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<title>Today Scope &#45; News &amp;amp; more &#45; : AUTOMOBILE</title>
<link>https://todayscope.net/rss/category/automobile</link>
<description>Today Scope &#45; News &amp;amp; more &#45; : AUTOMOBILE</description>
<dc:language>en</dc:language>
<dc:rights>Copyright 2026 Today Scope &#45; All Rights Reserved.</dc:rights>

<item>
<title>Seatbelt Software Updates Coming Soon to a Volvo Near You</title>
<link>https://todayscope.net/seatbelt-software-updates-coming-soon-to-a-volvo-near-you</link>
<guid>https://todayscope.net/seatbelt-software-updates-coming-soon-to-a-volvo-near-you</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ We joke about cars becoming more advanced and talk about how annoying software updates can be, but Volvo is taking things to another level. Its new smart seatbelt system will arrive in the new EX60 EV in 2026, offering the ability to adapt to passengers’ bodies and improve safety. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://todayscope.net/uploads/images/202506/image_870x580_6841f3b9cc5cf.jpg" length="69708" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Thu, 05 Jun 2025 23:34:55 +0300</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Mark</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Seatbelt, Software, Updates, Coming, Soon, Volvo, Near, You</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Former Kia Employees Accused of Stealing Over 1,000 Engines in India</title>
<link>https://todayscope.net/former-kia-employees-accused-of-stealing-over-1000-engines-in-india</link>
<guid>https://todayscope.net/former-kia-employees-accused-of-stealing-over-1000-engines-in-india</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ A pair of former Kia employees have been accused of stealing 1,008 engines from the factory over a period of at least three years. The scheme was worth an estimated $2.3 million. However, the police allegedly said that the real cost was the &quot;widespread impact on industrial operations, stakeholder trust and employment security.” ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://todayscope.net/uploads/images/202506/image_870x580_6841f3b92fee8.jpg" length="50959" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Thu, 05 Jun 2025 23:34:51 +0300</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Mark</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Former, Kia, Employees, Accused, Stealing, Over, 1, 000, Engines, India</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Chrysler Celebrates Its 100th Birthday with a Special&#45;Edition Minivan</title>
<link>https://todayscope.net/chrysler-celebrates-its-100th-birthday-with-a-special-edition-minivan</link>
<guid>https://todayscope.net/chrysler-celebrates-its-100th-birthday-with-a-special-edition-minivan</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Few people likely view a minivan as a solid birthday gift, but Chrysler is celebrating its 100th anniversary with one. The automaker is commemorating the milestone with the 2026 Chrysler Pacifica 100th Anniversary Edition, which features exclusive styling elements and unique color options. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://todayscope.net/uploads/images/202506/image_870x580_6841f3ba83ae8.jpg" length="68771" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Thu, 05 Jun 2025 23:34:48 +0300</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Mark</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Chrysler, Celebrates, Its, 100th, Birthday, with, Special-Edition, Minivan</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Inside Cosworth: how Brit firm is keeping the screaming V12 alive</title>
<link>https://todayscope.net/inside-cosworth-how-brit-firm-is-keeping-the-screaming-v12-alive</link>
<guid>https://todayscope.net/inside-cosworth-how-brit-firm-is-keeping-the-screaming-v12-alive</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  Commerical director Chris Willoughby shows us around the Cosworth factory...


The company faded from popular view for a while but is now back at the forefront, designing soul-stirring engines

Features such as this so often open with a somewhat clichéd remark about the incongruousness of the drab surroundings from which the renowned company under the spotlight operates.
True to form, we find the headquarters of one of Britain’s best-known and most influential automotive engineering outfits nestled between the garages and warehouses of Northampton’s sprawling St James Industrial Estate.
Head to the right of Jewsons and around the Royal Mail sorting office to find the main office entrance, and then up and under the West Coast mainline and past the MOT centre for the factory itself.
This small and unassuming complex of buildings forms what could undramatically be described as the epicentre of Britain’s motorsport and performance car engineering heritage.
The history of Cosworth Engineering is so intrinsically connected with that of British sports cars that you have to wonder what today’s car world would look like had founders Mike Costin and Keith Duckworth never formed a relationship while working at Colin Chapman’s fledgling Lotus Engineering outfit in the late 1950s.
From humble beginnings in grassroots motorsport, the pair evolved their business into a leading engine supplier for top-flight motorsport series, famously creating the most successful engine in the history of Formula 1, the DFV V8.
The business would go on to put its name to some of the most revered and influential performance cars of the late 20th century: Ford&#039;s Escort and Sierra, Mercedes-Benz 190E, Audi RS4, Subaru Impreza…

The list goes on, and today the company counts in its portfolio some of the most powerful and expensive road cars currently in production: the likes of Bugatti, Aston Martin and Gordon Murray have all turned to the storied outfit for a new generation of mammoth-capacity motors.
Commercial director Chris Willoughby has been at Cosworth for 34 years, first as an engineer in the F1 powertrain division – what he calls a “golden era”, during which he worked with legends including Senna and Schumacher. Now he oversees a team that builds some of today’s biggest and most beautiful road car engines. 
While the remit has changed dramatically, the ethos has not, and Willoughby says the pit lane mentality remains absolutely central to Cosworth’s success. “I can see parallels between that really successful racing era and where we are now with the hypercars,” he says.
Primarily this is reflected in how self-contained and agile the business still is – a characteristic fostered by its involvement in those halcyon days of F1, when engineering innovation and rapid reaction times were utterly crucial to supremacy.
“All of our customers today want shorter and shorter programmes, so we’re very focused on that,” continues Willoughby. “But being vertically integrated is very much who we still are.
&quot;An interesting parallel with the DFV is that we made getting on for 1000 of them, and if you look at some of the car programmes we’re working on now, we’re certainly going to be into the many hundreds of engines. Creating a clean-sheet design, developing and then manufacturing it in quantity – that was our business model back then, and that’s our business model now.”
What’s different about Cosworth’s output now, though, is that the engines are so much more than mere tools used in the pursuit of racing success.

