Fudge - 7 October 2025
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Car
Land Rover Range Rover
The Land Rover Range Rover is a fancy, big car that can drive on rough roads and is very comfortable inside. People talk about it because it's both stylish and can handle tough conditions.
Term
electric vehicle ground
The electric vehicle ground is a program that helps people buy electric cars by giving them money back or other benefits. It makes it cheaper to own an electric vehicle.
Car
Volvo XC40
The Volvo XC40 is a small SUV that's safe and has a lot of room inside for passengers and cargo. It's liked for its modern look and smart safety features.
Car
Volkswagen Golf
The Volkswagen Golf is a small car that many people like because it's easy to drive and has a lot of space inside. It's popular around the world and comes in different versions.
Car
Hyundai Tucson
The Hyundai Tucson is a small SUV that is great for families because it has a lot of room inside and comes with many safety features. It's a good choice for people who need a bit more space than a regular car.
Car
BYD SEAL U
The BYD SEAL U is a new electric SUV from a Chinese company called BYD. It's designed to be eco-friendly and has the latest technology for drivers who want to go green.
Car
Nissan Qashqai
The Nissan Qashqai is a small SUV that's popular for city driving. It's comfortable and has good fuel efficiency, which makes it a favorite for many people.
Car
Ford Puma
The Ford Puma is a small SUV that looks sporty and is practical for everyday use. It has a roomy interior and comes with modern technology, making it popular among younger drivers.
Car
Kia Sportage
The Kia Sportage is a compact SUV that is stylish and has a lot of space inside. It's comfortable to drive and offers good value for the money, making it a popular choice.
Brand
Alpine
Alpine is a car brand from France that makes sporty cars. They are known for being light and fast, especially the A110 model.
Brand
Bentley
Bentley is a British car brand that makes very luxurious cars. They are known for their high quality and performance, like the Continental GT.
Brand
BMW
BMW is a German car brand that makes luxury cars known for their performance and quality. Some popular models are the 3 Series and 5 Series.
Brand
MG
MG is a British car brand that used to be famous for its sports cars. Now, they also make electric cars that are more affordable.
Brand
BYD
BYD is a car brand from China that makes electric cars and batteries. They are one of the biggest makers of electric vehicles globally.
Term
market share
Market share is how much of the total sales in a market a company has. It's a way to see how well a company is doing compared to others.
Term
year on year
Year on year means comparing something from this year to the same time last year. It's used to see if things are getting better or worse.
Brand
Renault
Renault is a car company from France that makes different types of vehicles. They are popular in Europe and are known for their unique styles.
Car
Renault 5
The Renault 5 is another small car made by Renault that was popular in the 1970s and 1980s. It had a unique look and many people liked it.
Car
Renault 4
The Renault 4 is a small car that was made by Renault a long time ago. It was known for being useful and was liked by many people.
Car
Dacia Hipster
The Dacia Hipster is a new idea for a car from the brand Dacia. It's not a car you can buy yet, but it shows what they might make in the future, especially focusing on electric cars.
Concept
E-car
An E-car is a type of car that runs on electricity instead of gas. These cars are becoming more popular because they are better for the environment.
Car
Citroën 2CV
The Citroën 2CV is a small, simple car that was very popular in France. It's known for being affordable and practical, especially in the countryside.
Car
Citroen 2CV
The Citroen 2CV is a very old, small car from France that was made to be cheap and easy to drive. It's famous for its quirky look and was used by many families a long time ago.
Car
Fiat Panda
The Fiat Panda is a small car that's easy to drive and park, making it great for city use. It's known for being affordable and practical.
Car
Land Rover Series 1
The Land Rover Series 1 is an early model of a vehicle designed for off-road driving. It's famous for being tough and able to handle rough terrain.
Car
Lamborghini Manifesto
A concept car is a prototype that car manufacturers create to showcase new ideas and designs. The Lamborghini Manifesto is one such car that represents what Lamborghini might build in the future.
Brand
Lamborghini
Lamborghini is a famous car brand from Italy that makes very fast and stylish sports cars. They are known for their unique look and powerful engines.
Car
Nissan Juke
The Nissan Juke is a small SUV that stands out because of its unusual shape and design. It's popular among people who want a vehicle that's easy to drive in the city but still has some sporty features.
Car
Volkswagen Tiguan
The Volkswagen Tiguan is a small SUV that many people use for everyday driving. It's known for being comfortable and having a lot of space inside.
Car
Hyundai i10
The Hyundai i10 is a small car that's easy to drive around town. It's good on gas and great for city living because it's not too big.
Car
Hyundai Santa Fe
The Hyundai Santa Fe is a larger SUV that can fit more people and stuff. It's known for being safe and comfortable for family trips.
Car
Toyota GR Yaris
The Toyota GR Yaris is a sporty version of a small car that's built for speed and fun driving. It's popular among people who love racing and want a car that can handle well on the road.
Brand
Honda
Honda is a car company famous for making reliable vehicles. Many people trust Honda cars because they tend to last a long time and don't need a lot of repairs.
Car
Mercedes-Benz Aclass
The Mercedes-Benz A-Class is a small, stylish car that feels luxurious and has lots of cool technology inside. It's popular with younger people who want a fancy car without it being too big.
