The shifting patterns of English Automotive industry May I have a word about… Mercedes-Benz and its failure to own up Jonathan Bouquet The German carmaker is to be fined hundreds of millions for manipulating diesel emissions but still can’t quite apologise Mercedes-Benz is an expert in corporate obfuscation. Photograph: Thomas Kienzle/AFP/Getty Images I’m not certain… Continue reading May I have a word about… Mercedes-Benz and its failure to own up
Author: The Guardian Online News
Boss of one of UK’s biggest car dealers quits three months into job
Pendragon Pendragon boss Mark Herbert leaves owner of Evans Halshaw, Stratstone and Car Store brands after board clash Mark Herbert’s background was in selling new cars but the board wanted to focus on used cars. Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA The boss of Pendragon, one of Britain’s biggest car dealers, is leaving less than three months into… Continue reading Boss of one of UK’s biggest car dealers quits three months into job
No-deal Brexit ‘will cost UK car manufacturers extra £70m a day’
Automotive industry SMMT also warns car price will go up by average of £1,500 if UK leaves EU with no agreement The Ford engine plant in Bridgend, Wales, which is set to close. Photograph: Dimitris Legakis/Athena Pictures The cost of car manufacturing will go up £70m a day if the UK leaves the EU without… Continue reading No-deal Brexit ‘will cost UK car manufacturers extra £70m a day’
Car price war and falling air fares cool UK inflation
Inflation Rise in interest rates unlikely, with CPI down to 2% in May from 2.1% in April Transport costs fell by 3.8% overall between April and May this year, led by falling air fares. Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA A fall in transport costs and cheaper clothing brought to an end the recent rise in inflation that… Continue reading Car price war and falling air fares cool UK inflation
‘Body blow for area’: Bridgend devastated by Ford factory closure
Ford Plant workers and locals warn carmaker’s decision to shut site in 2020 will hit other businesses Ford to close Bridgend factory by September 2020 Workers leave Ford’s Bridgend engine plant. Photograph: Geoff Caddick/AFP/Getty Images Workers at Ford’s sprawling Bridgend engine factory expressed anger at their employer and voiced fears for the impact on their… Continue reading ‘Body blow for area’: Bridgend devastated by Ford factory closure
Renault-Fiat Chrysler merger collapses
Automotive industry French government blamed as €33bn deal to create world’s third largest carmaker stalls A planned €33bn merger between Renault and Fiat Chrysler has collapsed. Photograph: Eric Gaillard/Reuters The proposed €33bn merger of Fiat Chrysler and Renault has collapsed after an intervention from the French government, Renault’s biggest shareholder. Fiat Chrysler, an Italian-American company,… Continue reading Renault-Fiat Chrysler merger collapses
Germany’s love of fast cars runs into the barricades in Berlin
Club culture Germany New road that requires demolition of homes and cultural spaces stirs fury in country where Greens recently surged in polls Protest rave on 25 May against the A100 motorway at the S-Bahn station Treptower Park, Berlin. Photograph: Aktionsbündnis A100 stoppen! The cement mixer, decorated with disco ball glass, shimmered in the late… Continue reading Germany’s love of fast cars runs into the barricades in Berlin
Brexit: UK car production plunges amid ‘untold damage’ of EU leave date chaos
Automotive industry April manufacturing fell 44.5% as factories shut down for an EU exit that never came Firms such as Jaguar Land Rover moved the date of their planned shutdowns to avoid any disruption to their supply lines around 29 March – the original date of Brexit. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images Car production plunged by… Continue reading Brexit: UK car production plunges amid ‘untold damage’ of EU leave date chaos
Eco-friendly modes of transport for all | Letters
Electric, hybrid and low-emission cars Eco-friendly modes of transport for all The Nissan Leaf is a cheap, mass market, fully electric car, writes Stephen Emsley. And David Walker remembers South Yorkshire’s subsidised public transport system Nissan Leaf on Electric Avenue in Brixton. Photograph: Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images for Nissan Christine Benning is right (Letters, 23 May).… Continue reading Eco-friendly modes of transport for all | Letters
Sensible Fiat Chrysler-Renault merger could be undone by politics
Automotive industry Sensible Fiat Chrysler-Renault merger could be undone by politics Larry Elliott Frosty relations between France’s Macron and Italy’s Salvini could scupper talks over £29bn merger Matteo Salvini, Italy’s deputy PM, has said he wants to take a stake in a proposed new company. Photograph: Marco Bertorello/AFP/Getty Images That there is an economic case… Continue reading Sensible Fiat Chrysler-Renault merger could be undone by politics