Geely is a car company from China that makes different types of vehicles, including electric cars. They have been growing by buying other car brands and selling parts of their business.
Battery electric vehicles are cars that run only on electricity, using batteries instead of gasoline. They don't produce any exhaust fumes, making them better for the environment.
The Tesla Model 3 is a popular electric car that can drive long distances on a single charge. It's known for being fast and having lots of cool technology inside.
The Hyundai Tucson is a small SUV that many people like for its good looks and useful features. It's a great choice for families or anyone who needs extra space.
The Nissan Juke is a small crossover car that looks different from most cars because of its unique shape. It's popular among younger drivers because it's fun to drive and stands out on the road.
Audi is a German car brand that makes luxury cars with lots of technology and comfort features. They are known for their all-wheel drive system called Quattro.
Gordon Murray Automotive is a car company started by a famous car designer, Gordon Murray. They focus on making high-performance cars with unique designs.
The Puma EV is an electric version of Ford's Puma SUV, designed to be efficient and eco-friendly while still being practical for everyday use.
Car
Volkswagen Explorer
The Volkswagen Explorer is a vehicle from Volkswagen that is part of their efforts to bring more electric cars to the market, often through partnerships with other companies.
The Ford Explorer is a popular family SUV that has been around for a long time. It's known for being roomy and good for driving on different types of roads, making it a favorite for families and outdoor enthusiasts.
The Renault 5 is a popular car from Renault that is being updated to be electric, combining its classic style with new technology for better efficiency.
The Tesla Cybertruck is a new electric truck that looks very different from regular trucks because of its sharp, boxy shape. It's designed to be tough and powerful, and people are talking about it because it could change how we think about trucks.
Curb weight is how much a car weighs when it's ready to drive but without any people or extra stuff inside. It's important for figuring out how much fuel a car will use.
CLTC is a test used in China to check how much fuel cars use and how much pollution they produce. It's similar to tests used in other parts of the world.
The Skoda Octavia is a compact car that offers a lot of space inside for passengers and luggage. It's known for being a good deal and is reliable, which makes it a favorite among many drivers.
The Peugeot 308 is a small car that looks nice and drives smoothly. It's popular because it's comfortable and has modern features that make driving easier, perfect for city life.
The Mitsubishi Outlander is a medium-sized SUV that has room for families and is good on gas. It’s talked about because it can be a smart choice for people looking for a practical vehicle.
The Nissan Frontier is a smaller truck that's tough and can handle rough roads. It's popular because it's useful for work and also good for outdoor activities like camping or off-roading.
The Polestar 2 is an electric car that focuses on being both fast and eco-friendly. It's talked about because it combines luxury with technology, making it a cool choice for people who care about the environment.
The Ford Expedition is a big SUV that can fit a lot of people and stuff inside, making it great for families. It's known for being strong and having lots of modern features to make driving easier and more enjoyable.
The Toyota C-HR is a small SUV that has a unique, eye-catching design. It's popular because it's easy to drive in the city and offers good fuel efficiency, especially with its hybrid version.
LIVE
Welcome to the Motoring Podcast, a weekly discussion of Motoring News. This is Episode 666. How auspicious
is that? On Tuesday, the thirteenth of, oh god, it gets even worse, January 2026. Hello,
I'm Alan.
Hello, I'm Andrew. And this week, you'll hear us discuss how software is a devil to
get right. In new car news, you will listen to us ask if one car is real or just some
crazy dream. And in points of interest, you will find out how the CC output that's
the same as the number of the beast is but a distant dream for one car. And first, we
are on to follow-up. And I need to warn everybody now, there is a lot of articles and
stories in this week's show. Several of them we are going to briefly touch on and move
on. As ever, links in the show notes, if you want to find the full details, click
those through, read the articles that we are referring to, please. But for our
sanity and yours.
I was going to say, but partly for Andrew's sanity, as well as just the show not taking
three hours and us not being incredibly angry.
Yes. But I will start with some follow-up. And the first bit is something we talked
about way back, I think it was August or July, that government was mulling the
idea of changing some rules to do with the roads and road safety. But now they
have finally brought out the road safety strategy. We finally have a new road
strategy. And there's quite a lot of proposals in here that will hopefully
make a difference to road safety in terms of reducing the overall figures which
haven't reduced in over a decade now, in terms of injury and deaths. Unfortunately,
there are five big areas that they're looking at. There's to do with
motoring offences and how they're going to change things with that. Learner drivers,
elderly drivers. There's also improving motor cycle training and licensing. And
also the mandating of vehicle safety technologies. Think what they're doing in
Europe. We haven't got a formal statement that says we have adopted exactly what
Europe are doing. There will be in the show notes a link to the government's
own web page that has the road safety strategy, which is PDF, as well as links
to those five consultations. If you are interested in any of those, do click those
links and actually make your voice be heard. Because at the end of it,
we can't complain if you haven't said something. The main headline news that's
coming out really from this is drink driving levels will be reduced,
which is a good thing, frankly, considering how high they were.
To Scottish levels?
Yep. There is also for elderly drivers mandatory eyesight tests, as well as
cognitive tests, although I'm not sure what they mean by a cognitive test exactly.
I don't know if the US president can pass his ones and they must be pretty low.
Also, it's for learner drivers to take something like between three and six
months from starting to learn to drive before they're able to take a test
so that they get more experience in different conditions.
I love the line that they should have different conditions like wet or cold
weather and at night and you just think, yeah, try learning in Scotland.