Rather, they are upheld as mechanical marvels in themselves, ones that are central to the appeal – and ultra-exclusive billing – of the cars in which they are mounted.
“There’s an appreciation of the engines and vehicles almost like they are pieces of art,” says Willoughby. “They’re appreciated in the same way – even the aesthetic of the engines and what they look like is very important. And I think there’s a growing interest in what the engines are technically beneath the skin.
“People are blown away when they see a piston or a crankshaft, or the oil cooling squirt jets… All those things – there seems to be a real appetite for that now.”
Willoughby echoes the sentiments of Bugatti-Rimac CEO Mate Rimac, who said recently that demand for the ludicrously quick Nevera hypercar was flagging as the world’s highest-net-worth individuals were being drawn by the heightened analogue appeal of its combustion-engined contemporaries.
That his new Cosworth V16-powered Bugatti hypercar is named Tourbillon – after a tiny and highly intricate mechanism that’s usually on display in expensive watches – is no coincidence.
It is largely because of the enduring allure of a mechanical combustion engine – with all of its pulleys, belts, plugs and bangs – that Cosworth is still designing and producing enormous 12- and 16-cylinder engines, and all of this while the more mainstream sectors of the automotive industry scrabble to downsize and decarbonise.
But there are also more rational technical considerations to bear in mind. Today, the viability of using batteries in such high-performance cars as the Valkyrie and T50 is limited, because the energy density “is not there”, says Willoughby. “They will progress and get better, but doing 10 laps of the Nürburgring seems like a long way off.
“If you want to do 10 laps in a car that weighs 1000kg and has desirable dynamic qualities to it, then an engine is still very much the tool to use.”
Hence Cosworth’s exploration of alternative means of fuelling the internal combustion process. The study has yielded promising results, lending further weight to the growing argument that banning engines themselves – rather than the highly polluting substances that currently make them spin – is a misguided enterprise.

Willoughby adds: “We’ve been running synthetic fuels for four or five years, and the chemists say it’s exactly the same as gasoline. Sure enough, when we put it in an engine, we can’t tell the difference.”
He acknowledges that production of synthetic fuels is currently highly limited, and thus it is prohibitively expensive for use in a mainstream context. “But for our type of applications,” he says – referring to the £3.2 million Tourbillon and £2.8 million T50, for example – “the price is less likely to be a limiting factor.”
The fact that racing at the Goodwood Revival is now powered by e-fuels, and that F1 is on track to follow suit in 2026, is representative of the opportunity at hand to decarbonise those enthusiast-facing sectors of the automotive world that simply can’t – at least yet – feasibly switch to battery power.
In one of Cosworth’s 10 top-secret dyno suites, one engine has been rigged up to burn hydrogen. Willoughby says it has also shown promise as an alternative fuel because of its propensity to burn over a wide air-fuel ratio range and produce comparable power outputs to petrol. 
Dampening its appeal over purpose-designed synthetic fuels, though, is that it requires around 10 times more storage space in the car and produces water, which “all ends up somewhere”, necessitating extensive moisture-capture modifications – as demonstrated by the labyrinthine pipework twisting its way up from the manifold of this block into the vents on the ceiling.
The primary inhibitors to adopting hydrogen for use in combustion engines are not so much the technical limitations but rather the crucial developments that can’t be achieved within the confines of a Northampton workshop. “The adoption of hydrogen depends on lots of things outside of our control,” says Willoughby, “like the development of infrastructure and supply.”
Even if this is not a technology that has a place in today’s world, it may well be needed in the future – and Cosworth will be ready to take to the front of the grid, in figurative terms, when it is.
Cosworth’s efforts at combustion-engine preservation are far from a wilful nosethumbing of the rules and regulations that will bring about the eventual demise of fossil-fuelled powerplants; instead, they come in recognition of the fact that even the very highest echelons of the automotive market will be forced to adapt to new technologies as part of a clean-up act that will safeguard their future. It’s just not entirely clear when that will be, at least for now.
The fact that we’re looking at an engine that burns hydrogen does not mean Cosworth has any immediate plans to commercialise this technology, but rather it serves as testament to the company’s ruthless commitment to being prepared for any eventuality.

“We need to know how to react to changes in the market,” explains Willoughby. “We have to be a bit diversified and understand how our skillset maps into the market, and where it has value.”
As he speaks, Willoughby is forced to raise his voice over the deafening growl of a Gordon Murray V12 that’s running in the adjacent test bay – a neat metaphor for Cosworth’s eggs-in-many-baskets approach.
Small wonder that the people responsible for these screaming mechanical marvels should be exploring ways of keeping their crankshafts spinning into the future.
From the dark and deafening confines of the test benches that are little changed since the company’s early days, we are ushered down a hallway to the final assembly suite, which is comparatively blinding in its surgical spotlessness and lays bare the scale, significance and splendour of Cosworth’s latest generation of combustion engines.
Perhaps it’s the relative mundanity of its surroundings that so emphasises the ludicrous proportions of Bugatti’s new V16, but you get the sense that this is a powerplant conceived to draw the eye organically even when removed from the multimillion-pound missile in which it will be mounted.
Even if you have only the vaguest inkling of which bit does what in an engine, there is pleasure to be drawn from the granite-hewn quality of the components used here, the attention to detail in linking them all together and the sheer size of what they constitute when they are united.
This 8.3-litre lump is so colossal that you don’t so much casually glance around it as embark upon a lap of it: comparisons with the likes of the Rolls-Royce Merlin and the Beast of Turin’s flame-spitting 28-litre motor feel more than appropriate.
Our request to fire the engine up in situ is wrongly assumed to be a joke and laughed off, but videos from testing confirm that it sounds about as biblically cataclysmic as you would expect: guttural and booming, with a baritone bark that spirals upwards in pitch as it approaches its 9000rpm redline.
As it accelerates away from the camera, it sounds almost like two Mercedes-Benz SLR McLarens having a drag race. “Hopefully we can keep it so limiter-free,” said Mate Rimac recently. Quite.
Willoughby says this aural drama was a prerequisite of Bugatti’s V16 programme, which was good news for a company whose co-founder Duckworth is quoted as saying: “Turbos are for people who can’t build engines.”
Here at Cosworth, they like their engine aspiration natural, their revs high and their exhaust notes shrieking. Willoughby, surprisingly perhaps, drives an electric car himself, and says they are “absolutely the right answer” in mainstream applications.

But in the sort of rarified air that Tourbillon, Valkyrie and T50 owners breathe, there is still a huge demand for analogue viscerality and evocative authenticity that can only be provided by a free-breathing, huge-capacity petrol engine.
And while very, very few of us will ever have the opportunity to take one of these automotive artworks up through the rev range ourselves, the resulting soundtracks can at least be enjoyed by anyone within earshot.
“The thing that’s surprised me is how well received the sound of a naturally aspirated engine is,” admits Willoughby. “I think that’s deep-rooted in the human psyche in some way. I’m not a psychologist, but I think it’s hard-coded from when tigers used to jump out on us from behind bushes – we’re coded to have a response to noise.”
There’s rather less poetic licence in that analogy than you might think. When the probing jaw of the Aston Martin Valkyrie emerged from behind the hay bales at the Goodwood hillclimb’s first corner last year and its deafening exhaust note – more than reminiscent of a 1990s F1 car – began to reverberate ominously around West Sussex, the stunned, respectful silence that fell on the Festival of Speed grandstands was testament to the emotional power still wielded by a properly fettled combustion engine.
This roar, though, unlike a tiger’s, attracts a crowd rather than dispels it – but it is also similarly endangered and risks being silenced without the efforts of dedicated preservationists.
Happily, there’s a group of highly skilled and ruthlessly committed engineers in the East Midlands, working hard to ensure it remains unstifled for many years to come.
 ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://todayscope.net/uploads/images/202504/image_870x580_680ea9cb0ba74.jpg" length="86330" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 27 Apr 2025 23:07:51 +0300</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Mark</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Inside, Cosworth:, how, Brit, firm, keeping, the, screaming, V12, alive</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Omoda 3 unveiled as stylish crossover bound for the UK</title>
<link>https://todayscope.net/omoda-3-unveiled-as-stylish-crossover-bound-for-the-uk</link>
<guid>https://todayscope.net/omoda-3-unveiled-as-stylish-crossover-bound-for-the-uk</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 

