Automotive Industry News – 5th November 2021

Industry Snapshot, Automotive and Beyond

Automotive news

Key industry stories from the last two weeks:

Cost of Driving

• Fuel duty frozen
• ULEZ expansion: London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone grows
• Petrol prices: UK pumps hit all-time high
• Old diesel prices continue to rise in London, despite ULEZ expansion

Sales & Manufacturing

• Manufacturers to face enforced electric car sales targets
• September was the worst month for UK car manufacturing since 1982
• UK new car sales continue to take a battering, although electric car sales are up
• Vauxhall Corsa retains its place as UK’s best-selling car

Policy & Environment

• Smart Motorways: Transport Committee calls for emergency corridor manoeuvre
• Coal, cars, cash and trees: The prospects for progress in four key areas as COP26 begins

Trends

• 78% of drivers shun non-essential in-car tech
• Brits willing to give up on planes, cars and new clothes for climate, Ford survey finds

Electric Vehicle news

• Supermarkets have installed nearly 1,000 EV charging points since start of 2020
• DOE Announces $209 Million for Electric Vehicles Battery Research
• Daimler Truck AG and BP to pioneer deployment of hydrogen infrastructure, supporting the decarbonization of UK freight transport
• Tesla opens its chargers to other electric cars
• Portable EV charger – UK firm launches portable EV charger for urban drivers

Product launches / unveils

Key industry product launches or unveils:

• Range Rover – First glance at the new Range Rover plug-in hybrid
• Volkswagen – An EV with a 325 mile-range: Arrival of the new Volkswagen ID 5
• BMW – A reboot of the Mini for the electric age
• Aston Martin – Valkyrie: first customer car ready
• Volkswagen – Retro ID Buzz EV primed for imminent launch
• MINI – New 2023 MINI Countryman spied for the first time
• Citroën – Citroën Ami Cargo confirmed for UK sale in 2022
• Renault – New 2022 Renault Kangoo E-TECH electric van

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Automotive winners

• Tesla – Tesla becomes first $1tn car firm as Hertz orders 100,000 Model 3s
• Ford – Transit Custom receives Euro NCAP Gold award for assistance tech
• Hyundai – The electric Kiwi Kona has won its debut hillclimb event
• Nio – Under the skin: Improving EV cold-weather battery performance
• JCB – JCB awarded Dewar Trophy by RAC for hydrogen-fuelled engine
• SEAT – New SEAT concept turns the Ibiza hatch into a car-sized nightclub
• What Car? – What Car? reveals 2021 What Car? Van of the Year Winner
• Vauxhall – Gloucester mechanic retires after 75 years with same company
• SMMT – More plug-in vehicles to be registered in 2021 than the whole of the last decade

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Non-automotive winners

• 17-year-old making films fun for deaf children
• New Zealand bat flies away with bird of the year award
• HPV vaccine cutting cervical cancer by nearly 90%
• M&S goes big on TikTok with 2021 Xmas campaign
• Amazon drivers receive $60m for ‘illegally withheld’ tips
• Mitsubishi invests £15 million in Livingston heat pump factory
• Job-seekers turn to TikTok to post ‘CareerTok’ CVs
• First pill to treat Covid gets approval in UK
• Corby: Zero carbon timber eco-home showcased at COP26
• COP26: World leaders promise to end deforestation by 2030
• Australian footballer Josh Cavallo becomes only current male pro player to come out as gay
• Blue plaque for Britain’s first black train driver unveiled at King’s Cross

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Non-automotive losers

• Squid crypto, based on Squid Game, plunges to $0 after scammers steal millions of dollars from investors
• Salt Bae is paying his staff the same hourly wage as the cost of the mashed potato on his expensive menu
• UK Labour Party data ‘rendered inaccessible’ in cyber-attack
• Apple reportedly diverts iPad components to iPhones
• Mobile boss accused of ‘burner’ phone plot before Phones 4U collapse
• City’s net zero targets raise greenwashing fears
• CNG becomes 19th energy supplier collapse
• Owen Paterson resigns as MP after government U-turn on sleaze committee

Research and insights:

Automotive Insights

Online buying is here to stay, with 10% of UK car buyers looking to purchase next car entirely online

• The latest data from What Car? and Haymarket Automotive reveals that 10% of car buyers intend to purchase their next vehicle entirely online, increasing from 8.9% in May this year. This compares to 69.3% who prefer a combination of online research and direct shopping with dealers
• Over 50% of buyers said they would be comfortable purchasing a vehicle online, a 10% increase since May
• 1% of respondents cited improved vehicle availability online as one reason why they were more likely to consider making a purchase this way
• Another factor is the emergence of virtual showrooms during the pandemic. 45.8% said they would not visit a physical showroom to view a model if they could have a virtual tour instead

Non-Automotive Insights

Climate change: Polls shows rising demand for government action

• A survey of over 30,000 people conducted by GlobeScan for BBC World Service showed that support for taking stronger action on climate change is growing across the world. Concern about climate change is also at its highest point since 1998 – 63 percent now believe climate change is a “very serious” issue.
• Across the 31 countries polled, an average of 56% of people want their governments to set stronger targets that would address climate change as quickly as possible
• In 2015, 43% of those polled wanted strong action on climate change, but that has risen to 58% now
• 56% want their countries to play a leadership role during the COP26 summit, with a greater proportion of people in some of the biggest emitting countries wanting to see their country play a more prominent role in tackling climate change
• 61% of respondents say governments hold “a great deal” of responsibility to address climate change, compared to 57% who think companies hold the same level of responsibility and 36% for individuals

Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash