This year has been nothing short of fascinating for the vehicle market. Are EVs thriving or struggling? Why are used car prices dropping? Why are car manufacturers shouting so loudly about net-zero targets? And then there was Jaguar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Without question, we\u2019re witnessing a revolution in the automotive world, with seismic shifts reshaping the landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the self-proclaimed chief petrol head, I thought I\u2019d share my views on what\u2019s been happening. As always, these are just my thoughts\u2014likely no more insightful than my wife\u2019s, who couldn\u2019t care less about cars. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
EVs have had a turbulent year, with a scary drop in depreciation rates starting in late 2023. Why? Well, two key factors stand out:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Where are EVs now? The numbers speak for themselves: adoption is still growing, albeit slower than before. According to SMMT data, EVs remain the fastest-growing segment of the new car market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But here\u2019s the twist: ICE car values also dropped significantly in 2024. Why? I honestly have no idea. If you have a theory, let me know!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year saw car manufacturers loudly criticising government net-zero targets, claiming they\u2019re out of step with EV adoption rates. I think they\u2019ve got a point. Governments were slow to tackle misinformation, and in some cases, actively leaned into it for political gain. Add poorly designed incentive schemes into the mix, and it\u2019s a recipe for market confusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But let\u2019s not let the manufacturers off the hook. Many were so stuck in their old ways, they left massive gaps in the market\u2014gaps that new players like BYD (hello, China) were quick to fill. And they didn\u2019t hold back, diving headfirst into EVs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What about those of us who love the sound of a screaming petrol engine? I\u2019m cautiously optimistic. I think most A-to-B cars will eventually become EVs\u2014and that\u2019s fine. But there will still be room for my beloved oily machines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the majority of everyday cars are EVs, the remaining ICE vehicles will have a negligible impact on climate change. Add sustainable fuels into the equation, and the future for performance cars looks brighter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To my fellow petrol heads who see EVs as the spawn of the devil: let\u2019s think laterally. If dull ICE cars are replaced by EVs, it leaves more room for our screamers to exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wow. Jaguar really made headlines this year. Their bold rebranding left jaws on the floor. From a business perspective, I kind of get it. Here\u2019s how I imagine the boardroom discussion went:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And, to their credit, they did just that. Suddenly, everyone<\/em> was talking about Jaguar. Whether it was genius or madness remains to be seen. But one thing\u2019s for sure: it\u2019ll be a case study in business courses for years to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Personally, I admire the bold move and wish them well, though I\u2019m still on the fence about it. A concept car is one thing, but the showroom models could be very different. That said, I have a feeling this will attract plenty of new customers who might never have considered a Jaguar before. We Brits are good at thinking outside the box. I just wish the box wasn\u2019t pink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s it from me this year. Thanks for indulging my ramblings. Whether you love cars or hate cars, I hope you\u2019ve enjoyed our discussions. It’s worth saying, if you don’t like what we do with our blog posts, please do shout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s to another interesting year ahead. For KnowYourCar we’ve got some cool stuff rolling out early next year. As always it’s about giving you unique information so that owning and buying a car is easier and better. For me it’s likely the same as always. Man maths calculations on my old 911 resulting in spending more time underneath: 2025 finds that annoying suspension creak and I face up to that worrying noise from the gearbox.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cheers, <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This year has been nothing short of fascinating for the vehicle market. Are EVs thriving or struggling? Why are used car prices dropping? Why are car manufacturers shouting so loudly about net-zero targets? And then there was Jaguar. Without question, we\u2019re witnessing a revolution in the automotive world, with seismic shifts reshaping the landscape. As […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":182,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vehicle-ownership-help"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/know-yourcar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/know-yourcar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/know-yourcar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/know-yourcar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/know-yourcar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/know-yourcar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/know-yourcar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/know-yourcar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/know-yourcar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/know-yourcar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Happy Christmas!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Dan<\/p>\n\n\n\n