No, not everyone drives a manual in the U.K.—a lot do, but the number is declining
By Gary S. Vasilash
One of the things that isn’t often taken into account when looking at the number of vehicles sold in a given time period is that that number is additive to what exists on the road at that time.
Last year S&P Global Mobility calculated the average age of light vehicles in the U.S. was 12.6 years old.
From the standpoint of vehicles in operation (VIO) last January there were 286 million vehicles rolling around in the U.S.
So making a change (e.g., percentage of overall EVs in operation) will take a considerably longer time than might be thought.
An example of this are numbers from a British automotive data company, cap hpi, on types of transmissions in vehicles on the U.K. roads.
It found that at the end of 2024 automatic transmissions are in 29.3% of the U.K. car parc.
Which means more than two thirds of the vehicles are still manuals.
Yes, they found there is a considerable uptake in the number of automatics and a decrease in those buying vehicles with manuals: over 1.5 million new vehicles with automatics registered in 2024; 274,000 with manuals registered.
And the trend toward automatics is seemingly going to continue.
Unlike in the U.S. where a driver’s license is a driver’s license, in the U.K. there are differences in terms of the gearbox.
Stacey Ward, senior data director at cap hip, noted, “Additionally, more new drivers are opting for automatic-only driving licenses. In 2012, there were just 550,000 drivers with automatic licenses. In 2022, there were over 1.1 million, with this figure expected to continue to increase. Estimates suggest that by next year, a quarter of learners will qualify with a license limited to automatic cars only.”
Seems that gasoline is still reasonably popular. . .
By Gary S. Vasilash
The good news for companies in the European Union that make things like con rods and pistons is that according to the most recent vehicle registration figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) people are still buying vehicles that use internal combustion engines.
Its figures for January 2025 show that 29.4% of EU new vehicle registrations in January were for “petrol” powertrains.
The number in January 2024 was 35.4% petrol power, so clearly things are moving in the wrong direction for those in the business of making engines and the components thereof.
However, looking at the numbers for hybrids, things appear in a different way.
In January 2024 hybrids represented 28.7% of the new registrations in the EU.
But in January 2025 hybrids are at 34.9%.
So while there was a 6% decline in petrol registrations between the two months, there was a 6.2% increase in hybrid registrations.
And hybrids, of course, use internal combustion engines, too.
So if we sum the figures, 64.3% of the new vehicle registrations in the EU in January have internal combustion engines.
If the plug-in hybrids are added (7.4%), that gets to 71.7% of the market.
Electric vehicles?
They’re 15% of the January 2025 new vehicle registrations, which is a move toward the upside compared to January 2024, when EVs were at 10.9%.
However, EU regulations regarding CO2 emissions are such that 20% of the vehicles sold by automakers must be zero emissions.
If the ~37% increase from January 2024 to January 2025 for EVs holds, there is not going to be a problem reaching that figure.
Still, presumably when the 20% rule was written it was a stretch goal but not one thought to be wholly unattainable.
At the end of the day, the Market will decide on what powers its vehicles.
LG Display’s big display goes into production for Sony Honda Mobility. . .
By Gary S. Vasilash
The AFEELA 1 from Sony Honda Mobility is expected to have initial deliveries in mid-2026.
According to the company, the AFEELA 1 “pursues an interactive relationship between people and vehicles through the integration of advanced software and high-performance hardware, resulting in intelligent mobility.”
Presumably part of that “interactive relationship” is based on the screen that goes from A-pillar to A-pillar.
LG Display announced that it has started mass production of the 40-inch screen, which it says is the first of its type.
That’s a lot of screen. (Image: Sony Honda Mobility)
According to the company the screen “raises user convenience by allowing the simultaneous display of advanced infotainment functions, from a digital dashboard and navigation to climate control, movies, music, and even games – all without screen transitions.”
Of course, having a driver watch a movie while driving certainly isn’t ideal (and illegal). The screen features something called “Switchable Privacy Mode” that uses “viewing angle control technology.” This means the driver can’t see what’s visible on the screen to the front passenger.
