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Mitsubishi has come under investigation in Germany amid reports that some of its models are fitted with an emissions cheating device.

German police raided 10 sites in several locations including Frankfurt, Hanover and Regensburg as part of the investigation. Among the companies being investigated is parts supplier Denso, producer of diesel injectors and pumps for Mitsubishi models, which is said to be co-operating with investigators.

Three properties searched belong to manufacturing group Continental AG, which is reported to be listed as a witness in the case.

An official statement from German prosecutors said: “There is a suspicion that the engines are equipped with a so-called shutdown device.” A similar component identified on 11 million Volkswagen Group models in 2014 sparked the notorious Dieselgate scandal.

A Mitsubishi spokesman in Germany confirmed to motoring magazine Automobilwoche that the company was under investigation but emphasised that Mitsubishi Europe, as an importer, isn’t involved in development or production of new cars.

An official statement said: “Mitsubishi Motors will of course collaborate and contribute to this investigation.”

The engines in question are 1.6-litre and 2.2-litre four-cylinder diesel units that were sold as conforming to Euro 5 and Euro 6 emissions requirements. German police have asked anyone who has acquired a car with either motor since 2014 to contact them. By Graham Hill thanks to Autocar

Drivers should book an eyesight test in 2020, says GEM Motoring Assist.

This, according to the road safety organisation, would help in reducing collisions and injuries on the UK’s roads.

GEM road safety officer Neil Worth, said: “What better time than the year 2020 to get your vision checked properly and ensure the risks you face as a driver or rider are as low as possible?

“You should only drive when you’re sure you can see properly.

“After all, poor eyesight is linked to more than 3,000 fatal and serious injury collisions every year.

“We continue to be concerned that there are too many people driving whose eyesight has deteriorated to a dangerous level.

“This puts their own safety at risk, as well as the safety of others sharing the same road space.”

The eyesight test was introduced to the driving test in 1937 and has only been changed in minor ways over the years to reflect changing number plate sizes.

It is the only eyesight test drivers are required to take until they reach the age of 70.

Opticians should examine a driver’s field of view, as is done in America, to check whether motorists can see and react to what’s happening around them, according to GEM.

Worth added: “So this year we are encouraging drivers to ensure their eyesight goes beyond 20/20.

“After all, 20/20 is only an expression of normal visual acuity, but the requirements for safe driving go beyond clarity of central vision.

“A detailed professional eye examination will mean any problems can be identified and – in the vast majority of cases – corrected, meaning the risks are reduced considerably.

“So many people are staying behind the wheel into their eighties and beyond.

“This, coupled with the greater volume of traffic and an increase in distractions, both inside and outside the vehicle, points to the clear need for more regular and detailed eyesight testing.”

“Asking someone to read a number plate at 20.5 metres (67 feet) cannot on its own be a measure of their fitness to continue driving.

“A proper eye test will also measure peripheral awareness, eye coordination, depth perception, ability to focus and colour vision.”

GEM has called for drivers to have an eye test every two years, ensuring there are no safety concerns about their vision and to deal with any issues at an early stage.

The organisation is also calling for every new driver to produce evidence of a recent eye test when first applying for a licence, and to obtain a mandatory vision test every 10 years in line with licence renewal. By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

More than 72,000 electric and plug-in hybrid cars were registered in 2019, marking the eighth consecutive year of growth.

Pure electric models accounted for 37,850 registrations, overtaking plug-in hybrids for the first time in the annual sales figures. But still make up less than 2% of the total registrations in 2019.

Combined, alternatively fuelled vehicle (AFV) registrations achieved a record 7.4% market share. However, it was hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) that were the most popular, with registrations of 97,850 units.

Poppy Welch, head of Go Ultra Low, said: “In the context of the wider new car market, it is encouraging to see plug-in car registrations continue to go from strength-to-strength. Looking at the year ahead, 2020 is set to be another fantastic year for electric car uptake.

“With even more new models being released, ongoing government support, as well as the continued expansion of the public charging infrastructure, we’re confident that the next 12 months will be a landmark year for the nation’s switch to electric.”

