The latest car finance monthly figures show that car finance debt remained at record levels in June, with a fall in new car volumes balanced by an increase in used cars.
The results for June, published today by the Finance and Leasing Association (FLA), show that an 8% fall in new car finance deals was balanced by a 7% increase in used cars deals. The average amount being financed increasing again for both new and used buyers, pushing total borrowing up by 5%.
The fall in the number of new car finance deals matches the SMMT’s official new car registration figures, which also show an 8% reduction compared to the same month last year. However, average new car borrowing is up nearly 9% on last year’s figure, at just under £19,000. This is down by £800 on May’s figure, but still helped keep average borrowing figures at record levels for the first six months of 2017.
The FLA claims that 86% of all private new car sales are financed by its members, which basically means PCP car finance at the dealership. This figure has been steady pretty much all year. Combined with the ever-increasing average borrowing figures, it suggests that car buyers are not heeding the warnings about the levels of car finance debt.
Used car borrowing is also at a record level, with both volumes and overall borrowing up on last year. Volume increased by 7% over June last year, following a similar pattern in May. Used car finance deals for the quarter were up by 4%, despite used car sales falling by more than 13% according to SMMT figures also published today.
Used car overall borrowing was up by 12% over the same month last year, pushing average used car borrowing to £11,400 – an increase of 5% on last year. Unlike new cars, the majority of used car sales are not financed by dealer funding, although the percentage is steadily growing as more used car buyers choose PCP financing.
The Honda Jazz has a new petrol engine and an updated exterior. The rejuvenated model will appear at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September.
It will be the first time that the 1.5-litre 130hp petrol engine has been available in Europe. Honda is claiming a 52.3mpg fuel economy and 124g/km CO2 emissions with the optional CVT automatic transmission.
Facelifted front and rear bumpers with signature headlights and grille align the Jazz with the latest models in the Honda family. A new Sport specification is on offer, as well as new colour option: Metallic Skyride Blue.
Inside, the Jazz continues to be a class-leader in terms of space with a 354-litre boot that can be expanded to 897 litres with the rear seats folded and roomy surroundings for occupants.
The Jazz features cruise control, automatic headlights and City-Brake Active safety system as standard. Optional extras include a seven-inch Honda Connect infotainment system, reversing camera, keyless entry and start, forward collision warning, lane departure warning and traffic sign recognition.
After its Frankfurt appearance, the updated Honda Jazz will be available to order in November, with first deliveries expected to be made early next year.
SsangYong has announced details of pricing and specification for its fourth generation Rexton 4×4. The latest model is based on the LIV-2 concept which SsangYong showed at the Paris motor show in September last year.
Powered by a 2.2-litre turbo diesel engine producing 181hp and 420Nm of torque, the Rexton has a 3.5-tonne towing capability and a kerb weight between 2,095 and 2,333kg. The four-wheel drive can be paired with either a six-speed manual or seven-speed Mercedes-Benz automatic transmission.
An updated front grille brings the fourth generation model’s look in line with that of the new Tivoli. Customers can opt for 17, 18 or 20-inch alloy wheels and specify either a five or seven-seat model.
The Rexton’s infotainment system features Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, DAB radio and a 9.2-inch HD screen.
New safety technology includes forward collision warning, autonomous emergency braking, lane departure warning, high beam assistance and traffic sign recognition.
The Rexton goes on sale in October from £27,500 and comes with a five-year limitless mileage warranty.
Newly released sketches provide major clues to the look of the Volkswagen T-Roc, a new compact SUV due to be unveiled on 23rd August.
Expected on sale in the Autumn, the T-Roc is expected to provide Volkswagen with a more direct rival to the segment-creating and leading Nissan Qashqai than is the current VW Tiguan.
Currently, there is little detailed information available about the T-Roc, Volkswagen merely stating that it will ‘combine the effortless superiority of an SUV with the agility of a sporty, compact model.’
Hybrid and electric
The new crossover model is expected to be closely related to the Polo and Golf hatch ranges. Most sales are likely to be of two-wheel-drive versions but with all-wheel-drive also being available in the line-up. Plug-in hybrid and fully electric versions are also thought to be in plans for the T-Roc range.
While based on the larger Tiguan, the styling of the T-Roc will be a departure from previous Volkswagen design, the aim being to give the car an off-road image with chunky dimensions particularly around the wheel arches – though perhaps not quite as bold as the sketches suggest. The car will be recognisable from its signature wide radiator grille which runs into the headlamps, while the indicators and daytime running lights are separately mounted in the bumper.
Check back to The Car Expert for the full story of the T-Roc following its unveiling on 23rd August.
Peugeot has launched a pair of special-edition 108 models alongside a new finance offer as the market revs up ahead of the September rush.
The Peugeot 108 Collection and 108 Top! (cabriolet) Roland Garros get extra paint colours, alloy wheels and other extras, such as keyless entry, a seven-inch colour touchscreen with reversing camera (and satnav in the Roland Garros model).
Mechanically there are no changes, so they will drive the same as regular 108 models.
Peugeot has also announced a personal contract purchase (PCP) offer for all 108 models except the bottom-of-the-range Access model, for cars ordered before the end of this month.
The PCP offer is very similar to the one Peugeot is running on the larger 208 models. It is based on a contract of up to 37 months (three years of regular monthly payments plus the final balloon payment) with an APR of 4.9%, which is decent but not outstanding. The offer also does not require any upfront deposit from the customer, which is better than many PCP offers.
The Peugeot 108 Collection, Roland Garros, Allure and GT Line models get a £1,200 deposit contribution, while the Active trim model gets a £600 deposit contribution.
Peugeot 108 Collection
The Car Expert says… always check the fine print on finance offers
Peugeot refers to its personal contract purchase offers as “Passport”. Customers can also choose Peugeot’s “Just Add Fuel” package at extra cost, which also includes three years’ car insurance, road tax and routine servicing costs. If you are under 21 years of age, you are required to take a Peugeot telematics device if you want the Just Add Fuel package.
The Just Add Fuel package is certainly convenient, but you may find it cheaper to arrange your own insurance and servicing, rather than using Peugeot’s preferred providers.
The Peugeot 108 PCP deal is advertised with an APR of 4.9% representative, with a fixed interest rate that is also 4.9%. That means that there should be no fees anywhere on the finance agreement (apart from excess mileage fees).