And because energy conservation is something that is important for electric vehicles, the screen has “local dimming technology,” which reduces both heat generation and power consumption.
Who would have thought a screen in a car would generate heat?
Of course, who thought a screen in a car would be 40 inches long?
I suspect there is really nothing that “sells itself.” Sure, there are things that someone might need and go out and buy because of current conditions—like the people who make a run on snowblowers at Home Depot both before and after storms: no one needs to sell that equipment to the buyers.
But when it comes to things like automobiles, the number of people who have a sudden need and are capable of dropping a few grand to accommodate that need is probably quite small.
As is often pointed out, a vehicle is generally the second biggest purchase that someone makes, so consideration is involved in the process.
Still, if there is any type of vehicle that “sells itself” today, it is a hybrid.
Even though there is massive attention paid to electric vehicles, in 2024 hybrids (including the plug-in versions) had 11.9% of the total US light-duty market while EVs accounted for 8.1%.
And when is the last time you heard anything about a new hybrid? And compare that with the paid-for advertising or earned media (coverage in various outlets, including this one, often predicated on the loan of a vehicle by an OEM for assessment) for electric vehicles.
If not “selling themselves,” then people are becoming more interested in going hybrid.
The first Prius was available in the US market in July 2000. Which means it is coming up on its 25th anniversary.
Through the years the Prius has been both lauded and chastised. And it seems more the latter than the former.
There has always been the claim that because there are two powertrains (the internal combustion engine and the electric motor(s)) in a hybrid, it is too expensive for regular consumers—and the knock is often made by companies that were rolling out with electric vehicles that were significantly expensive, far more than the price of a Prius.
Consistently, Prius sales have been by mass manufacturing metrics “meh.”
Last year 44,711 were sold, and 38,052 the year before.
But it should be noted that in 2024 Toyota brand sold 546,738 hybrid vehicles in the US as the company now offers vehicles ranging from the Corolla to the Sienna to the Tundra with a hybrid powertrain.
Toyota seriously has the hybrid power and the consumers have a lot of choice.
The Prius, while having styling that has ranged from the dowdy to the bizarre, currently has an appealing look.
Looks good and you can drive and drive and drive before you need a fill-up. (Image: Toyota)
When the current body style was launched in 2023 in the US it was so striking that it was named the 2024 North American Car of the Year by the jury of the North American Car, Truck and Utility of the Year Awards, besting both the Honda Accord and the Hyundai Ioniq 6.
The last time the Prius won was in 2004, besting the Mazda RX-8 and Cadillac XLR, neither of which exist in contemporary production.
People have consistently wanted to get a Prius, and Toyota has consistently provided them.
The vehicle driven here is a plug-in hybrid. (The “Prime” moniker goes away for MY 2025 vehicles, at which point it simply is Prius Plug-in.)
If you’re not familiar with what that means, know that in the case of the Prius, on the rear quarter panel on the driver’s side you pop the door to fill the car with gas and on the opposite side there is an outlet to plug the car in either at home or at a Level 2 charging station.
This means there is full-electric range for the vehicle—up to 44 miles (based on ideal conditions).
It should be noted, however, that if you’re plugging it in on a standard 120-V outlet at home, it is going to take 11 hours to fully charge the battery. If you stop at a commercial Level 2 charger, then it will take about four hours.
When you go to the gas station, it will take you about five minutes to fill the tank. The Monroney sticker says you’ll get 52 mpg city/highway combined, so with about 11 gallons in the tank that means over 500 miles from the liquid fuel.
But perhaps (1) you have a daily commute that is 40 miles or under and you don’t like visiting gas stations and you do have an outlet in your garage or (2) you are exceedingly environmentally conscious and don’t like combusting gasoline if you don’t have to. Which would make the plug-in version right for you.
The Prius (powertrain notwithstanding) now has a sporty look on the outside and a low seating position signifying sportiness on the inside. While this is appealing to some people, it will probably turn off others. But Toyota has more than a dozen other hybrids to choose from, so that’s covered.
There is a Prius with FWD, a Prius with AWD and the plug-in with FWD.
The first provides system (i.e., engine and motor(s)) horsepower of 194. The AWD version delivers 196 hp. And the plug-in has 220 hp.
