7:54 am, June 12, 2020
- Here’s your business, motoring and news round-up for Friday, June 12
Global markets plunge as US hit by fears of second coronavirus wave
Global markets tumbled yesterday as US trading was hit by fears of a second wave of coronavirus.
Reports of new infections increasing in California, Texas and Arizona sent a shock wave through Wall Street, and pulled already negative markets in Europe down further.
The FTSE 100 closed 252.43 points lower at 6,076.7p at the end of trading on Thursday, representing its sharpest daily fall since March.
Motorpoint results to be published next month
Car supermarket Motorpoint has said it will announce its annual results on July 14.
The preliminary results will be published a month later than expected and will be for the year to March 31, 2020. They’ll likely take into account the trading effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
In November 2019, the used car retailer posted a drop in pre-tax profit of nearly a fifth for the first half of its financial year, despite a rise in revenue.
PSA Group launches Virtual Showroom
Groupe PSA has launched a new Virtual Showroom for smartphones, tablets and computers.
Customers can now have live tours of Vauxhalls, Peugeots, Citroens and DS models, interact with brand specialists, book test drives and buy vehicles via the web portal.
Finance can also be arranged and delivery can be at the customer’s home or by click-and-collect. See full story here
Peugeot updates 308
One of the models available from PSA’s Virtual Showroom will be the facelifted Peugeot 308.
The Ford Focus rival now gets Peugeot’s i-Cockpit digital instrument cluster and a new 10.25-inch touchscreen.
Engine options comprise two 1.2-litre petrols, a 1.5-litre diesel and the 259bhp GTi.
More than 100,000 wireless cameras hackable
More than 100,000 hackable wireless cameras are estimated to be active in homes across the UK.
Which? has warned that many camera brands manufactured by China-based company HiChip are affected by various flaws. These include security vulnerabilities with the devices themselves and an accompanying app to access them.
The consumer group said hackers could target people’s other devices linked to their broadband and get access to live footage and speak via the camera’s microphone – even if the user changes their password.
Skoda toughens up Octavia
Skoda has revealed the Scout version of its new Octavia estate.
The Scout gets a ride height increase of 15mm and chunkier bumpers, while the interior has wood-effect trim and brown stitching.
There’s the choice of a 1.5-litre mild-hybrid front-wheel-drive Scout or 1.5 petrol, 2.0-litre petrol and 2.0-litre diesel all-wheel-drive versions.
More charging points than petrol stations
Electric vehicle charging device installations now outnumber petrol stations by more than two to one.
Data from the Department for Transport (DfT) shows there were nearly 18,000 devices in the UK as of April 1 – 6,300 more than 12 months earlier.
This compares with around 8,000 petrol stations. However, the DfT data doesn’t take into account the number of nozzles at filling stations – thought to be some 134,000 for petrol or diesel.
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