Why the UK Car Industry is Struggling
Since the EU referendum in 2016, investment in the UK car industry has fallen in the last two years, slumping 46.5% in 2017 alone.
Ford, Honda, Jaguar Land Rover and Nissan are cutting production and jobs in the UK
Air quality concerns and taxation changes have led to a big drop-off in diesel sales, contributing to a 7% fall in new car registrations in the UK in 2018.
To get their emissions levels down, carmakers are going to need to sell a lot more electric vehicles, but without a charging infrastructure, the market isn't quite ready for electric cars.
Read the article at BBC News.
Mentor by eDriving Wins a People’s Choice Stevie Award in 2019 American Business Awards
Mentor by eDriving won the 2019 People’s Choice Stevie Award for Favorite New Products in the Governance/ Risk/ Compliance Solution category in The 17th Annual American Business Awards.
“What an incredible achievement to win not only an American Business Award, but also a People’s Choice Award,” said Ed Dubens, CEO/ Founder of eDriving. “This public recognition for Mentor demonstrates what an opportunity there is for the eDriving/FICO partnership to empower drivers to identify and change their high risk behaviors behind the wheel that could get them into trouble.”
Read the press release.
Jaguar Land Rover, BMW Team Up On New Electric Drive Technologies
Jaguar Land Rover and BMW will work together on new electric drive units to share costs and accelerate development of future models.
Teams of JLR and BMW experts will engineer the electric-drive units. Each partner will be able to customize and manufacture its own.
“The transition to automated, connected, electric and shared transportation represents the greatest technological shift in the automotive industry in a generation,” said Nick Rogers, JLR engineering director
Read the article at Forbes.
Texas Starting to Deactivate Red-Light Cameras
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott made Texas the latest state to ban red-light traffic cameras, joining at least seven other states that already have statutes prohibiting the cameras.
The Texas ban takes effect on Sept. 1
Opponents of the cameras say that the cameras contribute to rear-end collisions caused by sudden braking and that the enforcement is not transparent.
Supporters say the payments for the tickets contribute to government coffers, and use of the cameras reduces serious traffic accidents, such as front-into-side, or “T-bone,” collisions.
Read the article at The New York Times.
Motus Report Predicts Highway Travel Will Increase 1.3% This Summer
U.S. Appetite for Fuel Approaches Historic Levels; Americans to Travel a Record Number of Miles in the Months Ahead
Motus has released its 2019 Summer Fuel Outlook Report, which reveals key data related to fuel price fluctuations with a look towards how these changes will impact the summer driving season. One trend that stands out is that as employment and population grow, Americans are anticipated to drive a record number of miles in Q3. As such, U.S. highway travel is anticipated to increase 1.3% this summer.
“Taking a variety of factors into account, we expect the national average fuel price to fall between $2.90 - $3.15 for Q3 2019. We expect prices to peak in June during the beginning of the summer and unwind throughout July and August,” said Ken Robinson, market research analyst for Motus.