There is a discernable difference with the +20 hp for those who are so inclined.
The SE is the base model. Cloth. Eight-inch screen. Manual seats. But a sticker under $33K.
But were you to go for the less powerful but base non-plug-in FWD Prius, you’d get 5 mpg more and spend a few grand less.
While the increased horsepower is nice, I think the 57 mpg is nicer.
However, some people want an EV but don’t have the money to buy one.
The Prius plug-in could be the answer. If the average American drives 40 miles per day and the plug-in provides approximately that range, there you go.
What’s more, when you need to drive from, say, Detroit to Chicago, you can do that, too, without having to think about making a long stop along the way for recharging because the gasoline engine will get the job done—in fact, you could drive there and more than three quarters of the way back without needing to stop for any kind of fuel.
The Bugatti W16 Mistral, said to be the world’s fastest-ever roadster (453.91 km/h; 282 mph), is the last hurrah for the W16 engine, and the first of the last Mistrals has just been built at the Bugatti Atelier in Molesheim, France.
As the car produces 1,577 hp and has a starting price of about $5-million, most people on planet Earth won’t notice its absence.
This is what the W16 engine looks like:
You might want to bookmark this because it is a Bugatti W16 engine, which will soon be a memory for most but otherwise housed in the garages of a handful of really rich people. (Image: Bugatti)
You might think that something with 16 cylinders and four turbochargers would be enormous, it is because of the W configuration—think of two Vs (as in V8s) side-by-side, but with the Vs having a very narrow angle. But in point of fact the engine is comparatively compact.
It has to be, given that the two-seater is 179 inches long, 80 inches wide, 47.6 inches high and has a 106.7-inch wheelbase.
So what follows the W16?
The Bugatti Tourbillon with a normally aspirated V16.
The output of that car is 1,800 hp.
It is a hybrid.
There are two 250-kW motors on the front axle and another 250-kW on the rear.
According to Bugatti it will accelerate from 0 to 62 mph in two seconds.
How fast is that?
Well, it is estimated that reading speed is 250 words per minute.
This sentence has been read in approximately two seconds.
Things don’t necessarily get better with time. . .
By Gary S. Vasilash
In the J.D. Power 2022 Initial Quality Study, which looks at how owners feel about vehicles they’ve had for 90 days, things had gone south compared to the study performed for 2021.
The research organization has released figures for the 2025 U.S. Vehicle Dependability study, which is based on how owners feel about their vehicles three years later.
Not so good at the start. Not so good now.
That is, J.D. Power uses a metric called “problems per 100 vehicles” (PP 100).
The 2025 study finds that the industry average is 202 PP 100, which is a 6% increase (or 12 PP 100) compared to people who had owned their vehicles three years last year.
The primary problem is software.
Connecting Android Auto and Apple CarPlay to the vehicle is the top problem. Odds are, this is a problem with the OEMs, not the folks in Cupertino or Mountain View.
J.D. Power says that half of the top 10 problems are related to smartphone integration, usage or connectivity.
Now one of the features that is being boasted about by vehicle manufacturers is “over-the-air” (OTA) update capability. This means just like for your smartphone software can be sent to your OTA-capable vehicle and functions can improved or fixed.
Of those surveyed for the 2025 study, 36% said they’ve performed an OTA during their time with their vehicle.
Then the proverbial shoe drops. . .
• 30% of those owners said there was an improvement after the OTAs. Or 70% evidently didn’t see much in the way of a change. • 56% said there was no noticeable improvement. Which presumably means that if that 70% perceived hints, this 56% saw nothing.
OEMs are busy working on “software-defined vehicles.” Which means, in part, there can be improvements to a vehicle over its lifetime by the addition of new functions and features. . .through OTAs.
Given what J.D. Power is finding there are probably a lot of people who are not going to speed to their local dealerships when the software-defined vehicles become available.
And it leads to the question of whether the OEMs are really any good at software.
To be sure, things have gotten better between now and then, but odds are if you own a three-year old iPhone or Samsung Galaxy, it was good when you got it and is good today. And there are new features to your phone between then and now, and odds are they work as expected.
