0:00:06 > 0:00:11This is Business Live from BBC News with Sally Bundock and Ben Thompson.
0:00:11 > 0:00:17Changing the rules - Europe gets to grips
0:00:17 > 0:00:19with the biggest changes to the financial system
0:00:19 > 0:00:21since the financial crisis.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24Live from London, that's our top story on Wednesday, 3rd January.
0:00:37 > 0:00:42The EU is aiming to protect investors and boost competition
0:00:42 > 0:00:46but can the lengthy new rules really be made to work?
0:00:46 > 0:00:50Also in the programme:
0:00:50 > 0:00:53The United States blocks the billion dollar takeover
0:00:53 > 0:00:55of Moneygram by China's Alibaba because of national
0:00:55 > 0:00:56security concerns.
0:00:56 > 0:00:57And cutting the cables.
0:01:03 > 0:01:05Retailers are among the winners.
0:01:05 > 0:01:06And cutting the cables.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09We meet the boss of one firm that's bringing wireless
0:01:09 > 0:01:12charging to the masses.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14So, is it finally time to say goodbye to tangled
0:01:14 > 0:01:18wires and bulky chargers?
0:01:18 > 0:01:22And global car sales hit a new record, despite taxi apps
0:01:22 > 0:01:24and big investment in public transport.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27So we want to know - will owning a car ever become
0:01:27 > 0:01:32a thing of the past?
0:01:32 > 0:01:35Let us know if you've got rid of your car.
0:01:35 > 0:01:42Let us know.
0:01:42 > 0:01:43Use the hashtag BBC Biz Live.
0:01:43 > 0:01:48Hello and welcome to Business Live.
0:01:48 > 0:01:53I'm getting rid of mine this month, that's the car!
0:01:53 > 0:01:55The most significant changes to Europe's financial system
0:01:55 > 0:02:00since the financial crisis come into force today.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03The EU's new rules are known as MiFID Two and are intended
0:02:03 > 0:02:07to protect investors, giving them better value for money
0:02:07 > 0:02:14and making Europe's financial services industry more competitive.
0:02:14 > 0:02:16Now, one of the biggest changes centres on the
0:02:16 > 0:02:17research investors use to decide which shares
0:02:17 > 0:02:18to buy and sell.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21It will now have to be charged separately rather than bundled
0:02:21 > 0:02:24with other financial services.
0:02:24 > 0:02:30And to improve transparency, all parties to financial
0:02:30 > 0:02:35transactions will have to provide a unique number known
0:02:35 > 0:02:42as a Legal Entity Identifier to make any trades.
0:02:42 > 0:02:47368,000 were issued between October and December -
0:02:47 > 0:02:53that's a huge jump that's being attributed to these changes.
0:02:53 > 0:02:56But it's already proving to be expensive - banks and asset managers
0:02:56 > 0:02:58are believed to be spending more than $2 billion
0:02:58 > 0:03:02implementing the new rules.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05Matthew McLoughlin is the Head of Trading at the investment firm
0:03:05 > 0:03:09Liontrust Asset Management.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13Welcome to the programme. Sally, outlining the details there and
0:03:13 > 0:03:17clearly this is a response to the financial crisis. I wonder how
0:03:17 > 0:03:20significant it is. How will this be being viewed in the city and
0:03:20 > 0:03:24elsewhere?Sure, you can probably say how long it has taken together
0:03:24 > 0:03:29to put together. It has taken seven years. The documents themselves
0:03:29 > 0:03:32contain 1.7 million paragraphs of new and updated rules. It is the
0:03:32 > 0:03:36biggest change we have had in the financial markets for the last
0:03:36 > 0:03:40decade in Europe.Sally touched on what it might mean for the banks.
0:03:40 > 0:03:44What will it mean for us? What difference will I see?Sure.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48Everybody in the studio and at home, they have pensions or some type of
0:03:48 > 0:03:54savings. All this money goes into stocks and the stock market, the
0:03:54 > 0:03:56bond market and other financial instruments and it is a considerable
0:03:56 > 0:04:02amount of money. So, you need laws and we've learnt from history, 2008,
0:04:02 > 0:04:06strict laws around how the money is managed and governed. And I think
0:04:06 > 0:04:13today is the day when this piece of legislation comes into play. So
0:04:13 > 0:04:17whether you know about it or not, today is going to be an important
0:04:17 > 0:04:22day for investors as they will be gaining extra protection.You talked
0:04:22 > 0:04:24about how complicated it is. How many pages there are to wade
0:04:24 > 0:04:28through. Is everybody ready? Are all the banks in a position to say,
0:04:28 > 0:04:32"Today is the day, we're good to go."That's an interesting question.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35We'll find out later today is the real answer. I would like to think
0:04:35 > 0:04:39the majority of people are ready or nearly ready. I'd like to think so,
0:04:39 > 0:04:44but I think there is a lot more work to do.It all sounds good in theory,
0:04:44 > 0:04:48doesn't it? This is a regulators trying to keep up with the banks.