2020 has the potential to be another strong year for registrations as a host of models are set to be introduced, including the Peugeot e-208, Volkswagen ID3, Vauxhall Corsa-e, Skoda Citigo-e, and Mini Electric just some of the new cars due to hit the roads.

It is also the year that Benefit-in-kind tax is due to drop to 0% for company car drivers choosing a zero-emission vehicle, increasing demand for EVs among fleet customers substantially.

Grant Shapps, Transport Secretary, said: “I want 2020 to be the year electric cars go mainstream. That’s why we are doubling-down our efforts to make owning an electric vehicle the new normal.”

Towns and cities with the highest electric car registrations

Exeter has been revealed as the UK’s greenest motoring hotspot, with the fastest growth in ultra-low emission vehicle (ULEV) ownership since 2018, up more than 150%, according to registration data analysed by Motorway.co.uk.

According to the data, seven of the top ten local authorities for ULEV registrations since 2018 are London boroughs, with Newham and Waltham Forest seeing annual growth of 114% and 82% respectively.

At the bottom of the green motoring table are Sunderland and Wychavon, a district in Worcestershire, where ULEV numbers have grown less than 7% over the past 12 months.

“These figures show a huge disparity between areas that are embracing greener motoring and areas where take-up of ULEVs is in the slow lane. They highlight the need to focus not just at a national level, but also to confront issues at a regional level in areas where ULEV take-up is lagging behind.

“The government is now under tremendous pressure to encourage motorists to move to electric cars and other forms of ultra-low emissions vehicles in time for the 2040 switchover,” said Alex Buttle, director of Motorway.co.uk.

Top 10 local authorities that have seen the fastest growth in ULEV registrations:

By Graham Hill with thanks to Fleet News

Thanks to manufacturers registering cars like crazy at the end of 2019, now could be the perfect time to buy a new car

Happy New Year – and it has the potential to be a very happy one indeed if you’re one of those people wandering into car showrooms over the next month. The fact is, there may never be a better time to buy a new car than right now, thanks to manufacturers having to register vehicles like crazy in the last few weeks of 2019 – in the hope of selling cleaner ones over the next 12 months and avoiding huge penalties for excess CO2 emissions.

It’s already clear that the market from which we choose which cars to buy, own and drive is going to be radically different at the end of 2020 from how it is now. More than the proliferation of electrified and pure-electric models and, perversely, the continued gains by the SUV, we’re going to see reduced model ranges, with limited supply on less efficient variants as manufacturers actively force the issue on CO2. They can’t afford not to.

It’s reassuring, then, to read in our scoop this week that Skoda plans to offer its upcoming Octavia vRS with a choice of petrol, plug-in hybrid and even diesel. We remain convinced that different powertrains and fuel sources make sense to different buyers.

But it seems likely that this diverse approach isn’t going to be uniform. Indeed, there have been suggestions that we’re heading into a period where car retailers may be actively trying, at a level never experienced before, to push customers away from the cars they want to buy and towards the models the company desperately needs to sell.

Our advice, as always, is to do your so you know which model, engine and trim best suit your lifestyle and budget. Write it down. Keep it at the front of your mind. And stick to your guns. Then you stand every chance of getting the car you want, at a better price than you might expect. By Grahan Hill thanks to Auto Express

This is an interesting case forwarded by a lawyer friend of mine. Buy a faulty car and the law is on your side. Your rights were strengthened by the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Within the first 30 days you can return a faulty car and demand your money back but we all know that life isn’t that simple with dealers pretty much refusing point-blank to take back the car.

This can lead to a lot of distress which isn’t covered by the act but is the point of this case. Here is what was said by the defending lawyer, defending the car dealer:

The driver took the dealer to court claiming that the car he bought was faulty. An element of the claim contained words to the effect that they demanded in the region of £2,000 in compensation for the distress caused – resulting in a deterioration in the buyer’s mental health.

Part of the defence was that if any part of a claim was for damages (compensation) for personal injury (physical, mental or psychological) then the whole claim was subject to compliance with the Pre-Action Protocol on Personal Injury.