Car
Mercedes-Benz 107 SL
The Mercedes-Benz 107 SL is a stylish convertible car made in the early 1970s. It's known for being comfortable and luxurious rather than focused on speed and racing.
Car
Mercedes-Benz G 600
The Mercedes-Benz G 600 is a fancy SUV that is very luxurious and can handle rough terrains. It's a symbol of wealth and is known for its high-quality features.
LIVE
Welcome to the motoring podcast with the discussion of motoring news. This is episode 652 on the Tuesday, the 7th of October, 2025. Hello, I'm Alan. Hello, I'm Andrew, and this week you will join us in asking at what point the industry starts to take side security seriously. In new new car news, you'll find out that you've been given all that you need and nothing more. And in points of interest, you can learn about a British success story. See, we've searched for some good stuff.
We'll start with a bit of good news, and it is follow up still to do with JLR, obviously. The bits of good news to do with that is that JLR is actually now going to open up 500 million and put it into its tier 1 suppliers, because obviously they've had over a month where they haven't had any payment at all, and that has had the known effects throughout the ecosystem.
They're doing this part of the reason is, yeah, this isn't good news. No, this is shocking. Well, is it though? Is it really shocking? I mean, it's not shocking, surprising. It's just shockingly poor. Yes, it is shockingly poor. We were saying last week how the government is going to guarantee 80% of a loan to a JLR. They've not signed that off yet, because why? I mean, it's only another week. It's only another week of people not getting paid.
Of livelihoods getting closer to the wall, of people needing to pay mortgagees, pay for fuel, food.
What does that matter? Doesn't matter? So who needs to sign something off? Exactly. I don't want to comment on one of the concerns of short, or if it was the full episode. On YouTube this week saying that isn't a tattoo really quite a big company, can they know for it?
If they're not prepared to put some money behind this, do they not see JLR as a viable business anymore? Yeah, all of the very good points.
Yeah, but let's not forget the JLR couldn't pay anyone. Well, that was there was physically impossible. Yeah, the systems were down.
And also, as we said last week, the government backing helps them get a lower interest rate, which means they can get quicker on with recovering and helping their suppliers.
This also is true. Yes. The other bit of good news though. Is it a saw he restarting beer production after a cyber attack? No.
The other good news is that JLR are going to start production on bits that go together eventually to make up a car.
But they haven't confirmed when they're actually going to be making whole cars yet.
Me being silly last week, but I'm talking about them all, switching bits on step by step by step.
I mean, I didn't. I knew there's a certain amount of truth to it, even as I was saying it.
But they're starting off with the Wolverhampton engine plant and then the Birmingham battery centre.
And then they're going to be starting the stamping operations in Castle, Bromhillwood and that's Solihull.
And then they'll come the body shop, the page shop, the logistics centre all in Solihull.
It is being phased and that's the kind of order so far.
Vehicle manufacturing, they say, will closely follow this quote on good and begin sometime later this week.
They'll begin with Nitro and Slovakia and then Range Rover and Range Rover sport lines in Solihull, Hillwood to follow later.
As ever, this auto-carry article by Will Bromhill that has been constantly updated with Timeline is a cracking read if you do want to know all of the history.
Yes. And the production that we've just outlined starts on the 8th of October, so that's tomorrow as we record this.
Or if you listen as soon as it comes out today.
Yes. And many people do.
Right Alan, it is towards the beginning of the month so that can only mean, can it not?
And only mean that it is the SNMT new car registration figures for September 2025.
The numbers you've all been waiting for.
In that September 2025, 312,891 new cars were registered in the UK.
That is up 13.7% year on year, compared to 2024.
So Tim, of course, is a new registration month?
I can't even remember what the number is now. I want to say 75.
It must be 75 now.
Obviously people were storing up vehicles for then, but not just that.
The start of the month came just after the ability for manufacturers and dealer networks and potentially new owners
to be able to apply for the electric vehicle ground thing, which the acronym of which has escaped to me as I'm speaking.
ECG, the electric car ground.
Obviously that can't, that you don't have to be the actual buyer or the first person named on the registration document
to apply for that, as I say dealerships and manufacturers can do that themselves.
Something which I'm sure is in no way at all open for any kind of loophole or big dealer groups to take advantage of or anything like that.
No, that would never happen.
Don't wander off to auto trader and look for a number of vehicles with under 100 miles on them.
In 2025.
Registered in 2025. There are none.
None.
And they haven't already registered since the start of September.
Yeah, I didn't find any that has happened in the last week of September.
No, it's all none.
And by the way, it was Andrew who went off and did this off his own back without telling me.
And you'll never guess that if you'd asked me to name a dealer group,
to the Scottish dealer group that would be doing this, amazingly those were the ones that Andrew found on their dealerships.
So there you go.
Anyway, back on with the actual numbers.
Back on with the actual numbers.
By saying what we've just said, we have given people some pause for thought when they hear all these numbers.
Yes.
And we're not saying this is definitely what has happened on a vast scale.
But we did find a few of these things.
Yes.
Which is kind of what we said was going to have exactly what we said.
