Automotive Industry News – 28th January 2021

Performance Communications | January 31, 2022

This briefing document provides a fortnightly overview of the main automotive industry stories making the news and key product announcements. It also includes some of the interesting stories and campaigns that have made the news from outside the automotive sector over the past two weeks.

Automotive news

Key industry stories from the last two weeks:

Industry

Driving

Environmental

Product launches / unveils

Key industry product launches or unveils:

Mercedes – Next-generation Mercedes E-Class to stick with combustion engines
Land Rover – New 2022 Land Rover Defender 130 revealed in patent images
Jeep – New Jeep Renegade and Compass e-Hybrids revealed
Porsche – Porsche reveals limited-run 911 Edition 50Y Porsche Design
Volta Zero – New Volta Zero electric truck set for central London trial
Nissan – Electric Nissan Micra confirmed for 2025
Mini – MINI Recharged unveiled as official classic EV conversion
PEUGEOT – Peugeot 9X8 Le Mans Hypercar shown in new images

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Non-automotive winners

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Non-automotive losers:

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Research and insights:

Automotive Insights

Three-quarters of car buyers looking to purchase from their local dealer next, find What Car?
- Survey of 1,158 in market buyers demonstrates the importance of dealer network despite shift to online sales
- 74% of buyers wish to ‘buy local’ when buying a new car
- 56% of respondents were willing to to accept a longer wait if it meant being able to support a local dealership
- Steve Huntingford, What Car? Editor said: “At a time when the industry is embracing online sales, this is a reminder of the role local dealers play for motorists, the loyalty this generates and the benefits of nurturing lasting relationships with customers.”

Non-Automotive Insights

How remote work is influencing what we buy – Deloitte
- It is expected that globally, remote working will outlive the pandemic. 53% of people say they can do their job remotely. Among those 57%, on average they spend 2.7 days a week at home
- The data suggests that those in the UK, Canada, US and Australia are spending 3-4 days per week working from home, whereas in France, Denmark and Norway it is closer to two days
- The data suggests a greater shift towards staff prioritising their work/life balance no matter their age group
- The fundamental shift of where we work has seen an increase in spending on food at home and homeware, but reduced spending on restaurants, clothing and on public transport and new cars

No turning back: UK CEOs are approaching a purpose tipping point – PWC
- Large number of employers looking to hire this year, but will need to show a clear commitment to ‘purpose’ in terms of showing care of their staff, customers, communities and the environment to ensure they attract new recruits
- ‘Not all commitments are created equally’ but 71% of UK CEOs who have made a carbon neutral or net zero commitment say that they were influenced by the need to attract and retain talent
- There is a general view that companies are accountable to the public now too, as well as to their investors and this accountability will filter through to actions in the business such as equality targets or decarbonising supply chains and procurement processes
- Companies are starting to demonstrate this by including metrics into their corporate strategy on issues such as climate change and equality, with a ‘vanguard’ of CEOs including such metrics in their own bonus and incentive plans. This number is currently low, but is expected to grow quickly

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