And that as the amount sought was over £1,000 the case had to be allocated to fast track not to small claims. £1.000 is the threshold for personal injury claims to be held in the “small claims” track of the county court.  The lawyers invited the court to dismiss the whole of the claim because none of the claimant’s actions prior to issuing the claim had followed the mandatory Pre-Action protocol.

The court held a preliminary hearing and convinced the claimant not to pursue the mental health aspect of the claim.  According to the lawyers, they suspected that the Judge was generally unimpressed by the claimant and encouraged the parties to come to a settlement out of court purely on the issue of the value of the car alone – and nothing else.

The parties agreed to such a settlement there and then, which was endorsed by the court – but not giving the claimant anything towards the substantial issue fee that the claimant had paid to issue the claim in the first place.

Whilst the lawyers were obviously pleased with the outcome this is a real problem. I hear all the time about problems faced by drivers with dealers, both new car and used car dealers, who provide a dreadful service and cause a great deal of unnecessary grief which is never compensated for. Something needs to be done to stop disputes getting to these ridiculous level where consumers are affected mentally. By Graham Hill

A Dealer Scam Costing Them A Fortune

I don’t usually have a lot of sympathy for dealers but when I read about this scam going round catching dealers out I had to feel sorry as they’ve done nothing wrong. It involves taking payment for cars by Debit Card. Here’s the scam as revealed by a lawyer with a warning to car dealers:

The scenario is this. Customer purchases a vehicle. They pay with one, maybe two debit cards. They collect the car (but more usually ask to have it delivered) and are very happy. They are so happy in fact that they later look to purchase a second car.

The previous sale went without issues, there have been no complaints and so you sell the second car. They may come back for a third or more. All is well. Then, out of the blue 3 months later, your bank take all the money for those cars out of your account and so you have no cars, no cash.

The buyer has done a bunk and you are left with a fight on your hands to a) track down the vehicle and b) try and make a civil case that title never passed to your original buyer (the fraudster) and so you can have the car back.

These cases are never straightforward as you, as a car dealer, can imagine as you could find yourself in the position of the dealer who has been the victim of the chargeback or you might be the dealer who purchased the car further down the line in good faith. Who wins? Well, that is for the court to decide as the police will generally consider it a civil matter and each case can be determined on its merits as all these cases will have different facts despite being the similar bigger picture.

Going forward, be aware that chargebacks can typically be made by a cardholder up to 4 months after a sale. Bank transfer is a much better option. If someone is buying multiple cars with debit cards, then ensure it raises a red flag, even when you have all the information needed for the bank to process the transaction and especially, if they ask to have the car delivered.

So it’s not all one-sided with dealers always coming out on top. This scam is costing dealers a great deal of money. OK, sympathy for dealers over! By Graham Hill

A consultation was launched in October 2019 into the merits of issuing zero emission cars with green number plates. The idea was to be able to identify the greenest of vehicles so that local authorities could, as an incentive, offer drivers cheaper or free parking, possible use of bus lanes etc.

The plates may be all green, have a green verticle bar down one edge or have a large green dot on one side of the plate. Simple plate recognition could identify the cars. Now where did I put my pot of green reflective paint? And that could be the problem. Drivers either modifying their number plates to appear like a ‘green’ number plate or buy a set of dodgy plates made up as though the car is zero-emission.

If the Government gets it right the new plates could also capture snob appeal making drivers of cars with green number plates ‘Holier than though’ to impress the neighbours and work colleagues.

A big boost to the sale of zero-emission cars will be lower lease rates which a couple of manufacturers and leasing companies have already addressed. So far in 2020 we have seen the VW eGolf at its lowest ever rate as well as the Nissan Leaf. Contact GHA Finance for the latest deals and offers.

A personal view from Graham Hill:

As part of this study, the Government is proposing to invest £1.5 billion into the drive towards total zero-emission cars. This includes home chargers built into every new house and increasing the number of charge points.

Now I’m not being funny but I don’t have a tank and pump installed at home to top up my petrol car. Why, because I can pop into my local petrol station and top up in a matter of minutes. The average time is 8-12 minutes. The latest BP 150kW Ultra Fast Chargers take, according to BP and independent checkers around 15 – 20 minutes to provide a complete charge. 10 minutes should provide about 100 miles of charge.