The offers set out on the Peugeot website are only examples, and you are entitled to adjust the term, deposit and annual mileage to suit your own needs. The annual mileage used in all of the examples provided is only 6,000 – which is lower than most people drive in a year, so bear that in mind.
The excess mileage fee is 5p/mile. That’s £50 for every 1,000 miles you go over your limit, which is less than many other PCPs. The fee only applies if you are giving the car back and claiming the guaranteed future value (GFV).
The finance deal only applies to new cars, which does not include dealer demonstrators or pre-registered cars.
Cars have to be ordered by 31 August, but no delivery date is specified on the website. That means you can get one this month with a 17-plate, or wait until September and get one with the new 67-plates that start from 1 September. If you are planning to keep the car for three years or less, you may be better off waiting for the 67-plates, as it will probably be worth more at the end of the agreement.
The finance offers are provided through Peugeot dealers by PSA Finance UK. If a dealer offers you a finance deal that does not match these details or from another lender, it is not part of this offer.
As with any car purchase, work out your budget before you visit the showroom and don’t be persuaded to go beyond it – regardless of what the smiling sales executive suggests. They don’t have your best interests at heart, but The Car Expert does!
Infiniti is joining the manufacturer rush to electric racing cars – except that its new model looks as if it has come straight out of the 1940s.
The open-wheeled Prototype 9 has been unveiled as a concept at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in the USA. It is described as “a journey back in time” and a “fusion of advanced technology with traditional hands and hearts of hundreds of craftsmen.”
Nissan’s next electric
Underneath the retro exterior, however, the Prototype 9 boasts the latest electric powertrain from Nissan, expected to be unveiled in production form in the next Nissan LEAF at the Frankfurt Motor Show. It pairs the electric motor with a 30kWh high-voltage battery, putting 148hp and 320Nm of torque through the rear wheels which gives the car a 0-62mph time of 5.5 seconds and a 105.6mph top speed.
Built as an after-hours project by a team of employees from across Nissan, the car is even of traditional construction – weighing in at just 890kg, it has a steel ladder frame covered in hand-beaten steel panels in a bare finish, leaf springs behind the 19-inch wire wheels, a De Dion rear axle and no power steering.
Infiniti design elements are incorporated – the double-arch grille, the single crease in the bonnet, and the ‘shark gills’ behind the front wheels. Even the figure 9 in the title relates to the Q motif used in Infiniti cars – 9 in Japanese is pronounced ‘kyuu’.
There is no chance of the Prototype 9 reaching any form of production, the brand’s global design head Alfonso Albaisa effectively admitting that it imagines a heritage Infiniti doesn’t have. “Prototype 9 celebrates the tradition of ingenuity, craftsmanship and passion of our forebears at Nissan, on whose shoulders we stand today – what if Infiniti had created a race car in the 1940s? If one were to imagine an open-wheeled Infiniti racer on the famous circuits of the era, such as Japan’s Tamagawa Speedway, what would that look like?”
What is it: The Nissan X-Trail is the brand’s largest, go-anywhere crossover.
Key features: Seven-seat capability
Our view: In third-generation form, the Nissan X-Trail remains a practical large SUV and a solid, cheaper nearly-new option to its newly-launched facelift replacement.
Review type: End-of-line road test
The Nissan X-Trail is effectively the ‘elder statesman’ of the brand’s crossover/SUV range – it was around long before the arrival of the Qashqai and Juke kicked off the explosion in popularity of such vehicles. Once they joined the range, the X-Trail sat at the top as the more utilitarian, tougher model that really could go anywhere.
In recent times, however, that has changed. Visually at least, Nissan has ‘softened up’ the X-Trail, and in its third generation, it can be difficult at a glance to tell it apart from the Qashqai. So much so that an updated version of the model, arriving in showrooms in August, boasts a bolder exterior design with more edges and a particularly aggressive front end.
Before that car arrives, The Car Expert has been driving the outgoing version – is it a good bargain end-of-line, or more likely nearly-new, buy?
Introduction | Design | Powertrains | On the Road | Equipment | Summary and Specifications
The BMW Group has announced a new £2,000 part-exchange allowance for customers trading in an older diesel car on a new low-emissions BMW or MINI model.
For the rest of 2017, any owner of any Euro 4 (or older) diesel car will be eligible for an additional £2,000 part-exchange allowance over and above their car’s value when they buy a new BMW or MINI with a CO2 emissions rating of less than 130g/km.
The BMW Group claims that 80% of new BMW models and 70% of new MINI models are eligible for the allowance, with a range of electric, plug-in hybrid, petrol and diesel models to choose from.
As customer demand for new diesel cars continues to slide, and values of older diesel models plummet, BMW hopes to snare buyers who are worried about their current car’s value and also boost sales of its latest Euro 6 diesel models. The BMW website shows 58 models that qualify for the new offer, two-thirds of which are diesel. The MINI website lists 57 qualifying models, 56% of which are diesel.
The offer is not limited to current BMW owners, so you can part-exchange an old diesel from any brand as long as it is built to Euro 4 standards or earlier. To check if your car is eligible, visit this government link: http://carfueldata.direct.gov.uk/search-new-or-used-cars.aspx
The allowance is in addition to any other offer available from the manufacturer, finance company or dealership, such as a deposit contribution or discount.
The Car Expert explains the fine print
This offer is a part-exchange allowance, for selected used cars part-exchanged against selected new cars.
Your current car must be a diesel, from any brand, with an engine that is built to Euro 4 emissions standard or earlier. This will definitely be cars built no later than 2010, although some cars had Euro 5 specification engines earlier than this.
You must be the owner of the part-exchange vehicle and the buyer of the new car (same name and registered address). You must also have owned the old car for at least 12 months, to stop people buying an old diesel banger for £200 and then getting a £2,000 part-exchange allowance for it.
You must have owned the old car for at least 12 months, to stop people buying an old diesel banger for £200 and then getting a £2,000 part-exchange allowance for it.
This offer can be used on top of any other offers from the dealer/manufacturer/finance company, or the government plug-in car grant.
The offer is not dependent on you taking any finance package or other products.
Dealers are now taking orders for the Volkswagen Arteon – the new range flagship will arrive in showrooms in September priced from £34,305.
A five-door five-seater, the Arteon will sit above the Passat, with Volkswagen stating that it ‘combines sports car detailing with luxury motoring in a muscular yet elegant design.’ Prime rivals will be the Audi A5 and Vauxhall Insignia Grand Sport.
