A big week in industry as Geely buys into Daimler

It’s been a significant week in the industry. And not just for the #BeastFromTheEast.

It has been a week for industry events. We held the first Leasing Broker Federation dinner of the year on February 28 in Birmingham (right), and then the following evening the BVRLA had its annual shindig in London.

But the one event that really blew me sideways was Daimler’s new investor: Geely (aka Volvo).

Chinese automaker Geely now has a 9.69% stake in Daimler – the Germany automotive company’s largest investor. Reports in Reuters suggests that Geely wants access to Daimler’s know-how for the development of electric and autonomous vehicles.

Geely already owns Volvo Cars, has a significant stake in Proton and Proton’s Group Lotus unit, has finalised a deal to buy Volvo trucks, and also owns Manganese Bronze Holdings, which makes the London black cab – now going electric, the first of which is on the capital’s roads. That’s quite some brand portfolio for Geely.

Toyota backs Burnaston

I was hugely relieved to see that Toyota will continue to invest in its Burnaston plant. There was a real cloud hanging over the future of the plant, particularly with all the uncertainty surrounding Brexit. That has now been put to bed. Well done Toyota, and congratulations to all the workers at the Derbyshire plant for proving they are a world class production facility.

CO2 emissions go up

While we’ve had clarity over Toyota’s future ambitions in the UK, the government’s dithering and lack of clear leadership over air quality – choosing to finger diesels as a group, rather than the polluting Euro4 engines – has created such a backlash that CO2 emissions have risen in the UK. For the first time in two decades. And that is despite all new cars and vans being substantially cleaner than those that they replace. Read more here.

Jaguar i-Pace gives 300 mile range

Launched just last night was the new Jaguar i-Pace – an antidote to the climbing CO2 emissions. The five-seater SUV gives bags of practicality, looks super stylish and can deliver 300 miles on one charge – which takes the art of electric cars on again.

More to the point, the 90kWh Lithium-ion battery delivers a whopping 400PS and stonking 696Nm of torque for a 0-60mph time of 4.5s. If you fancy going zero emission, then prices start from £63,495.

New Combo van

OK, not quite, but as good as. Vauxhall showed us this new Combo Life model – which is based on the EMP2 platform as its sister models from Peugeot (Partner/Rifter) and Citroen (Berlingo). Apparently we’ll get to see more tin in July when the commercial vehicle version is shown before it goes on sale at the end of the year. Read more about the new Vauxhall Combo here.

New company car business mileage rates

Make sure you are claiming the correct amount for your business mileage in your company car. Or if your company pays for all your fuel, repaying your private mileage at the correct rate. Because HMRC announced new company car business mileage rates – and they commenced on March 01. Get up to speed here.

Mitsubishi plans extended SME programme through leasing brokers

Finally, Mitsubishi wants to play a bigger role in SME. It wants to grow its presence with the L200 pick-up, the Outlander PHEV and the Eclipse Cross. And will deliver this through leasing brokers who service the SME market so well.

I’ve been talking to Clive Messenger (above) about the programme. Read more about it here: Mitsubishi expands broker programme to access growing SME market.