5:36 am, May 4, 2024
Skoda hints at upcoming Enyaq racer
Skoda has teased its first design sketches of the new Enyaq RS Race Concept, based on the standard Skoda Enyaq VRS Coupe.
However, the outside features a large rear wing to help with downforce and there are a lot more aggressive styling cues like the stuck-out front bumper lips and a sculpted bonnet with grooves.
It has a lower and widened chassis, different shock absorbers and 20-inch alloy wheels with low-profile tyres.
Fuel prices up 10p per litre since start of year
Average petrol and diesel prices have risen by 10p per litre so far this year, new figures show.
The RAC said the average price of a litre of petrol increased by 3p to 150.0p in April alone.
It claimed drivers are being ‘seriously overcharged for diesel’, with average prices rising by 2p per litre to 157.8p in April.
Rising pump prices since the start of the year have added around £5.50 to the cost of filling a typical 55-litre family car.
Train passengers face eight days of disruption
Rail passengers are bracing for eight days of disruption as bank holiday engineering work runs into the next round of industrial action by train drivers.
Network Rail said it will carry out 487 planned projects between Saturday and Monday.
The most significant disruption from this work will be on Sunday when no trains will run between London Euston and Milton Keynes, or between Glasgow and England.
Sunak suffers ballot box drubbing in first day of results
Rishi Sunak may yet quell a Tory rebellion amid a consolation win in the Tees Valley and hopes for the West Midlands mayoral contest, despite suffering a drubbing in the first day of local election results.
Lord Ben Houchen’s re-election on Teesside was a crumb of comfort for the Conservatives as the party lost more than half of its councillors up for re-election across England, just months away from a general election.
Labour hailed a ‘truly historic’ result in Rishi Sunak’s own back yard of York and North Yorkshire, where David Skaith became the region’s first elected mayor, defeating Tory Keane Duncan by almost 15,000 votes.
The Opposition also took a Tory scalp in the Blackpool South by-election, the only Westminster ballot of Thursday’s polling day.
Union says talks with Tata have broken down
Unions representing workers at steel giant Tata say talks with the company over its plans to shut down blast furnaces at its biggest plant have broken down.
Community, the GMB and Unite said in a joint statement that the company was ‘completely disregarding’ the impact of its plans on the workers and local communities.
Tata is planning to switch to a more environmentally-friendly method of producing steel at the Port Talbot plant in South Wales, which will result in the loss of thousands of jobs. The company says 5,000 jobs will be secured.
Friday Car Dealer headlines you might have missed
- Family-owned Barretts Motor Group gives air ambulance charity major lift to £1m appeal total
- Two weeks to go! The Car Dealer Power 2024 voting deadline is just a fortnight away!
- Aston Martin rejects agency sales as model ‘turns car dealers into prep centres’
- Skoda remains on ‘solid ground’ despite first quarter dip in sales and profits
- Man jailed for more than five years for role in ‘chop shop’ involving £300,000-plus of stolen cars
BP set to announce slowing profits
BP is expected to announce slowing profits and revenues for the first quarter of 2024, as it wrestles with lower oil prices and weaker refining margins than this time last year.
The oil super major will give its latest quarterly results in an update on May 7, with profit expected to come in at £5.07 billion, lower than the £6.79 billion at the same point in 2023.
BP has also underperformed when compared with its peers, particularly those in the US, of late, amid a greater focus on transitioning to green energy than other super majors.
FTSE hits new record
The UK’s top stock index has had another record-breaking week, closing at a fresh all-time high after being boosted on hopes of interest rate cuts across the pond.
The FTSE 100 was 41.34 points higher on Friday, or 0.51%, closing at 8,213.49, thanks to a boost from housebuilders and financial services stocks.
It is the first time the blue-chip index has surpassed the 8,200 mark, with it reaching a new record for both intra-day and closing price.
