The new Fiat Grande Panda 4×4 concept previews a revival of the cult classic go-anywhere supermini and the latest expansion of the Italian firm’s fast-growing line-up. The original Panda 4×4 was launched in 1983 and quickly became a cult classic, thanks to the raised ride height and rugged styling elements that made it an affordable off-roader. The revived concept is based on the new Grande Panda, which is offered with both 111bhp electric and 108bhp 1.2-litre mild-hybrid petrol powertrains and sits on Stellantis’s cost-conscious new Smart Car platform. While Fiat hasn’t officially confirmed production intent, it refers to the Grande Panda 4×4 as “the next…

BMW has released the first images of a new model set to be revealed at the upcoming Villa d’Este Concours, seemingly fusing last year’s Skytop concept with the famed ‘Clownshoe’ Z3 M Coupé. Images posted to social media show the silhouette of a model with the same rear lights as the Skytop, a rakish open-top GT unveiled at last year’s Villa d’Este Concours, but a reworked tail section. Rather than a long deck housing a convertible roof panel, it appears to be a shooting brake with a rakish glasshouse and a prominent ducktail-style roof spoiler. Its form appears to reference…

“You don’t want to know. It would ruin the illusion, wreck every appealing reverie that those bright motor show lights and cooing onlookers once inspired.” “Did you like it? Think it a shame that it never got built? Great. Let’s not let the facts ruin a lovely, wistful idea.” As criminally jaded as it must undoubtedly make me seem, this has become the stock response I give when asked what driving a concept car is like. It is, apart from anything else, also a great privilege, a singular opportunity and a huge vote of trust and faith. Any drive like this always…

Some modifiers and restomodders of original Land Rover Defenders make similar mistakes, fitting weird LED headlight units, modern paint finishes and wheels that look far, far too big. The ‘Stronger than the 1980s’ G-Class is our old gent slipping back into his brogues and tweed. He looks right again. I feel like we’ve talked around this retro subject before. Many car designers don’t like retro designs, because they’re in the business of making new things, not rehashing old ones. But the G-Class isn’t a new car and some of the aesthetic options you can put on one feel like that…

“That’s for limited mileage, and only 1000 miles at that, but that’s adequate for us as we don’t go very far from home,” says Ed. “And although the premium will rise once he’s passed his test, it will still be far cheaper than for a modern car.” Why a Morris Minor? “Well, my grandfather had one,” says Ed, “which added some appeal. We looked at a Traveller but the woodwork was really rotten so we gave that one a miss. Then we spotted this saloon that was for sale for £1500. “As you can see, the paintwork is very dull and there is some…

I’m excited to give it a go but, allowed such dizzying freedom of expression and a hypothetical bottomless pit of money to spend on options, I find myself racked by a paralysing sense of indecision. Whiling away your lunch break on a configurator can be a relaxing exercise in escapism but, even allowing for the fact that it’s all imaginary, speccing a P39 – with the boss at your side and the production line over your shoulder – feels rather more daunting. I want to do justice to RML’s lovingly engineered creation and honour its performance potential by not going…

Inside, the MS-RT uses the same pleasantly car-like collection of materials that give an aura of quality with long-life durability. The sporty front seats, similar but different in design from the Raptor’s, have exaggerated side bolsters and are faced with a combination of suede and ‘non-animal leather’, which works fine. The central touchscreen is reminiscent of the Raptor’s but the display directly ahead of the driver is simpler and less configurable. Lots of Raptor toys – a variety of settings for steering effort, damper stiffness, angry exhaust note – are missing but you still get an excellent rear-view camera, speed…

The US’s new car import tariff has hit Lotus hard, with the company cancelling sales of the Chinese-built Emeya and Eletre in the country due to the now-insurmountable financial hurdles. Lotus has also halted shipments of the British-built Emira to the US after the new 25% tariff was applied in April, meaning that no cars are heading to a market that last year accounted for a fifth of all Lotus sales. The deal recently agreed between the UK and US to lower those tariffs to 10% has helped Lotus, but Windle has yet to press go on restarting shipments to the US…

