John Griffiths’ Post

The Renault Zoe has always been a great value EV, and now prices have fallen and time has passed the earlier Zoe's make incredibly affordable EVs. They are lovely little cars too as my family will testify as we have 3 of them! As a result, these early Renault Zoe's are very high in our best buy rankings for used EVs under £10k and even under £5k now for the earlier models. There are a few things to watch out for when buying an early Zoe though, that a lot of car retailers I don't think fully understand, most specifically the battery leasing on a lot of these earlier cars, and the difference it makes to their value, so please don't get caught out. So i thought we should revisit our Renault Zoe review video from a few years ago where we cover all your need to know about this great compact EV. https://loom.ly/YYCbGFo

In theory, the new Dacia Spring is the 'cheap EV' that people have been crying out for. £14,995 for a brand new electric car is outstanding, and yet I wonder if people will actually embrace a car which does 0-60 in 19 seconds, goes 137 miles between charges and doesn't even have Apple CarPlay etc. It makes me wonder if the £15k EV that people have been waiting for is not a brand new Dacia Spring, but actually a low mileage 3 year old Hyundai IONIQ, Nissan LEAF, or Renault Zoe. All three of these cars can be had on the Used market in great condition for well under £15k, and the Hyundai even has 2 years of it's 5 year warranty left. That seems to me like a much smaller compromise than this new Dacia. https://lnkd.in/eeeF_6yJ

Our weekly recap of what’s been happening in the Australian car market 👀 It’s the first time we’ve seen BYD adjust pricing coming down -5.3% for the month of June on their Seal Premium & Performance variants. Conversely Mercedes-Benz has increased two of their EV models in the EQE 53 (+1.1%) and EQS 450 SUV (+0.5%). The biggest adjustment has come from Peugeot and their 508 Plug-In Hybrids down a massive -$24,000. This represents yet another big adjustment for their line-up which is seeing changes most weeks. Search all of these and more at TheBeep.com.au 🚗📈 #thebeep #cars #carsaustralia #cardeals #carsdaily #carnews #newcar #automotive #automotiveindustry

ARTICLE... What technology do new car owners expect to feature within the lower end of the market? Rob Marshall looks at the forthcoming third-generation Dacia Duster to find out. It cannot be denied that Dacia (‘Datcher’) has seen remarkable success, since it was lifted from its native Romania and expanded into a new range of models beyond rebadged Renault 12s. While the new models were restyled, they featured relatively old-tech Renault running gear but this did not impede their success. Budget-conscious new car buyers in Europe lapped them up to such an extent that UK sales were delayed initially. https://lnkd.in/eMDW3Bng

Is the UK ready to fall in love with small and efficient cars again? The #Dacia Spring might just be the answer. With its low price point, this electric supermini is set to be one of the cheapest new cars on the market. Plus, with an overnight EV tariff, it's even cheaper to fuel, costing only around 2 pence per mile. Thanks to it being light (for an EV) and efficient, with a ~27kWh battery unit giving it a 100 mile real-world range. Will the Dacia Spring give a much-needed boost to the supermini segment in the UK? After all, it isn't too long ago that the Ford Fiesta and Vauxhall Corsa were kings! https://lnkd.in/eUSrHMBX

The decline of the midsize sedan: Why there will soon be just 5 nameplates in U.S. The once-hypercompetitive midsize car segment has shrunk rapidly, falling victim to innovations in vehicle packaging and changing consumer tastes. The midsize sedan was once the quintessential family car—and it is now one of the most competitive segments in the U.S. Not today. When the nation's No. 3-selling midsize sedan, the Chevrolet Malibu, ends production this year and the Subaru Legacy is discontinued after the 2025 model, there will be just five mainstream midsize sedans available in the U.S. — all Asian imports: - Toyota Camry - Honda Accord - Nissan Altima - Kia K5 - Hyundai Sonata Toyota, which has stuck with a widely diversified product portfolio while others exited car segments, says its top-selling Camry is not going anywhere. Dave Christ, head of the Toyota brand in North America, recently told Automotive News: "We still believe that it's worth investing in passenger cars, and we're going to stay committed to it." Find out how rapidly has the landscape changed: https://lnkd.in/ehcEC5gm

Car buyers in UK have a lot of choices in the EV segment… “2024 continues to be a big year for the UK’s electric car market, as all major car makers are being forced to sell a significantly greater ratio of EVs under the new zero emission vehicle mandate. In simple terms, slightly more than one in every five cars that a firm sells in the UK during 2024 has to emit no carbon; and without a hydrogen fuelling infrastructure to speak of, those cars are bound to be battery-electric. It's a good thing, then, that most brands are massively expanding their EV offerings. New entrants range from properly affordable options like the Citroën ë-C3 and Dacia Spring to multi-million pound works of art like the Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale. There’s something arriving to suit everyone. Read on for our guide to the all-new electric cars going on sale in 2024 – or, if you’re curious to see what petrol and hybrid cars are also on the way, check our full list of the new cars worth waiting for. Read more in this Autocar Business article by Charlie Martin & Jack Warrick

Welcome news for new car buyers, to an extent. The problem is, B-segment cars aren't going to shift the needle when it comes to BEV adoption. The European market for A/B segment cars is in decline. SUVs are 49% of new car sales, reflecting the fact that the largest car-owning demographic is “households with two adults and dependent children”, for whom decent rear seating and luggage space is likely quite important. Moreover, in the UK at least, nearly 60% of households with a car only have one of them; so their vehicles need to be practical for more than just short-distance city driving. In England, 15% of all km driven are on journeys of over 160 km, which isn’t negligible. Lastly, the average age of a new car buyer in Europe is 53. How important to them is an “epic digital experience” vs (say) a low TCO? Most people under 45 buy used – by the time these vehicles hit the used market four or five years down the road, that digital experience might be perceived as considerably less than epic. SDV will solve this issue, but not yet. https://lnkd.in/eUFawb9a

The decline of the midsize sedan: Why there will soon be just 5 nameplates in U.S. The once-hypercompetitive midsize car segment has shrunk rapidly, falling victim to innovations in vehicle packaging and changing consumer tastes. The midsize sedan was once the quintessential family car—and it is now one of the most competitive segments in the U.S. Not today. When the nation's No. 3-selling midsize sedan, the Chevrolet Malibu, ends production this year and the Subaru Legacy is discontinued after the 2025 model, there will be just five mainstream midsize sedans available in the U.S. — all Asian imports: - Toyota Camry - Honda Accord - Nissan Altima - Kia K5 - Hyundai Sonata Toyota, which has stuck with a widely diversified product portfolio while others exited car segments, says its top-selling Camry is not going anywhere. Dave Christ, head of the Toyota brand in North America, recently told Automotive News: "We still believe that it's worth investing in passenger cars, and we're going to stay committed to it." Find out how rapidly has the landscape changed: https://lnkd.in/e3u9G2iB