You only have those.
But also, they're talking about, and this one seems a little bit,
we're doing it for the headlines, harsher penalties for those who do break the law.
That's as Alan was saying to me earlier. The majority of these people don't care
about breaking the law anyway. Changing the penalty isn't going to change the
difference, their opinion on it.
If you don't care about not having any insurance, then it's not going to make a
difference if it's a £150 fine or a £300 fine.
If you're one of the people who insists on not wearing a seatbelt in the car,
you're probably not going to be that bothered.
The notable thing about this though is that if you're not wearing a seatbelt
in the car and you're a passenger and you're over the age of 18,
then the driver will get punished as well, whereas that's not currently the case
currently. It's the adult passengers who will get fined and points if that's relevant.
But again, I just don't see that making a difference to anybody who's going to do that anyway.
No. And the final thing is that they're looking at allowing councils to be able to
change speed limits more easily, which I really don't like the idea of that one.
By change, they mean reduce.
Yeah, of course.
By the way, that's reduce.
And to reiterate, if you're not a long-time listener,
of course we want the roads to be safer and we are not advocating people speeding.
However, there is an awful lot of justifications that are not valid or actually truthful.
He did give air quotes around the word justifications there,
for those of you who can't see this.
Anyway, Alan, do you want to take us on to the next bit of quick follow-up?
Yeah, Chinese automotive group Geely, it floated off parts of itself.
A while ago, onto various stock markets around the world.
One part it floated off part of, part of a part was Zika, which is an EV brand.
They sold it off.
They raised quite a lot of money.
Things haven't been quite so great, generally around some of many of the Geely brands.
What they've done is they have now bought it back and made it completely private.
They've then done some financial gubbling and they've moved bits around
and this stake of this has gone from this subsidiary to that subsidiary to the next.
It sounds like the accountants and lawyers have been having a lot of fun.
I imagine that over the next few months, we will start to see what some of the strategic
outcomes of that are, gosh, you can tell I'm a consultant sometimes,
and what's actually going to happen, whether they're going to sell off bits or fault bits
or whatever.
We don't know yet.
Well, Geely has talked heavily about sharing a lot of technologies across all their brands,
haven't they?
Recently.
Yeah, as you say, I think in the coming months, we will get more of an idea of what is happening.
But we included that for completeness, because we like to complete these things,
because we did talk about it a while ago.
We did.
We did, exactly.
Next up, Lo Andrew, JLR, cybercrime, payroll data.
Yes, still knock-ons of this.
It is reported that during the attack, they got the personal payroll data of thousands of
employees as well as whatever else they took.
Again, JLR are silent on this.
I'm not so sure the way they've been so quiet about this is the best policy,
but it is the policy that they are following and they are sticking right to it.
Employees have been warned to look out for potential fraud and for scams.
JLR are saying there is no evidence yet that any naughtiness has been done with this data.
And you say, oh, right, well, that's okay then, isn't it?
It doesn't matter.
It's bank account details, tax codes, and other sensitive data relating to staff,
salaries, benefits, and former employees according to the register.
It's all right.
I've only spent my afternoon studying stuff all about GDPR, so I'm glad.
That doesn't alarm me in any way, shape, or form.
No, not at all.
No, that's not good, folks.
Just be careful.
Yes.
Be very, very careful, please.
That takes us to...
New news.
...brings us to new news and December 2025 SMMT new registration figures.
And in fact, that includes the Hall of 2025 because yay.
Well, overall, it's positive.
Yes, I mean, overall, for the full year, it was up 3.5%.
I've got to be really careful because there's double the amount of confusing infographics this month.
Yes.
Those of you who've never been to the SMMT page,
you probably don't understand what I'm talking about,
but every few months they just make it a little more confusing.
And then, of course, when it comes to December,
you get twice as much of the newly reformatted confusing infographics.
But overall, in 2025, new car registration has reached 2.02 million,
making it up 3.5% year on year.
Eternal combustion engine is still the biggest selling power trade,
but growing demand for electrified cars has narrowed the majority to just 51.5%.
Almost half a million new battery electric vehicles join the road,
as one in four buyers almost went electric.
But the gap between demand and ambition widens,
in other words, they're saying, yeah, we still can't keep up the government target.
And that second point that you talked about there,
I don't understand why they've said this,
where you talked about eternal combustion engine still the biggest selling power train,
but growing demand, it narrows to just 51.5%.
But the problem is most petrol vehicles are of the mild hybrid type anyway,
so they are significantly better than they were.
But it's not a hybrid, it just feels so, so you don't need to say that.
There is a link. It is electrified cars in that bit, not electric.
And then there is a footnote number one, which points out electrified includes
hybrids and plug-in hybrids.
It just feels like a pointless, silly thing to do.
Over the year, the entire year of 2025, there were 937,938 petrol vehicles registered,
that's down 8% on 2024.
There were 103,906 deals of cars registered, that's down 15.6% on last year.
That gives a mere 5.1% market share.
Pure petrol, by the way, before I forget, 46.4% market share.
Hybrid electric vehicles, 280,185, that's up 7.2% year on year,
for a 13.9% market share.
Battery electric vehicles, which is what everybody's talking about.
473,348, that's 23.9% increase over last year,
with a 23.4% market share.
Glad that all these percentages aren't really similar and confusing.
And plug-in hybrids, 225,143, that's up 34.7% to an 11.1% market share.
