Farting indicators - 6 February 2024

FOLLOW UP: PARIS VOTES TO CHARGE EXTRA FOR HEAVY CARSJust under six percent of eligible Parisians voted on charging extra for non resident parking permitted heavier vehicles, with 54.6% voting for this. Therefore, internal combustion engined cars (ICE) weighing over 1.6 tonnes and electric vehicles weighing over 2 tonnes, will be charged extra. Click here to read a misleadingly headlined article from The Guardian that is an example of some of the pathetic reporting on this matter. FOLLOW UP: LITHIA TAKEOVER PENDRAGONLithia, the US based firm, has finally taken over the motor retail group, Pendragon. This makes Lithia the second biggest retailer in the UK, ahead of Arnold Clark but behind Sytner. You can read more by clicking this AMOnline article link here. JANUARY 2024 NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURESSMMT has released the January 2024 new car registration figures. They are up on 2023, but still down on the Before Times. Fleet is doing a lot of the heavy lifting, with Private down once again. Worryingly, in the first month of the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate, the battery electric vehicle (BEV) share is only 14.7%, well below the 22% required from each manufacturer. Click here to read an interesting article from Tristan Young in Broker News, which hints that the figures could have been even worse. For the SMMT article and detail, click this link here. RENAULT CANCELS IPO FOR EV DIVISION AMPERERenault has confirmed that they will not separate their electric vehicle division, Ampere, and list it on the stock exchange. The reasoning is that the market is “sluggish”, which has also been compounded with a slow down in EV uptake across Europe at the end of the year. The company is adamant that they are cash rich and their ambitions are not dependent on an IPO. If you wish to learn more, click this article link from Reuters here. VW PAUSES IPO OF BATTERY DIVISIONVolkswagen has paused proceeding with listing their battery division, PowerCo, with the EV market slowing in Europe. On top of that, they have not yet decided where their fourth battery factory will be located in Europe. Click this electrive article link to read more on the IPO situation. For the battery factory story, click this InsideEVs article link here. For the Autocar article on the subject of the stock market and EV companies, click this link here. VOLVO TO STOP FUNDING POLESTARAmongst the detail of Volvo’s 2023 financial results, they announced that they will be ceasing to continue to fund Polestar and be focusing solely on their own projects. This could lead to Volvo selling their shares or Geely just buying more. They will continue to partner up over...