Last week I wrote that Tom Watson MP was six months behind me in questioning why the DVLA were giving away Spanish built cars instead of British built cars.
This week a Tory MP asks the same question.
Nice to know that the Tories are six months behind the Lib Dems and a week behind Labour.
Hat Tip to Peter Black.
Showing posts with label cars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cars. Show all posts
8/05/2009
Labour MP agrees with me ... but does so 6 months late
Iain Dale brings our attention to the fact that Labour MP John Spellar is wondering why a UK Government agency is giving away foreign built cars as prizes instead of UK built cars.
I would at this stage like to point out that I raised this point six months ago !
Why has it taken six months to notice this ? .Nice to know you are keeping up Mr Spellar.
I would at this stage like to point out that I raised this point six months ago !
Why has it taken six months to notice this ? .Nice to know you are keeping up Mr Spellar.
3/20/2009
So spectacularly wrong on so many levels
Peter Mandelson took it upon himself today to give a lecture to the few remaining car companies producing automobiles in this country today, advising them to make the right decisions to ensure their futures. I am sure the car industry could barely control their excitement at getting advice from the UK government.
What is clear so far is that the UK government have got it so wrong when it comes to supporting industry in this country during the depression and sadly seems so completely unable to recognise successes in other countries. In the case of the car industry, Britain should be taking a lesson from the Germans.
Our Labour government are handing out the prospect of large sums of money to support car companies and stop them laying off workers, although no payments have yet been made by the UK government. This means the depression is deepening, the prospects for these manufacturers is getting worse, and so we have a catch 22 situation which the money from the UK government will do little to put right. The UK is expecting 500,000 less new car sales this year. That is the state of the hole we are in.
Compare this to Germany where the government is subsiding people who want to sell old inefficient cars and buy new cars to the tine of 3000 Euros (£2500). This means that in Germany this year they are expecting to sell 200,000 more new cars this year than last year.
So perhaps Peter Mandelson should shut up and listen rather than giving lectures.
Update : Iain Dal e-mailed me very late last night to tell me that I had spelt "shut" with an "i". A Freudian slip from me ?
What is clear so far is that the UK government have got it so wrong when it comes to supporting industry in this country during the depression and sadly seems so completely unable to recognise successes in other countries. In the case of the car industry, Britain should be taking a lesson from the Germans.
Our Labour government are handing out the prospect of large sums of money to support car companies and stop them laying off workers, although no payments have yet been made by the UK government. This means the depression is deepening, the prospects for these manufacturers is getting worse, and so we have a catch 22 situation which the money from the UK government will do little to put right. The UK is expecting 500,000 less new car sales this year. That is the state of the hole we are in.
Compare this to Germany where the government is subsiding people who want to sell old inefficient cars and buy new cars to the tine of 3000 Euros (£2500). This means that in Germany this year they are expecting to sell 200,000 more new cars this year than last year.
So perhaps Peter Mandelson should shut up and listen rather than giving lectures.
Update : Iain Dal e-mailed me very late last night to tell me that I had spelt "shut" with an "i". A Freudian slip from me ?
12/20/2008
Stop bailing out foreign companies
I asked a few weeks ago why the UK tax payer was being asked to loan money at a preferential rate to Santander, a Spanish bank, when it appears to me that the Spanish Government ought to be doing this. So I am equally perplexed as to why the UK taxpayer is now being asked to provide emergency loans to foreign owned car makers.
According to reports, the UK government is to provide funding to the billionaire Indian owner of Jaguar/Land Rover. Why are we bailing out billionaire Indian businessmen ?
Reports state that similar support fro the car industry has happened from governments in Sweden, France and Germany, but the reports fail to distinguish between the fact that these countries have domestically owned cars companies of their own, whereas we do not.
If Land Rover and Jaguar needs support then the government should make the loan dependent on the UK government getting a % of the shares and also a share in future profits in the company.
According to reports, the UK government is to provide funding to the billionaire Indian owner of Jaguar/Land Rover. Why are we bailing out billionaire Indian businessmen ?
Reports state that similar support fro the car industry has happened from governments in Sweden, France and Germany, but the reports fail to distinguish between the fact that these countries have domestically owned cars companies of their own, whereas we do not.
If Land Rover and Jaguar needs support then the government should make the loan dependent on the UK government getting a % of the shares and also a share in future profits in the company.
12/19/2008
It's all about the cars
The US government is pumping £11 billion in to sustaining the US car industry, but like like the British government in the 1970s pouring cash in to British Leyland, the US government is actually blind to the realities of the world and the deeper problems the US car industry has.
As the rest of the world knows, the US makes some shockingly poor cars. Bumpy suspension, poor road holding, odd "standard features", that nobody in the rest of the world wants (self locking seat belts ?), terrible handling, odd looking monoliths that burn petrol at a rate that a 1950's jet fighter would be embarrassed by.
Just like British Leyland, these manufacturers can only really sell to their own market, and again just like Britain in the 1970s and 1980s, cheaper better made cars are increasingly taking market share away from home grown producers in the states.
The truth of the matter is that the only really innovative parts of Ford and GM are their overseas divisions which turn out much better cars with world wide appeal.
So whilst Bush might be putting £11 billion on to the US car giants, the reality is that this will be the first hand out of many until these US car giants look at the rest of the world and adopt what every other manufacturer in the world does.
As the rest of the world knows, the US makes some shockingly poor cars. Bumpy suspension, poor road holding, odd "standard features", that nobody in the rest of the world wants (self locking seat belts ?), terrible handling, odd looking monoliths that burn petrol at a rate that a 1950's jet fighter would be embarrassed by.
Just like British Leyland, these manufacturers can only really sell to their own market, and again just like Britain in the 1970s and 1980s, cheaper better made cars are increasingly taking market share away from home grown producers in the states.