In terms of market share, definitely just petrol and mild hybrid,
46.4%, followed by battery electric at 23.4%, followed by hybrids at 13.9%,
plug-ins at 11.1% and diesel at 5.1%.
Over the course of the year, private registrations to private buyers,
registries, there was a 38.6%, for fleet was 59.1% and for business was 2.3%.
For December, the percentage of fleet was higher, percentage of private was lower.
That's basically the same shares as it was last year, give or take, a couple of decimals.
I am surprised at how high the private registrations were considering for how long
they were dropping this year.
Filled me actually, I was surprised to see that on the aggregates as well.
It's the best year there has been since 2019 and that's generally increasing from 2020.
Top 10 models for December, he says clicking the correct button.
At number 10 with 2,326 registrations, so the numbers are really very low
all the way through all of these.
December is not traditionally a big registration month
because Christmas and places are shut and all that kind of thing.
So I've been curious to see the little spike in registrations for some brands and some models.
Yes.
Anyway, if you go to AutoTrader by the way, just as a completely unrelated exercise
and you search for vehicles with under 100 miles,
you'd be amazed how many there are out there.
Yes, and you will have your eyes open to which brands have got particularly a lot of those.
Anyway, completely unrelated to that.
At number 10, Nissan Duke 2,326 registrations.
At number 9, the Tesla Model 3 at 2,549.
At number 8, the Mini Mini Cooper 2,581.
At number 7, the MGM GHS.
This is them repeating the names by the way.
2,803.
It's not just me trying to be funny.
At number 6, the Jaikou 7 at 2,863.
Everyone's so close together.
We're not barely over 500 more between 10 and 6.
At number 5, the Nissan Cascao 2,887.
Number 4, the MGM GHS 2,384.
Number 3, the Volvo XC40, 2,319.
Number 2, the Tesla Model YOY, 3,737.
So there's a good 400 and something leap in one fair jump there.
And number 1, everybody's favourite it seems, the Ford Puma with 4,680 registrations.
Yes.
Yes.
You could buy one new or you could look in that search
on Autotrader I maybe mentioned.
Not the only brand in that top 10 list though that you can do that with.
Oh no, not at all.
And surprisingly, not a single Kia or Hyundai in that top 10 list for December.
Volkswagen Golf, that takes us to 32,478 and number 6.
And number 5, the Nissan Juke.
Number 4, the Vauxhall Corsa.
Number 3, the Nissan Cascade.
Now, the Vauxhall Corsa, 35,947 registrations.
Nissan Cascade, 41,141 registrations.
Basically 5,000 of a jump right there when everybody else has been very close together.
Kia Sportage, 47,788.
So there's a jump of 6,500 roughly there.
And then at number one, the Ford Puma with 55,488.
I mean, maybe it's not a steady geographic spread.
Because I don't see an awful lot of brand new four-pumes on the road.
I see some, but I don't see lots.
Yes. Anyway, I'm going to do the spreadsheet of doom.
Yes, because I've waffled a lot.
And in general, well, it's difficult not to with all that info you had to do.
You had to do both the month and the year.
For the spreadsheet of doom, not going to do the overall year.
We're just going to stick with the month of December here.
Can we highlight a couple of things for the full year?
I've got a couple of things I've highlighted on my copy.
There's a few ridiculous percentages anyway.
Bentley is down 21%.
Citroen is down 15%.
Adacia is down 42%.
DS is down 56%.
Fiat is down 83%.
To put that in perspective, in 2024, they registered 875 in December.
In 2025, only 149.
But I think that is before the Fiat Grandi-Pandi is now available or will be available.
I think that will make a big difference to them.
I think there has been a supply gap.
Yes.
Genesis is down 39%.
Honda is down 32%.
Ineos is down 41%.
That's from 17% to 10%.
Remember that they have commercial versions of the Grenadier as well.
He says trying to be fair.
Jaguar is down 100%.
They obviously don't register anything now at the moment.
Jeep is down 24%.
Lexus is down 16%.
Maxis is down 96%.
20, 24, 28 they registered in 25, 1.
Mazda is down 51%.
Mercedes is down 19%.
That is quite a drop in numbers.
Mini is down 27%.
Peugeot down 16%.
Porsche down 34%.
Seat down 36%.
Skoda down 31%.
Tesla down 27%.
Still, there's 6,286 registered.
Now these things happen now.
Yep.
Toyota is down 28%.
Vauxhall is down 27%.
Other British down 36%.
And other Imports down 29%.
Remember, December was the end of quarter for Tesla as well.
On the more positives, Alfa Romeo up 120%.
Alpine up 1,454%.
24 to 373%.
Mostly rebadged Renault 5s, I guess.
Audi up 15%.
BYD up 467%.
Ford up 25%.
GWM up 306%.
Jaiku get the MG award.
1,724.88%.
Worth noticing that that's 3,814 vehicles registered this year.
Or 2025, 209 in December 2024,
which had made up the entirety of their 2024 registrations.
That meant that with 28,232, Jaiku registered over the whole of 2025,
that's a 13,408% increase.
So well done to them on that.
Maserati up 86%.
Amoda up 126%.
Polestar up 93%.
Skywell, I think I've seen a couple of those,
which is quite an achievement.
Up 33%.
Smart up 233%.
And Suzuki up 75%.
The greatest market share for a single brand in the UK last year
was 8.84% to a Volkswagen.
And overall, they were up 7.4% against 2024.
The greatest drop in registrations by percentage from year to year,
where it is not a now dead or at least comatose brand,
was a bath down 72% over the year.