It measures up at 4,862mm long, 1,871mm wide and 1,450mm high, while the wheelbase of 2,837mm creates a claimed class-topping legroom of 1,016 mm. Luggage space of 563 litres extends to 1,557 litres when the rear seats are folded.
Three engines
The Arteon will initially have a three-way engine choice – a petrol unit of two litres and 280hp and a pair of 2.0-litre diesels, offering either 150 or 240hp. Later Volkswagen will also offer a 1.5-litre 150hp petrol unit, badged Evo due to its cylinder deactivation technology, and a second 2.0-litre petrol with 190hp.
All the engines are four cylinder units, and combined or the seven-speed auto gearbox. The 1.5-litre petrol and 150hp version of the diesel can also be specified with a six-speed manual ‘box. The top 280hp petrol and 240hp diesels also have 4Motion all-wheel-drive as standard.
Arteon buyers will be able to choose either luxury-pitched Elegance or the more performance angled R-Line. Base level standard equipment includes navigation through an eight-inch touchscreen, an eight-speaker sound system, Bluetooth and smartphone compatibility. Every car also comes with a number of safety aids including adaptive cruise control, emergency braking, front, speed and traffic jam assistance, a lane keeping control and a driver fatigue alert.
Smart cars, allowing drivers to access all kinds of digital services from the cockpit, are all very well. But could they be hacked?
The UK Government seems to think so, and is now issuing guidance calling on car manufacturers to beef up their cars’ security against cyber attacks.
Connected technology in cars is growing in sophistication virtually by the week – drivers can now select their favourite places in the navigation, have messages sent to them through the infotainment screen, and download their phone contacts into the car’s systems.
But this connectivity could also provide an open invitation to hackers – to access personal information, steal cars that use keyless entry systems, or even take control of the car with potentially disastrous consequences. So the Government has now issued guidance, calling on car manufacturers to design more effective protection against cyber crime into their vehicles, and to “design out” hacking.
Smart insurance
The call for more protection is being made as the Government progresses its Autonomous and Electric Vehicles Bill. Announced in the Queen’s Speech, this Bill aims to create a new framework for insurance of self-driving vehicles. Ministers are concerned that should the technology in smart cars fail, owners are protected by their insurance.
Transport minister Lord Callanan admits that the risks of smart car technology being hacked are currently low, but adds that it is important to ensure the public is protected. “Whether we’re turning vehicles into wi-fi connected hotspots or equipping them with millions of lines of code to become fully automated, it is important that they are protected against cyber-attacks,” he says.
“That’s why it’s essential all parties involved in the manufacturing and supply chain are provided with a consistent set of guidelines that support this global industry.”
The guidance has been welcomed by industry body the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT). “A consistent set of guidelines is an important step towards ensuring the UK can be among the first – and safest – of international markets to grasp the benefits of this exciting new technology,” says SMMT CEO Mike Hawes.
Peugeot has launched a range of car finance offer across its 208 hatchback range, with both PCP and leasing options.
With newer vehicles arriving in rival showrooms – like the new Ford Fiesta, Volkswagen Polo and SEAT Ibiza, to name a few – Peugeot will be hoping that the new finance offer keeps 208 sales trucking along through the new number plate change in September.
The PCP offer is based on a contract of up to 37 months (three years of regular monthly payments plus the final balloon payment) with an APR of 2.9%, which is a very competitive interest rate. The offer also does not require any upfront deposit from the customer, which is better than most low-rate offers.
A deposit contribution of £2,000 is included, which effectively means a £2,000 discount on the car price but is conditional on you taking out the finance offer. If you want to pay cash for a new 208, the dealer does not have to offer you a £2,000 discount.
All Peugeot 208 models are included in the offer, including the top-spec GTi models and packaged specifications like the Black Edition and Allure Premium Special Edition models.
Peugeot is also advertising leasing offers for the 208 range if you prefer to rent rather than own the vehicle. The advertised examples are not like-for-like, but you can ask a dealer to provide PCP and leasing examples on the same car, same term, same deposit and same mileage to see how they compare. The results should be pretty similar.
The Car Expert says… always check the fine print on finance offers
Peugeot refers to its personal contract purchase offers as “Passport”. Confusingly, personal leasing products are referred to as “Passport Lease”.
PCP customers can also choose Peugeot’s “Just Add Fuel” package at extra cost, which also includes three years’ car insurance, road tax and routine servicing costs. If you are under 21 years of age, you are required to take a Peugeot telematics device if you want the Just Add Fuel package.
The Just Add Fuel package is certainly convenient, but you may find it cheaper to arrange your own insurance and servicing rather than using Peugeot’s preferred providers.
The PCP deals are advertised with an APR of 2.9% representative, with a fixed interest rate that is also 2.9%. That means that there should be no fees anywhere on the finance agreement (apart from excess mileage fees).
The offers set out on the Peugeot website are only examples, and you are entitled to adjust the term, deposit and annual mileage to suit your own needs. The annual mileage used in all of the examples provided is only 6,000 – which is lower than most people drive in a year, so bear that in mind.
The excess mileage fee is 6p/mile. That’s £60 for every 1,000 miles you go over your limit, so make sure you allow yourself enough mileage when setting up your finance agreement. The fee only applies on a PCP if you are giving the car back and claiming the guaranteed future value (GFV). On a lease, you definitely have to give the car back with no option to pay off the finance and keep the car.
The finance deal only applies to new cars, which does not include dealer demonstrators or pre-registered cars.
Cars have to be ordered by 31 August, but no delivery date is specified on the website. That means you can get one this month with a 17-plate, or wait until September and get one with the new 67-plates that start from 1 September. If you are planning to keep the car for three years or less, you may be better off waiting for the 67-plates, as it may be worth more at the end of the agreement.
The finance offers are provided through Peugeot dealers by PSA Finance UK. If a dealer offers you a finance deal that does not match these details or from another lender, it is not part of this offer.
As with any car purchase, work out your budget before you visit the showroom and don’t be persuaded to go beyond it – regardless of what the smiling sales executive suggests. They don’t have your best interests at heart, but The Car Expert does!
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published an update last week on its investigation into the car finance sector, and has identified the key questions it wants answered. The update, however, fails to clarify whether dealer selling practices will be investigated.
