Hugely Incompetent - 18 May 2021

FOLLOW UP: TOYOTA OFFERS FREE CATALYTIC CONVERTOR PROTECTION

Last week, the chaps talked about the police operation to recover stolen catalytic convertors. Toyota has announced it is offering a marking scheme to aid owners of older Toyota vehicles. Free of charge they will mark the convertors so they can be tracked if they are stolen. To read more, click the National World article here.

INTERNATIONAL MOTORS LTD TAKES OVER MITSUBISHI AFTER-SALES

International Motors Ltd, part of the IM Group who are official importers of Subaru and Isuzu, have agreed a deal with Mitsubishi Motors to take over the after-sales business following the end to the new vehicle sales part of the business. To read more, click the AM article here.

LONDON ULEZ WILL EXPAND

Following the re-election of Sadiq Khan, as Mayor of London, he has confirmed that the ULEZ will expand in October, as planned, as this is a key part of the project to clean up the capital’s air. To read more, click the Motoring Research article here.

UNDERSERVED KENT AREAS BEING PRIORITISED BY EV CHARGING COMPANY

Connected Kerb is working on adding EV charging points to poorly served areas of Kent, in a bid to help bolster the charging network of the county. To read more, click the Autocar article here.

MANCHESTER COUNCIL REVEALS REGISTRATION PLATES IN GAFF

In an attempt at transparency, Manchester Council released information regarding which parking wardens had issued tickets. Unfortunately, they forgot to omit the registration, and therefore personally identifying details of the penalties, between April and June 2020. We have long said we fear incompetence more than nefarious actions most when it comes to data. To read more, click The Register article here.

_____________________________________________

Announcement:

Last week we invited you to join us for a live stream of the recording of our 400th episode on Wednesday 19 May at 8:30pm BST.

During the show we will, like an automotive podcasting Ant and Dec, be giving away some great prizes thanks to the support of some generous companies.

In order to be in with a shout of grabbing one of the prizes we need you to go to our website, hit the Contact section at the top of the home page enter your name, email address and the phrase "Please Can I Win?" into the Subject line so we can add your name to the draw. You need to have done this by 8pm BST on Wednesday 19th May.

Click this link here to go directly there!

——————————————————————————-

WRC PORTUGAL - REMINDER

Just a quick reminder that WRC is back this week, in Portugal this time.

NEW NEW CAR NEWS

Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA -

For those of you who feel the Four Cheese version of the Giulia is a bit too tame, you can stop worrying, Alfa Romeo are going to release GTA and GTAm versions. There will only be 500 made and prices start at €176,500.00 for the GTA, whilst the GTAm starts at €181, 500.00. TO find out more, click the Alfa Romeo press release here.

Vauxhall Vivaro-e Hydrogen -

Vauxhall has released details on their hydrogen fuel-cell van, due on roads from 2023. The range will be up to 249 miles with a payload of 1100kgs, the same as the ICE and fully EV versions. To read more, click the Autocar article here.

DESIGNERS MOOD BOARD: VOLVO APPOINT T. JON MAYER AS HEAD OF EXTERIOR DESIGN

Following the move by Maximillian Missoni, who now heads up Design at Polestar, Volvo have appointed T. Jon Mayer as Head of Exterior Design at Volvo. He was lead on the exterior design for the S60, V60 and V60 Cross Country. To read more, click the Volvo press release here.

LUNCHTIME READ: SUNDAY DRIVES - SCOTLAND

Justin Leighton has been interviewed, by Porsche Newsroom, where his career is discussed, as well as him enthusing about the stunning landscape that is northern Scotland but particularly near the North West 500 route. To find out more, click the link here.

LIST OF THE WEEK: 20 CARS THAT ROCKED POP-UP LIGHTS

As longer term listeners will know, we at the Motoring Podcast, are big fans of pop-up lights, here from Classic & Sports Car is a list of 20 that really suited them. Click here for the link to the list.

AND FINALLY: DONATE YOUR CAR TO CHARITY

An organisation, called Charity Car, allows you to donate the value of your car, to a selected charity, by either it being properly scrapped or if it is still roadworthy, auctioned off. To find out more, click the Charity Car link here.