291 vehicles registered as opposed to 1027.
Chevrolet, by the way,
massive congratulations to Chevrolet for registering
85 vehicles in 2025 compared to one in 2024.
I can only imagine they were import.
Obviously, Mike Hawes has his monthly statement.
And in it, he does mention about how it's not sustainable
for the industry to keep offering the discounts that it is.
They also now can start talking about how consumers are going to mix messages
thanks to the government's changes to EV tax rules.
And that incoming in future years.
And also talks about needing help with charging
because that's so costly, particularly if it's public.
Generally the usual stuff.
Yes, the same stuff he talks about every month, really.
Right, I am going to move us on to the next bit of news.
And the Gordon Murray Automotive or GMA has lost its CEO, Philly,
but it has now also gained 90 million pounds worth of investment
from the Halo Cars Group.
And the managing partners of that are also going to be on the border directors
alongside Gordon Murray.
Gordon Murray will continue his role as chairman and chief designer.
This EVO article tells us the 90 million will be used to help continue
the product plan that they have with the company through to 2039
that they've got mapped out.
And one of the managing partners is also the first owner of a GMA vehicle
and has commissioned or has bought a lot of the special editions they've done and stuff.
He likes the company so much he's almost tried to buy it himself.
I think it's one of those.
What was the Remington guy called after Gordon?
Yeah, it was that.
Well, 90 million, that's going to help Gordon Murray Automotive.
This can only be a good thing as far as I'm concerned.
We want to see the GMA stuff coming up because there's also the clever
platform stuff that they've got in the background for them and the production
tactics or production systems that they've got mapped out as well.
Victor Cayam, for those of you who are old and gray as us.
Meanwhile, to other automotive manufacturers named after their
founders, Ford, Ford in North America is to scale back its electric vehicle plans.
There's a couple of reasons for this, but one of which is probably the complete 180 degree U-turn
born by the current administration over the whole idea of basically EV tax credits
and that they don't exist anymore in the US.
As a result, there's far harder to get interest in things like the F-150 Lightning,
the electric full-size pickup truck, and probably a certain mind about the Mustang Mach-E,
which was always very expensive really for what it was.
Nice thing to drive, drive one here, not there.
Curious to know what happened to things like the hybrids that exist in the range as well,
things like the old mental blank Maverick pickup truck, one of which I saw in Sterling
recently.
Well, the hybrid is going to be generally as electrified as it gets because the F...
It's not the focus because they've stopped building the focus.
Yes.
Again, once again, even after four weeks off, I still can't stop falling into these puns.
But yeah, the F-150 Lightning pickup truck is going to be made into a hybrid.
I think they are going to lean into hybrids and that's as
electric-y as it is going to get for some time.
In Europe, it seems to be continuing with things like the Puma EV and also the tie-ups
with Volkswagen as well, bringing us things like the Explorer.
Soon to have the Renault 5 re-budget.
Yeah, so not just Volkswagen but Renault as well.
So we'll see what happens there.
I don't know.
The Ford product lightning has been a very, very strange place for the last many years.
Yes.
And I think it's just going to get slightly weirder and more hybridized over the next little
while as well.
I mean, maybe in three years' time, everything will change and become
slightly more normal again.
But let's just see.
It's been very difficult for the North American car manufacturers.
Basically, the whole regulatory landscape has changed under them when they were still
trying to get used to the last one.
Right.
I'm going to move us on.
I'm going to move us on to Mercedes-Benz financial services.
And they have posted a loss of £365 million, which sounds really quite bad.
However, it is not as bad as that because what they have done is they have written
down £423.8 million to do with the compensation they are setting aside for the financial
redress scandal.
They are not the only company that has done this.
Lloyd was in Lloyd's?
Lloyd's banking group and BMW.
Yeah.
Lloyd's going for a mere £1.95 billion.
Yeah.
And BMW financial services, £207 million set aside.
Yeah.
Basically, they're taking the bad news now.
Just a financial.
It's just an accountancy thing.
Get it in this year and then we can look how wonderful next year is going to be.
Totally.
More information linked in the show notes if you're interested in that.
Moving on, Tesla.
Tesla has cancelled a multi-billion dollar cathode material order from L and F,
according to Electrive.
L and F is a South Korean battery material manufacturer.
Tesla has reduced due to a change in delivery quantities.
That's what we're putting it.
This is incredible.
Supply contract for cathode materials from approximately $2.9 billion US dollars
to, and I had to go off and check this and make sure that when I hadn't missed something,
$7,000 dollars.
And Andrew and I's theory here is the pallet was on its way already.
Yeah.
I love the next line though, which is a possible reason could be weak demand for the Cybertruck.
Cybertruck is the only vehicle that uses this specific battery size,
which was meant to be rolled out into other Tesla models and any new cheap Tesla's.
That could be invented quickly, but hasn't been.
And it doesn't look like there's any move forward on actually doing that for L and F,
stuck at the other end of that silliness.
Yeah.
$7,000 dollars, everyone.
From $2.9 billion.
From $2.9 billion.
I'm going to take us to China and this is actually a really interesting,
and I think a really good thing that is happening by Chinese regulators.
They have introduced a new mandatory standard for energy consumption for fully electric passenger
cars.
This came into effect on the 1st of January, 2026.
The standards do actually change depending on the weight of the vehicle.
That's the curb weight of the vehicle, not gross weight.
Hello Cardiff Council.
So what they have stated is that if a vehicle is around two tons,
the maximum permissible energy consumption is set at 15.1 kilowatt per hour per 100 kilometers.
