FOLLOW UP: SUNDERLAND NISSAN FUTURE SECUREFrançois Bailly, who is head of planning for Nissan, in Europe, has stated that the Sunderland plant’s future is “very safe” as they reveal images of the next Leaf and Juke EVs to be built there. However, the Qashqai EV is being delayed for market uncertainty reasons. To read more, click this Autocar article link here. US TO IMPOSE 25% TARIFFS ON IMPORTED CARS AND PARTSPresident Trump has announced tariffs on imported cars and parts, of 25%. This will increase the price of cars, to US consumers. This will also hit US based manufacturers, when the market is already struggling. Click this Autocar article to read more about the implications. Sam Lowe, who writes about EU and UK trade policy, has looked into the announcement and has explained some of the nuance that might be lost in the mainstream coverage. Click here to read his Substack post. Meanwhile, the UK Government is in “intense” negotiations with the US over these moves, hoping to avoid being hit. To read more, click this Autocar article link. UK SPRING STATEMENT REACTIONThe car industry has reacted to the UK Government’s spring statement, and it is not happy. Seemingly, when the leaks made it clear they were going to remove benefits from those most in need, some in automotive land thought that there would be financial incentives for wealthy private buyers to get new shiny cars or for incoming taxes to be postponed. If you wish to read more, click this article link from Motor Trader. UK VEHICLE EXCISE DUTY CHANGES COME INTO FORCEThe UK Government’s changes to Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) came into affect on 1 April 2025. There is an inflationary increase to all levels, but additionally some cars previously exempt from VED as well as the Expensive Car Supplement, will now be covered. This includes electric cars and those first registered back in 2017. On top of all that there are changes to the van excise duty and pick ups. To find out more, click this article link from Ayvens, which explains all the issues well. JIM ROWAN LEAVES VOLVO Jim Rowan, the Volvo CEO for the last three years after moving from Dyson, has left the company with immediate effect. His replacement is the former CEO, Håkan Samuelsson, on a two year interim basis. You can read more, by clicking this Autocar link here. WAYNE GRIFFITHS LEAVES SEAT AND CUPRAMore changes to the heads of brands, this time, the surprise announcement that Wayne Griffiths is leaving the Seat and Cupra brands. He has managed to keep Seat relevant, in the face of the VW Group’s inability to work out what to do with it, and brought Cupra from nothing into a rapidly expanding brand. To find out more,
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