Motoring by Press Association 16/03/2018, 11:39 am Updated: 16/03/2018, 3:34 pm FacebookTwitterWhatsAppEmail Send us a story Sign up to our Daily newsletter Britain’s largest workers’ union has called on the government to put plans in place to help the UK’s car industry transition quickly towards manufacturing electrified vehicles. A new report called Electric Vehicles, Autonomous Technology and Future Mobility by Unite warns that “the biggest barrier to investment and innovations remains government inactivity”. It has set out a roadmap that it claims will help the automotive industry retain skills and jobs, by taking examples from other countries such as Germany, Norway and China. The report says that if the United Kingdom is to set the pace on electric vehicle technology, there needs to be more government funding in research and development and advancing EV infrastructure. For example, the report points out that there are about … [Read more...] about Union warns biggest barrier to EV uptake is ‘government inactivity’
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Motoring organisation urges government to act over declining new car sales
Motoring by Press Association 05/04/2018, 4:24 pm FacebookTwitterWhatsAppEmail Send us a story Sign up to our Daily newsletter A motoring organisation has accused the government of dealing the UK car industry a “death blow” because of its “shambolic” car tax regime. The Alliance of British Drivers (ABD), a voluntary organisation that says it promotes the interests and concerns of Britain’s motorists, has called on the government to make immediate changes to vehicle excise duty to halt the drastic decline in new car sales. Figures released today by industry body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders show that new car sales in March were down 16 per cent on 2017 and at their worst since 2014. The decline is being driven by a huge drop in the number of people buying diesel vehicles, with sales down 33.3 per cent year-to-date. ABD spokesman Nigel Humphries said the organisation pinned the blame on the government. “Due to … [Read more...] about Motoring organisation urges government to act over declining new car sales
Toyota to stop making Camry Hybrid if Indian government does not reduce taxes: MD
Toyota Kirloskar Motors, who recently re-started the production of the Camry Hybrid in India earlier this year. Toyota suspended the production due to increase in tax of the hybrid vehicles, which made the sales go down significantly. Now Toyota MD has commented that the high taxes may affect the future of the vehicle. How is that? The Indian government has imposed a high GST tax rate of 43 percent on the hybrid cars which have increased the prices significantly and the sales have dipped by a considerable number. Toyota sold as many as 100 units of the Camry hybrid just before the implementation of the new tax slab but the sales dipped to 35 units after the GST implementation. That’s a drop of 65%, which is huge for a low selling vehicle. Akito Tachibana, managing director, Toyota Kirloskar Motor has said to The Telegraph, “If the government does not rethink on the taxation of hybrid cars, we will have to pull out our hybrid offering in Camry and go back to pure internal … [Read more...] about Toyota to stop making Camry Hybrid if Indian government does not reduce taxes: MD
UK government shows real interest in green cars and engine research
Tweet TweetIn a world where car makers need to reduce production on their plants due to excess capacity, some still seem find resources for taking the auto industry further instead of putting it on hold. Yes, we are talking, again, about green cars and engine research, with government subvention. It happens in the United Kingdom, where the government decided to join hands with the auto industry and place 1 billion pounds – which is the equivalent of 1.5 million dollars – for engine research. The eco friendly features will consist in the low-carbon special technologies that will be researched, developed and commercialized. The future of engine research and propulsion technologies now resides in the hands of politicians and 27 other firms. The most common names of this alliance are Tata Motors and Jaguar Land Rover. The name behind this engine research, the one to provide components, will be GKN. All the members of the program will come up with their own share of 500 million … [Read more...] about UK government shows real interest in green cars and engine research
Google’s Street View proposal rejected by Indian government
The government has rejected Google's proposal to bring its 'Street View' app to India. It had submitted a proposal in this regard asking for the government's permission in July 2015. The tech-giant wanted to cover most parts of India using its 360-degree panoramic and street-level 3D imagery technology. All the data captured would then be tagged and be made available online. Google wanted to cover Indian cities, tourist spots, hills and rivers and had launched street view on an experimental basis in partnership with the Archaeological Society of India sometime ago. This project covered tourist sites such as the Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Qutub Minar, Varanasi river bank, Nalanda University, Mysore Palace, Thanjavur temple and Chinnaswamy stadium. In anticipation of the government's decision, Google had already mapped out over 5,000 cities and six lakh villages. It isn't clear why the government has rejected this proposal but it could most likely be security concerns. Google's street … [Read more...] about Google’s Street View proposal rejected by Indian government