Adequately Unashamed - 24 January 2023

FOLLOW UP: CAZOO TO CLOSE SOME UK SITESFollowing on the heals of their retreat from Europe Cazoo has confirmed that it will be closing some UK sites, in a bid to help their finances. The plan is to focus on selling fewer cars than last year but prioritising higher margin models. There will also be changes to senior management as the CEO and Chairman roles are to be split, with current CEO Alex Chesterman retaining the Chairman seat but Paul Whitehead becoming Chief Executive Officer. Click here to read more, from AMOnline. FOLLOW UP: MOT CHANGES PROPOSED AGAIN The UK Government has returned to proposals for changing the timing of MOTs, despite the outcry last time. The excuse of saving money was aired once more but now the claim that advanced technology such as LKAS will ensure safety is maintained. Motoring groups are united in condemning this idea. Again. Click this Autocar link to read more. FOLLOW UP: PARIS RESIDENTS TO DECIDE ESCOOTER FATEThe Mayor of Paris has decided that she wants the residents of the city to decide if they should have e-scooters or not. The three companies involved have implemented and proposed a number of measures to ease the concerns around their use. The referendum will be held on 2 April 2023. For more on this story, click the Move Electric article link here. TESLA SELF-DRIVING VIDEO STAGEDThe head of Autopilot software for Tesla confirmed, under oath, that the 2016 video claiming to demonstrate Autopilot driving the car without a human driver involved was staged. The video explicitly claims the person sat in the driver’s seat is only there for legal reasons. This is testimony from a lawsuit connected to a 2018 fatal crash. Click here to read more, from Reuters. For more context on the issue of safety and Tesla software, click this Twitter thread from Mahmood Hikmet running through some of the shocking information that has come out. 2022 FAVOURITE COLOURSWith virtually no surprise, grey once again is the UK’s favourite colour to daub on our brand new shiny cars. Whilst monochrome was the predominant hue last year it was nice to see that brown, sorry bronze, orange, yellow and green all increased in their visibility. Click here for the SMMT article running through all the details. Interestingly, sports cars do not conform to the mainstream trends quite as tightly. Click here for a Tweet from SportsandGT that links to a video running through those colour preferences. BAC NAMES EX-MCLAREN CEO AS CHAIRMANMike Flewitt, the ex CEO of McLaren has been named as the Chairman of Briggs Automotive Company. This appointment has occurred just as they enter the next stage of their scaling up.