The 312,891 vehicles that were registered in September this year.
The 45.2% of them were petrol.
4% diesel.
15.3% were hybrid electric vehicles.
23.3% were battery electric vehicles.
And 12.2% were plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
Now, of course, the number that is expected of zero emission vehicles by the end of the year is 28% did you say?
28% but there is abilities to fudge.
Manage that figure through spreading out the fudging it, spreading out over several years and stuff.
It's not a strict like it used to be.
It's not a hard fast line in the sand now.
There is some fudge room for maneuver for brands.
Look at me being the one who is trying to be all-but.
I know.
Really me laugh.
Of all the different registrations, 41.9% were for private.
55.7% were fleet.
And 2.4% were business.
That's got to be worrying.
The decrease for private.
Yeah, it's quite significant.
The actual physical number is larger, but the market share is down.
If you haven't clicked the link in the show notes yet, you won't see that.
But that's the reality.
Yes, the private number is up 8.9%.
But the market share is down just under 2% between 2024 and 2025.
Similarly with fleet, the number registered is up 16.9% year on year.
The percentage market share actually is only up 1.5%.
Business consuming the rest, but very low in comparison.
Top models then.
A little bit of a spread of numbers here actually for a change.
It's unlike last month where everyone was within about 1,000 of each other.
And an interesting collection.
Let's just say that as a description.
So we did number 10s of all about XC40 with 4,942 vehicles registered.
In at number 9, Volkswagen Golf.
5,147 in at number 8, the MGHS.
So 5,173.
Everything's pretty bummed up so far.
Number 7, Hyundai Tucson.
About 200 more.
Number 6, the BYD SEAL U.
And at number 5, the Voxel Corso with 5,841 registered.
Number 4, the Jyku 7.
They are everywhere up here.
6,489.
Number 3, the Nissan Cash Guys 7,218.
Number 2, the Ford Pima.
8,310 and at number 1.
The Kia Sportage with 9,455 registered.
Right, let's move on to the spreadsheet of Doom and Joy.
And I will do the Doom, as ever.
And Arbath R down 79%.
Citroen is down 36%.
DS is down.
93% Fiat is down 39%.
Genesis is down 41%.
Ineos is down 41%.
Land Rover down 29%.
Maserati is down 16%.
Smart is down 17.
Zuki down 23%.
And other British is down 17%.
Meanwhile on the up, Alpine up 843%.
Bentley up 64% BMW up 41%.
And BYD just pipping Alpine to the post with the MG Award for ridiculous percentages.
It's up 880%.
11,271 vehicles registered.
Just over 2 and a quarter percent market share so far this year.
That's pretty impressive.
Market share year on year by the way being up 576%.
Cooper up 29%.
GWM up 68%.
MG up 63%.
Armada up 300%.
Persho up 43%.
Reno up 23%.
Vauxhall up 30%.
Volvo up 23%.
Mike Hall's Chief Executive of SMMT has said in his closing statement,
55 vehicles are powering market growth after a sluggish summer.
And with record, zero emission vehicle uptake,
massive industry investment is paying off despite demand still trailing ambition.
We talked about that.
The electric car grant will help to break down one of the barriers holding back more drivers
from making the switch.
And tackling the remaining roadblocks by unblocking infrastructure investment
and driving down energy costs will be crucial to the success of the industry
and the environmental goals we share.
More on that later in the show.
Well, it's good to see a decent month.
It is.
How much of it was manifested is difficult to tell yet hopefully not much.
We'll see I think going through October and November if there's a massive tail off
then I think we'll be able to go talk to yourself.
Yeah.
If not then that's good news.
If it is then it's even even more problems for the industry.
And talking of problems.
Well, Renault has stated that they are looking to cut up to 3,000 jobs
in non-production facing departments.
This will all be part of a cost saving initiative known as arrow
or maybe if someone could do it in a French accent it's something else.
This is the important discussions we have before the show by the way.
We worked out what was called arrow.
It was arrow.
Oh, we didn't know if it was really La Flesh which is across French for the arrow.
But we assumed it was named as such so that someone at some point in a boardroom
could say something on the lines of the arrow is on target.
Yes.
And be able to run the full silly name for why the silly name was chosen.
And if the voluntary redundancy can be from the person in marketing
who thought that up, that would be wonderful.
Yes.
These silly names.
However, this underlines what we were discussing last week when the news was not good at all.
Renault got hit earlier in the year because of their stake in Nissan,
which we've talked about.
But even if you remove that element out of it, they still were not doing great.
They had a decline in net income.
Therefore, they've got to save money.
3,000 jobs is a lot of jobs.
And if you're not production front of house, that's a lot of people taking up of the work.
Yes.
And Renault in the minute, I think they have a pretty competitive range of vehicles out there.
Generally.
Well, it's better now they've got the four and the five.
Well, I think that that will help an awful lot.
This is Renault Group, obviously with Decia.
Is a very popular brand right across Europe.
Yes.
This information is to be finalized and announced fully by the end of the year it is expected.
Meanwhile, though, in the immediate term, the story from the register saying,
criminals take Renault UK customer data for a joyride.
I don't know why I read out the headlines from the register.
So wonder there isn't the word didn't say boffins.