The FCA is working to identify “potential areas of consumer harm” in how car finance is sold, and is zeroing in on the way lenders are selling car finance products to buyers.
Of particular interest is the sale of personal contract purchase (PCP) car finance, and the FCA has had a few things to say about those. It also expresses concerns at how car finance is being used as a means of increasing profits on used car sales.
The FCA says that it is working with FCA-authorised lenders to analyse the market, and that other work will include “careful scrutiny of firms’ sales practices and processes”.
However, the implication from the report is that the word “firms” only refers to car finance companies, rather than the dealers who are actually selling these products to car buyers.
This suggests that the FCA will be placing responsibility for selling practices on the finance companies, which is far less likely to achieve a positive result than directly regulating how car finance products may be sold at a dealership level (as the FCA has already done with GAP insurance, for example).
The FCA has identified the following key questions that it is now focusing on:
Are firms taking the right steps to ensure that they lend responsibly, in particular by appropriately assessing whether potential customers can afford the product in question?
Are there conflicts of interest arising from commission arrangements between lenders and dealers, and if so are these appropriately managed to avoid harm to consumers?
Is the information provided to potential customers by firms sufficiently clear and transparent, so that they can understand the risks involved and make informed decisions?
Are firms managing the risk that asset valuations could fall and ensuring that they are adequately pricing risk?
So what does that all mean in plain English?
1. Lending responsibly and assessing affordability
There has been considerable concern that finance companies are lending money to people who are likely to struggle to repay it. This puts both borrower and lender at risk in the event of the borrower defaulting on the loan.
This also one of the areas that the Bank of England is looking at, with concerns that ‘sub-prime’ car finance is growing too fast and risking the rest of the industry.
2. Conflict of interest from commission payments
Most buyers will be unaware of the extent that dealerships and their staff are paid in terms of commission for selling finance. Buyers understand the concept of car salespeople working on commission, but not necessarily the level of financial incentives to sell every customer a PCP or other form of finance product.
This inevitably leads to concerns that dealers are trying to flog PCPs to every customer to hit their own targets, regardless of whether the customer wants one or if their circumstances are appropriate for a PCP.
3. Clear and transparent provision of information
From the earliest stages of a conversation, car salespeople are pushing customers to take PCP car finance. Other finance options are not explained adequately or even at all. The responsibilities and risks associated with a PCP, or any other form of car finance, are not explained adequately. As a result, customers do not understand their rights and obligations when entering into car finance contracts.
Many customers are also unaware that car finance, and PCP finance in particular, is being used to increase the profit margin of a sale. Interest rates and fees are all negotiable, especially on used car finance where there are no manufacturer subsidies or low advertised rates.
4. Adequate assessment of pricing risk
Used car values are gradually falling each year, even without any major disruptive events. This is largely a result of the overwhelming popularity of PCPs and leasing agreements, which have created increased volumes of used car stock.
If you also consider potential events that could affect used car values, like plummeting demand for diesels, or economic troubles that may arise over the next few years, and there is a risk that cars could be worth much less than their guaranteed values when their PCP agreements end.
Let’s say that every car currently on a PCP ends up being worth £1,000 less than predicted at the end of its agreement. That’s several billion pounds that would be lost. Some of that loss would be felt by customers and some by lenders. Customers expecting to have equity in their vehicles would find that they have less (or none at all), while lenders would potentially have millions of cars coming back worth less than their finance settlements.
Protecting customers yet ignoring dealers?
The FCA update talks a lot about how the car finance companies operate, and responsible lending behaviours like assessing customer affordability and setting realistic residual values. But it makes little mention of the biggest weak link in the current system – the car dealers and their salespeople.
It’s relatively easy to regulate a small number of lenders and their on-site staff, but it’s another thing altogether to enforce standards on hundreds of thousands of car sales executives and finance managers, operating up and down the country.
The biggest issue when it comes to customers being misled on car finance is the way that salespeople are actually selling the products. Yet there is virtually nothing in the FCA update that addresses this point.
Car dealers are generally not owned by the car manufacturers or the car finance companies, and it’s unclear whether the FCA intends to actively get into customers’ shoes and assess how the average car salesperson is explaining how a PCP works.
The FCA plans to report back in the first three months of 2018. But unless the face-to-face sales behaviour at dealer level is addressed, there will be no real consumer benefit from all this investigating.
What is it?
The Renault Koleos is an all-new large SUV to sit above the Captur and Kadjar models.
Key features
Quality interior, lots of space, plentiful equipment.
Our view
The Renault Koleos is an effective new SUV which may surprise buyers in an overcrowded market.
Renault Koleos – have we not been here before? Yes – the first Koleos was a compact SUV launched by Renault in 2007. By 2010 it had been withdrawn from the UK market, because nobody was buying it – less than 2,600 finding owners.
That was then, however, and this is now. In the time since the crossover market has mushroomed. Today everybody it seems wants one, and the cars they are abandoning most for crossovers are MPVs – which Renault used to sell lots of.
The French brand has already plunged into the compact SUV market with the Captur and Kadjar models – now the Renault Koleos arrives as a larger sister with the emphasis on upmarket. This is designed to be a halo model – Renault is offering it in five-seater form only, and expects only modest numbers of sales for the car.
Introduction | Design | Powertrains | On the Road | Equipment | Summary and Specifications
UK new car registrations fell by more than 9% in July, with demand down across private, fleet and particularly business buyers, according to the results released today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
Private sales were down by just under 7% compared to last year, with a fall of 10% for fleet sales (the largest market segment) and nearly 24% for business purchasers.
For fleet purchases, this may still be a hangover from the road tax increases in April that produced a record month in March.
Diesel disaster continues
It was another terrible month for diesel cars, with registrations down 20% on the same month last year. Year-to-date, diesel sales are 85,000 units behind last year’s results, against petrol sales which are 53,000 units up on the same point last year.
The poor diesel results come despite considerable anecdotal evidence of heavy discounting on diesel cars from various manufacturers. A quick check of several car broker sites this week revealed larger deposit contributions being offered for diesel-engined models of numerous cars compared to their petrol-engined equivalents – all linked to PCP car finance plans, of course.
We couldn’t find any published diesel-specific discounts or offers from car manufacturers, but dealership sources have told The Car Expert that at least some brands have “large pots of money” available to help dealers shift unwanted diesel cars on their forecourts.