So why are we hell-bent on creating a national network of  home, street and car park chargers when all we should be doing is investing in even faster chargers and batteries capable of withstanding the fast charging. Inevitably there will be many who will charge at home or in car parks as the cost of charging will be cheaper so even if cars are a little longer at charge points it won’t cause congestion as fewer cars will use them as many will be charging at home.

My idea would be a set of charge pads that drivers drive over. The number recognition system tells the charge point whether you have an account or not and a screen entry on the dashboard allows you to select the charge and cost. If you don’t have an account you enter card details into the charge pod.

You then sit in the car for say 10-15 minutes whilst the car is charged. A screen drops down in front of you with advertising on it. The charge to the advertisers could subsidise the cost of electricity. Doesn’t sound like rocket science to me! By Graham Hill

Only one in 10 new car sales could be diesel in as little as five years, says a leading academic.

Currently, one-in-four of new cars sold is powered by the fuel, a dramatic decline from the parity with petrol it enjoyed just a few years ago.

Its popularity is also on the wane in the company car market, where it has traditionally dominated thanks to its tax-friendly CO2 performance.

New figures show that the proportion of diesel cars on the FN50 fleet – the UK’s top 50 leasing companies by risk fleet size – fell from almost two-thirds (63.4%) to close to half (50.5%) over the past 12 months.

In terms of vehicles they had ordered in the past year, the flight from diesel was still more pronounced. Almost half of the cars ordered in 2019 were petrol (47.6%), while only two-fifths (38.8%) were diesel.

David Bailey, Professor of Business Economics at the Birmingham Business School, said: “There seems to be no end to the decline in diesels.”

Overall, diesel new car sales are down by more than a fifth in the past year. Some 515,000 units have been sold year-to-date, compared with 650,000 during the previous 12 months, data from the UK automotive trade body, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), shows.

Forecasters say that, with the sharp falls seen in the sale of new diesel cars since 2017, it could lead to an undersupply of used vehicles in 2020 and 2021, which would help sustain residual values. However, it’s unclear whether the decline in new diesel car sales will be mirrored in the used car market. The most recent figures from the SMMT show that demand for used diesels grew by 1.4% in the third quarter, with some 858,442 changing hands.

“A big shift away from diesel is still taking place,” said Bailey. “In late 2015, diesel accounted for more than 50% of the market, by March last year it was down to 32% and it has fallen further since then.”

The UK is not alone in turning its back on the fuel; its decline is being seen across Europe. In the key market of Germany, diesel’s share has fallen below 30% from having accounted for half the market and to a similar level in France, where three-quarters of new car sales were once diesel.

Bailey said: “We are seeing this continuing decline and, while I originally thought the market share for diesel by 2025 would be down to 15%, I now think that’s quite optimistic – it may be as low as 10%.”

Despite its popularity in Europe, diesel has not enjoyed similar market penetration in other countries. “It’s negligible in North America, it’s only 4% at best in China and virtually insignificant elsewhere,” he said.

“If you go back to the turn of the century, diesel as a share of the market in Europe was only 10-15%. We then gave (the fuel) loads of tax breaks, because we thought it was good for the environment.”

Dieselgate followed however, and concerns over the fuel’s impact on air quality has put its market share on a downward trajectory.

Bailey told delegates at a recent Vehicle Remarketing Association (VRA) seminar the trouble is “people are completely freaked out over diesels”.

He said: “They are concerned about falling resale values, they are worried about tighter regulations in cities, higher taxes and its impact on the environment.”

He says Government policy has not helped either, labelling it a “complete shambles”.

“One part of Government has been saying ‘clean diesels are good’, while another part whacks a load of tax on them.”

Government has, however, introduced tax breaks for diesel company cars, which meet strict emissions limits defined by the RDE2 standard.

Company car drivers are exempt from the 4% benefit-in-kind (BIK) diesel surcharge, while fleets benefit from not having to pay the higher first-year rate of VED on new diesel cars.

The NOx limit for the RDE2 standard, which is measured on the road, is up to 1.43 times the Euro 6 lab limit of 80mg/km for diesel and 60mg/km for petrol. Cars achieving this limit are labelled Euro 6d.