So it was a place.
I was going to say there's a wonder there isn't a word boffins in there somewhere.
Renault UK customer has been warned that the personal data may be in criminal hands.
After one of its suppliers was hacked.
It's I'm going to say it and then Andrew is going to say why it doesn't matter.
This came from a third party supplier.
And well, it was the third party supplier who was attacked and the data extracted from there,
not from any of Renault's own home systems.
And there was no bank details, no payment details or anything.
Unlike that, it was, I've got a funny feeling.
It was probably marketing data.
The fact that it was a third party doesn't really make any difference because obviously
everybody still views that as being Renault.
Well, Renault have passed on the information of people that they were given to this third party.
It is Renault's responsibility.
Yes, it is.
It's simple as, and whenever a representative of a company turns around and goes,
oh, it was our supplier, not us.
You turn around and you go back to them and you say, tough.
I deal with you.
I gave you the information.
And that information is now out there because you as the company,
the organization, have obviously not done enough due diligence on your suppliers,
not acceptable.
Yeah.
People have been saying letters warning them that the data may have been included or was included.
Depending on which letter you get, both Renault and Dacia as well, really okay.
Well, sticking with companies not giving a monkies about people's data,
let's move on to digital charging solutions who are a German-based electric vehicle charging point operator.
And they have been hacked because of one of their service providers, see previous.
This does affect people in the UK as key customers have been sent.
Contact information to say your data may have been accessed by the cyberhack.
What is interesting though when you read this article again from the register,
that it states that DCS stated that complete payment information would not be affected
as this is neither stored nor processed on the affected databases.
That is not what it says on DCS's own website.
DCS's own website says, generally, it is neither stored nor processed on the affected databases
and then they go on to say, so nothing will have happened to it.
That's not correct.
If you are saying generally, then it means it can be.
And if it means it can be, then there's a chance someone's got that information.
Listen, that lawyer was very expensive, Andrew.
Yeah, well, I'm just so bored of companies not caring.
I'm just sick of it, none of them care.
That doesn't matter the industry.
Oh, finally.
Yeah, it is.
It's not aimed completely at automotive.
Speaking of not caring, though.
A story.
It's on EVPOW.co.uk, but it has come from the charging platform on Monter.
They surveyed more than 200 senior decision makers at UK charge point operators
at EV charging operators to find out how they were doing.
Against the government charge point regulations and the 99% optimum reliability required by those.
It turns out just 4% reported average charge uptime of 99.5% to above,
which was the level most closely aligned to the regulation of 99%.
Three quarters said they achieved uptime above 95%,
but blamed external factors for difficulties in reaching the mandated performance.
Almost half, that's 45%, cited slow maintenance response times as their biggest challenge
to maintaining uptime.
And more than 40% said they were limited by a lack of control over firmware and component durability.
That's a blurb.
Do you should respect better charges, shouldn't you?
But with those points, like we said with the data stuff, I don't care.
I'm paying you for a service.
Yeah, sort your house out. Get your house in order.
Meanwhile, the last 41%, which was also anger, Andrew,
also said that greater supply issues contributed to their below target uptime.
Obviously, ability to find reliable charges is important in EV use and ownership,
particularly if you don't have home charging.
The outcome of this is that a certain Mr. Clues is feeling far less vilified
than it has been recently, whenever he's had EVs on test,
which you will hear about at some point,
and has generally had a miserable time using public charge points.
A boy has some of us heard about it.
Seriously, though, the CPOs were also asked which elements of the new regulations
they found the most challenging and more than half of them said the 99% uptime requirement
was their single greatest concern.
Followed by the obligation to provide round the clock customer support of 40%
and the 10,000 penalty for failing to meet those regulations.
This sort of ties into our final article of the first part of the show
because Charge UK, which is the UK charging industry's body,
spokesperson group.
Yes, they have come out, possibly trying to preempt people asking questions
hard questions of them to say that the growth of the EV charging network
is in serious trouble of stalling and being hampered
because of what is quoted here in this article,
the right significant and unexpected cost hikes,
which means apparently many charging hubs aren't running out of profit.
Now, I can't...
I mean, you do have a point here.
When we get into the details, they have a point, but we've known for some time
virtually none of them run out of profit.
Yes, practically none of them are...
I think what's happening is that there's an investment now
in obviously growing the infrastructure
and the understanding that eventually they won't have to spend as much on the infrastructure
they'll get to the end of a growth phase
where they're having to buy and build and all these kind of things
and will end up in us a business as usual,
general maintenance phase,
where sure they're swapping out, they're upgrading charges,
but they're doing it in a more phased approach as and when they need to.
And so the actual capital and the investment costs will go down.
Because that was the problem, wasn't it?
Yeah.
It was the company on the motorways until they finally reached the company.
Oh, that lot.
Oh.
Ecosystem.
Yeah, I tried to raise it from my mind.
Yes, so I was just horrific.
They're not expecting to make growth net profit, net profit.
Let's just say profit.
For a while, be able to individual spots might be profitable
once you've taken away that investment and installation charge.
But the challenge they're having now is that there has been a change in the way
that standing charges are calculated for sites.