0:04:48 > 0:04:52The banks got ahead of themselves and they were coming up with trading
0:04:52 > 0:04:55platforms that the regulators weren't aware of. It all sounds
0:04:55 > 0:05:00great, but are there any dangers. Does this limit banks?One of the
0:05:00 > 0:05:09main dangers is the cost of implementing it. For brokers and
0:05:09 > 0:05:15asset managers. It is expensive business. So, if these costs create
0:05:15 > 0:05:20barriers to entry for the market then you might see fewer new
0:05:20 > 0:05:24incumbents coming to the market. That might less bring innovation and
0:05:24 > 0:05:29less competition. You might see possibly prices rising. That's the
0:05:29 > 0:05:32opposite of what it was designed to do, I hope that's not going to be
0:05:32 > 0:05:39the case, but time will tell.We will keep a close eye on that.
0:05:39 > 0:05:44Matthew, thank you.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47Let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50The UK's International Trade secretary Liam Fox is in China
0:05:50 > 0:05:54to try to strengthen business links for the country after Brexit.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56It comes as the Financial Times reports that Britain could be
0:05:56 > 0:05:59looking at joining a trade deal between Pacific nations that was
0:05:59 > 0:06:04scrapped after President Trump withdrew the United States.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06Britain's financial watchdog has confirmed it is investigating
0:06:06 > 0:06:08infrastructure giant Carillion.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11The company, which has been forced to issue a string
0:06:11 > 0:06:13of profits warnings, says it's being investigated over
0:06:13 > 0:06:15the "timeliness and content" of announcements made
0:06:15 > 0:06:19between December 2016 and July 2017.
0:06:19 > 0:06:23That covers a period for the firm in which its share price slumped
0:06:23 > 0:06:25and its chief executive quit.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28The firm is building part of the UK's new high
0:06:28 > 0:06:37speed rail line HS2.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41Spotify is being sued over falgations that it used thousands of
0:06:41 > 0:06:55songs without paying the relevant music publishers.
0:06:56 > 0:07:01The United States has blocked the sale of money transfer firm
0:07:01 > 0:07:06Moneygram to a part of China's internet giant Alibaba.
0:07:06 > 0:07:12It was a deal worth $1.2 billion.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14It is the highest profile Chinese deal to be rejected by Washington
0:07:15 > 0:07:19since Donald Trump came to power.
0:07:19 > 0:07:21Christine Hah is following the story from our Asia
0:07:21 > 0:07:26Business Hub in Singapore.
0:07:26 > 0:07:33Christine, tell us more.Well, the company that was going to buy
0:07:33 > 0:07:44Moneygram is Alibaba's mobile credit and payments arm subsidiary and
0:07:44 > 0:07:49Moneygram thought the - alibi bab ba faces competition at home. This was
0:07:49 > 0:07:55really quite important for them. The deal was announced a year ago. They
0:07:55 > 0:08:00submitted it for approval and finally the Moneygram CEO said it
0:08:00 > 0:08:03has become clear that the US authorities won't let it go through
0:08:03 > 0:08:09and part is due to security concerns over US users data. China, the
0:08:09 > 0:08:11Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman today came out and said that they
0:08:11 > 0:08:16really hope the US can create a level playing field for Chinese
0:08:16 > 0:08:26firms, but it shows a toughening stance that the US has taken. It is
0:08:26 > 0:08:34not the only deal that has been blocked and it won't be the last.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39In Japan we had no action. A public holiday in Tokyo. Elsewhere in Asia,
0:08:39 > 0:08:42we saw gains across board following another record breaker the night
0:08:42 > 0:08:47before in the US. We had technology stocks surging again State side and
0:08:47 > 0:08:51that fuelled the sentiment in Asia. Let's look at Europe. In London, it
0:08:51 > 0:08:54is the retailers that are headed high. You can see the FTSE down a
0:08:54 > 0:08:59little bit, but actually the likes of Next and Marks & Spencer's are
0:08:59 > 0:09:02doing well. Next coming out with better than expected pre-Christmas
0:09:02 > 0:09:07sales. Next is seen as a bellwether for the high street. Does it imply
0:09:07 > 0:09:10that maybe our retailers had a better time than we perhaps thought?
