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Top Gear
7 days ago
- Automotive
- Top Gear
What does McLaren P1 designer Frank Stephenson make of the Alfa 33 Stradale?
Opinion The designer talks Top Gear through Alfa's stunning new supercar. Hot, or not? Skip 1 photos in the image carousel and continue reading Frank Stephenson is a car designer with more hits than the Beatles, including the Escort RS Cossie, first BMW Mini, Maser MC12, numerous Ferraris and the McLaren P1. These days he runs his own consultancy – Frank Stephenson Design. Here he shares his views on Alfa's new 33 Stradale with Top Gear It takes a lot of courage to go out and redesign a true icon of automotive design. The original 33 Stradale is widely considered the Mona Lisa, so any attempt to reinterpret the iconic shape into a modern package is no mean feat. Advertisement - Page continues below But my goodness, the team at Alfa's Centro Stile have made a heck of a job of it. It's easily one of the most stunning releases of the past few years, but still not perfect. I feel it misses the ultimate mark because of a few critical design choices. You might like In some areas, the details appear overly complicated – the side intake, the edgy bonnet, the fussy rear end. The OG 33 is one of the most pure and simple forms in automotive history, an ode to beauty in its most stripped-back form. We're talking about a £1.7 million supercar here, so sadly only a select few will be able to buy one. But that's the beauty of good design - we all get to enjoy it so long as owners use them in the wild and don't lock them away forever. Advertisement - Page continues below Room for improvement then, but still a smoking hot effort from Alfa. Very complex surface treatment. The front graphic is a fantastic modernisation of the original. Thinner A-pillar to reduce visual weight? Black mirror cap to blend into glass area? Rounder, more organically shaped headlights? Intake design is much more aggressive than the original! Rear plate position could be lowered to make it less of a focal point. Overcomplicated design [bottom half of rear light signature]! Reflector position is too generic. Not enough for this surface [rear three quarter carbon to side of wheel arch] Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Look out for your regular round-up of news, reviews and offers in your inbox. Get all the latest news, reviews and exclusives, direct to your inbox. The proportions are not as unique as the original 33. The rear is much higher! Verdict: HOT
The Independent
29-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Independent
Auto Trader reports growing car sales despite ‘financial pressure' on customers
Car selling platform Auto Trader has said the UK's automotive market is in 'good health' with growing new and used car sales, defying another year of high interest rates and weak consumer confidence. Auto Trader said the UK's new car market grew 3% over the last 12 months, mainly driven by more sales for company 'fleet' vehicles, but standard retail sales fell 4% year-on-year. Meanwhile, the company said it saw 'strong levels of demand for used cars', with 4% more sales this year than last, though supply remains below pre-pandemic levels. It said used car pricing has been 'stable' over the last 12 months after declines in the previous financial year. The group said it saw a 5% increase in the number of cars advertised through its platform, an average of 449,000 per month through the year. And it said consumers made a record 81.6 million visits to Auto Trader's platforms this year. Auto Trader's revenues came in at £601.1 million in the year to March 31, up 5% compared with the previous 12 months, while profit rose 8% to £376.8 million. The growth in both markets comes despite another year of high interest rates and inflation in the UK, which the company said put 'financial pressure' on customers. The company said that through much of the year, consumer demand exceeded the supply of used cars, meaning sales tended to happen fast. Nathan Coe, chief executive of Auto Trader, said: 'Despite broader macroeconomic uncertainties, the UK car market is in good health and we continue to deliver against our strategy to improve car buying and retailing.' He added that the company launched a new artificial intelligence product range called Co-Driver, which is helping to speed up searches on Auto Trader's platform. Mr Coe said: 'The first wave of Co-Driver products has already successfully enhanced the quality of adverts, while reducing the amount of time it takes for retailers to advertise their vehicles. 'We see significant potential for the use of AI to improve the buying and selling of cars in the years ahead.' 'We remain confident in the outlook for the business given our strong market position, the value we deliver for customers, and our unique data and technology capabilities.'