As has been the norm for the last four months, the SMMT release almost completely ignored the disastrous diesel results. Instead, it highlighted the continued growth in ‘alternatively-fuelled’ vehicles (ie – hybrids and fully-electric cars).
While this growth is impressive from a year-on-year perspective, the actual number of vehicles is a mere fraction of what the overall market lost during the month.
AFV registrations reached 5.5% of the overall market, compared to 3% in July 2016. This compares with petrol cars holding almost 52% and diesel cars just under 43% of the total. Nobody expects AFV numbers to go anywhere except upwards, as more and more manufacturers offer hybrid options across their model ranges.
In fact, if the industry is to achieve the government’s plan of replacing all petrol and diesel cars by 2040, the current pace of hybridisation and electrification is woefully inadequate.
For those playing SMMT press release bingo, you will be pleased to know that the usual suspects all turned up, with “Brexit”, “Euro 6”, “AFVs”, “uncertainty” and “government must act” all appearing as usual.
Ford back on top – but not with the Fiesta
Looking at the best-sellers list, it was a month of change throughout the top ten.
In the absence of lots of new Fiesta stock for dealers to sell, Ford dealers have enjoyed a strong month for the larger Ford Focus hatchback. The Focus jumped to the top of the July charts, overtaking last month’s leader, the Volkswagen Golf. The Fiesta fell to fourth, behind the Nissan Qashqai.
It was a great month for the Kia Sportage SUV, which jumped into fifth place from outside the top ten previously. Mercedes-Benz had two cars in the top ten with both the C-Class and A-Class present, and the Audi A3 rounded out the top ten. The MINI hatch and BMW 3 Series dropped back out of the top ten altogether.
More self-driving technology is a good thing, according to the UK’s car insurers – but greater clarity is needed to ensure safety for all road users.
They want a clearly defined and regulated distinction between ‘assisted’ and ‘automated’ driving systems, which they say are creating what could be dangerous confusion amongst drivers and could actually lead to an increase in accidents.
The Automated Driving Insurer Group (ADIG), which includes virtually all of the UK’s car insurers, has released ‘Regulating Automated Driving’, the results of studies carried out with leading UK automotive test organisation Thatcham Research.
The paper states that there is a real danger of ‘autonomous ambiguity’ over the widely varying levels of driverless technology available on the latest cars going on sale. This could lead to drivers thinking their cars are better able to avoid an accident than it really is, which would increase rather than decrease the likelihood of a crash.
Insurers support increases in assisted-driving and self-driving technology, as they believe it will significantly reduce road accidents. They are highly supportive of driver assistance systems – such as those that act in the brief moments before a collision to aid the driver’s reaction, such as applying emergency braking. Fully automated vehicles, without the driver intervening in the car’s functions at all, also gain support, though these are still very much in development.
Autonomous technology is advancing fast, leading to confusion.
Taking back control
The issue comes with cars that can carry out most manoeuvres unaided by the driver, but will expect them to react and intervene (potentially at very short notice) in an emergency situation. This, say the insurers, poses significant concerns about public confusion and safety, particularly as different types of systems could be available on similar vehicles at the same time.
According to the research vehicle manufacturers argue that such systems can be safe, provided that drivers use them ‘as intended’. But it is not clear how different drivers will understand and use these types of systems.
The development of autonomous technology is moving fast and the insurers are calling on international regulators to ensure that new design standards for such vehicles clearly distinguish between Assisted and Automated systems.
According to the paper, a car should only be described as Automated when the driver knows they can leave it to control itself and be able to cope with virtually any road situation that might arise. If the car encounters something it can’t handle, it should be able to bring itself to a safe stop without the driver intervening.
The autonomous system should also be able to avoid all conceivable crash types and carry on working even if some of its systems fail. And after an accident, manufacturers and insurers should be able to access data showing clearly whether the driver or the vehicle is liable.
What’s in a name?
Drivers also need to know what they are buying, say the insurers, so the names manufacturers give to their autonomous systems need to make clear what they can – and can’t – do. Drivers must not be led into believing a system can take full control of a car when it can’t, and ‘hybrid’ systems, sitting in the grey area between assisted and automated, should be avoided.
Tesla, in particular, has come in for considerable criticism in the USA over its use of the name Autopilot to describe the semi-autonomous driving system on its cars. Consumer groups say that the name encourages drivers to put too much trust in the car’s ability to drive itself, when in reality the driver may need to intervene urgently to avoid an accident in common driving situations.
Car manufacturers have also long been guilty of applying their own names to universal technology, which further causes confusion among car buyers and drivers. Since the 1990s, there have been a variety of different names and acronyms to describe electronic stability control (ESC), such as ESP, DSC, VDC, VSC, DSTC, ICCS and so on. Currently, a number of different names are used to describe autonomous emergency braking systems. It’s no wonder customers get confused.
According to Thatcham Research CEO Peter Shaw, the risk of ‘autonomous ambiguity’ could actually result in a short-term increase in crashes involving such vehicles. “Vehicles with intermediate systems that offer assisted driving still require immediate driver intervention if the car cannot deal with a situation,” he says.
“Systems like these are fast emerging and unless clearly regulated, could convince drivers that their car is more capable than it actually is.”
Cars with suites of cameras reading the road will become commonplace in coming years.
Citroën has announced details of pricing and specification for its new C3 Aircross which is available with a range of PureTech petrol and BlueHDi diesel engines.
A two-tone roof, range of exterior colour pack options and three trim levels will mean customers can choose from a possible 85 personalisation combinations.
Inside, Citroën hopes to impress in terms of space with a 410-litre boot. This can be increased to 520 litres when the 60:40 rear bench is folded. The seven-inch touchscreen is compatible with Android Auto, MirrorLink and Apple CarPlay.
Citroën has upped its technology offering for the Aircross. Voice-controlled navigation, keyless entry and start, reversing camera and wireless charging are all included.
In terms of safety, lane departure warning, blind-spot monitoring, speed sign recognition and recommendation and active safety brake are all as standard.
The C3 Aircross is available to order now before it officially goes on sale in November, with a price tag that starts from £13,995.
Vauxhall has new French owners – PSA Group has announced that the purchase of the British brand and its German Opel sister has now been completed.
The acquisition from US giant General Motors will make PSA Group, which owns Peugeot, Citroën and DS Automobiles, the second biggest car maker in Europe after Volkswagen Group. PSA now has around 17% of the market.