As computers and games consoles rapidly evolved in the 1990s from literally BASIC (as in the BBC Micro’s programming language) to the ultra-cool Sony PlayStation, so developers created some amazing racing games. In 1991, Geoff Crammond’s Grand Prix set new standards for an accurate Formula 1 simulator, then in 1997 Gran Turismo’s staggering realism and unprecedented scale changed the genre forever. TOCA Touring Car Championship and Colin McRae Rally melded simulation with accessible dynamics and there were pure arcade classics such as Sega Rally Challenge, Daytona USA, Ridge Racer and Need for Speed. But the greatest racing game of the decade…

The ID 7 GTX features a four-wheel-drive powertrain. At the rear is the same 282bhp Volkswagen Group APP550 permanent magnet synchronous electric motor as in the standard Pro and Pro S versions. That’s twinned with a new 107bhp asynchronous motor (designated AKA150) mounted on the front axle.  The rear motor is the primary drive unit, with the front one called upon when needed. If you were wondering, Volkswagen chose to use an asynchronous unit on the front axle because it claims this is more efficient when not being called upon to provide power. Despite the two motors offering 282bhp and 107bhp respectively,…

In-car audio is as much about relaying information to the occupants as it is listening to music. With that in mind, one of the latest ideas to emerge from Continental is an instrument display that doubles as a sound chamber to transmit sound without the need for separate speakers. The display is based on the company’s Ac2ated Sound Technology, which it began developing a number of years ago with audio specialist Sennheiser. An exercise in system integration, the display does away with the need for separate speakers, saving cost, weight and space. Sound is generated by actuators, which effectively turn the…

Bentley says the hand-built nature of the Batur gives refinement advantages. A craftsperson able to take their time to fit seals accurately can make Batur quieter even than the standard car, they reckon. Inside, there’s some immediate familiarity to the Batur because it retains the dash-top, gently rotating tri-faced display panel and most switches from the regular GT.  Elsewhere, though, little is left unchanged – the instrument design, door cards, seats, some significant switches, which can be 3D-printed if you prefer. The rear +2 seats have become a storage shelf, while the body means the boot has a compact lid,…

Both the hybrid system and the PHEV system are based around a 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine and a six-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox driving the front wheels. Electric assistance comes from a 1.32kWh battery and a 43bhp electric motor in the case of the hybrid or an 11.1kWh battery and an 83bhp electric motor in the PHEV. The hybrid produces a combined 127bhp and the PHEV a combined 168bhp. In the PHEV, the battery is up from 8.9kWh previously, so its official electric-only range now extends as far as 40 miles. A Type 2 socket on the flank of the PHEV will suck up…

Volkswagen will start moving all of its electric cars onto an updated platform from next year, ushering in a new type of battery chemistry that promises to reduce costs. The Volkswagen ID 2 supermini, due in 2026, will be the first model to use a lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery that will be cheaper than the nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) packs in the firm’s current EVs. After that car is launched, the rest of Volkswagen’s ID cars will move onto an updated platform dubbed MEB Plus, which will have them adopt the same type of battery. LFP batteries have become more popular in recent…

British electric motor maker Yasa expects it will almost double its annual production volumes by 2026, as several major brands launch new plug-in hybrid and electric performance cars exploiting its technology. It said it expects annual production volumes to rise from just under 15,000 currently to around 25,000 in 2026, as its unique motor design underpins an increasing number of new cars from the likes of Lamborghini and Mercedes-AMG. It employs a proprietary axial flux design, dubbed the Yokeless and Segmented Armature (Yasa), that is claimed to be four times more power-dense than the radial flux motors common in today’s mainstream…

Fiat has released the first images of the new 500 Hybrid, revealing it will get an overhauled interior and a six-speed manual gearbox. Photographs of a group of pre-release prototypes show that it will look identical to the electric 500e except for a reworked front grille to feed more air to a petrol engine. Inside, the dashboard features a larger and squarer new storage cubby and the gearlever is elevated alongside the steering wheel – as in the old petrol 500. Fiat has yet to confirm which powertrain the 500 Hybrid will use, but it’s expected to employ the same 1.0-litre three-cylinder mild-hybrid Firefly engine featured in the old 500 and Fiat Panda.…