0:09:10 > 0:09:14There was a concern about the high street stores ahead of Christmas. So
0:09:14 > 0:09:18we will see how that plays out, but for now, Next coming out with
0:09:18 > 0:09:23brighter news than we predicted. But across-the-board, in Europe, a mixed
0:09:23 > 0:09:25picture emerging right now.
0:09:25 > 0:09:27And Samira Hussain has the details about what's ahead
0:09:27 > 0:09:29on Wall Street Today.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31On Wednesday the Federal Reserve, America's Central Bank will release
0:09:31 > 0:09:34the minutes from its last meeting in December.
0:09:34 > 0:09:42Now at that meeting the committee members raised interest rates
0:09:42 > 0:09:45by 0.25% to a 0.5% and it marked the third rate rise for 2017.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48So investors will be looking at the minutes for more hints
0:09:48 > 0:09:51about any other rate rises that could be coming in 2018 and any
0:09:51 > 0:09:58new insight on the new US tax code and its economic impact.
0:09:58 > 0:10:00Now, also happening the drugstore chain Rite will report a drop
0:10:00 > 0:10:03in revenue, but the company's bottom line is likely to improve as it
0:10:03 > 0:10:06moves ahead with the process of selling 1932 of its outlets
0:10:06 > 0:10:12to Walgreens Boots Alliance.
0:10:13 > 0:10:15Joining us is Jeremy Stretch, Head of Currency Strategy
0:10:15 > 0:10:20at CIBC World Markets.
0:10:20 > 0:10:27Hi, Jeremy. Happy New Year. I put oil on the board. Iran is in the
0:10:27 > 0:10:29headlines and normally when we talk about the Middle East and
0:10:29 > 0:10:32particularly places like Iran or Iraq, we talk about oil because you
0:10:32 > 0:10:36expect to see a spike in prices. It's not quite happened. But there
0:10:36 > 0:10:40is still a bit of confusion, isn't there?Indeed. We're seeing numbers
0:10:40 > 0:10:43with the six as the big figure and I think that's quite important
0:10:43 > 0:10:48because, of course, we have seen this sort of maintenance of oil
0:10:48 > 0:10:52prices in a 40 to 60 range over the course of the last two or three
0:10:52 > 0:10:57years. We are pushing towards the top end of that range. We haven't
0:10:57 > 0:11:01seen disruption yet, but because the issues raise those geopolitical
0:11:01 > 0:11:05fears in the region that is causing an increased degree of tension and
0:11:05 > 0:11:11we are waiting for the latest infantry data out of the US which
0:11:11 > 0:11:16may show that stockpiles are falling. We are in a global
0:11:16 > 0:11:19synchronised recovery. That's driving up demand for oil and if
0:11:19 > 0:11:23there is going to be disruption to the supply then that could create
0:11:23 > 0:11:27instability in terms of prices and that would have inflationary
0:11:27 > 0:11:34consequences and it could have an impact on sell tral banks.So,
0:11:34 > 0:11:38having said all of that, and you you neatly wrapped up everything from
0:11:38 > 0:11:43the growth forecast to what central banks are doing to oil and share
0:11:43 > 0:11:47markets. What's ahead this year, do you think?Well, I think as far as
0:11:47 > 0:11:52this year is concerned, I think there is still this perpetuation of
0:11:52 > 0:11:55a global synchronised recovery, but what we are seeing central banks
0:11:55 > 0:12:00outside of the US looking to maintain or looking to row back a
0:12:00 > 0:12:02bit in terms of the monetary stimulus. We have seen interest
0:12:02 > 0:12:06rates going up in the US over the course of the last couple of years,
0:12:06 > 0:12:10we have seen an interest rate hike in the UK and other places such as
0:12:10 > 0:12:14Canada raising rates. We are starting to see other central banks
0:12:14 > 0:12:17starting to say there is no requirement to have such
0:12:17 > 0:12:19exceptionally easy monetary policies, we are going to see
0:12:19 > 0:12:22central banks stepping back a little bit and that's going to make it more
0:12:22 > 0:12:25interesting to see how the financial markets can actually operate on
0:12:25 > 0:12:30their own as it were. So moving away from the training wheels or the
0:12:30 > 0:12:33stabilisers which have been supporting markets.Will the
0:12:33 > 0:12:37attention be off central banks to a degree? I feel in 2017 we were just
0:12:37 > 0:12:43watching them all like hawks really? I'm not saying, I wouldn't say that
0:12:43 > 0:12:46the attention is off, but it is switching to different central
0:12:46 > 0:12:52banks. So, growth, still looks to be firm both in 2018 and in 2019, but
0:12:52 > 0:12:56the question is how are the financial markets going to be able
0:12:56 > 0:13:03to operate as we start to see less stimulatetry performance from those
0:13:03 > 0:13:07central banks. We have seen the Federal Reserve hike interest rates
0:13:07 > 0:13:10in two years. It is the turn of others to step up to the plate.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14Jeremy, thank you. You're really upset, you love talking about
0:13:14 > 0:13:18central banks.I do. It is one of my favourite things. I will keep doing
0:13:18 > 0:13:22it. I don't care!She will!
