This is a car that we at Motoring Weekly hadn’t heard of before - the Vemac RD180, the first in series of sports cars that should have included the RD200, RD320 and RD350. It appears that only the first two were built in limited numbers and the last two never made it to full production. In effect the RD180 was a design concept prototype and the styling was a mix of Porsche, … [Read more...]
Honda Factory Closures not a Political Decision
Two weeks ago, Honda made the announcement that they would be closing a British factory in 2022. The mainstream media ignored the date and immediately blamed the issues on Brexit without considering that if it was due to Britain leaving the EU, then Honda would be winding down now, not in three years time! Honda’s closure in the UK was never about Brexit, rather than about … [Read more...]
Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance Crisis
Recently Motoring Weekly wrote an article about the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance that described the history of the loose grouping of manufacturers and the marques associated with them. This was to set the scene for this article about the management crisis that has enveloped the alliance. Back in November of last year, Carlos Ghosn, the CEO of the Alliance and the … [Read more...]
The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance
Over the years Motoring Weekly has discussed conglomerates of marques such as British Leyland Motor Company and American Motors Corporation where the parent company swallows several manufacturers to find cost savings by sharing parts and designs. Another way to do this is to have an alliance where the ownership of each entity is still open and where there is no true … [Read more...]
Toyota Century GRMN
Here at Motoring Weekly we like to keep an eye on unusual or one-off vehicles that appear out of the blue. Late last year there was a flurry of reports about the Toyota Century GRMN. The Toyota Century is the ultra limousine built exclusively for the Japanese Domestic Market (JDM). It has had only three generations in over fifty years and is a true low volume vehicle - only … [Read more...]