Author: Robin Roberts

In a blow to Welsh automotive manufacturing which promised up to 500 jobs it said today, “INEOS Automotive can confirm that it is reviewing its manufacturing strategy for the new Grenadier in light of the COVID-19 pandemic – which has led to some delays in our development plans, but has also presented some new opportunities in terms of existing manufacturing capacity that were not previously available to us. “Specifically, INEOS Automotive has entered detailed discussions with Mercedes-Benz on the acquisition of its Hambach site in Moselle, France. “We have therefore suspended the post-lockdown resumption of work at our sites in…

The British-designed, German engineered and powered heavy duty 4×4 will go into production in Wales at the end of 2021 as part of a £600 Million investment directed by one of the richest men in Britain, Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Heavily influenced by the previous Land Rover Defender loved by INEOS Group boss Sir Jim, it will be built in a new factory at Brocastle Industrial Estate, Bridgend and roll off production lines there towards the end of 2021, creating 200 jobs in the factory next to the Ford Bridgend engine plant which closes this year. If demand for the BMW-powered…

Lockdown has been a learning experience for everyone, including the policeman who pulled me over for a routine check. Now I have spent over three months behind the wheel, some of the time, in the newest Peugeot 2008 and that’s a long time when we normally have to experience a test car in a matter of hours during a new model launch or in a week of extended test driving. So the lockdown rules have curtailed our normal driving evaluations as launches have been cancelled and the usual rota of new model test drives has been suspended, although there are…

First Minister Mark Drakeford will this morning announce non-essential retail businesses in Wales will be able to open from monday if they can take all reasonable measures to comply with the 2 metre physical distancing duty in Welsh law. The change is at the heart of a comprehensive package of measures to further unlock the coronavirus restrictions and move many aspects of daily life into the amber zone on the Welsh Government’s traffic light system. The First Minister will also announce the outcome of the three-week statutory review of the regulations in Wales and intends to review the requirement to…

A £1.2 Billion deal is close to being signed to bring over 3,500 and up to 15,000 jobs with a new massive car batteries plant adjacent to the Aston Martin Lagonda facility at St Athan, in the Vale of Glamorgan. UK start-up battery manufacturer Britishvolt has shortlisted the site at the former RAF base next to where AML started making their luxury DBX SUV in December and where it also plans to assemble its fully electric luxury sports saloon in a couple of years. That time-frame will fall in very conveniently to the Britishvolt investment announced this morning for the…

Car buyers and sellers will be operating in a new world and new order when they are again allowed to go out and into showrooms as early as today in England but at dates to be decided in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. One of the biggest changes in doing business post-Covid-19 will be seen in Suzuki dealerships where the UK importer is introducing a seven-day road test period for all buyers of their new models up to 250 miles. After you’ve bought the car in cash or through Suzuki Finance, you’ll have seven days to drive it with a…

The move towards electric cars is going to be a shock for many car dealers, according to a new survey. While they are generally satisfied with the manufacturers’ plans to introduce battery electric vehicles and hybrids, they are far less happy about their dealership costs and how they are going to make money out of them in the longer term. Already coping with new restrictions surrounding working with coronavirus-19 and dealing with customers, the dealerships are embracing many more on-line solutions to contact, selling, buying and servicing vehicles. Dealers who embrace active contact like telephoning and emailing or texting customers…

The UK plant builds cars for the UK and Europe and the Japanese car maker is preparing a new global production plan which will see a 20% reduction in capacity and that is expected to see it concentrate on the Far East and USA. There was a report this week that it is about to announce the closure of its pickup and ev plant in Barcelona which employs over 3,000 people. Nissan said it plans to make a statement about global production plans on 28 May and its impact on the 6,000 people employed there as well as hundreds more…

New models are coming to join an ever growing market place and their numbers are expected to swell very quickly once the coronavirus lockdown ends and some semblance of normality returns to showrooms. So it was interesting to study the results of a valuation survey compiled by Vanrama which looked at the current crop of cars and how they hold onto prices over different durations, typically what buyers have been working on for several years. There are some fascinating, even eye-opening as well as eye-watering, figures to swallow, even for well established brands. The depreciation of electric cars over 5,000…

A van has become Britain’s best selling vehicle during the coronavirus lockdown according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. While the Mercedes Sprinter delivered for dealers the chaotic charts saw the pure electric Tesla Model 3 top the passenger car list, but even that couldn’t match the Sprinter. Overall, the previous low for car sales was immediately after WW2 and in February 1946 the market saw 4,044 new cars registered. It is not recorded when a van previously topped the UK sales charts. The news comes as SMMT releases its latest new car market…