0:13:22 > 0:13:24Still to come, cutting the cable.
0:13:24 > 0:13:26We meet the boss of one firm that's bringing wireless
0:13:26 > 0:13:27charging to the masses.
0:13:27 > 0:13:34So is it finally time to say goodbye to tangled wires and bulky chargers?
0:13:34 > 0:13:36I hope so.
0:13:36 > 0:13:42You're with Business Live from BBC News.
0:13:49 > 0:13:54The latest news from Ryanair. You might be surprised to hear this.
0:13:54 > 0:14:01Ryanair passenger numbers were up again by 3% in December.
0:14:01 > 0:14:05That's despite the chaos from the cancelled flights and the pilot rota
0:14:05 > 0:14:06fiasco.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09It comes as Ryanair confirmed it applied for a British
0:14:09 > 0:14:11air operating licence.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14A move that could be required if it's to keep its small domestic
0:14:14 > 0:14:18UK service operating after Brexit.
0:14:18 > 0:14:20Let's speak to Peter Morris, Chief Economist at the aviation
0:14:20 > 0:14:23consultancy, Ascend.
0:14:23 > 0:14:28Good to see you, Peter. What do you make of Ryanair's numbers?It shows
0:14:28 > 0:14:32that it is not for no reason that they have become the biggest, most
0:14:32 > 0:14:35successful carrier in Europe. They have been able to flex their
0:14:35 > 0:14:39business model and to expand across different routes all the way across
0:14:39 > 0:14:45Europe and beyond and so they are dependant on individual markets
0:14:45 > 0:14:51becomes less and less. So they have been able to get to, I think, it is
0:14:51 > 0:14:5595% load factors in December which is unheard of in the airline
0:14:55 > 0:14:59industry. So, they, you have to say they must be doing quite a lot
0:14:59 > 0:15:06right.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09Brexit poses some questions. As we touched on in the introduction, they
0:15:09 > 0:15:13have now applied for this license which would allow them to keep
0:15:13 > 0:15:19operating their domestic service in the event of a hard Brexit. Can you
0:15:19 > 0:15:24explain the domestic service. What do they do?That is roots like from
0:15:24 > 0:15:28Stansted to Belfast or Stansted to Edinburgh and so on. But it is
0:15:28 > 0:15:31interesting. If you look at the schedule for this quarter compared
0:15:31 > 0:15:37to last year, you will see there is a cut in Ryanair seats of something
0:15:37 > 0:15:43like 75% year-on-year. So their dependence on the UK market has
0:15:43 > 0:15:50actually reduced, particularly the UK domestic market.Peter, thank
0:15:50 > 0:15:56you. Peter Morris giving us his take on the numbers from Ryanair.
0:15:56 > 0:16:03A reminder if you want any more information on any of the stories we
0:16:03 > 0:16:08are covering, check out our website. This brings together all of the
0:16:08 > 0:16:11BBC's business journalism including results from Next and what the
0:16:11 > 0:16:15results tell us. Also the story we brought you earlier about Carillion
0:16:15 > 0:16:19under investigation from the Financial Conduct Authority. Details
0:16:19 > 0:16:31on the website. Financial traders across Europe are grappling with the
0:16:31 > 0:16:35sweeping new EU rules which came into effect today, which are
0:16:35 > 0:16:41supposed to protect you and me the investor, and boost transparency.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44The regulations come into force today but there are questions about
0:16:44 > 0:16:48whether banks and financial institutions are ready. Many in the
0:16:48 > 0:16:52UK, France and Germany said they are ready but elsewhere it is a slightly
0:16:52 > 0:16:57different picture. Let's have a look at the markets in Europe. Last night
0:16:57 > 0:17:00we had a record close on Wall Street. There was a strong session
0:17:00 > 0:17:05in Asia. But in Europe, it is fairly mixed. London not joining the party
0:17:05 > 0:17:12at the moment. Some of the analysis does suggest the introduction of
0:17:12 > 0:17:17those regulations has put a damper on markets in Europe today. Banks
0:17:17 > 0:17:22and institutions have got to put things into effect and there is
0:17:22 > 0:17:26concern about smaller trading companies and how they are affected
0:17:26 > 0:17:29by this.