Now, this is going to go on the Chinese CLTC cycle.
So that's like our WLTP.
They get lower figures than WLTP does.
So this is really going to bite.
I think it's a brilliant idea because it's going,
this is something we have banged on about for now nine years
since we took an electric car around Britain.
The efficiency side of things has to be improved.
We cannot just keep chucking in massive batteries and thinking that fixes it.
For a long time now, you say people have been shoving in essentially bigger and bigger fuel tanks
and going, look at the range you can get.
This had to happen.
This was going to happen at some point.
I'm really glad it's starting to happen now.
But people say, well, that's not the solution.
We have to start looking at the efficiency of this and essentially the fuel consumption.
You want to be able to go longer ranges on little batteries because that uses less,
it weighs less, it costs less, it makes everything just better.
You have to be more efficient.
As I say, it's only been a matter of time before this was going to appear.
I'm really glad China's having to work out the various machinations of it
because I think that they'll probably do a better job of this and then adapting stuff
so that it's correct than maybe some of the definitely than the US right now,
but maybe many of the European markets as well.
I think they're less susceptible to being lobbied, shall we say as well.
Yes, well, yes, exactly.
So I think it's going to be really interesting to see what there is and that they create
the blueprint for how to do this in the rest of the world.
I look forward to seeing this idea and hopefully the learnings from this spreading.
Yep, absolutely.
And we all follow the neocarn method of developing cars.
Yes.
Patented, trademarked, etc.
The person who tells the last thing we should do is that it's going to be near,
but never mind.
Englandshire, thousands of drivers wrongly fined for speeding since 2021 due to faulty
cameras is the headline on this story.
It's National Highways is saying that a very small number of drivers have been fined incorrectly
since 2021 as apologized for the error.
They say that they've identified around 2,650 incorrect camera activations,
so that's less than two a day as if that makes you feel any better.
Not all of those will have resulted in fines as they're not always enforced,
but yes, the issue affected 10% of motorways and aeroids in England.
No, that's conflicting information they're giving out there.
Oh yeah.
They said a small proportion got fined and then they go on about that not all of them
do result in a fine.
What they're apologizing to, they are only apologizing to those who have been fined.
So if you went on a speed awareness course, that's not a fine.
No.
But your insurance will have gone up because you'll have had to declare that.
Well, they say it doesn't, says man who has been on speed awareness course.
Yeah, all right, come on.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Of course it doesn't.
Like my bomb is an insurance company.
Of course it's an excuse to put the price up.
Yeah.
But don't worry because they're going to pay you back the fine.
Oh, that's great.
How about the extra I paid on my insurance?
It doesn't mention that.
And how about if I had to take time off work?
No mention of that either.
To deal with any of that.
Oh, right.
You're not really apologizing.
Is what I'm getting from this.
No, not really.
They're not really making it right.
They're just going, yeah, we made a mistake.
And you had to pay more money as a result.
But we'll give you the money we had to pay to us.
It's pretty lame really for first of all,
first of all, these cameras should be fixed so that they are on the side of caution.
And again, I'm going to repeat what Andrew said earlier on.
We are not condoning speeding.
We do not think that you should do that.
But we do think that you shouldn't be essentially defrauded
by the people that run speed cameras.
Go get your software right.
Stop this.
Enough of this nonsense.
Absolutely enough of this nonsense.
Sick to the back teeth of we are celebrating incompetence basically.
Those people should be fired.
Is this next story mine or yours?
Mine.
Shall I just take it?
So moving on to software.
Oh gosh, isn't it tricky for some?
BMW in the US.
It's not just in the US.
It's not just in the US.
I don't know, it just happens to be that this is a US story,
but it's not just in the US, it's in Europe as well.
Well, the documents are filed in the NHTSA.
Right.
And I haven't had a chance to look if it is in the UK and elsewhere.
I thought it was.
BMW is recording nearly 37,000 X3s.
Because there is a software and car scoops is putting this far too politely.
Floor, which allowed when the vehicle is stopped or parked,
there is wheel movement in the steering wheel and therefore the front wheels as well.
If it sounds like wheel movement, you're just thinking,
oh, it's a little vibration.
You follow the link in the show notes of this car scoops article
and the video is really quite scary of just what it's doing while sitting
and supposedly only does it stationary, but that's so.
But don't worry because it will be fixed by a software over the air update.
So yippee.
Don't worry about it.
It's from the company that disabled your handbrake remotely on one over the air update.
Again, see my rant in the previous item about software.
BMW says owners will also have the option of scheduling a free dealer visit if they prefer.
I would be taking it back and saying, I would like my money you have,
you do not provide a product that is fit for purpose.
Yeah, but honestly, this software stuff that something has to be,
this really has to be done because we're lucky that it isn't happening on vehicles that are
moving in this instance.
This would have been terrifying.
The industry has to wake up and do this properly and the regulators need to wake up
and have this done properly because this whole attitude of just ship it lads,
it doesn't matter, is unacceptable.
It goes back to Tim Stevens article that we talked about just before Christmas.
Yeah.
And just the over the air, I will fix it later.
The mentality has to shift.
It has to shift or people are going to die.
Absolutely must.
One last one before guilt minute, everyone.
Volvo's EX30, possibly one of the worst cars for reliability they have ever released,
I would say.
And they've released some stinkers.
One of the worst launches they've ever had.
And they have released some stinkers in the past, if you think about the 480ES and stuff.