New model will arrive here by end of 2026 priced from below £30,000

Chinese upcoming brand Omoda has revealed a radical new compact crossover aimed at the MG4 and Kia EV3. 
The Omoda 3 will be officially launched in October ahead of a global rollout including the UK starting late next year and will be offered with an electric drivetrain as well as plug-in hybrid and straight internal combustion.
The angular styling and sharply defined sharknose grille recalls much more expensive SUVs including the Lotus Eletre and Lamborghini Urus, however the price is expected to start below £30,000.
The car measures 4420mm long, making it just almost 50mm longer than the Omoda 5 SUV already sold in the UK in both UK and combustion engine form. However the 5 will stretched for its next generation version, a product manager for Omoda and Jaecoo told Autocar at the unveil event held at parent company Chery’s home city of Wuhu, China, on Saturday.

The car sits on the same T1X platform as the 5, new Omoda 7 midsize and new Omoda 9 large SUV. Also sharing the platform are the Jaecoo SUVs including the 7 compact and new smaller Jaecoo 5. 
Chery is steering its Omoda brand to appeal more to a youthful customer and the presentation highlighted elements of the 3 such as the sci-fi inspired dashboard digital graphics, a ‘starship’ noise option and the ability to sync your Nintendo Switch with the large, portrait central touchscreen. 
Omoda also promised a modification option dubbed ‘the official racing pack’ as well as official body wraps.

Omoda sold 3194 cars in the first three months, with Jaecoo notching up 3235 units according to data from automotive lobby group the SMMT. Put together the twin Chery brands outsold Fiat, Citroen, Jeep and Lexus from just two models in the quarter.
The combined brands have just under 80 dealers in the UK and are targeting 120 by the end of the year.
More brands are coming from the Chinese company – the country’s largest vehicle exporter – with Chery’s own brand arriving in October with the Tiggo 7 compact plug-in hybrid and a new brand, Lepas, scheduled to hit early 2026.
 ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://todayscope.net/uploads/images/202504/image_870x580_680ea9cc4f6d4.jpg" length="99688" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 27 Apr 2025 23:07:29 +0300</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Mark</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Omoda, unveiled, stylish, crossover, bound, for, the</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Nissan shouldn’t rush to replace the legendary GT&#45;R</title>
<link>https://todayscope.net/nissan-shouldnt-rush-to-replace-the-legendary-gt-r</link>
<guid>https://todayscope.net/nissan-shouldnt-rush-to-replace-the-legendary-gt-r</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 

Time between generations of cars like the Nissan GT-R helped us appreciate them all the more

The Japanese concept of wabi-sabi is difficult, or impossible if you ask some Japanese people, to precisely define. But I have Google and all the false confidence of a mediocre, middle-aged, Western white man, so here we go.
Loosely, it’s an aesthetic that values imperfection and transience. Andrew Juniper, a furniture maker and author of the book Wabi Sabi: The Japanese Art of Impermanence, says “it’s an aesthetic that finds beauty in things imperfect, impermanent and incomplete”.
Tanehisa Otabe, professor at Tokyo University’s Institute of Aesthetics, told the BBC in 2020 that “wabi-sabi leaves something unfinished or incomplete for the play of imagination”.
It is, then, one of a number of Japanese idioms that references an appreciation for or wistfulness towards impermanence. Not dissimilarly, the concept of mono no aware translates to “the pathos of things” or “a sensitivity to ephemera”.
This brings me to the current and soon to be not-current Nissan GT-R, the R35 generation, which is about to end a fairly astonishing 18-year production run. That’s a timeline which is anything but fleeting by automotive standards: cherry blossom, blooming and dying quickly, it is not.
But in its more recent years, there can only have been an awareness of the R35’s mortality. At the start of its life, we called it “the world’s cleverest car” and Japanese engineers told us it was comparable to a craftsperson-made Swiss watch.
But as time has gone on and its annual model-year revisions have slowed, its once-spectacular power outputs have been dwarfed and its Nürburgring lap times eclipsed.

Already it’s off sale in many markets, including the UK, where it no longer meets the latest safety or emissions regulations, and within months it will go out of production entirely. There is no imminent replacement.
And that, I get the impression, is fine by the Japanese. I could be wrong, of course. They could be more cross than a teacher after you’ve knocked on the staffroom door at breaktime. 
But I don’t think so. Two-thirds of Japanese identify as Buddhists and that doctrine says that all existence is “transient, evanescent, inconstant”. There is an appreciation that things come and go.
So while there’s existential angst here that Jaguar doesn’t currently build sports cars and the idea of Ford without a Mustang or Porsche without a 911 is basically unthinkable, some time without a new GT-R should almost be expected. Appreciated.
Similarly, you could consider the Honda NSX, which spent years out of production between generations and has been deliberately unusual in all its forms. Rotary-engined Mazdas likewise.
Or even the Lexus LFA, which perhaps was a successor to the Toyota 2000GT, spiritually if not literally. All came, all went. Will we see replacements? Probably. But who knows?
Nissan promises it will make a new GT-R, it should be said. “I want to have four or five cars at the top of our portfolio that are really brand-oriented, cars that really represent what Nissan is about and show what the heartbeat of Nissan is,” incoming CEO Ivan Espinosa told us recently.

