6:59 am, January 26, 2023
Rail strikes set to cause fresh travel disruption
Rail passengers are being urged to check before travelling next week because of strikes by drivers which will leave large parts of the country without trains.
Members of Aslef and the Rail, Maritime and Transport union will walk out on February 1 and 3 in a long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.
Special timetables will be published on Friday by the 14 train operators involved, with passengers warned to expect disruption.
Car production sinks to lowest level since 1950s
UK car production fell to its lowest level since 1956 last year as output was hit by global shortages of semiconductor chips, new figures show.
A total of 775,014 cars were built in 2022, down 9.8 per cent from the 859,575 made during the previous year, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said.
December rounded off a volatile 12 months, with output down 17.9 per cent year on year, following growth in October and November.
Tesla says fourth quarter profit rose 59 per cent
Tesla posted record net income in the fourth quarter of last year and the company has predicted that additional software-related profits will keep its margins higher than any other carmaker.
The maker of electric vehicles and solar panels, based in Austin, Texas, said it made $3.69bn (£2.97 bn) from October through to December, or an adjusted $1.19 per share.
That beat estimates of $1.13 that had been reduced by analysts, according to FactSet.
Read more here.
Government will look ‘seriously’ at any credible Britishvolt takeover bids
The Government will look ‘seriously’ at any bids to save collapsed electric battery business Britishvolt, a minister has suggested, following an Australian start-up’s 11th-hour rescue offer.
Business minister Nusrat Ghani told the Commons the Government was committed to the industrial site in Northumberland.
It comes after Recharge Industries said it lodged a late takeover bid on Tuesday for Britishvolt, which had plans to build a £3.8bn gigafactory to make batteries at the Cambois site.
Ministers ‘asleep at the wheel’ on installing electric car charging devices
Fewer than 9,000 public electric vehicle charging devices were installed in the UK last year, leading to claims that the infrastructure is not keeping up with demand.
Department for Transport figures published on Wednesday revealed the number of devices available for use increased by just 8,680 from 28,375 in January 2021 to 37,055 this month.
That represents a 31 per cent rise.
FTSE continues dampened week as it retreats from recent four-year highs
London’s top index continued to give back ground on Wednesday as a series of investment companies led the FTSE 100 further away from its recent four-year highs.
The index closed down 12.49 points to end the day on 7,744.87, after briefly dipping around 30 points lower than that.
Meanwhile, in Europe the the German Dax and French Cac 40 indexes both closed down 0.1 per cent.
Tuesday’s Car Dealer headlines you might have missed
- Group 1 Automotive profits grew by 20 per cent reaching record-breaking £2.4bn in 2022
- £300m Jardine deal proves listed car dealers are rich pickings for oversea investors
- Ford in talks to sell Focus plant to BYD as Chinese EV giant steps up European plans
- Bottoms up! Dacia dealerships to give away hot water bottles in cheeky response to heated seats subscriptions
- Pendragon expected to beat analysts’ expectations and post £57m pre-tax profit for 2022
- Genesis announces plans to open Edinburgh site later this year as firm continues to expand
- World News: 13-year-old steals car from US dealership; Brazilian engineers in Benny Hill-style blunder; Car salesman wanted for hiring hitman
- The key to avoiding frustration and not wasting customers’ time
Volvo recalls more than 100,000 cars amid automatic braking concerns
Volvo is recalling more than 100,000 cars worldwide over a potential issue with the automatic emergency braking systems in its cars.
It affects the Swedish firm’s 2023 model year range, with its full line-up of cars included, such as the popular XC40, electric C40 and flagship XC90. The S60, V60, V60 Cross Country, S90, V90, V90 Cross Country and XC60 are also affected.
A total of 106,691 vehicles worldwide are affected, with Volvo confirming to the PA news agency that 10,197 UK vehicles are due to be recalled.
Find out more here.
Just Stop Oil protest posed risk of ‘serious harm’ to F1 drivers, court told
Just Stop Oil protesters caused ‘an immediate risk of serious harm’ to Formula One drivers and race marshals by invading the track during last year’s British Grand Prix, prosecutors have claimed.
A jury at Northampton Crown Court was shown in-car footage of F1 stars Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon passing three men and two women who were sitting on and being dragged off Silverstone’s Wellington Straight last July.
Video recorded by Lewis Hamilton’s car passing protesters shortly before the track invasion was also shown during the Crown’s opening speech – along with video statements issued by five of six defendants who are on trial.
At least ’24 civil servants involved in formal complaints against Dominic Raab’
Dominic Raab has reportedly been the subject of formal bullying complaints by at least 24 civil servants.
Eight formal allegations have been levelled against the Deputy Prime Minister and are being investigated by senior lawyer Adam Tolley KC.
But The Guardian says all but two of the those complaints involve multiple accusers, with a number of Mr Raab’s private office staff from his time as foreign secretary believed to have made submissions.
Microsoft probes outages after Teams and Outlook go down for thousands of users
Microsoft is investigating after its services including messaging system Teams and email platform Outlook went down for users around the world.
The service status monitoring website Downdetector recorded thousands of users reporting problems with Teams, Outlook, Microsoft 365 and XBox Live on Wednesday morning.
The tech giant said on Wednesday afternoon that the issues have been resolved for some users.
Sunak defends handling of Zahawi row as pressure on Tory chairman mounts
Rishi Sunak has suggested it would have been ‘politically expedient’ to sack Nadhim Zahawi but insisted that ‘due process’ means the investigation into his tax affairs should be allowed to reach its conclusion.
The Prime Minister acknowledged that he had not been given the full picture about the Tory chairman’s financial matters when he told MPs last week that Mr Zahawi had given a “full” account.
But he insisted on Wednesday that when he entered No 10 and gave Mr Zahawi the job of Minister Without Portfolio ‘no issues were raised with me’.
Weather outlook…
Today will see bright spells across much of the UK, with plenty of wintry sunshine for the west. Eastern parts will see a few patches of cloud with the odd shower. Breezy towards eastern coasts, the BBC reports.
Tonight, showers in the east will ease and the north will see a largely clear night, but the far north-west will turn cloudier later. The south will also be dry with patchy cloud and clear spells.
Tomorrow will be dry for most with bright spells. Cloud will spread in over the north-west and far north, however, with spells of rain arriving by the evening for far north-western Scotland.
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