Some companies are just better in some areas than they are in others, even if they don’t want to admit it.
As the Grand Transformation to Electric Vehicles seems to be somewhat less transformative than we might have been led to believe by industry executives who were “all in” with varying levels of commitment (e.g., “We will be all electric by ____,” a date that is no longer uttered), there is a move back to hybrids.*
The knock on hybrids, since the Toyota Prius showed up on American roads in 2000, was that there are two powertrains (the regular engine and electric motor(s)), so that wasn’t going to be acceptable.
Except they were accepted.
And that two powertrain quibble gave rise to the “too expensive” mantra.
Now there is a move by some of the hybrid-skeptical companies to say, “Hey, we’ve got them, too! We’ve been behind them all along!”
(Insert polite coughing sound here.)
Hyundai has been offering a Sonata Hybrid since model year 2011.
Consistently.
But if there’s anything to know about Hyundai, the company is consistently producing vehicles that are stylistically and functionally advanced.
Although the 2025 Sonata Hybrid is a carryover from model year 2024, it still looks 10 years more innovative than anything out there.
Looks sensational and sips gas. (Image: Hyundai)
And it should be pointed out that the Limited trim driven here is the top-of-the-line (there is also the entry SEL trim).
So, going back to that “hybrids are too expensive,” know that this hybrid has a starting MSRP of $37,450. The one driven had a single option: $210 for floor mats.
Before looking at the Monroney for the car I guesstimated it would cost $50,000.
Not because of the “two powertrains are too expensive” schtick.
But because (1) it looks lux and (2) it is loaded.
Let’s roll through just some of the features on the vehicle:
Blind-spot and surround-view monitors
Parking collision-avoidance assist (for example: you can see on the 12.3-inch screen where the vehicle is in real space when you are backing out of a parking space, which is incredibly handy in lots that are designed to maximize the number of spaces and minimize the amount of space between them)
Panoramic sunroof
Leather seats
Heated and ventilated front seats
LED interior lights (this is something that needs to be seen because the difference between the illumination from them and the traditional incandescent lights is remarkable)
Bose premium audio
Power closing trunk (which really seems a bit too much, but when you look at how the trunk hinges, something that most people pay approximately zero attention to, are designed and integrated, you know that this is something that is conceivably beyond my $50K estimate to lux space)
And this list could go on to the extent that your eyes will glaze over, so as there are a few more things to say, I’ll stop
The vehicle has a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine that is mated to a permanent magnet synchronous motor. The engine provides 150 hp. The motor 51 hp. And the way these things work, the sum of the two is not 201 hp but a combined 192 hp. The whole hybrid give-and-take is a tricky business.
Now this is a large-ish four-door sedan. It is 193.3 inches long, 73.2 inches wide, 56.9 inches high, and has an 111.8-inch wheelbase. It has a passenger volume of 104.4 cubic feet (i.e., it is roomy) and the aforementioned trunk has a 15.6-cubic foot capacity.
Its curb weight is 3,687 pounds.
All of which is to say that given the capacity of the engine and the size and weight of the vehicle, it is capable of propelling you when you drive—surface streets or freeways—as you probably normally drive. No head-snapping when you stand on the throttle, because 99.9% of the time—give or take a 0.1%–you are not feeling that you have to prove something when you are in a four-door midsize sedan, type of powertrain notwithstanding.
The reason people drive hybrids is not to sate their need for speed but because they don’t have a need to spend a whole lot of time at a gas station. The EPA numbers for the Sonata Limited Hybrid are 44 mpg city, 51 mpg highway, for a combined 47 mpg.
Hard to quibble with what it is or how it delivers the kind of fuel economy people are looking for.
==
*It should be noted that Hyundai does have EVs, including the Kona Electric, the Ioniq 5 and the Ioniq 6. But it also offers hybrids in the Elantra, Santa Fe and Tucson.
One of the ways that Rivian hasn’t become one of those EV companies that has either gone out of business, is teetering on the edge of going out of business, or is in some weird statis that has people wondering how the heck it seems to exist, is through support of Amazon.