And there are practical reasons too for the absence of an immediate GT-R replacement: Nissan isn’t actually run by people who treat managing a business like a seasonal hobby.
There are, or were, honchos there, Westerners typically, who found very clever budgetary ways to make sure the Z made it into production as a direct, immediate replacement for the 370Z (by underneath being an awful lot like it).
If Nissan were to make a petrol replacement for the GT-R now, it could end up unable to sell it in all the places it would like to – especially if its life cycle approaches two decades again.
“And these cars should go everywhere in the world,” says Espinosa. Yet if it were electric,  as previewed in 2023’s Hyper Force concept, today’s batteries would place limits on both how many laps of the Nordschleife it could do and how many people would buy one. Consumers, as I understand it, are not beating down doors to get hold of electric driver’s cars.
What the new GT-R will become, then, is still to be decided. The current one is out of place, out of time and about to be out of production. And that, we should appreciate, is fine.
 ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://todayscope.net/uploads/images/202504/image_870x580_680ea9cd32230.jpg" length="94560" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 27 Apr 2025 23:07:29 +0300</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Mark</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Nissan, shouldn’t, rush, replace, the, legendary, GT-R</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Britain vs the world: when Super Tourers took over</title>
<link>https://todayscope.net/britain-vs-the-world-when-super-tourers-took-over</link>
<guid>https://todayscope.net/britain-vs-the-world-when-super-tourers-took-over</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  In the 1990s, national champions from abroad and ex-F1 racers would compete in the BTCC


New rules formulated by the BTCC for 1991 took the racing series to new heights and attracted global attention

The British motorsport landscape had never seen anything like the boom time of the British Touring Car Championship through the 1990s. International drivers and manufacturer-backed programmes flocked to the UK to battle it out for what had become the most prestigious tin-top series on the planet.
The domestic series had seen the writing on the wall for saloon car racing before anyone else and set a trend that, ultimately, the rest of the world followed for a glorious decade. At its peak, there were 10 manufacturer-supported teams in the BTCC, robust television coverage and a phalanx of international stars all chasing the British accolade.
It was a long journey from the decade before. In the 1980s, tin-top racing had been fought out between cars of different specifications and engine capacities all scrapping for honours on the same track.
The champion could come from any one of those intra-class fights, and it had been that way since the British Saloon Car Championship was first contested in 1958.
In 1990, four of the leading players in the competition sat down to map out a future in which it would embrace a changing world: David Richards, who was running the BMW programme with his Prodrive operation; Dave Cook, who was in charge of the works Vauxhall team; Andy Rouse, a master engineer and four-time BTCC champion with strong links to Ford; and leading privateer Vic Lee.
The result was a 2.0-litre-only format. In the days of Filofaxes and the first attainable mobile phones, fleet cars were like gold to road car makers, so this was a rich seam for the BTCC to mine when looking for a style of machine that would appeal to the mass-market manufacturers.
There was another consideration too: the BBC had committed to covering the series in 1988 and the highlights packages that appeared on its flagship Grandstand TV programme were beginning to gain traction with a wider audience. A simpler-to-follow format for broadcasting was a major added bonus.

With the brains behind the revolution all running their own teams, Australian Alan Gow was put in charge of overseeing the introduction of the new rules and guiding the newly founded organisational body TOCA in the right direction.
The new-formula cars first appeared in 1990 alongside the outgoing Group A-specification machines before a fully unified field of 2.0-litre cars took to the starting grid at the beginning of 1991.
The success was huge, and it wasn’t long before the global rule makers took notice. In 1993, motorsport’s global governing body, the FIA, adopted the UK’s regulations and named them Super Touring. This British creation went on to dominate the world. 
“When we started out with it, of course we didn’t know it would go around the planet and become what it did. It was only ever devised as a British set of regulations, so you can’t really call it some kind of masterplan!” says Gow.
Because the rules were initially for the UK only, any potential manufacturer wouldn’t have to go to international governors to rubber-stamp and ratify a competition car. That meant that the UK arm of each manufacturer had an achievable motorsport programme within its remit for the first time.

“It opened up the series to those who didn’t want to spend huge amounts on getting their cars homologated,” continues Gow. “The prevailing direction for road car firms at the time was 2.0 litres, and that’s why that option was chosen. It simplified everything, it cleared the way for manufacturers to enter and, as a by-product, it made the racing simpler for the TV viewers to understand. The car that crossed the line first would battle for the title, which was the way it should be.”
In that inaugural season of 1991, there were four factory-supported teams. By 1994, in a mark of success of the regulations, the total had grown to 10: Alfa Romeo, BMW, Ford, Mazda, Nissan, Peugeot, Renault, Toyota, Vauxhall and Volvo.
The driver market was in boom time too. From a smattering of plucky privateer entries and a handful of properly funded established stars, the expanding grid boasted ex-Formula 1 drivers, huge budgets and the latest technology, tempting tens of thousands trackside to enjoy the entertainment. The bubble was being inflated as each season passed.
John Cleland flew the flag for the home-grown talents among the influx of overseas talent. He prevailed in 1995 in his Vauxhall Cavalier, defeating rivals from seven different countries as well as the British regulars.
“It was actually an honour to race against all these highly feted drivers from around the world,” the Scotsman recalls. “I had come up through the UK ranks, where it was all ‘jolly good stuff’ and ‘after you’ type racing. When Johnny Foreigner came in to drive in the BTCC, they weren’t just any old foreigner – they were the German champion, the Italian champion, the French champion or ex-Formula 1 drivers. 
I never felt like they were muscling in on my turf. It was such a change from the late 1980s, but I embraced it. It showed me – and the wider world too – that I could beat the best. So as far as I was concerned, the more the better.”

It wasn’t only a halcyon period for the drivers but for the teams too. With funding coming directly from manufacturers, they had access to bank accounts big enough to exploit any technical avenue they wanted.
The Williams Grand Prix Engineering team joined the line-up to run Renault’s efforts and Tom Walkinshaw Racing, which owned the Arrows F1 team, ran the Volvos from 1994.
Ian Harrison, Williams’ F1 team manager, switched his focus to the BTCC with the Laguna initially before going on to create the benchmark Triple Eight Race Engineering squad, which ran the Vauxhalls from 1997.
“There was almost too much you could do to the cars, and if you didn’t quite have the budget, you were always playing second fiddle to the others,” he recalls. “It was such an open book for engineering, which meant it was an interesting challenge for those who like that kind of thing. You could spend as much money as you wanted to drill down into the finest detail. It was nirvana for the engineers. But the model was hardly sustainable…”
For the drivers, the Super Touring era was a golden one in which many of them would write their names into the motorsport history books. Yet Cleland says that most were blissfully unaware of the impact the BTCC was creating.
“I think we all took it for granted at the time: the media, the drivers, the teams – all of us maybe apart from the blokes writing the cheques back at the manufacturers,” he says.“We grew up in it, and it evolved from the early 1990s year by year, and it just got bigger. Then we realised it had got to the point where we couldn’t nip to the gents’ in the middle of race day without being mobbed by fans for autographs and it would take an hour. 
It was great for the ego, and even today I get recognised in England as ‘that guy who used to do the touring cars’. That’s a mark of the impact it made.”

