Jaguar Land Rover’s worldwide sales have continued to be hit by the global shortage of semi-conductors.
Although the luxury car group started to see some improvement in microchip supply, sales for the last three months of 2021 were down 13.6% on the previous quarter at 80,126. Jaguar sales were down 25.2% at 14,407 and Land Rover down 10.5% to 65,719.
JLR said underlying demand for its cars remains strong and the company has managed semi-conductor supplies to maximise production of higher margin vehicles.
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EU countries remain divided on proposals to tighten carbon emission standards for cars and extend the EU’s carbon market to the road transport sector, with the fault line running largely between richer and less-wealthy member states.
The revised regulation on CO2 emission standards for cars and vans, tabled in July by the European Commission, increases emissions targets to 2030 and proposes an effective ban on the sale of diesel and petrol vehicles by 2035.
At present, EU-produced cars are allowed to emit 95g of carbon per kilometre driven. The Commission wants this to be scaled back by 55% by 2030, moving to 0g in 2035.
Vans, which are permitted 147 g/km, would face a 50% reduction by 2030, but must also be zero-emission by 2035.
In addition, the Commission wants a parallel Emission Trading System (ETS) to be created for road transport and buildings, essentially putting a price on carbon emitted by these sectors, which critics say will push up the cost of transport and heating fuels.
An exchange of views held on the 20th December among EU environment ministers showed varying degrees of acceptance among national governments towards the Commission proposals.
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Covid stalls 2021 UK new car market but record EV sales show future direction
- 65m new cars registered in 2021 – up just 1.0% on pandemic-ravaged 2020 and -28.7% below pre-Covid levels as myriad challenges subdue market.
- Plug-in vehicles account for record more than one in six registrations, while battery electric cars alone rise to one-in-nine, with more registered than 2016-2020 combined.
- Industry calls for incentive extension and mandated charge-point targets to accelerate consumer uptake and maintain Britain’s attractiveness against competitor markets.
2021 new car registrations grew by a marginal 1.0% on a pandemic-ravaged 2020, as 1.65 million new cars entered the UK market, according to new figures released today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). The figures underline the ongoing impact of Covid and the semiconductor shortage on the industry, with the market down -28.7% on pre-pandemic 20191, representing the second worst year since 1992.2
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Toyota will begin comprehensively refreshing ex-customer cars at its UK manufacturing facility as part of a drive to add value to vehicles throughout their life cycles.
Agustín Martín, president and managing director of Toyota GB, gave Autocar the first details of a new process that Toyota will implement as part of its new fleet-focused mobility sub-brand, Kinto. He said: “We need to stretch the way we look at life for both the vehicle and the customer.
“I think we’re very familiar with the usual two- to three-year cycles that are extremely popular in the UK, but we need to go beyond that two- to three-year cycle and say: ‘Okay, what happens in that second cycle and in the third cycle?’”
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UK car production in November hit its lowest level since 1984 as Covid continued to affect supply chains, a motoring industry group has said.
Output fell by 28.7% to 75,756 units, marking the fifth consecutive month of decline, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said.
It called the figures “incredibly worrying”, blaming a continuing shortage of semiconductors. The start of full Brexit customs controls could also hit firms, it said.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59761286
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Sales of electric vehicles soared last year, but the market as a whole failed to recover from the Covid pandemic.
More electric cars were registered in 2021 than in the previous five years combined, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Yet the industry body said much more investment is needed in charging infrastructure.
Meanwhile an acute shortage of computer chips left dealers struggling to get hold of many new conventional models.
Overall, 2021 was another dismal year for the motor industry. Preliminary figures from the SMMT show that some 1.65m cars new cars were registered. That was a small increase over 2020, when the impact of the first Covid-related lockdowns and dealer closures sent sales plummeting.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59887024
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Tesco powers into the new year with the UK’s first commercial electric articulated HGVs
- Tesco and FSEW’s new service is a first for UK haulage and targets emissions from heavy goods vehicles, which have so far been difficult to address.
- From January, two electric heavy freight articulated trucks will transport products emissions-free between Cardiff and Magor.
- Newly commissioned lorries could play a key role in accelerating the haulage industry’s transition to zero emission transport over the next few years.
Tesco will power into the new year by launching the UK’s first commercially used fully electric heavy freight articulated trucks. Two new 37 tonne DAF electric vehicles will transport food and other products from Wentloog rail terminal outside Cardiff to Tesco’s distribution centre in Magor, Wales, in partnership with logistics and international freight forwarding company FSEW.
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Arrival’s flagship Bus EV has begun proving ground testing in the UK before entering full production in 2022. The Arrival Bus marks the first of several electric vehicles in the pipeline for the company which will be manufactured and operated in the UK and US, as well as the European Union.
Arrival is a technology company specializing in electric vehicles, particularly vans and buses. In addition to headquarters in London, Arrival has recently expanded into the US, setting up a North American HQ in Charlotte, NC alongside a Van microfactory on the city’s west side.
Through a unique business strategy that shifts from traditional production practices, Arrival has been able to design and implement its own components, software, and assembly processes in unique ways to maximize all aspects of manufacturing.
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Public transport operator Go-Ahead Group has completed 15-year hydrogen supply deal, as it strives for a fossil-fuel-free fleet of buses in the UK by 2035.
The business in early January that it is negotiating an order for a further 34 hydrogen-powered single-decker buses from Ballymena-based Wrightbus, following an order of 20 of the vehicles placed in 2021. The first buses will be delivered this June and, once all 54 are integrated into the Go-Ahead fleet, the business will boast Europe’s largest local fleet of hydrogen buses to date.
Go-Ahead’s Crawley depot will be the base for the new buses, which will serve Metrobus routes across Sussex and Surrey including Crawley, Gatwick Airport and Horley.
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New van market grows by a fifth as battery electric demand more than doubles
- UK new light commercial vehicle (LCV) registrations end the year up 21.4%, some 62,723 units more than last year and just -2.8% down on 2019.
- Sector grew 7.8% in best December since 2015.
- 355,380 of the latest, cleanest models join UK roads in 2021, including a record 12,759 battery electric vans.
UK new light commercial vehicle (LCV) registrations bounced back from the pandemic-hit 2020, growing by more than a fifth (21.4%) in 2021, according to the latest figures released today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).