0:17:29 > 0:17:30We've all been there...
0:17:30 > 0:17:35Out and about and suddenly your phone's battery dies.
0:17:35 > 0:17:40A perfect excuse not to be able to get in touch!
0:17:40 > 0:17:43And unless you're going to carry a tangle of wires and a bulky plug,
0:17:43 > 0:17:44it means you're out of luck.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47So that's why the market for wireless charging has exploded.
0:17:47 > 0:17:53It's expected to be worth $37.2 billion by 2022.
0:17:53 > 0:18:00It's expected to grow by 44% between 2016 and 2022.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04One big player in the market is Aircharge.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07It's got 25,000 charging points in 40 countries.
0:18:07 > 0:18:09Most of them operated in collaboration with clients
0:18:09 > 0:18:11like McDonald's, Starbucks, Costa Coffee, Virgin Atlantic
0:18:11 > 0:18:19and major hotel chains.
0:18:19 > 0:18:24We're joined by Steve Liquorish, the founder of Aircharge.
0:18:24 > 0:18:29Steve, nice to see you. Welcome to the programme. We have touched a
0:18:29 > 0:18:36little bit on how it works. Just explain it to us.I have brought my
0:18:36 > 0:18:43props with me.So this is what people might see.Visually, it's
0:18:43 > 0:18:47sort of looks like a coaster. What you're seeing is this sort of thing
0:18:47 > 0:18:52being built in by furniture manufacturers like IKEA. The
0:18:52 > 0:18:56automotive industry is putting charges into vehicles. It is a drop
0:18:56 > 0:19:00and charge solution. When you see the furniture, you see the coaster
0:19:00 > 0:19:10and that
0:19:12 > 0:19:15defines where you drop your phone on to charge the phone.The point is
0:19:15 > 0:19:18that I would simply have to put my phone on like that,...And that is
0:19:18 > 0:19:20transmitting power. The idea is to build an ecosystem globally so we
0:19:20 > 0:19:23can forget the wires and we have many to plug in. Aircharge or an
0:19:23 > 0:19:25early mover in this market and consequently have become the world's
0:19:25 > 0:19:29largest deployer of public charging. One of the important thing is the
0:19:29 > 0:19:33industry has been waiting for is to come up with an industry standard.
0:19:33 > 0:19:40Now we have the two big players, the handset manufacturers Samsung and
0:19:40 > 0:19:47Apple are playing in the same sandpit.When Apple launched its
0:19:47 > 0:19:50iPhone ten, your company was up there in lights and that is
0:19:50 > 0:19:55something you were surprised to see but what a fantastic moment for
0:19:55 > 0:19:58Aircharge in terms of brand recognition. You describe yourself
0:19:58 > 0:20:02as one of the early movers. Was luck, something you stumbled across
0:20:02 > 0:20:09back in Asia in 2013?Personally, I have always enjoyed technology be
0:20:09 > 0:20:14not technology for technology's sake. It made perfect sense. I made
0:20:14 > 0:20:18the analogy with hydration. We all drink water little and often all
0:20:18 > 0:20:24day. We are becoming reliant on devices and if we can have any
0:20:24 > 0:20:28ecosystem that is ubiquitous, a bit like hydration for your phone, if
0:20:28 > 0:20:32you look around restaurant, I can see people's phones, so why not have
0:20:32 > 0:20:37them charging while you are sat down and on trains, planes and
0:20:37 > 0:20:41automobiles etc?The makers of phones are making the batteries so
0:20:41 > 0:20:46good and much more better developed so that they last that much longer,
0:20:46 > 0:20:52so we're not always running out of battery.Consequently screens are
0:20:52 > 0:20:56becoming brighter, we are consuming more and more media over our
0:20:56 > 0:20:59electronic devices, and consequently this battle between how much we use
0:20:59 > 0:21:02the devices and how quickly the battery technology can move forward
0:21:02 > 0:21:08is pretty, it is not catch up at the moment. Battery technology is not
0:21:08 > 0:21:13catching up. It will be sometime in the future before we see the need
0:21:13 > 0:21:20for power to disappear.What is the biggest hindrance? We have often
0:21:20 > 0:21:23talked about this when we have talked about rechargeable cars,
0:21:23 > 0:21:27putting in the network. What comes first? It is a chicken and egg
0:21:27 > 0:21:31thing. Is it the demand from consumers or is it that you can
0:21:31 > 0:21:37offer this stuff so people think the next phone that I buy I will buy one