Daily Mail
23-05-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Trump launches crippling tariffs on 'very difficult' Europe in new trade war escalation
Donald Trump is threatening new crippling tariffs on the European Union after trade negotiations have gone south. Trump took to Truth Social on Friday morning to put the 'difficult' EU on blast for 'taking advantage' of the United States. He slammed estimates of a $250,000,000 trade deficit between the two countries every year, adding it's 'totally unacceptable.' 'Our discussions with them are going nowhere!' he proclaimed before threatening to slap a 'straight 50 percent tariff' on the EU beginning June 1. 'There is no tariff if the product is built or manufactured in the United States,' he added. Trump's new threat comes weeks after he struck an emergency trade deal with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to 'save' the car industry. The deal, which President Trump said was only possible 'because of Brexit', cuts U.S. tariffs on cars imported from the UK from 25 per cent to 10 for the first 100,000 vehicles. Ministers had feared that leading car makers were preparing to cut thousands of jobs unless the tariffs were reduced. Trump's new threat comes weeks after he struck an emergency trade deal with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to 'save' the car industry The deal was the first struck since President Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariffs stunned the world last month. Trump said the speed of the deal with the UK was only possible because of Britain's status outside the EU.
NHK
16-05-2025
- Automotive
- NHK
Japan hopes for 'win-win' in next trade talks with US
Japan's government has been brainstorming its negotiating strategy for the third-round of tariff talks in Washington later next week. A focus is on automobile import tariffs imposed by the Trump administration that threaten to cause major losses for Japan's car industry. Tokyo's tariff task force led by Economic Revitalization Minister Akazawa Ryosei and Chief Cabinet Secretary Hayashi Yoshimasa met on Thursday. They discussed the challenges faced and how to work out a deal. "My focus is on our national interests, to protect what needs to be protected and to say what needs to be said," Akazawa said to the reporters after the meeting. "The priority is to achieve an agreement with the United States that is a win-win for both countries." He has indicated a need to speed up negotiations with the goal of sealing an agreement next month. Japan's government reportedly wants to have the tariff issues settled in time for the G7 summit that will be held in Canada in mid-June.
BBC News
08-05-2025
- Automotive
- BBC News
Chris Mason: Starmer can claim limited win with America deal
It is turning out to be quite the month for trade deals of various was the one with India earlier this week, now the pact with the US, and a new deal with the European Union is expected the week after next at a UK-EU summit in sorts of arrangements, varying significantly, can huddle under the umbrella vocabulary of a trade deal and this trio of agreements is very unpick a little of what we have learnt about this deal with America. Firstly, ministers are determined to project these deals in real world terms, surrounding themselves by workers and industry, not charts and there was a particular reason that went beyond the symmetry of the Prime Minister returning to the same production line he visited a month ago, Jaguar Land Rover's in Solihull in the West he had taken us there shortly after President Trump hammered the British car industry with huge tariffs and JLR had suspended exports to there was also a keen awareness in government of how bleak things looked for this company, and others, if this wasn't sorted and sorted to the Mayor of the West Midlands, Labour's Richard Parker, his sense of relief was tariffs on the car industry haven't disappeared or even returned to where they were, but they have fallen significantly – and that matters hugely to the viability of the sector and so the wider economy of the this is where speed matters too – the government's diplomatic achievement in sorting this deal before anyone else delivers that reprieve sooner and that matters for companies' bottom lines and budgets. US and UK agree deal slashing Trump tariffs on cars and metalsWhat is in the UK-US tariff deal?US agreement leaves the UK open to do a much more significant EU deal But some others among the Prime Minister's political opponents accuse him of over claiming - adopting the bombast and hyperbole of President Trump in how he has decided to describe this argue too it is primarily about mitigating the recent cranking up of tariffs, rather than a deep and broad free trade agreement – and there is something in that critique.I put this to Sir Keir Starmer: that while his deal may offer better trading conditions for some than were available a few days ago, they aren't necessarily better than six months tacitly acknowledged that, arguing instead that our focus should be comparing with the very recent truth, American might garnished with Trumpian brute force has hurried along these negotiations and this is far from the deal some talked about during President Trump's first that does cut both ways – the UK hasn't had to dilute its Digital Services Tax, which generates the best part of a billion pounds a year from some of the big US tech giants, for is it sufficiently deep that questions about the NHS or food standards have become embroiled in the we are told, are ongoing about trying to cut the ten per cent tariff America has imposed on most products the UK sells there and which remains in let's see what America arranges with others and let's see what President Trump says next – talk of tariffs on the film industry still loiter, for ever with deals like this, particularly where there is still quite a bit of work to be done on them, detail is and businesses around the UK will pore over the specifics as they emerge to determine the implications for the Prime Minister, walking towards political headwinds international and domestic, he can chalk this up as good news, if limited good news – but good news he will bank. Sign up for our Politics Essential newsletter to keep up with the inner workings of Westminster and beyond.
