Welcome to the final episode of Fast News Friday in 2020. This week we discover that white remains the world’s most popular choice of car colour, enjoy a suite of short, fun and festive films from BMW and learn of the opening of the UK’s first EV-only service station.
From everyone here at Foxtrot Papa, we wish you all a very relaxing festive season and a happy New Year. Bring on 2021!
White is the most popular car colour for 10th year
The popularity of white cars with buyers around the globe has gone from strength to strength over the last decade. For the 10th consecutive year, it remains the most popular colour in 2020 – as this story from Autoblog confirms. According to Axalta, an industrial coating and paint supply company that researched the topic, black came in second at 19%, followed by grey at 15% and silver at 9%. Essentially then, four out of five cars made in 2020 are black, white, or somewhere in between.
Here in the UK, black remains the most popular car colour on Britain’s roads, with 6.5 million vehicles, but white is the most popular choice for new cars registered. According to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), as of March 2020, the number of white cars rose by 269,314 compared to a year earlier, giving an overall total of just under 5m (4,954,510). Will the tables turn in the coming years as people become bolder with colour choices and more EVs hit the market?
BMW offers “Deer Driving Pleasure”
BMW is first to the snow-covered battleground in Foxtrot Papa’s favourite festive automotive content from a manufacturer. As with April Fool’s day, Christmas content allows brands to flex their creativity, imagination and humour… with a hint of product messaging thrown in. BMW UK’s festive take, impressively showcased here via three intriguing Instagram shorts, focuses on how reindeer are adapted for wintery conditions, likening their adaptations to the clever features seen on BMW’s. Snow joke.
UK’s first EV-only service station
Gridserve and Hitachi Capital UK have opened the first of 100 planned EV service stations this week in Essex. Featuring 36 rapid chargers capable of topping up a battery with 200 miles (322 km) of capacity in 20 minutes and powered exclusively by renewable energy, the sites will support the UK’s move towards a fully electric future. The site will also introduce improved catering and retail offerings. The service stations are much needed – EV sales in the UK rose 122 percent last month from a year ago, whilst hybrids are up 77 percent.
EV’s are here to stay as Gigafactory planned for UK
Britishvolt has secured a site in Northumberland where it will soon break ground on a new £2.6bn “gigafactory”. Set to be operational from 2023, the factory will provide vital support to the UK automotive industry and the subsequent plans for total electrification by 2030. Power will be routed from Norway’s hydroelectric power plants via a 450 mile long cable beneath the North Sea.
Car Ownership is Changing – From Porsche’s Expanding Online Sales to Cazoo’s Subscription
Just as the plethora of car purchase schemes revolutionised car purchase, a new wave of innovative sales channels and product offerings are changing the way we use cars for the better. For example, Porsche is expanding its online sales facility to another eight countries in response to Covid-19’s impact on the industry. Meanwhile, Cazoo, one of the UK’s leading online car retailers has acquired Drover, a car subscription start up which was founded in 2016.