PSA insists that under its leadership – which ends 88 years of Vauxhall-Opel ownership by GM – the two manufacturers will retain their identities and be operated as ‘iconic German and British brands.’ “We are witnessing the birth of a true European champion today,” commented PSA chairman Carlos Tavares.
“We will assist Opel and Vauxhall’s return to profitability and aim to set new industry benchmarks together – we will unleash the power of these iconic brands and the huge potential of its existing talents,” Tavares adds. “Opel will remain German, Vauxhall will remain British – they are the perfect fit to our existing portfolio of French brands Peugeot, Citroën and DS Automobiles.”
Performance plan
PSA now intends to produce a ‘performance plan’ for the two brands within 100 days, the aim being to return them to profitability of 2% by 2020 and 6% by 2026. However the future of Vauxhall’s UK plants at Ellesmere Port, which builds the Astra, and Luton, producing the Vivaro van, could remain uncertain for some time.
Part of the future plans will no doubt involve model sharing which has been going on between PSA and Vauxhall-Opel since 2012. The Vauxhall/Opel Crossland X and Grandland X both share platforms and are built with Peugeot’s 2008/3008 range, while the next Corsa, due to 2019 will also be a joint product. The makeup of light-commercial vehicles are also shared with PSA.
Dealers are now taking orders for the new Audi RS 3, a model which claims the title of the first 400hp car in its class.
The new RS 3 is available in both Sportback five-door hatch form and for the first time as a saloon. It will cost from £44,300 for the hatch and £45,250 for the saloon, with first cars expected on UK roads in September.
Propelling the two models is a new five-cylinder 2.5-litre turbo petrol engine, the most potent ever offered in a series production Audi and with its aluminium construction 26kg lighter than its predecessor. Torque figure is 480Nm, on offer from 1700 to 5850rpm which translates to a 0-62mph time of 4.1 seconds and an electronically-limited maximum speed of 155mph – this can be extended to 174mph.
The engine is matched to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and quattro all-wheel drive, while also standard is the Audi drive select system with its Comfort, Dynamic, Auto and Individual modes. This can be used to adjust the shift points of the transmission, and the proportion of torque directed rearwards, as well as the progressive steering, engine management and adjustable exhaust flaps.
Bespoke wheels
Other changes compared to a standard Audi A3 include a front track extended by 20mm with mildly flared wheel arches, and a 14mm extension at the rear. The car sits on 19-inch five-spoke alloy wheels with ‘rotor’ or ‘blade’ designs specific to the Sportback and Saloon.
Visually the RS 3 gains a bespoke single frame grille with matt aluminium surround, deep side skirts and a rear roof-edge spoiler with high gloss black inserts on the Sportback, or an integrated bootlid lip version in body colour in the Saloon. Interior highlights include heated, RS-embossed and contrast-stitched front sport seats finished in black Fine Nappa leather and a leather and Alcantara flat-bottomed RS sport steering wheel. Stainless steel pedals, titanium grey ‘optic 3D design’ inlays and extensive use of aluminium trim elements also feature.
What is it?
The new SEAT Ibiza is the fifth generation of the brand’s big-selling supermini.
Key features
New platform, sharper looks, more tech and refinement.
Our view
The new SEAT Ibiza is the most effective version of the car yet, and a serious rival to Britain’s best-selling car the Ford Fiesta.
The SEAT Ibiza is a model crucial to the Spanish brand’s fortunes. The Ibiza forms one of the three ‘brand pillars’, the others being the larger Leon and the new Ateca SUV, and these in recent times have enabled SEAT to emerge from far too long a period as ‘Volkswagen’s problem child’.
Today SEAT is on the up – as the fifth-generation Ibiza launches the brand is seeing UK sales 20% ahead of 2016, and Britain is now firmly established as SEAT’s third-biggest market after Spain and Germany.
There is one more reason why those creating the new Ibiza cannot afford to get it wrong – the car’s main rival is Britain’s biggest seller of all, the Ford Fiesta…
Introduction | Design | Powertrains | On the Road | Equipment | Summary and Specifications
The new Rolls-Royce Phantom has been unveiled at an event in London – the second generation of the car that began the renaissance of the Rolls-Royce brand under the ownership of BMW in 2003.
Rolls-Royce describes the new Phantom as the most technologically advanced car it has ever produced. It is the first of a family to be built on a new all-aluminium platform dubbed the ‘Architecture of Luxury”, and will be followed in 2019 by the brand’s first SUV, currently named Project Cullinan.
The new, lighter architecture produces a car slightly shorter than its predecessor with a 19mm shorter wheelbase, but 30% stiffer, with resultant improvements to ride comfort. This will be further aided by electronic chassis control systems and self-levelling air suspension, using a stereo camera system integrated into the windscreen to see the road ahead and adjust the chassis ahead of road indentations.
The suspension is new too, a combination of a double-wishbone front and five-link rear axle, while four-wheel steering is added to the menu, all focused on passenger comfort to produce the latest evolution of what Rolls-Royce describes as its ‘magic carpet’ ride.
First turbo engine
Power for the Phantom comes from a newly-created engine, which is still a V12 configuration but turbocharged for the first time. The 6.75-litre unit boasts twin turbos and offers 582hp along with 900Nm of torque from just 1700rpm, likely to produce a 5.3-second 0-62mph time. Matched to a satellite-aided eight-speed transmission the powertrain is said to help produce what its creators describe as “the most silent motor car in the world.”
The new Phantom is expected on sale in 2018 at prices yet to be revealed. Industry sources suggest they will start from around £400,000, while a version with a 200mm longer wheelbase will also be offered.
DS Automobiles has announced a range of finance offers to try and boost its third-quarter sales, with a range of deposit contributions available on PCP deals for new DS 3, DS 4 and DS 5 models.
The company will be hoping to pull more punters into showrooms after a disappointing first half of the year, with sales down 45% on the first half of 2016.
The PCP offers are all based on a 4.9% representative APR, which is decent but not outstanding in the current car finance market. All offers also require a minimum 15% deposit from the customer.
DS 3 models have deposit contributions ranging from £1,000 for Connected Chic specifications up to £3,500 for DS 3 Elegance models. DS 3 Performance models do not get any deposit contribution (although you’ll probably get a few hundred quid if you ask for it).
DS 4 and DS 4 Crossback models are available with a £2,800 deposit contribution, including limited-edition models like the DS 4 Crossback Terre Rouge and the DS 4 Crossback Moondust.
