6:15 am, July 4, 2025
Alpine’s A290 heads into competition racing with Rallye version
Alpine has developed a rally-ready version of its electric A290 for customer competition.
Called the A290 Rallye, the rally-spec car has been specifically developed for competition use and, as a result, has a range of modifications over the standard road-going car.
Developed by Alpine’s teams at Viry-Châtillon – where its Formula One car engines are created – the A290 Rallye will be built at the firm’s workshop in Dieppe.
Buyers of the car – which costs from €59,990 (circa £51,777) – will get their first chance to drive it during a competition in France later this year.
Hyundai confirms new B-segment electric car for 2026
Hyundai will launch an all-new B-segment electric car in 2026, designed and built in Europe.
The new model will sit above the recently-launched Inster and is part of Hyundai’s plans to take the fight to a recent explosion in smaller EV hatchbacks from both European and Chinese brands.
Hyundai is set to pull the covers off a concept car at the Munich Motor Show in September, and it’s likely to be this smaller model.
Tougher rules needed for utility firms digging up roads
Utility companies should be forced to guarantee repairs to roads for five years after digging them up, MPs have said.
A new watchdog should also be appointed to manage the disruption caused by firms carrying out work on pipes and cables in England.
Transport Committee chairwoman Ruth Cadbury said a pattern of repeated works can feel like a ‘recurring nightmare’ for road users.
Thursday on Car Dealer
V12 to exit motor finance as Secure Trust Bank pulls funding
Solihull-based V12 will cease new vehicle and stock funding after parent Secure Trust Bank, following a £21.8 m pre-tax loss in 2024, opts to redeploy capital into higher-return retail, real estate, and commercial finance. Dealers will continue using V12 for three months before receiving 120 days to clear outstanding stock loans.
Hyundai rebuts dealer’s claims after Stourbridge site closure
Hyundai says the closure of All Electric Garages Group’s Stourbridge franchise is part of its ‘Network Evolution plan’ to partner with fewer, larger dealers, and accuses the group of publishing ‘factual inaccuracies’. The dealership that has shifted to BYD in Stourbridge had argued that Hyundai no longer recognised Stourbridge as a market area and declined its request to retain aftersales support until May 2026.
Volvo and Lotus owner to launch standalone UK brand
Geely Auto, owner of Volvo, Polestar, Lotus, and London Electric Vehicle Company, has established Geely Auto UK to distribute its own passenger cars in Britain. The group’s first model, the EX5 electric C-segment SUV, is slated to arrive in Q4 2025. To ensure the EX5 meets British expectations, Geely has enlisted Lotus Engineering for UK-specific tuning and performance validation before launch.
High streets suffer disappointing June
The high street suffered a disappointing June with consumers being ‘incredibly cautious’ amid rising job losses and volatile geopolitics, latest figures show.
Sales rose by just 0.6% year on year while online sales saw a 4.3% increase as consumers adapted their shopping behaviour to the warm temperatures, according to the latest High Street Sales Tracker from accountancy and business advisory firm BDO.
This was particularly evident in the fashion sector, where online sales grew by 10% in June compared with a 0.2% decline on the high street.
Self-made people ‘holding estimated £40.7bn in under-utilised cash savings’
An estimated £40.7bn in savings collectively held by ‘self-made’ people who have risen up the income rankings could be unlocked and invested towards fuelling UK economic growth, according to research.
The research, released by Santander UK in partnership with the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr), described people in the self made bracket as those who had a modest start in life but now sit in the UK’s top fifth of earners (an estimated annual income above £52,000).
The report was based on a survey carried out by Opinium in March and April among 2,000 people across the the UK who sit within the top 20% of earnings.
On average, the self made cohort have nearly £40,000 in cash reserves and many headed straight into work or an apprenticeship after school, and a significant proportion work in construction and skilled trades, the bank said.
Pound climbs and bond yields ease as PM backs Reeves
The FTSE 100 and sterling rallied while the bond market calmed on Thursday as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer supported his Chancellor, reassuring markets that a change at the Treasury was not on the cards.
The FTSE 100 index closed up 48.51 points, 0.6%, at 8,823.20. The FTSE 250 jumped 250.09 points, 1.2%, at 21,702.58, and the AIM All-Share rose 8.49 points, 1.1%, at 776.25.
The yield on the 10-year UK government bond, which had sat as high as 4.68% on Wednesday, eased to 4.55% on Thursday.
Weather outlook
It will be wet and windy across Scotland and Northern Ireland with heaviest rain in western Scotland, spreading into northwest Wales and northern England today while elsewhere fine, dry, sunny but breezy.
Tonight sees rain and cloud moving southeast, although this region will mostly avoid it, and a mild but still windy night in the north.
Saturday remains breezy with extensive cloud and western rain, average northern temperatures but feeling warm in the south.