The next Mercedes-Benz GLB will go on sale in the UK next year and is described by a senior insider as a “massive step up” from the first-generation car. Part of an ambitious wide-ranging offensive from Mercedes, the compact SUV will be joined by more than a dozen new models and facelifts over the next 24 months. The new GLB will retain the distinctive upright silhouette introduced by the current car in 2019 but test mules show that it will be slightly longer and wider, with more of a focus on interior space and storage. Autocar understands it will also…

The updated Skoda Enyaq vRS has been unveiled with a radical new look and faster charging speeds. The electric SUV retains its dual-motor, four-wheel-drive set-up, putting out a combined 335bhp and 402lb ft. This yields a 0-62mph time of 5.4sec.  More powerful brakes with two-pot calipers are fitted up front in line with the extra performance, and Skoda’s Dynamic Chassis Control (DCC) adjustable suspension is offered as standard. This lowers the car’s front end by 15mm and the rear end by 10mm compared with the regular Enyaq. The new vRS uses the same 79kWh battery pack as previously, giving a range of 340 miles,…

Affalterbach looks to a new high-performance PHEV powertrain for the replacement for the much-loved E63 super saloon The Mercedes-AMG E63 was a brash, loud, powerful super-saloon of a kind that isn’t easily forgotten and that only Affalterbach could make. To the dismay of a generation of dyed-in-the-wool performance car enthusiasts, it’s no longer in production.Sacrificed as part of Mercedes’ wide-ranging electrification plans, one of the most multi-faceted of AMG’s modern-day performance cars has been laid to rest with a celebrated reputation built up over a period of 16 years and three model generations. And it has been indirectly replaced by this:…

The design boss of Slate Auto, the American start-up backed by Amazon that plans to launch a bare-bones, £20,000 electric pick-up truck in 2027, believes “people deserve to have a car that they can afford” and the concepts of desirability and affordability should be “inseparable”.  Speaking to the Autocar Meets podcast from the Car Design Event in Munich, Tisha Johnson said the “clear, overwhelming response” to the Slate Truck’s unveiling last month has been “oustanding and somehow surprising” but ultimately reflective of the public’s desire for more affordable yet still attractive cars. Prior to joining Slate, Johnson spent several years at Volvo’s North American…

One of his focuses – and a key reason for the green-lane test drive initiative – is for Jeep to “play to our strengths”. He adds: “There are too many brands that are too similar. I’m always saying ‘be less beige, be more Jeep’.” Cholmondeley has commissioned a series of ‘campfire tales’ booklets for dealerships highlighting the brand, and with more composure than you would expect from someone watching a journalist drive his car perilously close to the edge of a trail, he rattles off tales about the origins of the seven-slot grille, Jeep’s Purple Heart medal and a string of Wrangler-owning…

Skoda has given the Enyaq a more comprehensive standard equipment list for this generation. There’s a new-look steering wheel that, along with the front seats, is heated as standard, and you get tri-zone climate control straight out of the bag.  On top of this, the upholstery has more of a focus on sustainability than before. If you go for the new ‘Lodge’ design, which we think looks excellent and feels plush, the seats are made from recycled fishing nets, fabric scraps from factories and old carpets, while the dye used for the leather seats on higher trim levels is made…

There is some practical sense in allowing the C3 to grow five inches taller. An upwards stretch doesn’t affect how much space this car takes up at the kerb, and it allows Citroën to offset the impact on cabin packaging of an underfloor battery pack and also to give occupants more outright space by sitting them less recumbently than they would otherwise be. Thus the ë-C3 becomes quite a spacious-feeling supermini, one with particularly abundant head room in the front row and enough space in the second row for most adults to be fairly comfortable. We measured 1010mm of front-row…

In response to the news, Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders boss Mike Hawes said: “The agreement to reduce tariffs on UK car exports into the US is great news for the industry and consumers. “The application of these tariffs was a severe and immediate threat to UK automotive exporters, so this deal will provide much needed relief, allowing both the industry and those that work in it to approach the future more positively.” The news marks a major step down from Trump’s March announcement, when he signed a bill that penalised all car makers importing cars into the US market. At the…