As Harrison alluded to, the seemingly endless reserves of cash did have to run dry at some point. While the fans may have regarded the mid-1990s as the high-water mark for the BTCC, the writing was already on the wall.
Gow recalls: “When the FIA adopted the regulations, [TOCA] lost control of those rules, and therefore it was political persuasions and machinations within the manufacturers which put the pressure on to take the rules in a certain direction. That’s when things started to escalate, and I had teams and manufacturers complaining about the costs as early as 1996 – and these were the big players, not just the small ones.”
One by one, the works teams withdrew – and it wasn’t only from the UK but rather a worldwide movement away from the Super Touring rules.
The costs had ramped up to such a degree that in 2000, the final year of those cars racing in the BTCC, some estimated that Prodrive’s spend on a three-car team for the 24-race season was an eye-watering £10 million.
The BTCC reinvented itself with a new cut-price set of rules for 2001, and the series has gone on to thrive since those free-spending days of the 1990s.
There hasn’t been the same level of manufacturer interest since and drivers’ wages have certainly gone down, but the main calling card of the series, which is thrilling on-track action, has never diminished. 
 ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://todayscope.net/uploads/images/202504/image_870x580_680ea9ce608a5.jpg" length="95264" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 27 Apr 2025 23:07:29 +0300</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Mark</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Britain, the, world:, when, Super, Tourers, took, over</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Mercedes&#45;AMG to reveal bespoke electric super&#45;saloon in June</title>
<link>https://todayscope.net/mercedes-amg-to-reveal-bespoke-electric-super-saloon-in-june</link>
<guid>https://todayscope.net/mercedes-amg-to-reveal-bespoke-electric-super-saloon-in-june</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  The new AMG GT 4-Door will be tasked with taking on the Porsche Taycan and Lucid Air


Affalterbach confirms an imminent debut for its long-awaited Porsche Taycan rival, tipped to pack 1000bhp

Mercedes-AMG’s first dedicated electric car, a mega-powered super saloon to rival the Porsche Taycan, is just weeks away from being unwrapped. 
Equipped with innovative drivetrain technology that is likely to make it the firm’s most powerful road car yet, the new super-saloon will in effect be a replacement for the V8-engined GT 4-Door Coupé.
Mercedes’ performance division previewed the rakish four-seater in 2022 with a radical concept dubbed Vision 2025, which gave clues to how AMG plans to differentiate its own sporting EVs from the mainstream equivalents offered by its parent company. 
Now, the company has posted an image of the saloon&#039;s silhouette (below) on social media along with confirmation that the full design will be shown in June - though it has yet to give a date.
The concept was clearly more performance-focused than models such as the Mercedes-Benz EQE and EQS saloons, with a much lower and sharper silhouette. Distinctive styling cues, such as the six circular tail-lights and race-style diffuser, hinted at features that could define AMG’s future product portfolio - including a closely related super-SUV that&#039;s set to follow next year.

More recently, as prototypes have shedded their disguise in the final few months of testing, it has become clear that the Affalterbach-based firm will stay true to the Vision 2025 concept for its debut EV, which will be only the fourth completely bespoke car it has launched, after the SLS and GT coupés and the GT 4-Door.
Despite the camouflage, we can see that the new arrival will feature a long, probing bonnet and sit closer to the road – and have a lower roofline – than any other Mercedes EV. It will have a sizeable footprint, though, most likely in line with cars such as the Lucid Air and Porsche Taycan, hinting at its potential dual billing as a luxury sports car with generous rear leg room and a big boot.
It also looks to have a prominent retractable rear spoiler and flush door handles in order to boost downforce and aid aerodynamic efficiency respectively, as well as a split rear window. An evolution of the concept’s striking tail-lights looks to be hidden beneath the wrap, and the bulky lower bumpers are expected to accommodate similarly racy aero-optimised bodywork.
The electric AMG has been designed from the ground up as a performance car and is expected to place as much emphasis on dynamic performance and engagement as it does straight-line speed.

It will be the first car to use a bespoke performance-oriented EV architecture known as AMG.EA. Propulsion is provided by the power-dense, slimline axial flux motors developed by Mercedes-owned Oxford manufacturer Yasa.
AMG has been tight-lipped on performance potential, but Yasa boss Tim Woolmer confirmed that a motor bound for one of the German company’s production cars weighs just 24kg yet produces 590lb ft and 480bhp in its own right.
If used in tandem as part of a twin-motor system, such as that previewed by AMG’s retro One-Eleven supercar concept, combined outputs of around 1000bhp and 1000lb ft are quite feasible.
Interestingly, the One-Eleven had both of its motors mounted on the rear axle. At the concept’s unveiling, bosses highlighted the packaging benefits of having both motors at the rear: the front end can be brought as close to the ground as possible for optimal aerodynamic efficiency, but the Yasa-produced motors’ compact footprint means there is still room for a sizeable rear luggage area.
This suggests that any new electric saloon using such an arrangement can, in theory, tout the same practicality credentials as its V8-engined predecessor, making it a bona fide super-tourer.
 ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://todayscope.net/uploads/images/202504/image_870x580_680ea9cf66c7e.jpg" length="65556" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 27 Apr 2025 23:07:29 +0300</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Mark</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Mercedes-AMG, reveal, bespoke, electric, super-saloon, June</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Report: Hyundai To Cut Complimentary New&#45;Vehicle Maintenance Starting With the 2026 Model Year</title>
<link>https://todayscope.net/report-hyundai-to-cut-complimentary-new-vehicle-maintenance-starting-with-the-2026-model-year</link>
<guid>https://todayscope.net/report-hyundai-to-cut-complimentary-new-vehicle-maintenance-starting-with-the-2026-model-year</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Many automakers offer free routine maintenance for the first few years of a new car’s life as a way to attract buyers and inspire peace of mind. Despite offering one of the industry’s most robust warranties, Hyundai is doing away with  its free maintenance program starting with the 2026 model year. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://todayscope.net/uploads/images/202504/image_870x580_67ed9769cf68f.jpg" length="61765" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Wed, 02 Apr 2025 21:04:18 +0300</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Mark</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Report:, Hyundai, Cut, Complimentary, New-Vehicle, Maintenance, Starting, With, the, 2026, Model, Year</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>2026 Honda Passport TrailSport Review &#45;&#45; Adding Spice To Practicality</title>
<link>https://todayscope.net/2026-honda-passport-trailsport-review-adding-spice-to-practicality</link>
<guid>https://todayscope.net/2026-honda-passport-trailsport-review-adding-spice-to-practicality</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ When Honda brought the Passport name back for the 2019 model year  (after a 1990s run as a rebranded Isuzu), Honda aimed squarely at the middle of the market. The new crossover was sized right for family buyers and had decent V6 power, but it had no sense of adventure. It lacked off-road equipment, and its ride and handling were as inoffensive as possible. For 2026, Honda updates the Passport, this time adding a little spice to the gumbo in the form of more off-road capability for the TrailSport and improved on-road dynamics. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://todayscope.net/uploads/images/202504/image_870x580_67ed976a9bbc5.jpg" length="106038" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Wed, 02 Apr 2025 21:04:11 +0300</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Mark</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>2026, Honda, Passport, TrailSport, Review, Adding, Spice, Practicality</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>QOTD: Will Trump Exempt Some Parts From Tariffs?</title>
<link>https://todayscope.net/qotd-will-trump-exempt-some-parts-from-tariffs</link>
<guid>https://todayscope.net/qotd-will-trump-exempt-some-parts-from-tariffs</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Earlier today, we brought you Bloomberg&#039;s report that automakers are looking to exempt some low-cost parts from President Trump&#039;s proposed tariffs. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://todayscope.net/uploads/images/202504/image_870x580_67ed976b3a2b0.jpg" length="82628" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Wed, 02 Apr 2025 21:04:08 +0300</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Mark</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>QOTD:, Will, Trump, Exempt, Some, Parts, From, Tariffs</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Trump Hits Automakers With 25% Tariff on Imported Cars: What It Means for You</title>
<link>https://todayscope.net/trump-hits-automakers-with-25-tariff-on-imported-cars-what-it-means-for-you</link>
<guid>https://todayscope.net/trump-hits-automakers-with-25-tariff-on-imported-cars-what-it-means-for-you</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ President Trump has announced sweeping 25% tariffs on all foreign-made car and light truck imports, which include SUVs. The president confirmed the tariffs, which take effect April 2, will be permanent for his entire second term. Trump’s tariffs were executed via an executive order and will impact ... ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://todayscope.net/uploads/images/202503/image_870x580_67e5bb638a9a0.jpg" length="82829" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Fri, 28 Mar 2025 17:46:27 +0300</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Mark</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Trump, Hits, Automakers, With, 25, Tariff, Imported, Cars:, What, Means, for, You</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Dacia Bigster</title>
<link>https://todayscope.net/dacia-bigster</link>
<guid>https://todayscope.net/dacia-bigster</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
What do you get when you make a Duster bigger? A silly name and a real worry for the likes of Ford and Hyundai