But the Joneses of the Volvo EX30 extended range have been heard not to charge their car beyond
70% after a discovery that a battery fault in some models poses a fire risk.
There is a potentially overheating problem in cells in the EX30 single motor extended
range and twin motor performance models built between 2024 and 2086.
They say that the issue arises at high states of charge and in worst case scenarios that could
lead to a fire in the battery.
If you do have an EX30 that does sound like a description of your cars,
goodness sakes, get in touch with your dealer if they haven't been in touch with you already
and do try to drive it as little as you possibly can.
Yep.
That's the end of the first part, everybody.
We've gone through as fast as we can.
We've gone through as fast as we can, but there was a lot of stuff to catch up on
just due to the timings of when our last news show was.
When our first one was.
So those of you who like to do a set distance on a treadmill in the first half of the show,
you've had a nice relaxed run of it today, haven't you?
Yeah.
That's the post-Christmas run.
And yes, we have finally got to guilt minute quick break in the show where we
ask for a tad of financial support, keep the lights on and the hosting running.
If you feel the motoring podcast is worth a small consideration every month,
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The different levels of patron include different levels of commitment from
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We also have a small range of merchandise in our spring store from stickers to mugs and t-shirts.
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Then the last thing you can do is to recommend this to your friends or colleagues.
Yes.
Thank you.
And thank you to all the lovely new subscribers.
Yes, exactly.
But all across from various platforms as well as YouTube,
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We are still having a push, but don't let this put you off.
But yeah, we've managed to go from like 300 subscribers to over a thousand subscribers
in a couple of months.
So thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
Yeah.
And thank you for new patrons as well.
Yes, totally.
Absolutely.
Appreciate your support, however you can give it to us.
Right.
I will take us on to new car news and I'm going to start with Alpine.
That French sports car manufacturer, you know, the very light agile,
lovely sports cars that come out from them.
Well, they are going to bring us a 2.1 ton crossover that's electric.
Yippee.
Sorry, I'm very bored of electric SUV sporty pretensions.
It's going to be fast because it's electric.
I am sure Alpine engineers will sprinkle French fairy dust over the driving dynamics
and it will be one of the better electric SUVs to drive around,
but it's an electric SUV.
That's definitely what I've heard so far.
It's just, it's just.
Okay.
So some of the figures, it's going to start from 61,390.
This is apparently going to be that the order books will be open early in 2026.
Well, we don't know quite how early that is yet, we still haven't heard.
There will be the base GT version and then it will be the premiere edition and then the GTS.
All the prices going up as far as you can see with those as well.
There is a link in the show notes to an electrive article with all that detail.
And I'm sure there'll be further models on top of that.
Yeah.
With super special reasons and nice colors and all sorts of stuff.
They're talking about 345 mile range with the GT version,
but then when you move up to the top of the range, that's 312 miles,
they're all going to come with an 89 kilowatt hour battery and yay.
Okay.
They've done a Lotus in terms of they've gone from small live sports cars to really quite
large SUV.
It's not nearly as large.
No, no, it's not.
So it's a bit different in its execution.
Yeah.
For a start, still made in Europe, scaled for European roads and these kind of things,
which are clear and rather obvious, you would think mistakes that Lotus made.
And as a result, the first drive certainly seemed far more positive than I saw about
the electron and stuff.
Worth mentioning that there is a description here of the available color spectrum,
which I like for its pretentiousness.
There will be six body colors are available from launch starting with
blonde topaz, so white, followed by noir profan, so profound black,
orange mercure, which is obviously a silver hotel,
blue abyss, so the blue abyss, blue alpine vision, which is just like alpine blue,
and gray tonneau matte,
thunder gray, a special atelier finish available on GT and GTS with contrasting
black reef can be added for a thousand pounds, should you so desire.
Anyway, from the sublime to the whatever the opposite of ridiculous is,
Kia has revealed the K4 sports wagon, which is their rival for the Skoda
Octavia estate. It is in that sort of larger family hatchback and larger
D segment saloon crossover area. It is 4.695 that's incredibly specific meters long.
That's a little bit shorter than the Octavia, but 265 mil longer than the hatchback.
All of that extra length being sort of behind the back wheels.
166 litres more boot space than the hatchback, so 604 litres with the seats up.
Go buy it, or we don't get any estates anymore.
Yes, exactly. Prices get to be announced, but the hatchback starts at 26,045,
so it's expected to start somewhere around £27,000. Octavia estate starts from 29,470,
and a Peugeot 308 SW starts at 28,695. I imagine it's going to undercut both of those a little bit.
And it looks good too. It does. It does look good.
Right, I'm going to move us on to the news that Mitsubishi is coming back to the UK,
and they are going to bring back the Outlander, FEV, and the L200.
Now Mitsubishi, since they left us, have decided to
have a slightly more aggressive front nose to their vehicles, and they really are
not perhaps the most aesthetically pleasing.
They did actually start revealing this before they left the UK, because there were various
concepts around that were shown at Geneva, for example.
Yeah, you're right, actually, yeah.
They're similar kind of X sort of grille and these sort of big but low-down headlamps,
so sort of recessed into the body a bit.
I think it would work if they were big, aggressive 4x4s, but the FEV
trying to be nice to everything, it just doesn't meld well in my opinion. It doesn't fit the model.
It worked great on the concepts that they showed, but I think now when it's been sort of
grafted onto the front of what is an otherwise incredibly generic SUV shape,
that it doesn't, it sort of loses any of the impact it had.