That seems logical to me, but then it does cost £8000 more, and both Tiguans will just get stuck in the same rush-hour queues anyway. There’s also, unusually and commendably, still a diesel offered in the Tiguan range – a 2.0-litre four – as well as two company car tax-friendly plug-in hybrids. Like everyone else at Autocar, and indeed many customers, I was, shall we say, not a fan of the new dashboard interface that the Volkswagen Group began introducing with the electric ID 3 in 2019. Both the Mk8 Golf and its Seat Leon sibling drove me mad at their…

There was plenty about the design of the EQS that, when the car first came along in 2021, made it seem like a tellingly direct riposte to the Tesla Model S – an EV that had been eating into S-Class sales in the US for several years. But nothing did more so than Mercedes’ Hyperscreen infotainment system, which made it look as if the car’s entire fascia had been replaced by one gigantic touchscreen. Four years ago, of course, this was an optional feature, whereas now every EQS gets this system as standard. And, while you can decrease the brightness of the three display screens…

Volvo is reviving the XC70 name for a new range-extender [EREV] SUV for the Chinese market.  The company’s first ‘extended-range plug-in hybrid’ has been previewed for the first time today ahead of a reveal in the coming months and a launch later this year. Volvo says the new XC70 is designed specifically “to meet the demand for longer-range plug-in hybrids in China”, but says it is “exploring potential additional markets at a later stage”. Technical details remain thin on the ground, but Volvo has promised a pure-electric range of up to 124 miles, which is more than double what the…

More than 2000 Jaguar I-Pace electric cars are set to be converted into autonomous taxis at a new factory in the US. The EVs will be converted in Arizona by manufacturer Magna as part of a push by Alphabet-owned autonomous vehicle firm Waymo to expand its services. Already completing more than 250,000 autonomous taxi trips each week in Austin, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco, Waymo now wants to expand to Atlanta, Miami and Washington DC from next year. Its fleet currently consists of 1500 vehicles, which are all I-Paces. Conversion of a further 2000 I-Paces (a “final delivery” to Waymo before Jaguar pulled the model from sale last year…

The first Panamera was memorable to sit in. Its big, yet form-fitting, cabin was reminiscent of that of the Porsche Cayenne, except low-slung and therefore better for the business of driving. The experience in the second-generationc car was familiar: the same gun-emplacement position, dictated by a chin-high scuttle and colossal centre console. But the detail had been altered by what Porsche called the ‘digitalisation’ of its cabins. Two 7.0in high-resolution displays were added to the instrument cluster: the left-hand side delivered ‘Speed and Assist’ and the right ‘Car and Info’. Between the two sat the rev counter, still pleasingly analogue. The main touchscreen of the…

He even produced a happy-snap of himself as a teenager at a Jersey viewing point, Noirmont Point, using a camera for the very first time and realising, soon after, that it might present him with a career path. Going there would be one priority. Straight off the plane, at around midday, we headed for the sunny, sandy south coast and Bel Royal, where Jersey’s solitary Kia dealer – the place from which every one of those top-selling Picantos is delivered – was volunteering to lend us a demonstrator for 48 hours or so. On the way, we called in at…

Remember those separate single-DIN equaliser units with sliders in ’80s and ’90s cars? What a waste of space those were. When sensibly implemented, touchscreens can make a limited amount of dashboard space much more useful by giving the driver quick and easy access to a multitude of functions while keeping the peripheral stuff out of sight. The classic BMW iDrive rotary controller is brilliant for scrolling through menus or zooming in and out on the sat-nav map, so it makes an ideal partner to a well-laid-out screen, but trying to enter an address with it is excruciating.  A touchscreen does that…

But they seem to be pretty durable too, making a 100k-plus odometer reading something to be less fearful of than it once was. That said, noisy gearboxes are a potentially expensive hazard. One reason why these Minis wear well is that they are not your average supermini. This was the first premium supermini (Lancia’s Ypsilon is a city car, in case you’re about to finger-punch a keyboard), and the quality ran more than skin-deep.  Although BMW’s 2000 sale of Rover prompted a Viking-expunging rewrite of corporate history, development of the R50 Mini was largely a Rover-led project, to a BMW brief…