So massive is the gravitational pull of the C-SUV – of which the new Dacia Bigster is the latest exponent – that it’s now quicker to list the car makers that don’t compete in the segment it than those that do.You will know the biggest of the mainstream hitters: Ford Kuga, Skoda Kodiaq, Nissan Qashqai, Kia Sportage, VW Tiguan, Hyundai Tucson.Automotive household names. Some of these cars are propping up the company that makes them, so insatiable is the appetite for Goldilocks crossovers that aren’t awkwardly big but still offer plenty of space and don’t cost a lot more than £30,000 when you’re sensible with trim.It’s doubtful that any CEOs of the C-SUV incumbents will have been overjoyed to learn that Dacia is now entering the fray with the Bigster. It’s a bit of a silly name, but the decision to make this car was anything but. In terms of design, pricing and drivability, the Renault-owned Romanian brand currently finds itself in a formidable vein of form.The cars are great value but also, thanks to the dash of Germano-Scandi design injected during the brand’s 2021 revamp, quietly desirable too. Last year, the Sandero hatchback was – and was by a country mile – the best-selling car in Europe, with the Duster, its crossover kin, also making the top 10. The Bigster now opens up another potentially successful front for Dacia, and of course it doesn’t deviate from the recipe. Even in the top-spec form tested here, it costs less than £30,000. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://todayscope.net/uploads/images/202503/image_870x580_67e5bb94208ee.jpg" length="101781" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Thu, 27 Mar 2025 21:15:55 +0200</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Mark</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Dacia, Bigster</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Porsche’s High&#45;Speed Chase Toward the Digital Future</title>
<link>https://todayscope.net/porsches-high-speed-chase-toward-the-digital-future</link>
<guid>https://todayscope.net/porsches-high-speed-chase-toward-the-digital-future</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Porsche hasn&#039;t always led the pack when it comes to digital infotainment, just look at the current-generation Boxster or the previous-gen 911. Historically, they have lagged behind some rivals in delivering intuitive, feature-rich multimedia systems. However, over the past five years, Porsche has ... ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://todayscope.net/uploads/images/202503/image_870x580_67e5bb63e011a.jpg" length="78055" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Thu, 27 Mar 2025 21:15:50 +0200</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Mark</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Porsche’s, High-Speed, Chase, Toward, the, Digital, Future</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Tesla Cybertruck Sales Are Tanking. Here&amp;apos;s Why</title>
<link>https://todayscope.net/tesla-cybertruck-sales-are-tanking-heres-why</link>
<guid>https://todayscope.net/tesla-cybertruck-sales-are-tanking-heres-why</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The Tesla Cybertruck might be one of the most recognizable vehicles on the road, but its sales are heading in the wrong direction. According to Cox Automotive, U.S. Cybertruck sales dropped by 32.5% between January and February, falling to just 2,619 units. That’s not the kind of momentum Tesla was ... ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://todayscope.net/uploads/images/202503/image_870x580_67e5bb643aaf3.jpg" length="64552" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Thu, 27 Mar 2025 21:15:44 +0200</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Mark</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Tesla, Cybertruck, Sales, Are, Tanking., Heres, Why</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>The best Porsches on sale now</title>
<link>https://todayscope.net/the-best-porsches-on-sale-now</link>
<guid>https://todayscope.net/the-best-porsches-on-sale-now</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 

Porsche is synonymous with performance and quality, but which is the best from each model group?

Owning a Porsche is quite a boast. But with so many models on sale, how do you choose the best for your driveway? 
Ever since Ferdinand Porsche released the 356 in 1948, the Porsche brand has become synonymous with performance and quality. 
Whether you’re looking for a car to run around a race track, a daily driver or an SUV for school pick-ups, there’s a Porsche that’s tailored to your needs. 
We know the Porsche 911 S/T is an incredible five-star car and the Porsche 911 GT3 RS is the ideal track-day toy, but these are our favourites and the best Porsches on sale from each model group.
 ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://todayscope.net/uploads/images/202503/image_870x580_67e5bb8f90668.jpg" length="110874" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Thu, 27 Mar 2025 21:15:39 +0200</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Mark</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>The, best, Porsches, sale, now</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Car makers brace for huge financial impact of Trump tariffs</title>
<link>https://todayscope.net/car-makers-brace-for-huge-financial-impact-of-trump-tariffs</link>
<guid>https://todayscope.net/car-makers-brace-for-huge-financial-impact-of-trump-tariffs</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
  BMW builds SUVs in Spartanburg, South Carolina, but actual local content is reported to be only around 30%


All cars and light commercial vehicles imported into the US will be hit with a 25% tariff from 2 April 

