Pretty Much Rightish - 25 May 2021

FOLLOW UP: GHOSN ORDERED TO PAY BACK MONEY

In a shock, for Carlos Ghosn, instead of winning a case where he sought €15 million for unfair dismissal from a Dutch registered Nissan/Mitsubishi joint venture, he lost and has been ordered to pay back the €5 million he got through the entity. To read more, click the Automotive News Europe article here.

OFGEM TO INVEST £300M IN CHARGING NETWORK

Ofgem has announced how it will be investing £300 million into the network infrastructure to allow for rapid and ultra rapid charger installations across the motorway networks, as well as more remote areas. To read more, click the GreenFleet article here.

CARS ON ROAD OLDEST ON RECORD

There are now more older cars on the road, since records recorded such data. The average age is 8.4 years, with nearly 10 million being 13 years and older. To find out more about the reasons, click the Motoring Research article here.

A companion piece is from Autocar, explaining why there is such a demand for used cars, by buyers. Click here for that link.

FORD PATENTS BEAMING ADS TO INFOTAINMENT SYSTEMS

Ford has applied for a patent on technology that would beam specific details from billboards, to the infotainment screens within cars. This has caused a bit of a stir, but it must be remembered it is only a patent and may not even be for vehicles that require a human driver to be in charge of the vehicle. More detail is required before the chaps at the Motoring Podcast grab their pitchforks and flaming torches, even Andrew says this. To read more, click the Interesting Engineering article here.

MERCEDES SOFTWARE BUGS FOUND

Tencent Security has disclosed information on software bugs they found in the Mercedes-Benz User Experience infotainment system. To be clear at no point were the researchers able to access any of the aspects of the vehicles that were any part of the driving element. Mercedes has started to roll out a patch for this, where they are contacting customers. To read more, click the Security Week article here.

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WRC RALLY PORTUGAL

Another action packed thrill ride in WRC, unfortunately for Hyundai, apart from Sordo, it was not a good event. Toyota were the main beneficiaries, with Elfyn Evans capitalising on first Neuville’s accident and then Tanak’s mechanical failure to win the rally, holding off Sordo, with Ogeir further back in third. To find out more, click the DirtFish report here.

To read the excellent ‘What did we learn’ article, click here.

To see how Colin Clark judged the drivers, click the link here.

Hyundai WRC2 driver Veiby has been banned from WRC for six month, for breaking coronavirus protocols. To read what he and his co-driver did and then didn’t do, click the DirtFish article here.

NEW NEW CAR NEWS

Cupra Born -

The first full EV for Cupra has been revealed. Using the same technology as the ID3 it is very close in size and weight, but the Spanish brand has put their spin on the aesthetics, plus they will make sure it is an engaging and fun drive. Expected to cost around £35,000, it will be a smidgen more than the ID3. Time will tell if the public will be drawn to this very good looking car, ignoring badge snobbery. To read more, click the Autocar article here.

DESIGNERS MOOD BOARD: NEW ROLLS ROYCE DIRECTOR OF DESIGN

Rolls Royce has appointed Anders Warming as Director of Design, following the departure of Jozef Kaban. Warming was previously design chief at Mini. To read more, click the Autocar article here.

DESIGNERS MOOD BOARD: NEW FIAT AND ABARTH HEAD OF DESIGN

Fiat and Abarth has appointed a new Head of Design, François Leboine, who joins from Renault. To read more, click the Stellantis link here.

LUNCHTIME WATCH: THE IMPACT OF THE F-150 ON THE US

Unless you were living under a rock, you’ll be aware that Ford has launched an full EV version of the best selling “car” in the world, the Ford F-150. To help understand what an important vehicle that is, click this link here showing MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow explain.

LIST OF THE WEEK: MOST BEAUTIFUL ROAD TRIPS

In a vote, from the British public, that doesn’t appear to be utterly nuts, we have a list of the most beautiful roads to take a trip along. To find out more, click the link to the You Magazine article here. Do you agree with the choices or did they not include your favourite road.

AND FINALLY: CRAZY CELEBRITY CAR ADS

Ignoring how Celica is pronounced, here is a link from Jalopnik showing us some of the weirder endorsements, particularly for the Japanese market. Click the link here to “enjoy” their work!