After the Western Group had to make the decision to abandon our annual Driving Day, a blow to us all as it would have been the first to be staged since 2019, I’m pleased to say that we have been able to re-schedule the event this year. The 1 June date fell victim to...
Hundreds of beautiful and valuable classic cars are heading to France with Brittany Ferries this weekend. They belong to Brits and other nationals attending the biennial Le Mans Classic festival in Pays de la Loire.Around 430 rare and valuable cars have made the...
Unfortunately, our plans to hold the first WGMW PR Driving Day since 2019, have hit a hiccup. We were due to hold the event at Castle Combe Circuit, where the event has been held since it began over 30 years ago. Now that events are up and running again at...
Leigh Robinson 1948-2022 The Western Group lost a stalwart when Leigh died suddenly at the beginning of April. Leigh was a ‘proper’ journalist as many will know, working his way up through the local press in Northern England before coming south in the 1990s and after...
Leigh Robinson was a Cumbrian, born in the Lake District on 30 March 1948. In his early years he drove trucks for a living as a driver for BRS. Writing was clearly what motivated him though and he made his break into the local press in the 1970s, initially in the...
Whither Geneva? The first week of March has since time immemorial been the date of the Geneva Show, the event which always seemed to herald the new motoring year. But once again and for the third year in succession, the Show has been cancelled. The organisers blamed...
I recently carried out an interview with the Chief Technology Officer of the Volvo Group – not the car manufacturer but the truck, bus and off-road equipment manufacturer. In the course of the discussion, the subject of autonomous vehicles came up. I was quite...
Friend of WGMW Karen Parry now heads up the communications for AUTOVIA, the UK’s number one automotive content and commerce growth business. Karen brings with her over 30 years of automotive experience and joins Autovia from a 12-month contract as Head of...
Last month, Daimler Benz announced that it had received authorisation from the federal traffic office to equip its car with level-three automation, effectively hands-free driving. The first appearance of this will be on the new S Class Mercedes due for launch during...
With the AGM behind us, From the Chair comes from a new Chairman this month. Many thanks to Robin Roberts for his many years of hard work for the Group as chairman and deputy chairman. The Government’s stated intention to ban the internal combustion engine from...
A recently published book explores the multiple factors at play in the downfall of one of the auto industry’s celebrated executives, Carlos Ghosn. The story of Carlos Ghosn’s time as the head of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, while leading both companies – and his...
The shortest motorway in the UK is in the Cotswolds but you have got special permission to drive on it and it’s only 500 yards long! Not many people have heard of the M96 which is a four lane motorway and which has more crashes on it than all the other motorways put...
Volkswagen dominated UK sales in October and scooped 8.52% of sales, writes Robin Roberts. BMW, Kia, Mercedes-Benz and Audi all out performed the rest and left Ford and Vauxhall, traditional leaders, trailing behind. Regionally, Wales bucked the trend and grew new car...
If it has struck you that there seem to be more and more Teslas about, it is not an illusion. According to analysts Jato Dynamics, in September the Tesla Model 3 was Europe’s best-selling car, with 24,571 cars sold. In second place was the Renault Clio at 18,268 and...
The Western Group of Motoring Writers recently held its first face-to-face meeting for over a year courtesy of Honda UK and to whom we are very grateful. By the way, there was no truth in the rumour that Honda PR Emma Butler used the meeting as a rehearsal for...
Women On The Move Against Cancer – better known as WOMAC – is an organisation founded with one aim in mind, to donate to charities that support people who are suffering with the big C – cancer – one of the scariest words in the English language. Since 1979, WOMAC has...
