Daily Motor News – Friday 12 September 2025  

‘Level four extends autonomous operations to regular roads – initially for limited services like robo-taxis in geo-fenced areas or hub-to-hub freight. These vehicles are expected to scale in select cities by around 2030. Level five, which can handle most road and weather conditions without a steering wheel, is likely to arrive much later – well into the 2040s or beyond.’  Read more

Carpenters Group Host Industry Roundtable on OIC Portal Reform 

Last week, Carpenters Group hosted a first-of-its-kind roundtable discussion concerning the operation of the Official Injury Claims Portal (OICP), and wider issues around motor claims. Read more

Positive indications on claims costs but tech gaps and communications challenges persist – DCL Broker Barometer 

Direct Commercial Limited’s (DCL) latest Broker Barometer reveals that while a majority of brokers still report rising claims costs, fewer say costs went up this quarter (78%) than a year ago (91%).  Read more

Pearson Ham launches UK Van Insurance Price Tracker as competitive premiums fall over 20% year-on-year 

Pearson Ham Group today unveiled its new Van Insurance Price Tracker, a daily, market-wide view of competitively quoted van insurance prices across the UK. Read more

Protecting UK-EU trade is a pressing priority 

Five years since the UK-EU TCA was signed, the UK automotive sector stands at a pivotal juncture. While Brexit has fundamentally reshaped the trading landscape, subsequent headwinds – geopolitical uncertainty, rising protectionism, tariff barriers, and intensified competition in the push to decarbonise – pile further pressure on our global competitiveness. Read more

Jaguar Land Rover shutdown extended to next week 

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has said its UK factories will remain closed until next week after the carmaker was hit by a cyber attack at the end of last month. Production halted at the plants in Solihull, Halewood and Wolverhampton with workers sent home following the hack, which came to light on 1 September. Read more

Residual value: the strategic advantage for OEMs. 

I’m Matthew Freeman, Managing Consultant at Solera Consulting. Part of my role is to analyse the true cost of vehicle ownership, and the biggest cost, by far, is depreciation. That’s why Residual Value (RV) is so critical to Vehicle Manufacturers. A strong RV doesn’t just shape the used car market; it influences competitiveness in the new car market, brand credibility, and long-term profitability. Read more

BYD insists its rapid EV growth can’t be stopped, even without electric car grants 

The global EV leader is unleashing new electric cars in the industry’s fastest-growing car segments. Despite being excluded from the UK’s new Electric Car Grant, BYD believes it’s still poised to see strong EV sales growth in the region. Read more

Aston Martin to adopt Pirelli cyber tyre technology 

Pirelli and Aston Martin have agreed to collaborate on the integration of Pirelli’s exclusive Cyber Tyre technology into the British ultra-luxury performance brand’s future vehicles. Cyber Tyre is the first system in the world, able to collect data and information from sensors located directly in the tyres themselves, process that data with Pirelli’s proprietary software and algorithms and, in real time, communicate with the vehicle’s electronics to create new functionalities integrated within the driving and control systems.  Read more

Cary Group’s first projects of the Internal Carbon Pricing initiatives successfully implemented 

Cary Group, a European leader in vehicle glass repair and replacement, is continuing its decarbonization actions with the implementation of the Internal Carbon Pricing (ICP) initiatives. The ICP initiative was launched internally in 2024 to speed up the journey of reducing carbon emissions to reach the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) targets. During 2025, projects funded by the ICP have been successfully implemented. Read more

Reasons behind Prohire’s demise outlined by administrator 

Collapsed truck rental and contract hire firm Prohire could owe its customers as much as £28m according to papers filed by its administrator. Read more

Collision repair industry sees 35% drop in MSO acquisitions and openings despite continued consolidation 

US: Deal volume in the collision repair industry fell sharply in the first half of 2025, with acquisitions and opening at major consolidators down more than a third compared to 2024. The large national and regional MSO acquired or opened 223 shops compared to 343 in the same period last year, according to a new report from Focus Advisors. Read more

The silicon-powered future of the car industry 

The evolution to autonomous vehicles won’t just change the driving experience—it will demand massive growth in the market for automotive semiconductors. PwC’s recent Semiconductor Trends Outlook 2025 report projects that fully autonomous driving will require a five-fold increase in the number—and a 10-fold increase in the cost—of chips in each vehicle.  Read more

‘We are playing with fire’: Fears persist over battery storage 

US: Robert Holden is worried about one of New York City’s five boroughs going up in flames. “It makes absolutely zero sense why, now, these facilities are being sited practically in people’s backyards, and next to gas stations, all over Staten Island,” says the city councillor. Read more

PayByPhone, a global leader in mobile parking payments, has signed a strategic global partnership with SKIDATA, an  international leader in the field of parking and access control solutions and their management, to join SKIDATA Connect, an all-in-one platform for managing customer experiences in the Parking & Mobility and Sports & Entertainment industries.  Read more