Say what you like about my Cooper S’s gratuitous John Cooper Works- avoured bodykit, racing stripes and fruity exhaust note, but there’s no mistaking it for a common-or-garden Cooper C. And so I suppose I find myself writing something of a eulogy. The hot supermini is a type of car that has contributed more than its fair share of five-star road tests over the years, and of which you can trace the evolution back to such icons as the Peugeot 205 GTi and Renault 5 Turbo. Even if a brave new electric era awaits (and accounting for the fact that…

Next year’s Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship will retain the same 10 events next year but it will undergo a minor reshuffle because of football’s FIFA World Cup. The 2026 calendar for Britain’s leading motorsport championship has been revealed less than a week after the season-opening event for the 2025 season, held at Donington Park. The Derbyshire circuit will again host the first round of the season in 2026, followed by trips to Brands Hatch and Snetterton. The calendar will then undergo a minor shuffle, with the BTCC’s traditional summer break being brought forward from July to June. This is…

Just as I watched the last episode of Reacher and feared my television well was running dry, a new series of Bosch: Legacy arrived to make going to the gym less boring. So begins another series in which the star bounds around saving the day, breaking a few rules/laws/bones as necessary, and ultimately gets paid badly or not at all for their trouble. I wondered if it was just people like me who were drawn to this sort of story, but whether it’s Buffy or Ludwig, Harry Potter or Stranger Things, plus about eleventy-dozen superhero films, the theme is the…

The 5 gets two power options in the UK; 148bhp and 121bhp. The 4 will only receive the most powerful option. As much as 85% of the demand for the 5 in the UK is for the 148bhp version, and Renault is banking on the same for the R4. Like with most EVs, power isn’t a problem. The 0-62mph time of 8.2secs proves there’s a good bit of grunt off the line, and you can get the traction control to kick in at low speed under full throttle in the dry at low speeds.  Accelerative pace slows down once you’re…

It is the apogee of long-range personal transit, yet extinction beckons because diesel has become so unfashionable. While such cars remain, our duty is to revel in them. Having fluked the perfect wheels, I did just that on this Alpine road trip. Fluked? Once we had sorted travel dates, I opened the road test diary. It reaches further into the future than you might think, mapping out when the main tests in the mag will run. Sometimes a juicy candidate materialises at short notice and we scramble to fit it in, but mostly it’s all planned. Cue a shiver of delight…

On the move, both the Turbo’s hybrid powertrain and its clever suspension have enormous potential to surprise and impress, and in a variety of different dimensions.  The system is the same in both the Turbo and the Turbo S; it’s simply that the V8 engine can work so much harder in the faster version, to lend a hit of speed when called upon that feels fully Herculean rather than merely huge. And yet, even in the Turbo S, that engine never imposes itself unless you want it to. In electric mode, there’s enough oomph from the 188bhp motor for fairly…

It’s the raked windscreen that sets an unexpectedly exciting tone when you slide aboard the Prius. The place has a real cockpit feel, with a likeable ensconcement factor, although forward visibility is still good, because of the large quarterlights. Glass is in abundance for what is still not a particularly wide car, and it gives the Prius, with its slim but nicely sculpted seatbacks and its lowish beltline, something of a lounge feel. It’s not an especially lavish lounge, admittedly. This is especially true for our entry-level (and supposedly the most efficient) Design test car, whose only adornments are two…

The event included a number of speakers, including talks and interviews from: Sarah Windrum, head of cluster development at Horiba MIRA; Volvo Car UK managing director Nicole Melillo Shaw; Diane Miller, director of the Parts Distribution Centre at Ellesmere Port for Stellantis; Lorraine Bishton, managing director of Subaru UK; and Renee Knott, head of project management and planning at Aston Martin. This year’s Great Women initiative was sponsored by: Advanced Propulsion Centre UK, Bentley, BMW Group, International Motors, Ineos Automotive, Keyloop, Lookers, Horiba MIRA, Nissan, TrustFord and Volvo.  You can read more about all the winners by visiting the Great…