Now, originally it was supposedly it was calculated
on the actual output consumption that was used there on that site.
And according to Osprey's head of external affairs,
then the company free typical in verticals,
hub in the Midlands with eight charges on it,
has increased from 99 pounds a year
as a sort of right.
Here's the basics before you consume any electricity
before you do anything like that, then it's 99 pounds a year.
And that has increased to more than 8,600 pounds per year.
Based on the fact that now they're calculating that standard charge
based on, well, this is what it's going to be like if you're consuming
all of the power, all of the time.
And that's only over three years, by the way.
Yeah, over three years, there's been that increase.
Supposedly, the standing fees have increased by 462%
for rapid charging hubs, 389% for slow charging hubs
over the past two years.
So slow charging ones, just bring your own cable,
pulls with a couple of plugs in them, type of set up.
All of a sudden, there's this crazy increase in cost,
which wasn't really fact to do.
And when you're talking about what we've done before,
where people say, well, for the operators,
one of the things they're worried about is, you know,
new regulation, new stuff coming along,
this is it falls into exactly that.
Because this, of course, they then have to go off.
We have to not lose as much trade at the minute,
or we have to at least refactor these into our fees.
And of course, then the cost go up.
And the cost go up.
And that then detours people from buying EVs
and it has a knock on effect right the way through the market.
It seems kind of crazy that this is being allowed
to happen at a time when the other hand,
the government is trying to pay and subsidize
and help these companies, build new charging points.
And then others are coming along, we'll have all that.
Yeah.
Where it comes.
So I mean, I'm sure National Grid is delighted by all of this.
You can't mandate and legislate for a change
that is as large as what is happening in the current industry
and not appreciate the wider consequences.
And if someone is, if someone externally is hampering that,
that steps need to be taken.
And this looks like, they certainly looks like
Exxon companies take advantage in hampering that.
Yeah.
Anyway, that takes us to guilt minute.
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Absolutely.
Okay, Alan, it is new new car news.
Do you want to take us on to something from Dacia?
Yes, the Dacia Hipster concept has been shown off.
It's the first idea of something we talked about the other week,
which was the E-car.
The idea of a notional European car,
to set up,
which is of course going to be
ecological electric European
and something else beginning with E,
if I remember rightly, I think the four things ever so affordable.
Oh, yes.
So the hipster is just 1.55 meters wide,
1.53 meters high,
and three meters long,
so that makes it shorter than any car currently on sale.
The idea is that it can seat four
and can have up to 500 liters of load space
with a rear seats folded.
That's enough to accommodate a washing machine.
That's a very odd measuring thing.
How many blue whales is that?
It's a good square thing that you can kind of roughly
get a guess of it, get the size off.
And the aim of the hipster
is to enable as many people as possible
to access essential mobility.
The thought is that the model would undercut
the 15,000 pound spring E of V.
Package super tightly.
I mean, it's a little chunky and punk-esque,
which is cool.
But the range, I think is the one that people are discussing.
The aim here, of course,
is to make it as light as possible.
So they tried to bring it in under 800 kilograms,
make it 20% lighter than the spring.
But the aim is to have an absolutely tiny battery
if they could get away with it.
Yeah, they've talked about how the majority of motorists
drive fewer than 24 miles a day.
Combined with the weight thing,
they don't have to overdo the batteries
because they're saying,
well, most people don't drive very fast
so you don't need much range anyway.
The quote here is,
let's go back to essentials.
What do we really need on a daily basis?
And the battery and motor size are described as
sized as needed.
That's a curious one.
I mean, inside is all super modular,
modular and all sorts of bits that seem to clip in place
like speakers and cut all those north and stuff like that.
And, you know, phone mount.
But that's about it.
You get practically nothing.
The aim is all sort of things like sliding glass windows.
Using the app to unlock it rather physically,
that's kind of a line I don't like crossing.
And all sorts of other bits,
loads of clever cost saving measures here.
Yeah, I was going to say,
the cost saving ideas that they're exploring
with this are really quite clever.
How many of them would make it?
I'm not so sure.
But things like the rear lights,
they're actually mounted inside the rear window,
which lifts up as part of the boot.
Therefore, you can save money
and parts by not needing to put glass
over the top of the rear lights
because they've got the glass of the rear window.
I like the idea of that.
I mean, how you keep it clean and things like that.
It's a different matter.
But I like the thinking that has gone into this.
You can see from the way that the seats are made up,
they are because you're not traveling far.
How much padding do you need?
They still look more comfortable than the Ryanair ones
I sat on recently.
Probably are, yes.
There's that sort of thing as well.
I'm really intrigued with the approach to this.
I'm not sold on the 24 miles thing.
I feel...
But nobody's actually seeing the 24.
Nobody's actually seeing the 24 miles.
No, but Dacia have done this.
They've got this ethos with the spring.
The majority of people don't travel that far in car every day.
That's what they're basing this on.
However, that is in complete opposite to a hundred years
of marketing to us to buy cars.
Yes.
And that requires the industry to change its tack
and start trying to get us to come along that journey as well.
There's a curious thing here, right?
There's a quote.