Car makers in the UK and Europe are bracing for what for many will be the biggest financial shock since Covid when the newly announced 25% tariff on cars imported into the US are applied on 2 April.
The tariffs apply to all cars and light commercials imported into the US that aren&#039;t covered by the Mexico-US-Canada automotive tariff agreement, significantly raising the cost of doing business in the US.
Firms including Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW and JLR were relying on healthy sales in the US to balance out crashing demand in China and a weaker European market. 
“It&#039;s a perfect storm for the European auto industry,” said David Bailey, professor of business economics at the Birmingham Business School. “UK auto already has a low-volume crisis, with plants operating well below capacity.”
The US is UK’s second largest car export market after the EU, with 101,100 cars shipped in 2024, according to data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. The lobbying body called the tariff hike &quot;disappointing&quot;.
JLR was by far the largest British automotive exporter to the US, with sales up by 29% to 116,294 cars last year, of which around two thirds were built in the UK.
Ultra-luxury brands including Aston Martin, Bentley, McLaren and Rolls-Royce accounted for around 9000 car imports there last year.
JLR chose not to comment on the tariffs except to say it was awaiting further information. The share value of JLR owner Tata Motors dropped 5.6% after the news.
Ineos Automotive stated: &quot;We are outraged that the tariff situation with the US has been neglected by the EU.
&quot;[US] president [Donald] Trump has been very clear on his intention to implement tariffs on the auto industry. He has been asking for fairness and reciprocity and yet European leaders have not come to the table to negotiate a better solution.&quot;
The 25% tariff comes on top of the 2.5% duty already paid by car makers importing into the US and is paid on the ‘landing’ price of the car, minus the dealer margin. The tariff will in effect add 15% to the recommended retail price of the car, estimated the bank Bernstein in a note to investors. 
Car makers will have to choose whether to pass on the cost to customers or absorb it and take the hit on margins. Given the size of the tariff compared with the 10% that most analysts had been expecting earlier in the year, most will have no choice but to increase prices.
“We are assessing different scenarios on how to handle it, but it will be finally passed on to the consumer,” Bentley CEO Frank-Steffen Walliser said earlier in March after the tariffs had been announced but before the percentage had been revealed. “At the end of the day, the consumer will have to pay it, and this would have an impact on the business, very clearly”.
Trump said the tariffs “addressed a critical threat to US security” and would bring vehicle manufacturing back to the country, creating 2.8 million jobs and growing the economy by $728 billion.
Some car companies have already said they will increase their US manufacturing footprint. Hyundai announced it would invest $21bn (£16.3bn) to increase its vehicle production in the country and develop new technology there, including autonomous driving capability. Audi has said it&#039;s in discussion over which models can be localised in the US.
However, JLR is unlikely to build in the US to mitigate the tariffs, according to Ian Henry, head of consultancy AutoAnalysis. “You can’t just do that overnight. They don’t have the supply chain in place and a CKD [completely knocked-down kit] plant would face tariffs on components anyway,” he said.
Car makers also face the problem of not knowing how long the tariffs will remain in place amid a chaotic decision-making process at the White House.
“They could be a negotiating tactic and therefore very short-lived or they might not,” Henry said. “Car makers can ride out temporary turbulence, but if they last for four years, that’s a much more serious issue.”
Even those car makers with plants in the US will face higher costs on the components they import. Trump claimed that of the eight million cars built in the US last year, US-built content amounted to only half the total amount. “Therefore, of the 16 million cars bought by Americans, only 25% of the vehicle content can be categorized as Made in America,” a White House fact sheet published in support of the tariffs stated.
The local content of BMW SUVs made in Spartanburg, South Carolina, is below 30%, according to documentation seen by Henry. BMW imports engines from Europe for fitment into cars assembled in the US facility, which in theory will now be subject to tariffs from 2 April.
The impact on car makers including BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo exporting from the US into Europe could be amplified by potential retaliatory tariffs from the EU.
“We will now assess this announcement, together with other measures the US is envisaging in the next days,” European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement. “Tariffs are taxes – bad for businesses, worse for consumers equally in the US and the European Union.”
Bernstein said in a note: “This would impact the SUVs that BMW and Mercedes produce in the US for global markets, like the BMW X5 and X7 and the Mercedes GLE and GLS.&quot;
The UK has less room to retaliate and will instead seek to negotiate a carve-out, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has suggested.
“We&#039;re not at the moment at a position where we want to do anything to escalate these trade wars,” Rachel Reeves told Sky News. “Trade wars are no good for anyone.”
The financial impact of the tariffs if extended to the end of the year would hit Stellantis worst, knocking back its profit margin by 5.1 percentage points, according to Bernstein analysis.
BMW is set to drop by 2.0 points, Mercedes by 2.2 points and the Volkswagen Group by 1.5 pts. 
All financial predications are pure guesswork, however, given that Trump could backtrack at any moment. As one industry watcher said: “Basically, it’s a mess.”
 ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://todayscope.net/uploads/images/202503/image_870x580_67e5bb90d79ee.jpg" length="129783" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Thu, 27 Mar 2025 21:15:29 +0200</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Mark</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Car, makers, brace, for, huge, financial, impact, Trump, tariffs</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Jeep Avenger</title>
<link>https://todayscope.net/jeep-avenger</link>
<guid>https://todayscope.net/jeep-avenger</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 
The least traditional Jeep gets a hybrid off-roader option that impresses on the rough stuff

The Jeep Avenger has to us always felt slightly oxymoronic in its conception as a diddy urban crossover from a brand so intrinsically associated with go-anywhere mud-plugging.The Avenger Electric, mildly electrified eHybrid and pure-petrol variants are competent and charming family runarounds but have little of the off-roading ability of the likes of the larger Wrangler and Grand Cherokee.But now the Avenger can follow its forebears and rangemates at least some way off the beaten track with the addition of this new 4xe range-topper, which adds an off-road-flavoured makeover to the eHybrid, along with an electric motor on the rear axle for four-wheel drive. It is, you might say, the Jeepiest version of the least Jeepy Jeep. This is actually the smallest 4x4 Jeep has offered in about three decades, and while it&#039;s far removed from the old CJs and Wranglers that went before, there’s a certain whiff of the WW2 original in the Avenger 4xe’s compact footprint and Scrappy-Doo character. “Lemme at &#039;em!” it yelps, brandishing its beefier bumpers, roof bars, tow hooks and underbody cladding - the telltale cues to its rugged, range-topping billing and the chief differentiators from the standard eHybrid.It&#039;s on sale now in the UK in three trim levels, with prices starting from £30,999, ahead of deliveries beginning in May. But is it the new gem of an expansive Avenger line-up? Read on to find out.   ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://todayscope.net/uploads/images/202503/image_870x580_67e5bb92dbfe5.jpg" length="144201" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Thu, 27 Mar 2025 21:15:26 +0200</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Mark</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Jeep, Avenger</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>UK and US in &amp;quot;intense&amp;quot; talks after Trump announces 25% car tariff</title>
<link>https://todayscope.net/uk-and-us-in-intense-talks-after-trump-announces-25-car-tariff</link>
<guid>https://todayscope.net/uk-and-us-in-intense-talks-after-trump-announces-25-car-tariff</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ 

