BrownCarGuy November 2025 Round-Up: Classics, Controversies & Car Chaos

A packed month of veteran cars, EV scandals, Budget shocks, iconic reviews and a few gloriously unhinged podcasts

Winter’s coming. But activity ramped up. Events and stories came at me like a runaway HGV – overwhelming, yes, but also wildly entertaining if you’re into that sort of thing. One moment I was on Pall Mall admiring 120-year-old machines and chatting with Steve Berry; the next I was at the NEC drowning in classic temptation. And in between, I was unpacking everything from caffeine-fuelled driving dangers to copycat-turned-king Chinese car brands, New York’s anti-car Mayor, and a UK Budget that essentially confirmed: “The end of driving is nigh.”

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01/12/2025 0

Budget 2025 – Drivers Betrayed: Pay-Per-Mile Confirmed For EVs and PHEVs

The Budget drops the biggest anti-motorist bombshell in years – a full Pay-Per-Mile tax on electric and plug-in hybrid cars, plus luxury-tax hikes, Motability cuts and a fuel-duty freeze that expires in months

If you were hoping today’s Budget might go easy on motorists, then bless you for your optimism. Anyone paying attention knew this was coming, and yet it still feels like being slapped with a wet kipper. And just like that, buried beneath all the other headlines, comes the most consequential motoring announcement in years – one that will reshape the automotive landscape, hammer the car industry, and punish drivers across the country. The Government has now confirmed Pay-Per-Mile taxation for electric vehicles. Yes, it’s real. Yes, it’s happening. And no, it won’t stop at EVs.

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26/11/2025 6

Budget Black Hole? Why the UK Car Industry Might Be Our Unexpected Economic Lifeline

Britain doesn’t need higher taxes – it needs smarter growth, and the car industry could deliver billions in extra revenue without changing a single tax rate

Next week’s Budget is already being whispered about in tones normally reserved for horror films and MOT failures. The words “stealth taxes” and “tough decisions” are being tossed around like loose change in the Chancellor’s red box, and ordinary Brits are bracing for yet another round of financial whiplash. But here’s the bit nobody seems to be talking about – in all the noise about tax rises, cuts, freezes, and fiscal black holes, we’re ignoring one of Britain’s biggest, most underappreciated economic engines.

Cars. Not just the things on your driveway – the entire UK automotive ecosystem. Let’ me explain…

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19/11/2025 3

The UK Economy Slows and the Car Industry Gets the Blame. Here Is the Real Story

A single cyber attack at JLR slowed the entire UK economy, revealing how vital – and how vulnerable – Britain’s car industry is

The UK woke up to a rather depressing figure this week. Economic growth from July to September came in at 0.1 per cent. The analysts thought we would hit 0.2 per cent, so already things looked a little feeble. The headlines called it a blow for the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves. The markets shrugged. Most of the public sighed into their morning tea.

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13/11/2025 1

CHINESE: From Copycats to Kings

How China Conquered the Car World – and they’re not done yet, they’re getting more ships!

Somewhere between the mockery and the memes, between jokes about “Range Rover rip-offs” and “plastic dashboards”, something rather extraordinary happened. The Chinese car industry grew up – fast. And now, while the West was busy sniggering, Beijing’s automakers quietly built an empire. An empire of design studios, R&D centres, global shipping fleets, and production hubs from Brazil to Budapest. Once dismissed as cheap copycats, China’s carmakers have now become the innovators – the disruptors – the ones pushing the boundaries of electric mobility, tech integration, and even automotive engineering itself.

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10/11/2025 1

Is Zohran Mamdani Anti-Car? What New York’s Motorists Need to Know

The Mayor doesn’t drive, but he’s steering New York’s future – and motorists might not like where the road’s heading

When a man who doesn’t even drive becomes the Mayor of New York City, you just know things are about to get interesting. Zohran Mamdani’s victory has made waves across the world – not just because he’s the first Muslim, first brown and first African-born mayor in NYC’s history, but because he represents something much bigger: a changing philosophy about how cities are built, who they serve, and – crucially for us car lovers – whether there’s still space for motorists in the urban future.

Now, before you reach for your pitchforks or your petrol can, let’s take a calm, and rational look at what this actually means for drivers.

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07/11/2025 0

BrownCarGuy October Round-Up: Scandals, Supercars & 10 Million Fines

From EV world records to yellow-box chaos, Mazda’s electric comeback to the potential end of classic car tax exemptions – October was a rollercoaster for motoring news, reviews, rants, and revelations

October was a month where the motoring world felt like it had one foot on the throttle and the other in a pothole. We had political mayhem, performance miracles, tech scandals, nostalgic deep dives and a few hearty laughs along the way. Whether you’re here for honest reviews, shocking truths, or a dose of car culture therapy – I’ve rounded up my best videos, blogs, and podcasts from the past month. Buckle up!

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01/11/2025 0

The PHEV Scandal

How Plug-In Hybrids Became the Car Industry’s Dirty Little Secret

They were supposed to be the perfect bridge to a greener motoring future – the best of both worlds. Drive electric around town, and petrol on the motorway. No range anxiety, no compromise, no problem. But according to a new report by Transport & Environment, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) might be one of the biggest greenwashing scandals in the car industry. In the real world, these so-called eco-friendly cars are polluting almost as much as petrol vehicles.

So what went wrong? And more importantly – are PHEVs worth buying at all?

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30/10/2025 1

PODCAST: Ghosts, Gearboxes & Great Stories – Is Car Journalism Dead or Just Rebooted?

BCG Therapy Session Podcast with Jeff Bailey & Imthishan Giado

Somewhere between haunted roads, electric cars, and the eternal fight between influencers and journalists, a very honest discussion broke out. In the latest BrownCarGuy Therapy Session Podcast, I was joined by Jeff Bailey – long-time motoring writer, serial car buyer, and author – and Imthishan Giado, my partner-in-crime from our Car Middle East and Motoring Middle East days. We didn’t plan to solve the mysteries of the universe, but somewhere between the nostalgia and the banter, we might just have done that – or something…

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26/10/2025 1

Cardiff’s War on Drivers: The Truth Behind the SUV Parking Charge

Cardiff has become the first UK city to charge extra for heavier cars – praised by some as climate progress, but seen by many as yet another salvo in the war on drivers

Cardiff Council has approved a policy that introduces higher parking permit charges for larger and heavier vehicles, starting with those over 2,400kg – and soon expanding to 2,000kg for non-electric cars. The Council claims the aim isn’t to punish, but to “gently encourage behaviour change,” arguing that bigger cars take up more space, cause more road wear, and are a greater danger to pedestrians.

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23/10/2025 1