0:21:37 > 0:21:40with wireless recharging capabilities?We reached tipping
0:21:40 > 0:21:43point a couple of years ago when we saw some big brands climbing on
0:21:43 > 0:21:54board with this technology.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01McDonald's was an early mover. They saw it as a footfall driver, as a
0:22:01 > 0:22:02differentiator for their brand. That has encouraged the handset
0:22:02 > 0:22:04manufacturers. And the wireless Power Consortium, the industry
0:22:04 > 0:22:06global standard, has seen membership rocket in the last few months, since
0:22:06 > 0:22:09Apple joined the standard. So huge things to come. I think we will all
0:22:09 > 0:22:13grown to expect wireless power like we do with Wi-Fi. If you cast your
0:22:13 > 0:22:19mind back to Wi-Fi before that scaled properly.What did we do
0:22:19 > 0:22:23before Wi-Fi?Absolutely! Steve Liquorish from Aircharge,
0:22:23 > 0:22:31thank you. Nowhere to hide.
0:22:31 > 0:22:33Self-driving cars seemed like the stuff of science
0:22:33 > 0:22:35fiction not that long ago.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37But global auto giants are now developing and refining
0:22:37 > 0:22:40the technology, trying to work out what that future of cars will be.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43Theo Leggett got a sneak preview of one just launched
0:22:43 > 0:22:50by the French manufacturer Renault.
0:23:17 > 0:23:19Now, if you've never done this before, it really
0:23:19 > 0:23:21does feel quite strange.
0:23:21 > 0:23:24We are doing 115 kilometres an hour on the motorway,
0:23:24 > 0:23:27and I'm not touching anything.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30My colleague here has a safety setup just in case anything goes wrong,
0:23:30 > 0:23:33but the car is driving itself.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36Now I'm going to do something that I've never done before
0:23:36 > 0:23:38and I don't think many people have.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41We're doing 103 kilometres per hour on the motorway and I'm going to put
0:23:41 > 0:23:43a virtual reality headset on.
0:23:43 > 0:23:47Here we go.
0:23:50 > 0:23:55Now, at the moment, I know I'm driving along the motorway.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58But because I've got the virtual reality headset on,
0:23:58 > 0:24:01I'm actually flying over a valley.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04I can see lakes beneath me.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07There are birds around me.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09There is a large lunar landscape up in front.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12So it's a completely different world.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15And what Renault are trying to do here, is envisage a world
0:24:15 > 0:24:18in which you are doing a long journey, you don't need
0:24:18 > 0:24:22to drive the car, so you can turn your mind to other things.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26Relax, sit back and enjoy the show.
0:24:41 > 0:24:54Do as you have not seen him before. -- Theo. A lot of you have been in
0:24:54 > 0:25:01touched about getting rid of your car. We have obviously touched
0:25:01 > 0:25:05another. Gary said get out of the metropolis and get into rural areas
0:25:05 > 0:25:12where you will find you need a car. I know, I grew up in a rural
0:25:12 > 0:25:17village. Car sales topped 90 million but we
0:25:17 > 0:25:24keep hearing that car sales are falling.Globally we are seeing
0:25:24 > 0:25:28population growth and globally we are seeing people become wealthier
0:25:28 > 0:25:32so as they become wealthier they are looking towards luxuries we have
0:25:32 > 0:25:36become accustomed to in Western societies. As China becomes
0:25:36 > 0:25:41wealthier they see an explosion in terms of car ownership. That is
0:25:41 > 0:25:45driving the global phenomenon. We are also seeing it in western Europe
0:25:45 > 0:25:50outside the UK, where as people have benefited after they resent crisis,
0:25:50 > 0:25:55that has encouraged car sales to advance.Jeremy, short and sweet,
0:25:55 > 0:25:59nice to see you. Thanks for explaining that. Thank you for your
0:25:59 > 0:26:02tweets. We will look through them later.