Cars achieving RDE1, which allows for a margin of error two times the actual limit, are classified as Euro 6d-temp.

RDE2 will apply to all new registrations from January 1, 2021, before the margin for error – the conformity factor – is removed by 2023.

Peter Golding, managing director at FleetCheck, believes that 2020 could turn out to be a make or break year for diesel, with the success of Euro 6d cars key. However, he acknowledges the outlook is not promising when Bristol’s proposed diesel city centre car ban will not apply to older petrol vehicles, with potentially worse emissions than the latest RDE2 diesels.

“RDE2, effectively, puts diesel on a roughly equal footing with petrol from an emissions point of view,” he said. “The question is whether everyone from legislators to the general public are willing or able to make that distinction.”  By Graham Hill Thanks To Fleet News.

Thousands of cars left unused over the holiday period are in danger of not starting when the majority of fleet drivers return to work, says the RAC.

This year the RAC is expecting to be called out to around 12,000 breakdowns on Monday 6 January with nearly a third of those call-outs likely to be flat batteries, it said.

on Monday 7 January 2019, RAC patrols dealt with 3,600 battery-related breakdowns, which represented 31% of all its call-outs that day. Wednesday 2nd January 2019 was also busy a day for flat batteries with 2,422, or 26% of all RAC breakdowns.

New research carried out with 3,480 members of the RAC Opinion Panel shows 6% of drivers have suffered a post-Christmas flat battery. Of those, 58% say it was due to the vehicle not being used for several days and 13% claim to have fallen victim twice.

As many as 40% who have suffered this problem say the last time it happened they were on the way to work, and 17% say it “caused a big problem for them”.

The RAC has published a list of tips to minimise the chance of battery-related issues:

• Park your vehicle in a garage whenever possible
• Ensure everything is switched off when you finish your journey including lights, heater, fan, heated rear windscreen, and the radio. Sat-navs and other devices can also drain the battery if left connected
• Check the battery connections, ensuring that they are tight and free from any corrosion
• It’s worth getting your battery tested, particularly if it is over four years old
• Take your vehicle for a decent drive to get your battery well charged, and get the engine to its proper operating temperature, before you really need it – ideally several days before. Don’t just check that it starts as this is likely to drain the battery more

By Graham Hill Thanks To Fleet News

Only one in 10 new car sales could be diesel in as little as five years, says a leading academic.

Currently, one-in-four of new cars sold is powered by the fuel, a dramatic decline from the parity with petrol it enjoyed just a few years ago.

Its popularity is also on the wane in the company car market, where it has traditionally dominated thanks to its tax-friendly CO2 performance.

New figures show that the proportion of diesel cars on the FN50 fleet – the UK’s top 50 leasing companies by risk fleet size – fell from almost two-thirds (63.4%) to close to half (50.5%) over the past 12 months.

In terms of vehicles they had ordered in the past year, the flight from diesel was still more pronounced. Almost half of the cars ordered in 2019 were petrol (47.6%), while only two-fifths (38.8%) were diesel.

David Bailey, Professor of Business Economics at the Birmingham Business School, said: “There seems to be no end to the decline in diesels.”

Overall, diesel new car sales are down by more than a fifth in the past year. Some 515,000 units have been sold year-to-date, compared with 650,000 during the previous 12 months, data from the UK automotive trade body, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), shows.

Forecasters say that, with the sharp falls seen in the sale of new diesel cars since 2017, it could lead to an undersupply of used vehicles in 2020 and 2021, which would help sustain residual values. However, it’s unclear whether the decline in new diesel car sales will be mirrored in the used car market. The most recent figures from the SMMT show that demand for used diesels grew by 1.4% in the third quarter, with some 858,442 changing hands.

“A big shift away from diesel is still taking place,” said Bailey. “In late 2015, diesel accounted for more than 50% of the market, by March last year it was down to 32% and it has fallen further since then.”

The UK is not alone in turning its back on the fuel; its decline is being seen across Europe. In the key market of Germany, diesel’s share has fallen below 30% from having accounted for half the market and to a similar level in France, where three-quarters of new car sales were once diesel.