DS 5 models get a £2,950 deposit contribution and also require a minimum 20% deposit from the customer.
The Car Expert says… always check the fine print on finance offers
DS Automobiles refers to a personal contract purchase as “Elect 3”. Confusingly, its leasing agreements are called “Elect 4” and the DS website homepage prioritises the leasing offers rather than the PCP finance offers.
The deals are advertised with an APR of 4.9% representative, with a fixed interest rate that is also 4.9%. That means that there should be no fees anywhere on the finance agreement (apart from excess mileage fees).
The offers set out on the DS website are only examples, and you are entitled to adjust the term, deposit and annual mileage to suit your own needs. The annual mileage used in all of the examples provided is only 6,000 – which is lower than most people drive in a year, so bear that in mind. Some of the examples do not actually show the annual mileage, which is very naughty and is a breach of FCA standards. You have to go into the terms and conditions page to find the mileage, rather than having it displayed as part of the offer.
Excess mileage fees are not advertised but are likely to be about 10p/mile. That’s £100 for every 1,000 miles you go over your limit, so make sure you allow yourself enough mileage when setting up your finance agreement.
The finance deal only applies to new cars, which does not include dealer demonstrators or pre-registered cars.
Cars have to be sold and delivered by 30 September 2017. That means you can get one now with a 17-plate, or wait until September and get one with the new 67-plates that start from 1 September. If you are planning to keep the car for three years or less, you may be better off waiting for the 67-plates, as it may be worth more at the end of the agreement.
The finance offers are provided through DS Automobiles dealers by PSA Finance UK. If a dealer offers you a finance deal that does not match these details or from another lender, it is not part of this offer.
As with any car purchase, work out your budget before you visit the showroom and don’t be persuaded to go beyond it – regardless of what the smiling sales executive suggests. They don’t have your best interests at heart, but The Car Expert does!
Read more DS news, reviews and features at The Car Expert
UK motorists are finding it easier to understand the benefits of electric cars than they are modern, clean diesel engines, according to Volvo UK’s managing director.
Speaking to The Car Expert at the recent launch of the new Volvo XC60, Jon Wakefield said that there is now a growing real understanding of what electrification of cars can provide. “That education is coming from all sorts of areas, not just the just the automotive industry,” he said. “It always helps to give people the facts, so they can make their own minds up.”
Volvo has recently committed to all of its new cars sold after 2019 having some form of electric motor. These will include hybrids – these combine petrol or diesel engines with electric motors and are now significantly growing in popularity. Toyota recently reported what it described as an “unprecedented” 30% surge in hybrid sales.
The Government has just announced its intention to ban sales of all new petrol and diesel cars by 2040, but hybrid vehicles will not be included in the ban.
Diesel image misses new tech
Meanwhile, there is a growing backlash against diesel engines in the market, but according to Wakefield the ‘black smoke image’ of diesels being generated by some media is not taking account of the latest engine technology such as in Volvo’s Drive-e range.
“The diesel sector is more riddled with misunderstanding than electrification,” he said. “In the smaller segments there is definitely a switch from diesel towards petrol engines, but in larger cars diesel is still holding its own.”
Volvo has already committed to an electric future.
He adds that the education of the buying public is key to the future of diesel, and points to anecdotal information from dealers that suggests that the market for large diesel cars in London – focus of much of the air quality publicity – appears to be strengthening. “People in London have realised there is a diesel issue, but they have then read the facts and realised that our diesel engines are very clean and very efficient,” Wakefield said.
However, he does not see any increasing backlash against diesel engines as a future issue for Volvo. “We have diesel engines, we have petrol engines, and we will be electrifying. If the market moves away from diesel we are well equipped to go with it.”
The UK government has announced that it will ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2040. Inevitably, the mainstream media launched itself into a frenzy even before the details were announced, and the usual confusion and Twitter ranting have ensued.
At 22 years into the future, this ban may seem like a long way away, but it will take a lot of work to actually make it happen. Not just for the car industry, but for the required infrastructure to charge millions of electric cars.
To achieve a 100% switch of new cars and vans from petrol or diesel engines to “electrified” motors (which includes hybrids) will be a major challenge, but certainly achievable. Today, fully-electric cars only make up about 1% of all new car sales in the UK, with hybrids making up another 3%. The remaining 96% run on either petrol or diesel.
To hit the 2040 target, electric vehicle sales will have to start replacing fossil-fuel vehicles at a rate of more than 150,000 cars per year. Given that these numbers will include hybrids, this is not unreasonable over a 20-year period.
Most car manufacturers have already been working on developing electrified powertrains for all their cars for several years now. This week’s announcement simply gives them a target date for implementation. Despite any public protestations, they will welcome a formal deadline.
In fact, the UK is far from a world leader in this regard. France recently announced a similar 2040 target date, Germany and India are ten years ahead of that with a target of 2030, and Norway and the Netherlands plan to stop selling petrol and diesel cars in 2025, just over seven years away. The real powerhouse behind the electric car revolution is China. Despite not setting a date for banning petrol and diesel cars, China is leading the push towards electric cars because it has so many massive cities with major pollution problems.
Electrified does not mean purely electric
The inclusion of hybrid vehicles along with purely-electric cars is critical for this plan to work. It also means that pollution levels will not fall as rapidly as with purely electric vehicles.
Realistically, most hybrid cars spend the first few minutes of a journey as an electric car and the remainder as a petrol car lugging a large dead battery and useless electric motor around. This will still be allowed under the 2040 proposal.
Plug-in hybrids spend more time operating electrically (therefore more time dragging a large petrol engine, emissions system and fuel tank around) before switching to petrol mode, while range extender vehicles use a petrol engine as a generator to power an electric motor whose battery has gone flat.
So it’s clear that petrol power will still have a role in new cars after 2040, albeit a smaller one than today. Diesel is a different story, however. For several reasons, diesel engines are generally not as good in hybrid scenarios, which is why there are very few diesel hybrid cars for sale compared to petrol hybrids.
Today’s announcement is only going to accelerate the decline of diesel-powered passenger cars in the UK. That will be of concern to the car industry, but it’s probably only bringing forward the inevitable.
A selection of electric and plug-in hybrid cars now on sale in the UK
How to get consumers to buy electric cars – carrots and sticks
Currently, new electric, plug-in hybrid and range extender cars benefit from a government grant of up to £4,500 to make them more affordable. There are also various support mechanisms for electric car owners to install upgraded charging units at home or work. These incentives will need to be maintained or increased to help get sales up to the levels required.