It says, Chief Designer David Johan told Autocar the squat blocky hips
to demonstrate that the affordable cars can also be desirable,
citing iconic utilitarian people's cars.
Like the Fiat Panda Citroen 2CV in Land Rover Series 1 is inspiration.
One of the things it's worth mentioning there is that none of those
are city cars.
Those are all countryside cars.
That's a good point.
Fiat Panda don't...
Sure, it's handy for nipping around the city.
They even better climb you up a little track to get to a farm somewhere
even if it's a two-wheel drive model.
Citroen 2CV is meant for farmers getting stuff to market.
So it's not a city car.
It's actually quite a large.
And a Series 1 Land Rover again.
Not a city car.
It was essentially a...
Some more and more aligned with the model to be fought to be honest.
It's basically a multi-use tractor.
And I think that's really where maybe we have to think about this.
Rather than thinking, well, it's going to be a tiny city car.
So it needs tiny city car distances.
It probably needs more than your 24 kilometers.
Because you might be going from outside a town into a town
and home again using it for your commute.
Because there's no alternative public transport.
There's a difference between suburban EV use and extra urban EV use.
And I think that this and the inspirations behind it
are all very much for extra urban EV use.
Yeah.
I like the look of this actually.
I think it looks great.
And I love the kind of blue and the purple.
And I love it's all the same kind of colors as the Jaguar concept.
But how do you tell you the other end of the scale?
Yes.
Well done there.
Let's see how that influences the moving forward though.
Another concept car.
Andrew, you chose this.
You can flip it and explain it.
Yes.
Very much the most concept of concept cars.
And that's the Lamborghini Manifesto.
This is apparently according to this EVO article,
a glimpse into an elegant future for their supercars.
It really is just a model that has been mocked up.
There is no interior.
There is no engine.
They've thrown some wheels on it just to give you an idea.
It's a hot wheels car everyone.
It's one of those hot wheels cars.
Well yeah, it is a hot wheels car.
Very much is a hot wheels car.
And it's some of the angles I really love.
Some of the angles I struggle more with,
like the completely flat side profile.
And when you're looking flat on to it,
I struggle with that one.
It has very strong contact.
Like I mean, the Cesaro inspiration.
Yeah.
Hence the shape.
So it hence the shape of the wheel wells and all of that kind of thing.
But this is apparently a why I'm saying it's the most concept
of your concept.
Because it's an exploration that Lamborghini are doing
to what could possibly be the future design language
for the brand going forward.
Because if you look at the front, you've got,
oh yeah, that's definitely Lamborghini.
Just more so.
Yeah.
If you look at the side, it's definitely Lamborghini.
And if you look at the back, it's pretty clearly Lamborghini.
Yeah.
I really like it, though.
Because if you're going to have a Lamborghini,
it's meant to be the maddest of the mad, is it not?
It is.
And it's recognizably Lamborghini.
Yes.
Well, still being outrageous.
Well, that's it.
That's the one.
Or more outrageous.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And it would need to be dialed back to become a production car.
Yeah.
But we don't at least need something approaching a door.
Yes.
There's not even talking about door handles.
There don't seem to be any doors on this.
But it's cool.
Anyway, Alan, do you want to take us on to a sort of almost a list of the week, but not quite?
We're going from the sublime to the ridiculous.
The what car 2025 reliability survey is out.
And things are not looking good for the Nissan Duke.
It turns out if you have a pure petrol in Nissan Duke,
24% of petrol Duke owners have reported some sort of fault
with the car.
And three out of five of those,
three fifths of the 24% have found that they were charged more
than 1,500 pounds for the remedial work.
And if you're in any way familiar with the Nissan Duke,
you'll understand that that's because they are in absolute certainly the first generation,
absolute sought to work on.
I can kind of understand why the charges are quite high.
This is for cars up to five years old.
Okay, it was about 64% of those who reported a fault
with model had to also wait more than a week for a repair.
It's worth mentioning just to give an idea of sample sizes.
The survey received 32,493 responses,
as Andrew said, for owners of cars,
eight up to five years old.
By the way, Nissan not so chuffed with that Duke report.
And they say the Duke report is disappointing.
It differs from our customer data
and from other independent sources.
And we're discussing this with what car.
Discussing generally means what the heck are you talking about?
How dare you?
Yes.
Next, worst, was the Volkswagen Tiguan 81% of owners reported an issue?
Just two fifths said reports took more than a week though.
And in all cases, Volkswagen covered all of the costs.
There were previous generation Sportage, some owners there as well.
At the other end of the scale.
The current Hyundai i10, the current Hyundai Santa Fe
and the Toyota GR Yaris all earned perfect scores
for zero owners reporting any issue.
Well, I think we've covered all motoring needs in the UK
with those three.
I know.
Well, I discussed, I just said the i10.
I was like, oh, it doesn't matter.
You know, you never get driven hard or anything.
And because Hyundai Santa Fe,
there was like, well, that's fine.
You know, of course, it's okay.
Then GR Yaris was like, oh, yeah.
All right.
Honda is the most reliable brand.
Fall by Mini and Suzuki.
Lexus felt eight tied with Kia.
It seems.
MG came in worst.
Although, although their score of 89% was a significant improvement
on last year's 77%.
