A little creepy - 15 April 2025

LOTUS CUTS MORE JOBS

Following the announcement in November last year, Lotus are cutting a further 270 jobs in the UK. The proposal is claimed to be to “enhance competitiveness”. The jobs will be lost from the Hethel production facility and not the other two sites in the UK. If you want to learn more, click this Autocar article link here.

ASTON MARTIN RESTRUCTURING FINANCES

Lance Stroll is looking to increase his stake in Aston Martin, taking it to 35%. At the same time, the company is selling shares in the F1 team, to help raise further cash. You can read more, by clicking this Yahoo! Finance article here.

STELLANTIS ENDS LEAPMOTOR PRODUCTION IN POLAND

Stellantis has suddenly and without explanation, ended production of the Leapmotor T03 in Poland. The company had already backtracked on opening a second Polish production facility, back in November 2024. If you wish to find out more, click this electrive article link here.

AMPERE GETS NEW CEO

Luca de Meo has handed over the running of Ampere to Josep Maria Recasens, who was the Chief Operations Officer. Ampere is the electric vehicle and software development spin off from Renault. de Meo was CEO of Ampere whilst being CEO of the Groupe Renault. Click this electrive article link to read more.

LUCID WINS NIKOLA FACTORY AUCTION

The bankruptcy auction of Nikola’s assets has enabled Lucid Motors to buy the production facility in Arizona. You can find out more, by clicking this TechCrunch article here.

6000 NEW PUBLIC CHARGERS FOR BRIGHTON

Char.gy and Brighton and Hove city have penned a deal that means 6,000 new public on-street chargers will be installed. Char.gy takes advantage of utilising the greenest/cheapest grid production, with different costs depending on when you charge. You can read more, by clicking this EV Powered article here.

GM AND CRUISE SUED BY INVESTORS

Investors have sued GM and Cruise, claiming that the companies overstated the capability and state of their autonomous project. The lawsuit contends that GM also asserted that the AV division was key to the financial performance of the company, with the company claiming $50 billion profits were expected by 2030. If you wish to find out more, click this GM Authority link here.

HCVA LAUNCHES CAREERS HUB

The Historic and Classics Vehicle Alliance (HCVA), has launched a careers hub that will allow for a central point that will highlight job opportunities in the industry. To learn more, click this Hagerty article link here.

For a direct link to the careers hub, click here.

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NEW NEW CAR NEWS -

Audi A5 PHEV

Audi has revealed the specifications for their A5 PHEV, which will come with a maximum electric only range of 67 miles. The electric motor will be paired up with the 2.0 litre petrol engine, giving a combined 295bhp. The saloon prices start at £48,950, with the estate reaching £60,520. Click this Autocar article link to read more.

Isuzu Dragon Max

For the Bangkok Motor Show, Isuzu created the Dragon Max, a restomod version of their third gen TFR space cab pick up. It looks ace. More of this please. Click this Top Gear article link to see more.

Easter 2025 Jeep Safari

The annual Jeep Safari is upon us and once more we get to see some brilliant ideas from the company. Click here to see the link from CarScoops, which not only has lots of photos but videos for each of the models.

LUNCHTIME READ: 50 YEARS OF THE MERCEDES-BENZ 450 SEL

The 450 SEL 6.9 brought astonishing performance and power to the top of the Mercedes-Benz range 50 years ago. The technical challenges and solutions, though, are very impressive. Click this link, from Hagerty, to read what went into creating this famous car.

LIST OF THE WEEK: THE INTERESTING, WILD AND OFTEN OBSCURE TREASURES OF THE SAAB MUSEUM

Saab, a car company we still mourn the loss of, does have a museum. Thanks to Trollhättan, Saab AB (a defence company) and the Wallenberg Memorial Trust the car collection has been kept together. Click this Autocar link to see some of the special cars that make up this special museum.

AND FINALLY: CARS HELPING PLANES

Motor Trend has an article explaining all the times cars have worked with planes, to the benefit of planes and us. Click this link here to read more.