It's one of those cars that you go, no one would make that today, unfortunately.
But I love the looks and I love the almost pigheadedness to do it.
Yeah, I love the jajara window inside the window.
Yeah, going on.
The swirly carpet man.
It was always one of the first cars I would try to choose or upgrade to
in early versions of Gran Turismo.
But that probably says more about me than it does about the Subaru SVX really.
They're just like more systems.
It's from that period, that's a period of the 1990s where the Japanese idea...
Right, look, let's get something that's comfortable, that cruises
and let's just throw as many things out as we can.
We want all-wheel drive.
We want all-wheel steer.
We want dynamic suspension.
I don't think the SVX had an active era.
But all of these kind of things, just being thrown towards you,
a variable torque distribution there you go.
Just great.
And from a wonderful time and it's super cool.
Absolutely.
Really like them.
It's one of those ones for my lottery garage.
There would be an SVX, we'd work its way in there.
It's a great thing about my lottery garage.
It generally contains reasonably priced vehicles.
And they can have lots of them all leaking at the same time.
Ah, that's us then.
I think it is.
Yes.
Don't forget everyone.
Look between now and next week, you can give us any feedback and share your thoughts
with the show at motoringpodcast.com on Blue Sky.
At motoringpodcast on Instagram and Facebook.
And on the contact page of www.motoringpodcast.com, the hub of all our activities.
Remember, you can support us financially via Patreon.
Please leave a review and read your Apple Podcasts on YouTube or have your podcast app.
Let's do such a thing.
Andrew, what's the best way to get in touch with you back to Semaphore, aren't we?
I think so, yes.
But you can search for me on Blue Sky that I will return to one day.
If you search for correct windscreen, you'll find me there.
And if LinkedIn is your preferred platform of choice, I am on there too.
And Alan, if people would like to chat to you more about the cars you didn't pick
from the list of the week, what's the best way for them to do that?
I will share all of my year-ish knowledge with you.
Drink some of it on Blue Sky.
I'm at ADAP Bradley.
That's B-R-A-D-L-E-Y.
Dr. Beastguy and Dr. Social.
And say, each week, we'll be back very soon until then.
I've been Alan Bradley.
I've been under clues and safe motoring.
About this episode
A deep dive into the latest automotive news, including a consultation on financial redress for mis-sold finance in the UK, Stellantis's struggles with over-the-air updates causing vehicle issues, and Aston Martin's profit warning amid weak demand. The episode also discusses the launch of the new Tesla Model Y Standard Edition, which strips away features while maintaining a high price. Listeners will find insights on the electric vehicle market, Stellantis's $10 billion investment in North America, and a spotlight on the innovative Monroe EV from Scotland. Plus, a look at the Subaru SVX and its legacy.
Original notes
FOLLOW UP: FCA FINANCIAL REDRESS CONSULTATION
Following 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 Carcoops article link here to find out more.
ASTON MARTIN PROFIT WARNINGAston Martin gave a warning to investors that it will not hit the target of profitability by the end of 2025, as hoped. Blame is being laid at the feet of weak demand and delays to the Valhalla hypercar. Adding further pain is that they share several suppliers with JLR who have been dealing with the knock on effect of the cyberattack. If you wish to read more, click this Business Matters article link here.
MUNRO GETS FURTHER INVESTMENTMunro, the Scottish off-road EV start up, has secured a further £2 million funding from an existing and other investors. This will enable them to expand their production facilities and create up to 300 new jobs as they aim for an annual production capacity of 5000 vehicles by 2031. To read more about this success story, click the EV Powered link here.
CHINA RESTRICTS RARE EARTH EXPORTS AGAINChina is reminding the world exactly how much power it has, in terms of controlling global manufacturing, by adding more restrictions to some rare earths that are used across industries, including automotive. You can find out more, by clicking this Chatham House article link here.
To read the latest from Ed Conway, about rare earths, click this Substack link here.
JEEP OTA UPDATE BRICKS CARSAnother week and another story of an Over the Air (OTA) update having unintended consequences on cars and their owners. This time Jeep issued an update last week that has put some cars in ‘limp home mode’, whilst others have been bricked. Once more, much of the car industry does not seem to get software and how much harm doing it badly reflects back on...
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