And also at the bottom of the table in the sand and feet.
Yeah, I don't know how they worked out those overall scores
for the brands.
The weightings are, I'm sure that many of the manufacturers
who are towards the bottom end will be discussing the weightings
of things, whereas people at the top of the table
will be going, oh, yeah, I don't know.
There's a fight perfectly reasonable weight balancing.
Yes.
Right.
I'm going to take us into points of interest
and we've got a lunchtime read from AutocalfaRachange.
And it's a, well, a British success story.
And it's celebrating 25 years of aerial.
It's written by Steve Cropley and Matt Pryor.
They also had a podcast recently, I think.
I think they did, yes.
They were certainly discussing, but I think they actually had one
to do with aerial as well.
You can check that out.
This runs through the formation of aerial,
how it came about, the cars it did,
how it actually turned a profit from car one,
which I think there's an awful lot of manufacturers out there
be going, please, how did you do that?
Yes.
And then go through to where they are now
and where they're looking to move on with the new build
and that sort of stuff.
I think it's fascinating read.
I think it's brilliant to celebrate as a British success story.
And aerial is one car brand.
I really wish I could drive.
I have not driven one yet.
I have a long time ago.
It was one of these driving aerial item things.
And I got given it as a present.
And it was rocking them.
And I'd never really driven on a track before.
So I was terrified of being that guy
because of course there was super car drive things
going on at the same time.
And with hindsight, I did not press it as hard
as maybe I would have would do these days,
given that I've got a lot more experience
of that kind of driving and of
twitchy or silly cars really.
But yeah, it was cool.
The other thing was we had to wear some waterproof suits
and diamonds and all everything.
You didn't really feel as much of the outside eaters.
I think you could do or at least
that Matt prior looks like he is in some of these types.
Yeah.
But do you check out these show notes for the link to that?
Yes, absolutely well worth it.
List of the week.
I know it feels like we've been at 17 lists of the week
already this week.
But this time it is from Classical Sports Car
and they've decided to list the 35 times
Mercedes-Benz got it right.
And I think they are limiting themselves when it comes to 35 times
when it comes to Mercedes-Benz to me.
Well, I think they've included at least one car there
that would never make my list of them getting it right.
Okay.
Mr. Clos, assuming you're not choosing the A-Class,
what's the...
What have you chosen?
I would ask the ladies and gentlemen
to open their slide pack at slide 24.
And this is number 23.
Just to confuse things.
And the Mercedes are 107SL from 1971.
The...
Yes.
So you're going full Dallas, are you?
Yes, I'm going full Dallas because
it's not like their two-seater sports cars
that are more modern where they've tried to
go pure performance and sporty carness.
This is not a car for hooning it.
You will go...
You will make progress, certainly.
It's more...
More a GT than...
Ooh.
Than trying to...
to beat...
to beat times or trains or things like that.
I would feel that this is a much more relaxed
and calm way to get about
whilst doing it incredibly stylishly.
Okay.
Yes.
Yes, it's definitely...
definitely a choice.
How about you then?
I am so stuck.
There's so many good ones,
and at the same time I'm trying not to choose
the very obvious ones, which I really,
really want to choose because I really,
really like them.
I'm going to choose the Mercedes Grosa 600.
It was deemed by somebody that we'd
bad taste to choose some of the large Mercedes
from the 1930s.
So I didn't.
I nearly picked this.
I nearly picked this.
I nearly picked this.
There was a high risk that you were going to, yeah.
I like this a lot.
Yeah.
So, yeah.
Grosa 600 from 1964.
I mean, just...
The most phenomenal vehicles really.
If you want...
I don't want to say...
I don't want to fall back into that old piece of saying.
If you look up over-engineered in the...
in the dictionary, there's a picture of Mercedes Grosa 600
because that's just irritating and stupid.
But the episode of Top Gear
we're Clarkson and May.
We're trying to out-luxury each other.
With their own cars.
This is just wonderful.
The fact that so much of it is air powered,
so much of it is duplicated just in case somebody shoots out
one half, just creating incredible.
It was built for 17 years,
so it's the kind of thing that we'd really drive
at some of us nuts and cars all every day.
The perfect large car chosen by every dictator under the side.
And I just think they're great.
They look so good.
They're engineered so well.
And they're just a moment in time.
That's from those 1960s,
where this was what West Germany was doing.
Yeah.
I think it's amazing.
Absolutely.
Cannot fault you.
Yeah, so many others on the list in there
that had a very, very good car.
Yeah.
OK, I'm going to round out the show with the end finally.
And we are going to visit Petrol Blog.
And the title of the article that we're linking to
is Petrol Blog Revisited.
Man buys Hot Wheels toy,
but fails to post photo on social media.
Sorry if many of our listeners feel seen
by this when they read it through.
However, it is wonderful, obviously,
because it's from Major Gav,
and it makes really excellent points.
That one has been shown on social media.
That was Alan was just showing me a model car
in its blister packet.
It's a 2024 total anguiser in it.
Still in its Hot Wheels premium.
By two, one you can open one you keep.
I'm very rarely.
It's not something I'm not actually someone who does that.
It's just sometimes if I spot something,
which is ticklish, I'll pick it up.
