the boss of centrica, iain conn, talking to our business editor, simonjack.tor manufacturers and traders, or the smmt — has descibed the current state of the sector after it revealed that the number of cars made in the uk fell last month after domestic demand plunged. production fell 5.5% in june, driven by a a7.2% drop in production for the uk market. the smmt blamed preparation for new emissions tests and new car models for what it said was a "one—month anomaly". it also says that, longer—term, uk car production is as expected. joinining us now is emma butcher from the society of motor manufacturers and traders. really good to talk to you, as ever. you described this as a one—month anomaly. and yet the chief executive of the smmt has also pointed to the fa ct of the smmt has also pointed to the fact that, when one digs broadly in these numbers, it does point to this worrying trend that uk car manufacturing is hugely reliant on oui’ manufacturing is hugely reliant on our ability to export, doesn't it? that's what helped make these numbers better than they mi

iain conn has been speaking to our business editor simonjack, who is here. how did he explain this?ntrica. they lost nearly1 million customer few years for centrica. they lost nearly 1 million customer accounts last year, that a flood of exodus, if you like, has continued. some people get both gas and electricity. in fact 341,000 customer accounts we re in fact 341,000 customer accounts were actually lost. he said he hoped that eventually the tide would not have a ptly that eventually the tide would not have aptly termed, but at least stop. our goal is to stabilise the total customer account number and then to grow it. what we are seeing is falls in our energy supply customer numbers. our home services numbers, our british gas engineer accounts, have actually gone up in the first half of this year. for the first time since 2011. so, overall, i believe we're now seeing the beginnings of our ability to stabilise customer numbers. he didn't say when that was going to be, and even some of the growth numbers in managed services will not offset that. there is another challenge, 3.5 millio

speaking to the bbc, centrica boss iain conn said the rate of customer losses had halved since last yearis formally looking into the possiblity of import tariffs on cars and auto parts — which president trump has suggested could be as high as 25%. that would have a huge worldwide impact. last year the united states imported more than $190 billion of cars — nearly 98% of those came from countries represented in geneva. components for cars are also under threat of tariffs. and that‘s led to warnings that they could lead to prices for us consumers going up between $2,000 and $6,000 a car. so huge implications both for the eu and for us customers. let‘s get more on this now. our north america business reporter, paul blake, joins us now. they re meeting to discuss a response to us investigations that lead to tariffs ? ?explain to us just what these are. these so—called section 232 investigations, the same thing that led to the steel and aluminium ta riffs last led to the steel and aluminium tariffs last month, they are looking at whether imports are affecting national security in the us, and

speaking to the bbc, centrica boss iain conn said the rate of customer losses had halved since last yearof events". production fell 5.5% injune — driven by a a7.2% drop in production for the uk market. an independent review commissioned by the financial regulator into rbs's treatment of small and medium—sized firms has found no evidence that the bank deliberately profited from their collapse. but the review did find many "deficient" aspects of the firm's culture, governance and practices that led to the "widespread and systematic" inappropriate treatment of customers. maike currie is from fidelity investment management. that, nice to see you. that is damaging in some respects, especially about systematic failures. this will anger a lot of small firms on the receiving end of it, no evidence they profited from the demise. that's right. what is interesting is that this group within rbs, this unit known as the global restructuring unit, was responsible for handling small and medium—size businesses in trouble. ifa medium—size businesses in trouble. if a business was referred to the unit if it