You know what? For the Outlander and stuff, I'm sure it will
refine the market, and it will... Will it do?
So I think the people who bought them before, people who bought them in the past really
liked them. Yeah, but the Chinese are hitting now, and they're here at
probably much more affordable price as well.
Well, quite possible. Remember, it's international motors who are bringing these in, so
you do cut who are also importing many of those Chinese competitors, as well as
Subaru and as you do and stuff. I don't think IM will care too much,
given that they're competing with themselves in these kind of situations.
Of course, the other vehicle they're bringing in is the L200,
which is elsewhere in the world sold as a Nissan.
So it's certainly in the US, I mean, when I was in the US, the Frontier,
which previously the Frontier name was used for the Navarra in North American version.
I was kind of curious why Nissan weren't bringing it back, but it looks like Nissan,
Nissan in their shared Ford product planning department, or at least they all went to
the same school seem to have decided not to bring back a pickup truck, but instead
to Mitsubishi are going to get the same pickup truck, but made a bit uglier,
and also not with the 310hp V6, petrol V6 it's sold with in the US, but with a 200hp diesel instead.
Again, I'm saying it's international motors who are importing this, the same people who import the
is user DMAX. I don't know, there seems to be an awful lot of cross pollination,
cross competitiveness within the one company here, but then also I can manage it.
Yep. Yep. True.
So many of the big brand groups and it looks nice enough inside, it looks,
it doesn't look that bad. I mean, it's not as good looking. The Frontier is particularly
good looking. In fact, I'd say it's better looking than the range of the high-lock range
of the other competitors that there are to this. You'll see.
Okay, do you want to take us on to the first of two designers mood ball stories?
Yes, of course there are two, aren't there? First of all, X Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath has
returned to the Volvo fold. The band's got back together.
Exactly. It's time to return that chief design role. Ingenlath, I mean, he penciled the
number of production models as well as a couple of concepts which in turn then turned into
Polestar's things like the concept could be in the concept 40.2, which became Polestar 1, Polestar 2.
He's back in the main Geely Group again. How much this relates back perhaps to what we were
talking about earlier on with some of the strategic juggling and jiggery pokery within the
Geely Group we shall see in due course, I'm sure. But on the other hand, that's quite
good to have him back, I guess.
Yeah, he's penned some lovely cars to be fair to him. But the second story is that,
and it's linked in an Evo article in the show notes, is that Gordon Wagner had the chief
design officer for Mercedes has stepped down with AMG designer Bastion Baudi is going to
take his place. He's been in the company 28 years and in the role for nine years as
chief design officer, it's akin to Jerry McGovern in terms of longevity and their imprint on a company.
Survivability.
Yes. And to be fair, he has done some really, you know, been involved in some really nice
cars that Mercedes have brought out. If you think of the first generation, I particularly
like the first generation CLS coupe, the four door coupe. I just thought that screened
gangster and it was brilliant. And but he also was involved in the last generation AMG GT,
which, funnily enough, Evo remember fondly in this article. No idea if he's going on to anybody
else or set up a consultancy or what he's going to do. But yeah, that's that's that situation.
Well, good luck to as I probably still find himself doodling three pointed stars in the
corner of his notebook. Lunchtime reader this week, moving into points of interest,
lunchtime read, this is a proper, proper friends of the show type story and Hagerty Anthony Ingram
drives the Tata Nano in this case, the Tata Nano belonging to Jim McGill. Have a read because
it's a really interesting little story. And yeah, sure, Hudson is there to keep that right. But
but yeah, it's quite something. Yeah. Yeah. It's a really interesting concept behind the
vehicle. Yes. Just the execution. Well, it wasn't even the execution. It's the whole story
around the execution of the factory and all that kind of stuff. That's that's actually where the
problem started. Have a read the problems were sort of full industrial unrest and then trying to
displace people to build a factory and all of these kinds of things and that delayed
everything. I mean that the whole sort of window of excitement was missed. But yeah,
go have a read because and then take on driving it is quite something.
Yes. I mean, there's mutterings of other expeditions with this car of
and there's a mix of opinion on how far and how big those expeditions should be.
Right. List of the week. And the first one of the year is thanks to petrol blog. And it is
10 of the best badly driven cars. And this is off the back
of Gavin big surname having to do an awful lot of miles in a short space of time on Britain's roads.
This is really hammered home. His opinions on certain vehicles on how they are driven.
Alan, I don't know whether you should be should we be picking the car that you like the most
or the one that hits home the most that you go. Yes, I totally agree with everything he said
about how badly it's driven. Actually, I'm going to go with how badly he they're driven
because I'm amazed since I have returned to the over the last years since I've been back in the UK
how badly the current generation Toyota CHR is driven. It is
you can all I mean, there were a couple on the list here that I could show this one just amazes me
because I never noticed the previous generation CHR and I never noticed the way it was driven
or anything like that. But the current generation certainly around Perth driving standards suck.
But around here, the driving standards of the Toyota CHR stand out for their pulling us.
That's the one I'm going to choose.
Okay. Do read the article, do click the link and read everything he writes.
It's a wonderful article. It's almost a lunchtime read as well.
It's not really a listicle. It is more of a lunchtime read. But have a read because it's
worth a chuckle. Yeah. And that is not the only treat to round out the first new show
of the year. Is it Alan? No. The end final this week is a 17 and a half minute video,
which is on YouTube, obviously. What are we going to say about this?
It's really wonderful. Yes. Don't be put off by the whole petrolicious style.