Yeah, but this is great.
A wonderful bit of tongue in cheekness about it.
But it also gives us an opportunity to say
for those who don't know.
But Petrol Blog is now open again.
And it will be linked in the show notes.
A second article that will explain all this,
because it only opened up in the 15th of September.
And he explains what you'll get.
And how to sign up to it,
which obviously all of us should do,
and gives us an opportunity to promote a friend of the show
and somebody who's doing something rather wonderful.
Well worth it for the window sticker in the curing alone.
I think.
So that's just me.
I agree with that.
That's what I want out of it.
I think that's us for the week, isn't it?
I think so.
We have fought our way through the news.
Not to risk slitty this week.
Yay.
Want me to continue?
Whilst we're on our little cloud of joy,
don't forget that we're now in next week.
You can give us any feedback and share your thoughts
with the show at motoringpodcast.com on Blue Sky.
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And on the contact page of www.motoringpodcast.com
the hub of all our activities.
Remember you can support us financially by Patreon.
And please leave a review on rating on Apple Podcasts.
YouTube or her.
Every up podcast app lets you do such a thing.
Andrew, what's the best way to get in touch with you?
Best way to get in touch with me is if you search
for crack windscreen on Blue Sky.
And failing that, if you prefer LinkedIn is your platform
of choice, I am on there.
And I wonder if people want to get in touch with you
and discuss more in depth about what the hot wheels was
that you have selected and not opened yet
and so they can complain that you haven't opened it.
What's the best way for you to do that?
Best way to do that is on Blue Sky,
where I'm at AJP Bradley.
That's B-I-E-D-E-L-E-Y,
dot B-Sky, dot social.
As I said, we'll be back very soon.
Until then, I've been on Bradley,
I've been Andrew Clues,
and safe motoring.
About this episode
The latest episode dives into pressing issues in the automotive industry, including security concerns and the financial struggles of JLR, which is set to inject £500 million into its suppliers after a payment halt. The hosts discuss new car registration figures, revealing a 13.7% increase in UK registrations year-on-year, with a notable rise in electric vehicle uptake. They also explore Renault's job cuts and data breaches affecting customer information. The episode features a mix of industry insights, new car news, and a spotlight on the Dacia Hipster concept, showcasing innovative approaches to affordable electric vehicles.
Byd Seal
Citroen 2CV
Fiat Panda
Ford Puma
Hyundai i10
Hyundai Santa Fe
Hyundai Tucson
Kia Sportage
Land Rover Range Rover
Land Rover Series
Mercedes-Benz A-Class
Mercedes-Benz G-Class
Nissan Juke
Nissan Qashqai
Renault 4 CV
Renault 5 E-Tech Electric
Toyota GR Yaris
Volkswagen Golf
Volkswagen Tiguan
Volvo XC40
Original notes
FOLLOW UP: JLR WOES STILL CONTINUE BUT MORE PROGRESS
JLR continues to battle the effects of the cyber attack that caused them to shut all systems on 1 September, 2025. They are still waiting on signed approval of the Government guarantee for 80% of the loan they are seeking. In the meantime, they are going to inject up to £500 million into their first tier suppliers to help them after no payments for over a month. Click this Business Matters article link here, to read more.
The phased restarting of factory operations is expected to begin on 8 October, 2025 (day of publication of this episode). Click the link here, to find out the latest update from Autocar’s coverage.
SEPTEMBER 2025 NEW CAR REGISTRATIONSThe Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has released the new car registration figures, for September 2025. This is the best September since 2020, with BEVs taking a market share, for the month of 23.3%, whilst petrol still remains the most popular fuel. Fleet sector did most of the heavy lifting, being 55.7% of registrations. Private dropped to 41.9%, although the actual number did increase on 2024. There are new models in the Top Models list. Suggestions are that the Government’s Electric Car Grant (ECG) is having a positive effect on this. But don’t forget, the way the ECG is set up means it is possible to abuse the system, not that we are saying this has happened. To read more, click this article link from SMMT.
RENAULT PLANNING TO ASK FOR VOLUNTARY REDUNDANCIESUnder the name “Arrow”, Renault will be implementing cost saving initiatives such as asking for voluntary redundancies from non production roles, to the tune of 3,000. The final plan is still being worked on and is expected by the end of the year. For more on this story, click this Yahoo!Finance article link here.
RENAULT AND DACIA CUSTOMER DATA HACKED IN THE UKRenault and Dacia UK customers have had their data accessed by hackers, who go into a supplier’s system. Customers are being warned to be careful of scams and attempts to defraud them as a result. You can read more on this, by clicking the link here to an article from The Register.
EV CHARGING COMPANY HACKEDDigital Charging Solutions (DCS), a German based company, has admitted to being hacked. This does affect some UK drivers, as Kia customers have been warned to be vigilant. Click this article link from The Register, to read more.
NEARLY ALL CHARGER OPERATORS FAIL RELIABILITY OBJECTIVESThe Public Charge Point Regulations mandate that charger operators must ensure their chargers are operational 99% of the time. Only 4% meet this requirement. Lots of blame being thrown around as to why. To learn more,
Motoring Podcast - News Show
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