President claims new levy on all cars and car parts shipped into US will create &quot;tremendous growth&quot;

“Intense negotiations” are taking place between the UK and the US after president Donald Trump last night announced a new 25% tariff on all cars and car parts imported into the country.
The new levy will come into effect from 2 April and will apply to both finished cars shipped into the country and car parts imported for vehicles assembled there.
Speaking from the Oval Office late on Wednesday, Trump said &quot;this is very exciting&quot;, adding: “What we’re going to be doing is a 25% tariff for all cars that are not made in the United States.”
On Thursday morning, UK chancellor Rachel Reeves told Sky News that the tariff risks hitting the UK economy by pushing up inflation. “Trade wars are no good for anyone,” she added.
&quot;We are looking to secure a better trading relationship with the United States,&quot; said Reeves. &quot;I recognise that the week ahead is important. There are further talks going on today so let&#039;s see where we get to in the next few days.”
The effect on the UK could stunt its economic growth, Office for Budget Responsibility chair Richard Hughes told the BBC. He added that it could hit government spending plans and fuel inflation if prices rose.

While the tariffs are bad news for companies that export foreign-built vehicles to the US, Trump claimed the move would lead to &quot;tremendous growth&quot; for the US automotive industry, adding that it would create more investment for US-based car makers and therefore more jobs.
Around eight million cars were imported into the US last year, around half the total sold in the market. Mexico will be the country hit hardest by the new levy. Car makers with production facilities in Mexico include BMW, Ford, Nissan, Volkswagen and Toyota. The US&#039;s other top importers are Canada, Germany, Japan and South Korea.
Trump confirmed that the new laws were &quot;permanent&quot;, quashing any notion that they would be reversed. But he stated that &quot;if you build your car in the United States, there is no tariff&quot;.
The likes of BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen already have plants in the US, building key models for both the US and other global markets. BMW&#039;s Spartanburg plant in South Carolina, for example, builds the X3, X4, X5, X6, X7 and XM. It will be affected, though, because it builds and imports the 3 Series from Mexico for the US market.
Some car firms have announced investment to expand or open new US facilities in recent months in an effort to spread production globally and avoid tariffs. The Hyundai Motor Group, for example, has invested more than £16 billion to increase its vehicle production in the country, including a new steel manufacturing plant.
The news will come as a big blow to the likes of JLR, for which the US is its biggest market with firm recording big increases in Range Rover and Defender sales in recent years. Mini, too, will be hit, given its models are made in the UK and China.
Other car makers targeting the US that don&#039;t have factories across the Atlantic include Cupra – although its models could be manufactured at other Volkswagen Group facilities in the US – and Lotus.
However, the move could also affect domestic US car makers and firms that currently manufacture vehicles there. GM, for example, manufactures a number of vehicles and car parts in Canada, China and Mexico that it then imports into the US, and those vehicles and parts would be hit by the tariffs.
The announcement has been dubbed &quot;disappointing&quot; by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
Mike Hawes, the trade body&#039;s CEO, called for UK and US representatives to &quot;come together immediately and strike a deal that works for all&quot;.
He said: &quot;The UK and US auto industries have a long-standing and productive relationship, with US consumers enjoying vehicles built in Britain by some iconic brands, while thousands of UK motorists buy cars made in America.
&quot;Rather than imposing additional tariffs, we should explore ways in which opportunities for both British and American manufacturers can be created as part of a mutually beneficial relationship, benefiting consumers and creating jobs and growth across the Atlantic.&quot;
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc will study the latest announcement. It itself launched heavy import tariffs on Chinese-made electric cars last year.
She said: &quot;I deeply regret the US decision to impose tariffs on European automotive exports. 
&quot;As I have said before, tariffs are taxes - bad for businesses, worse for consumers equally in the US and the European Union. 
&quot;The automotive industry is a driver of innovation, competitiveness and high-quality jobs, through deeply integrated supply chains on both sides of the Atlantic.
&quot;The EU will continue to seek negotiated solutions, while safeguarding its economic interests.&quot;
This new tariff is the latest in a wave of levies introduced by Trump since he took office for the second time. He said he wants to protect businesses and manufacturers in the US.
 ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 27 Mar 2025 21:15:22 +0200</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Mark</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>and, intense, talks, after, Trump, announces, 25, car, tariff</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Tesla Is Allegedly Withholding Wages from Sick Workers in Germany</title>
<link>https://todayscope.net/tesla-is-allegedly-withholding-wages-from-sick-workers-in-germany</link>
<guid>https://todayscope.net/tesla-is-allegedly-withholding-wages-from-sick-workers-in-germany</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ German workers enjoy some of the most robust protections of any country in the world. Tesla, an American company with a factory near Berlin, has seen protests and other disruptions in its German operations, and it’s now facing allegations that it withheld pay from sick workers and pressured them to disclose their private medical information. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 27 Mar 2025 21:15:16 +0200</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Mark</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Tesla, Allegedly, Withholding, Wages, from, Sick, Workers, Germany</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Hyundai Says Its New Georgia Factory is Open and Ready for Ioniq 9 Production</title>
<link>https://todayscope.net/hyundai-says-its-new-georgia-factory-is-open-and-ready-for-ioniq-9-production</link>
<guid>https://todayscope.net/hyundai-says-its-new-georgia-factory-is-open-and-ready-for-ioniq-9-production</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Hyundai has significantly expanded its North American manufacturing footprint over the last few years, and its massive Georgia production facility recently announced a major milestone . The factory is now open and ready to start rolling new Hyundai Ioniq 9 EVs off the line. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 27 Mar 2025 21:15:07 +0200</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Mark</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Hyundai, Says, Its, New, Georgia, Factory, Open, and, Ready, for, Ioniq, Production</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Question of the Day: Can the 2026 Nissan Leaf Compete?</title>
<link>https://todayscope.net/question-of-the-day-can-the-2026-nissan-leaf-compete</link>
<guid>https://todayscope.net/question-of-the-day-can-the-2026-nissan-leaf-compete</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Nissan is teasing the next Leaf . Given the struggles of the previous generations, can the next Leaf compete? ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Thu, 27 Mar 2025 21:15:02 +0200</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Mark</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Question, the, Day:, Can, the, 2026, Nissan, Leaf, Compete</media:keywords>
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