But it's about Alfa Romeo. It's about Alain Ducadé. It's produced by his by one by his
younger son, Aidan. It's called the alpha. Don't be put off by the apparent pretentiousness
before you click play and even a little bit once you've clicked play. It's really wonderful.
It's a lovely story. There's some lovely shots in there, some beautiful footage and a great
story and memories around it. Please take the time for this one. It's a cracker.
And so don't be put off by any apparent pretentiousness. I would say this is one of the very few films
that actually helped me feel what the car was like. I got a real feeling for the car, not just
how it looked and sound. I could almost smell it. I was almost like, oh, I can feel the way
they're driving around that corner. And that's an incredibly rare and wonderful thing to have
pulled off. It's an Alfa TZ, by the way. I couldn't remember the model for a second there.
Yeah. Have a spend some time on lunchtime watching this. Well worth it. I don't think
it'll be disappointed. It's a lovely reminder of how special a car can be.
And not just for the car to see. I think that's probably what makes it so touching,
really. Yeah. Parish notes. We hope you enjoyed some special editions. There are many more
special editions to come. We have such a backlog. We do with more on the horizon as well. I'm off
on a jolly next week. Yes. Yes. Oh, which means that it will be a solo show next week,
won't it? Unless something ridiculous happens with timings. Because I'll be away on a podcast
related jolly. I hope you enjoyed those. I say many, many more to come. I hope you've
enjoyed some of this varied formats as well. Do feel free to give us some feedback on some of
those. We've tried to incorporate different things than all road tests or anything or...
Yeah. Yeah. Nothing else. Don't forget, folks, to be now next week, you can give us any feedback
and share your thoughts with the show at motoringpodcast.com on Blue Scout. Beware of
imitations at motoringpodcast on Instagram and Facebook and on the contact page of
motoringpodcast.com, hub of all our activities. Remember, you can support us financially via
Patreon and please leave a review and rating on Apple Podcasts and YouTube or however
your podcast app lets you do such a thing. Andrew, what's the best way to get in touch
with you and jump out in front of your car with your waving your arms in the air?
Possibly. Either via the contact form on the website or I am occasionally looking at LinkedIn
now that CES is finished. Oh, the contact form on the website. Yeah. So that goes to me, everyone.
Just full disclosure here. Well, as this first episode is over an hour long,
yeah, you can do some work as well. That's fair enough. I'm not going to complain too much.
Okay, then, Alan, if people don't want to get in touch with you via the contact form
on the website, what's the best way for them to get in touch with you?
It's via BlueSky or at AJP Bradley. That's B-I-E-D-L-U-I dot B-Sky dot social.
We will be back very soon. But until then, I've been Alan Bradley.
I've been Andrew Clues. And safe motoring.
About this episode
Episode 666 dives into the complexities of automotive software and its implications for safety and reliability. Alan and Andrew discuss new UK road safety strategies aimed at reducing accidents and improving driver training, alongside the latest car registration figures showing a shift towards electric vehicles. They also cover Geely's corporate maneuvers, JLR's cybercrime fallout, and the troubling reliability issues with Volvo's EX30. The episode is packed with insights on industry trends and challenges, making it a rich listen for those keen on automotive news.
FOLLOW UP: UK GOVERNMENT MULLS DRIVING SAFETY CHANGES
The UK Government first mentioned it was looking at some of the rules relating to road safety, back in the summer of 2025, but now has published its Road Safety Strategy which gives more information on proposals aimed at making our roads safer. Aspects being covered at young and elderly drivers, giving councils more powers to change speed limits, technology that is fitted to cars and more. To read this story, click the Autocar article link here. If you wish to visit the Government’s page with a link to the strategy and the five consultations, click this link here.
FOLLOW UP: GEELY TAKES ZEEKR OFF THE STOCK MARKET
As discussed a few months ago, Geely has taken Zeekr back to being a private company and off the stock market. To read more, click this electrive article link here.
FOllow up: jlr cyberattack hit payroll info
During the cyberattack on JLR’s systems, information from payroll was accessed. The company has warned staff to be careful of potential phishing and fraud. Click this article link from The Register, to read more.
DECEMBER AND 2025 NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURES
2025 saw registrations creep over 2 million for the first time since 2019. Battery electric vehicles made another solid gain in December, but it was not enough on its own to get to the Government’s mandated level for the year. SMMT made it clear that the discounts the industry is funding cannot continue, especially when the financial pressures are mounting and the introduction of taxes aimed specifically at EV owners could cause some buyers to look elsewhere. If you want to read more, click this SMMT article link here.
GMA LOSES A CEO BUT GAINS £90M INVESTMENT
Gordan Murray Automotive’s (GMA) CEO, Phil Lee, has left the company. However, Halo Cars Group has invested £90 million and had two of their officers added to the board. The company said the money will help them push forward with the model plans they have. Click this EVO article link here, for more.
FORD FORCED TO TAKE A FINANCIAL HIT
Outside of the EU, Ford is changing plans when it comes to EVs. They are taking a £14.5 billion hit, as a result. The company says this is a “customer-driven change” but equally, the changes in policy by the US Government has had a big impact on the adoption of EVs. To read more, click this Autocar article link here.
MERCEDES FINANCE SERVICES MAKES A BIG LOSS
Mercedes-Benz Financial Services UK made a loss of £365 million, in 2025. The main reason is setting aside £424 million to their finance mis-selling compensation fund. You can find out more, by clicking this Business Matters Magazine article link here.
