by Robin Roberts | Nov 6, 2017 | From the Chair
In a few days I will be handing over the reins of thewesterngroup to a new chairman, and it’s with pride I slip from the saddle. Over the last two years we have held a couple of memorable driving days and enjoyed a number of events put on for the group by our...
by Robin Roberts | Oct 2, 2017 | From the Chair
Last month I aired the concerns of both journalists and PR professionals who are coping with the rise of “influencers” and paid-for blogs which are distorting the motoring scene. Paid for supplied editorial has been with us for decades in various forms but generally...
by WGMW News | Sep 1, 2017 | From the Chair
Everyone can see a revolution coming to our roads and the automotive industry within a generation, and this is going to be accompanied by a quieter change in the way we cover that momentous event as motoring journalists. The days of the pure motoring writer who was...
by Robin Roberts | Aug 1, 2017 | From the Chair
So, the car as we know it is going to be dead inside a generation by 2040. Somehow I think not. The continuing story of the automobile since the 1880s has been driven by evolution and I cannot see this changing despite the Stelvio statements of Governments...
by Robin Roberts | Jul 3, 2017 | From the Chair
The awards’ season is in full flow but there is one very important potential category which is overlooked, yet it’s the staple of both PR and motoring journalists. Depending on the sponsoring business or media, a vehicle manufacturer can be virtually guaranteed a gong...
by Robin Roberts | Jun 1, 2017 | From the Chair
It’s been an interesting month in May with impressive and not so impressive new technology making itself felt. To start with, or not as the case proved, a remote key-fob decided to go off-grid and not work, fortunately leaving me stranded no further than from my front...
by Robin Roberts | May 2, 2017 | From the Chair
Registration is underway for the globally unique DD2017 event by thewesterngroup for PR colleagues in the automotive industry. Even before the new on-line registration website was up and running we were having requests from the industry to allocate people and...
by Robin Roberts | Apr 3, 2017 | From the Chair
As automotive journalists and editors we are inundated with press releases from an industry which is arguably the most exciting, complex and global. We wouldn’t have it any other way, even if we occasionally moan about the rubbish topics picked to go under a...
by Robin Roberts | Mar 1, 2017 | From the Chair
The Western Group of Motoring writers, scores of other journalists and the global automotive community has lost one of its greatest champions with the unexpected death of Prof Garel Rhys. It says a lot for any individual if they are known around the world by their...
by Robin Roberts | Feb 1, 2017 | From the Chair
This year slipped into gear in style for the group and I think we will be really motoring this year. We have just held our first meeting of the year courtesy of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles UK, which unusually made this a multi-brand event to wisely maximise coverage for...
by Robin Roberts | Jan 1, 2017 | From the Chair
What a year that was in 2016 and what a year we have to come in 2017. thewesterngroup serenely sailed through the last 12 months while political storms raged further afield. At home we saw some changes taking place in the PR community and some mega deals being...
by Robin Roberts | Dec 1, 2016 | From the Chair
As autumn turns to winter it becomes increasingly apparent we reap what we sow. The traditional “fall” in the 21st century is now a time when we find the television contests are being harvested; ‘celebrities’ are ejected from a ‘jungle’, it’s the last waltz for...
by Robin Roberts | Nov 1, 2016 | From the Chair
Any remaining doubters in the automotive industry that Brexit would be bad for Britain needs to look at the investment planned by Nissan. It’s Sunderland plant has been promised the next Qashqai, and in an unexpected move, the forthcoming X-Trail as well. There was,...
by Robin Roberts | Oct 3, 2016 | From the Chair
It’s been an interesting month after a summer where the heat was too much and a few left the kitchen, even before the cakes had risen for a new series of Bake Off. Yes there have been splits with the popular tv baking show now finding a new oven for its outlet,...
by Robin Roberts | Sep 1, 2016 | From the Chair
I was sitting in a roadtest car the other day and pondered how times have changed, but then considered if they really had. I grew up with and drove what are today often called modern classics which were then still fun to drive. With some basic safety features,...
by Robin Roberts | Aug 1, 2016 | From the Chair
When you are staring at a computer screen with an approaching looming deadline and an interview still to be done or written up, it’s easy to forget what a pleasure it is to be a muttering rotter. We all moan and complain, some more than others, but the fact is we have...