Bailey said: “We are seeing this continuing decline and, while I originally thought the market share for diesel by 2025 would be down to 15%, I now think that’s quite optimistic – it may be as low as 10%.”

Despite its popularity in Europe, diesel has not enjoyed similar market penetration in other countries. “It’s negligible in North America, it’s only 4% at best in China and virtually insignificant elsewhere,” he said.

“If you go back to the turn of the century, diesel as a share of the market in Europe was only 10-15%. We then gave (the fuel) loads of tax breaks, because we thought it was good for the environment.”

Dieselgate followed however, and concerns over the fuel’s impact on air quality has put its market share on a downward trajectory.

Bailey told delegates at a recent Vehicle Remarketing Association (VRA) seminar the trouble is “people are completely freaked out over diesels”.

He said: “They are concerned about falling resale values, they are worried about tighter regulations in cities, higher taxes and its impact on the environment.”

He says Government policy has not helped either, labelling it a “complete shambles”.

“One part of Government has been saying ‘clean diesels are good’, while another part whacks a load of tax on them.”

Government has, however, introduced tax breaks for diesel company cars, which meet strict emissions limits defined by the RDE2 standard.

Company car drivers are exempt from the 4% benefit-in-kind (BIK) diesel surcharge, while fleets benefit from not having to pay the higher first-year rate of VED on new diesel cars.

The NOx limit for the RDE2 standard, which is measured on the road, is up to 1.43 times the Euro 6 lab limit of 80mg/km for diesel and 60mg/km for petrol. Cars achieving this limit are labelled Euro 6d.

Cars achieving RDE1, which allows for a margin of error two times the actual limit, are classified as Euro 6d-temp.

RDE2 will apply to all new registrations from January 1, 2021, before the margin for error – the conformity factor – is removed by 2023.

Peter Golding, managing director at FleetCheck, believes that 2020 could turn out to be a make or break year for diesel, with the success of Euro 6d cars key. However, he acknowledges the outlook is not promising when Bristol’s proposed diesel city centre car ban will not apply to older petrol vehicles, with potentially worse emissions than the latest RDE2 diesels.

“RDE2, effectively, puts diesel on a roughly equal footing with petrol from an emissions point of view,” he said. “The question is whether everyone from legislators to the general public are willing or able to make that distinction.”  By Graham Hill Thanks To Fleet News

One in four drivers have had their car damaged by a speedhump or pothole, according to new research by Insurethegap.com.

In urban areas the damage rate was even higher, with one in three of those surveyed stating that their car had suffered damage.

Ben Wooltorton, COO at InsuretheGap.com, said, “Damage to cars caused by speedhumps and potholes, in particular, is becoming a big problem as councils struggle with the cost of repairing them. This cold snap will see more potholes and, as we can see from the research, repairs can run into hundreds of pounds. It really is worth avoiding them if possible, and going a different way if the road is particularly bad.”

More than a quarter (26%) said the average cost of repairing the damage ranged from £51 to £100. A third (35%) paid between £101 and £250 to rectify damage and 8% said it cost more than £250.

Two fifths (39%) of affected drivers complained to the council about the potholes or speedhumps and more than half of them (55%) said their compliant was ignored, but 39% said action was taken as a result. One in ten (10%) went so far as to send their bill to the council.

A fifth (21%) said they had considered complaining “but didn’t see the point as nothing would change”, and 12% complained to Highways England/Transport Scotland/Traffic Wales or the Northern Ireland Department for Infrastructure.

Instead of complaining, one in six (17%) now take a longer route to avoid potholes.

In 2017 – 2019, more than 905,000 potholes were reported on UK roads according to Confused.com.

The Transport Select Committee’s latest report, Local roads funding and maintenance: filling the gap, addresses ‘the extreme state of disrepair of the English local road network’. It identifies a drop in local government revenue funding of around 25% since 2010, resulting in funds for local roads no longer being ring-fenced. As a result ‘cash-strapped authorities have diverted their highways and transport budgets to fund core services’.

The findings state that a deteriorating local road network undermines local economic performance, results in direct costs to taxpayers, damages vehicles and causes injuries to passengers, ‘particularly those with existing medical conditions’. By Graham Hill Thanks To Fleet News