Back in 2019 Amazon invested $1.3 billion in the EV company and ordered 100,000 delivery vans.
And now companies of all sizes can get their own Rivian Commercial Van.
Rivian cargo vehicle: You, too, can get one for your delivery needs. (Image: Rivian)
The vehicle comes in two sizes.
The 500 measures 248.5 inches long, 114.7 inches tall, and 96.4 inches wide (with mirrors).
The 700 is 278 inches long, 114.7 inches high, and 103.5 inches wide (with mirrors).
The 500 has a cargo volume of 487 cubic feet and a payload capacity of 2,663 pounds.
The 700 has a volume of 652 cubic feet and capacity of 2,258 pounds.
The 500 has an estimated range of 161 miles.
The 700’s is 160 miles.
The starting price for the 500: $79,900.
The starting price for the 700: $83,900.
Tom Solomon, senior director, Business Development, Rivian, said:
“Amazon currently has more than 20,000 in its fleet and delivered over a billion packages from its Electric Delivery Vans in 2024 alone.”
He added: “We’re excited to now be able to open sales to fleets of all sizes in the US, whether they want one van or thousands.”
Clearly they’d be happy were a fleet to go for the latter.
Of course, business being business, one would be helpful, too.
Here’s what the dealers sold in the state in 2024. It may surprise you
By Gary S. Vasilash
If someone asked what the best-selling automotive brand was in California in 2024, odds are “Tesla” would leap to mind as the leader.
Close, but no whatever the alternative to a cigar is.
Tesla, which has 3.9% of the total U.S. market, with 11.6% in California, is in second place.
Toyota is the top seller in California according to the California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA).
In 2024 it had 16.4% of the California market. 12.8% in the U.S.
Coming in third in the Golden State is Honda, with 10.9% of the market. Nationally it is at 8.1%.
So far as California numbers go, after third place the rest of the brands have single-digit (not including the bit to the right of the decimal) shares of the market:
• Ford 7.4% • Chevy 6.2% • Kia 4.8% • Hyundai 4.5% • Nissan 3.9% • Mercedes 3.9% • BMW 3.7% • Lexus 3.6% • Subaru 3.4% • Mazda 2.3% • GMC 2.1% • Audi 1.9%
Although some have chastised Toyota for its limited EV offering, odds are Toyota dealers are happy with the approach.
Note how Toyota has a 4.8% advantage over Tesla. Tesla has just a 0.7% advantage over Honda.
You may note what’s missing from the top 15 brands: any Stellantis brand.
They didn’t do particularly well in the California market in 2024.
Compared to 2023 new car registrations in the state:
• Ram -21.5% • Jeep -28.6% • Chrysler -32.1%
The good news is that apparently people like muscle cars in California because Dodge registrations were up 6.9%. (What’s interesting is that on the list of those in the positive territory, Toyota’s increase was just 4.4%, which indicates that having 16% of the total market is probably about as good as you can get.)
What is notable is how Ford and Chevy play so very well on the national level.
While Ford, as mentioned, has 7.4% of the California market, it has 11.8% of the U.S. market.
And Chevy, with 6.2% in California, is at 10.9% nationally.
While it probably has a lot to do with pickups, Californias do buy a number of those, too: 37,655 Chevy Silverados and 36,546 F-Series trucks were registered in 2024.
Here’s something to consider:
According to the CNCDA:
“New light vehicle registrations in California declined a slim 0.3 percent from 2023 to 2024. The U.S. market improved by 3.4 percent last year.
“All of the decrease in the state market last year was attributable to Tesla, which had an 11.6 percent decline. Registrations for all other brands increased 1.4 percent.”
If Musk didn’t seem to be so occupied elsewhere you might think he be thinking long and hard about that non-trivial decline in California.
California has some 1.1-million EVs registered. If you take the next four states with high levels of EV registrations—Florida, Texas, Washington, and Arizona—combined they have 520,000 EVs rolling around.
One part of the decline for Tesla in California could be saturation and aging models. Another could be politics, but if that’s an issue, it will really come to the fore in the results for 2025.
shinymetalboxes 