#BrownCarGuy – News, Views & Reviews!
Times are tough, and for the car industry, it’s frankly tougher than most. Since the rush to electrification gathered pace less than a decade ago, legacy carmakers have been stumbling through a fog of big losses, plant closures, new supply chains, and enormous investment.
Just two years after killing it off, Ford is bringing the Fiesta back from the dead. But before you start celebrating, hold your horses – this isn’t the fizzy, fun, chuckable little hatchback we all knew and loved. This time, it’s electric. Possibly German. You couldn’t make it up. In 2023, Ford proudly shut the door on the Fiesta after 47 glorious years and 22 million sales. It was Britain’s best-selling car for over a decade – an icon, a legend, a rite of passage. And then poof – gone. Why? Because Ford thought it would be more profitable to sell big, posh, high-riding EV crossovers instead.
Well… about that.
Well, no one saw this one coming, did they? In what may turn out to be one of the most significant moments in modern automotive geopolitics, Japan and the US have quietly signed a trade deal that slashes tariffs on Japanese car imports into America down to just 15% — and, wait for it, with no import quotas whatsoever. That’s right. The floodgates are open.
If you own a second-generation Citroën C3 (2009–2016) or a first-generation DS3 (2009–2019), stop everything. You might be sitting behind a steering wheel that could literally kill you. In June 2024, Citroën issued a Europe-wide “Do Not Drive” order for thousands of these models after a horrific fatal incident in France – where an airbag deployed during a minor crash and shot metal shrapnel into the driver’s face, killing her. That’s right – the very safety device designed to protect, became the instrument of death.
Well, it’s finally here – the much anticipated return of EV subsidies in the UK. The government has announced a massive £700 million pot to encourage more people to go electric, offering grants of up to £3,750 off the purchase of a new battery electric vehicle (BEV). Sounds fantastic, right? But wait – before you dash off to your nearest dealership, there are a few important details you really need to understand. Because this time, things are a little different. And if you’re not careful, you might end up worse off!
Could the Nissan Leaf be the next national car? Sounds wild, but with the UK Government planning to throw £700 million at boosting electric vehicle sales – and reports suggesting only UK-built EVs may qualify for the cash – it might just happen. This isn’t just about climate targets anymore. It’s about protecting British manufacturing, curbing cheap imports, and getting private buyers back in the game. I break it all down in the video below.
Some speeches are polite, PR-friendly affairs filled with vague optimism and corporate buzzwords. Not this one. Mike Hawes, Chief Executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), came out swinging at SMMT Test Day 2025 with what felt more like a rallying cry for survival than a standard industry update. “The industry faces an existential threat,” Hawes warned. And if that sounds dramatic — well, good. It should. Because the message he delivered was clear: the UK automotive sector is on a cliff edge, and we’re running out of road fast.
After what feels like an eternity of bad headlines – factory closures, job cuts, parked-up cars, Brexit chaos, and Trumpian tariffs – we’ve actually got some good news to report. Yes, you heard that right! In a surprising and very welcome turn of events, the UK government has secured not one, but two major trade deals this week: one with India and one with the United States. And for the UK automotive sector, these could be game-changing. Let’s break it down.
In just his first 100 days back in the White House, Trump has managed to detonate a 25% tariff bomb on all foreign-built cars entering the United States – and the shockwaves are being felt from Crewe to Kyoto.
Plug in your phone and they’ll know everything about you! Apparently it’s that simple. According to a growing chorus of British defence insiders, Chinese-built electric vehicles could be rolling surveillance machines, gathering personal data the moment you plug your phone into the USB port.