The truth of the matter is that the only really innovative parts of Ford and GM are their overseas divisions which turn out much better cars with world wide appeal.
So whilst Bush might be putting £11 billion on to the US car giants, the reality is that this will be the first hand out of many until these US car giants look at the rest of the world and adopt what every other manufacturer in the world does.
12/17/2008
The serious problem with modified cars
The sad case in the news today where a father has been convicted in relation to the death of four of his children when his modified Land Rover crashed and ended up in a river raises a question regarding modified cars which has been common for many years.
The truth is that there are an enormous amount of modified cars on the road which are not safe either for the driver or for other road users.
I was really aware of this problem when I was councillor for Fakenham on North Norfolk District Council and we had (and probably still have) a problem with teenagers driving modified Vauxhall Corsas around the town late at night, very often speeding, and in cars that had been modified in carious ways that rendered them dangerous.
The classic example of this was the group who had their 1.2 litre Corsa's altered to take wider lower profile tires. The problem was that these tyres actually rubbed against the bodywork when they got full lock on their steering. Not happy with this, the cars were sometimes lowered (meaning they caught the bottom of the car on ruts and speed bumps) and to add to the danger, they had an array of flashing neon lights that lit up the road in various patterns which seemed specially designed to distract other drivers.
How did they get through their MOTs I hear you ask ? Well in the first instance they simply reverted to their old tyres when their test was due (a cheap job if you have a few friends who will help you with the tyre change and MOTs are not concerned with things like neon lights.
I'm sure Fakenham is not the only place with such problems. But today's events highlight the need for the police to be vigilant in stopping modified cars, but with the number of police patrols being lower than ever, the chances of them being stopped is lower than ever.
The truth is that there are an enormous amount of modified cars on the road which are not safe either for the driver or for other road users.
I was really aware of this problem when I was councillor for Fakenham on North Norfolk District Council and we had (and probably still have) a problem with teenagers driving modified Vauxhall Corsas around the town late at night, very often speeding, and in cars that had been modified in carious ways that rendered them dangerous.
The classic example of this was the group who had their 1.2 litre Corsa's altered to take wider lower profile tires. The problem was that these tyres actually rubbed against the bodywork when they got full lock on their steering. Not happy with this, the cars were sometimes lowered (meaning they caught the bottom of the car on ruts and speed bumps) and to add to the danger, they had an array of flashing neon lights that lit up the road in various patterns which seemed specially designed to distract other drivers.
How did they get through their MOTs I hear you ask ? Well in the first instance they simply reverted to their old tyres when their test was due (a cheap job if you have a few friends who will help you with the tyre change and MOTs are not concerned with things like neon lights.
I'm sure Fakenham is not the only place with such problems. But today's events highlight the need for the police to be vigilant in stopping modified cars, but with the number of police patrols being lower than ever, the chances of them being stopped is lower than ever.
6/08/2008
Something to make me smile (when I know I shouldn't have)
As I pulled in to the car park this morning at a village supermarket to get some milk and provisions, I was aware that the only space to park was next to a very expensive Porsche, with the roof down and the driver sat on his mobile phone, both he and his passenger wearing shades and looking "cool", but also a bit sort of "obvious", a little like they were flaunting it and wanted to be seen.
As I got out of the car I could hear the driver reading out phone numbers to his passenger that she was diligently copying down. "Sounded important", I thought, and in I went to get my provisions.
Well, for reasons that are far to boring to explain, I was in the shop for about 25 minutes. When I came out I could see the man was still on his phone and the tone of his voice was getting ever more desperate. As I walked slowly back, I fiddled with my keys to take a little longer and be able to hear more of the man's conversation.
"What do you mean you can't get one till Monday", he said. "I've tried everywhere. The only place that has one I need is in Suffolk and every other place is closed. I'm stuck in a car park miles from home and I can't drive anywhere. This is going to cost me a fortune", he added.
Then, I looked down and realised his back tire was flat, yes, he was phoning around trying to get some sort of specialist low profile sports car tyre and couldn't get one.
At that moment I was very pleased that I was in a Skoda with a spare tyre in the boot. I felt a bit like telling him he needed a more practical (perhaps more fuel efficient ?) car. As I drove off on my way I did smile. I know I shouldn't have done.
As I got out of the car I could hear the driver reading out phone numbers to his passenger that she was diligently copying down. "Sounded important", I thought, and in I went to get my provisions.
Well, for reasons that are far to boring to explain, I was in the shop for about 25 minutes. When I came out I could see the man was still on his phone and the tone of his voice was getting ever more desperate. As I walked slowly back, I fiddled with my keys to take a little longer and be able to hear more of the man's conversation.
"What do you mean you can't get one till Monday", he said. "I've tried everywhere. The only place that has one I need is in Suffolk and every other place is closed. I'm stuck in a car park miles from home and I can't drive anywhere. This is going to cost me a fortune", he added.
Then, I looked down and realised his back tire was flat, yes, he was phoning around trying to get some sort of specialist low profile sports car tyre and couldn't get one.
At that moment I was very pleased that I was in a Skoda with a spare tyre in the boot. I felt a bit like telling him he needed a more practical (perhaps more fuel efficient ?) car. As I drove off on my way I did smile. I know I shouldn't have done.
2/27/2008
What is the obsession with turning our car parks in to car valeting centres ?
Why is it every car park these days seems to have become a car valeting centre ? Twice recently I have gone in to a car park only to find that the advertised "20 spaces available" are all in the car valeting area, and not in the car park itself.
What's wrong with a car park being a car park.
When I was a kid people used to clean their own cars anyway ! Now I am starting to sound like an old fart.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)