Other enticements, such as EV-only parking spaces or motorway lanes, will probably be needed as well. Of course, these will benefit buyers of used EVs as well as new cars.
The inevitable flipside of this sort of ambition will be a steady increase in penalties for petrol and diesel vehicles over the next two decades.
There are numerous methods available to do this, but the most likely short-term candidates will be increasing road tax (vehicle excise duty, or VED) charges for new petrol or diesel cars. Fuel duties will also start to increase, although this obviously hits used car buyers as much as new car buyers and is always unpopular with voters.
After that, congestion or pollution charges to enter cities will appear. London will be the first UK city to introduce this in 2019, and others like Manchester and Birmingham will follow eventually.
Then there will be increased charges for parking permits, tunnel and bridge tolls, taxes for disposing of waste oils, and so on. The only limits will be the imaginations of the bureaucrats. Again, these will hit owners of existing cars as well as used car buyers, not just new car buyers.
However, there is another tax problem that will inevitably arise. Motorists have been a favoured cash cow for governments for many decades, usually from tax added onto the price of fuel. But with far less petrol and diesel being sold, far less tax will be raised. Expect creative new ways to tax electric vehicles once there are enough of them on the roads to bring in significant tax revenue.
As the marketplace shifts towards electrified vehicles, the resale value of petrol and diesel cars will start to sink. This is likely to accelerate over the next decade as we hit a tipping point. With plummeting used values and increased costs of ownership, fossil-fuel car sales will spiral downwards during the 2030s.
This will most likely lead to the scrapping of perfectly-serviceable used cars that simply have no market value, as happened during the last scrappage scheme in 2019 but on a much larger level. The government has rejected calls for an immediate scrappage scheme of older diesel cars, but it seems inevitable that something along those lines will happen eventually.
In the next few years, the price of petrol and diesel at your local service station may actually decrease despite increased taxation. The oil-producing cartels in the Middle East will be concerned that they now have a finite time to sell all of the oil sitting under their deserts – if we’re all driving electric cars, we won’t need their oil. This is likely to lead to heavy discounting as the different producers and countries desperately try to flog all of their oil before demand disappears.
How will we charge all these electric cars?
The biggest obstacle to hitting the government’s 2040 target is not likely to be getting the cars on the road. It’s going to be keeping them charged.
A petrol or diesel car needs about two minutes to refuel with enough energy to drive about 300 miles. Charge an electric car for two minutes and you won’t get enough energy to get to the end of your street. The average electric car needs 5-6 hours of charge to get about 100 miles. That will improve as technology develops, but it’s still the biggest problem in the widespread uptake of electric cars.
There will need to be considerable investment in more charging points for all of these new electric cars. Both private and government money will have to flow into providing more charging points in public spaces, as well as on residential streets, in office car parks and so on. The UK is going to need hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of charging points to service tens of millions of electric cars.
Within a decade, you can expect to see numerous charging points on every street in major cities – there will need to be if we are all going to be able to charge our cars. You can already imagine the complaints from people about the visual clutter of charging points strewn up and down every street in the country…
There is considerable concern at the national electricity network’s ability to cope with millions of extra cars being plugged into the grid at the same time. Most of that will be addressed by smart charging at off-peak times, but there will be a need for other solutions like home battery units to store electricity. These are just starting to hit the market now, but will become much bigger news over the coming decade.
So in summary, the 2040 target is achievable from the car industry’s side, regardless of how much certain dinosaurs will moan about it. Every car manufacturer was already working on pretty much this exact scenario even before the government’s announcement. But it is still going to take an enormous amount of effort from all sides to make it happen.
As the issue of car finance mis-selling bounced back into the mainstream media this week, the latest car finance results show that car buyers are taking on ever-increasing amounts of finance debt to fund their new or used car purchases.
Figures published by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) showed that, although the number of new car agreements decreased by 13% in line with the SMMT’s registration data (down 14%), the amount being borrowed only dropped by 7%, meaning a net increase in the amount borrowed per car. The average borrowing for new cars, almost always in the form of a personal contract purchase (PCP), reached £19,669 in May 2017. This is a 13% increase on the same month last year, despite the fact that average weekly earnings have only increased by 1% over the same period.
Used car finance results are also pushing upwards, although at a slightly slower rate. Average borrowing for May 2017 was £11,370, an increase of 5% year-on-year. The FLA’s used car figures are less indicative of the overall used car market than for new cars, however. The majority of used car sales are not funded by dealer-sourced finance (eg – cash sales, private sales, registration transfers within households, etc.)
Since 2009, average weekly earnings have increased by approximately 15% across the UK. Yet the average level of borrowing on new cars has increased by about 55% over the same period, and average used car debt has increased by about 38%.
Much of this increase has been fuelled by the popularity of PCP car finance, which has meant customers are buying more expensive vehicles for the same monthly payments. However, the Bank of England is concerned that the increasing level of car finance debt could lead to increasing defaults. With national car finance debt now more than £50 billion, there is a risk that any collapse in the sector could have knock-on effects for the broader economy.
Ultimately, the car industry cannot rely on continuing to push its customers further and further into debt to maintain sales. Whether or not PCP car finance is a bubble waiting to burst, and how any such bubble bursting would impact on the rest of the economy, is still being fiercely debated.
As part of its wider plans for an electric future, BMW has confirmed that a fully-electric MINI will go into production in 2019.
The MINI’s existing diesel, petrol and plug-in hybrid powertrains will be joined by an electric three-door model. The electric powertrain will be manufactured in Germany and fitted into the car at the MINI plant in Oxford.
The German manufacturer has also announced that from 2020 its vehicle architecture will be structured in such a way as to allow for the fitment of either a combustion engine, plug-in hybrid or fully-electric drivetrain.
The brand is one of many to have committed to an electric future, with nine electric models already on the market. Toyota, Volvo, Aston Martin and smart are among other manufacturers looking ahead to an electric future.
BMW electric models set for launch include the i8 Roadster next year, the X3 in 2020 and the iNEXT in 2021. By 2025, the company expects electrified vehicles to account for 15-25% of its total sales.
BMW hopes to sell 100,000 electrified vehicles this year, bringing the total number of its electrified models on the road to 200,000.