Mercedes-Benz will emphasise “respect” with a new design language for its future models, as it refreshes its line-up and moves to unite the styling of its electric and combustion cars. The move is part of a drive to differentiate upcoming Mercedes models from their rivals – especially important as its core segments swell with new entrants from less established marques – and to strengthen their desirability as luxury products. Design boss Gorden Wagener told Autocar at the Shanghai motor show that “the worst part of new design trends is having no identity” and Mercedes wants to avoid its cars falling into what he calls…

If your car supports only a wireless connection (or you don’t want to use a cable), the connection process is slightly more complicated, and the procedure varies from car to car.  Some require you to plug your phone in for the first time before connecting wirelessly every time afterwards. Others act as a wi-fi hotspot to which you can connect your phone. What’s next for Apple CarPlay? Apple updates CarPlay fairly regularly, with the latest iteration releasing in March 2025 as part of the brand’s iOS 18.4 software update.  The update brought an additional line of icons for some models with larger infotainment screens,…

Through the lower tiers of the model range, you can have 322-, 376- or 456bhp, lastly in the twin-motor A6 E-tron Quattro version; but ours was a mid-level 376bhp A6 Avant E-tron Performance. So, let’s get stuck into the range-topper, shall we? The driveline technology may be different but the approach Audi takes to evolve an A6 into an S6 in the electric age follows a familiar path, as it always has with combustion-engined models. Namely, more power, control and grip, but in a measured manner, so not with full RS levels of commitment, drama and cost. Both the A6…

Volkswagen is preparing a second facelift for the five-year-old ID 3 as part of efforts to keep the electric hatchback fresh until it is replaced by the electric Golf in 2028. Set to be launched in the UK in 2026, the upgraded ID 3 is planned to adopt a bolder front-end design and higher-quality interior trims among other changes, according to sources with knowledge of Volkswagen’s future model plans. News of the facelift to the ID 3 comes as Volkswagen prepares to kick off pilot production of the smaller ID 2 and its sister model, the Cupra Raval, at Seat’s Martorell plant…

Key focus has been made on creating a “private lounge” for the rear passengers, that’s extensively clad in white Nappa leather. Main features include a retractable 65-inch cinema screen (that when up also acts as partition wall), a 42-speaker sound system and two airline-style seats (made with tubular cushions) that are fully reclinable. Seven projectors are also fitted to create different ambiences, the rear windows can be switched from transparent to opaque for a “unique cocooning effect”, and there’s even a karaoke mode (one of seven that range from “gaming” to “relax”). The concept showcases the “dawn of a new…

“We need to know how to react to changes in the market,” explains Willoughby. “We have to be a bit diversified and understand how our skillset maps into the market, and where it has value.” As he speaks, Willoughby is forced to raise his voice over the deafening growl of a Gordon Murray V12 that’s running in the adjacent test bay – a neat metaphor for Cosworth’s eggs-in-many-baskets approach. Small wonder that the people responsible for these screaming mechanical marvels should be exploring ways of keeping their crankshafts spinning into the future. From the dark and deafening confines of the…

Already it’s off sale in many markets, including the UK, where it no longer meets the latest safety or emissions regulations, and within months it will go out of production entirely. There is no imminent replacement. And that, I get the impression, is fine by the Japanese. I could be wrong, of course. They could be more cross than a teacher after you’ve knocked on the staffroom door at breaktime.  But I don’t think so. Two-thirds of Japanese identify as Buddhists and that doctrine says that all existence is “transient, evanescent, inconstant”. There is an appreciation that things come and go. So while…

Chinese upcoming brand Omoda has revealed a radical new compact crossover aimed at the MG4 and Kia EV3.  The Omoda 3 will be officially launched in October ahead of a global rollout including the UK starting late in the year or early 2026 and will be offered with an electric drivetrain as well as plug-in hybrid and straight internal combustion. The angular styling and sharply defined sharknose grille recalls much more expensive SUVs including the Lotus Eletre and Lamborghini Urus, however the price is expected to start below £30,000. The car measures 4420mm long, making it just almost 50mm longer…

It also looks to have a prominent retractable rear spoiler and flush door handles in order to boost downforce and aid aerodynamic efficiency respectively, as well as a split rear window. An evolution of the concept’s striking tail-lights looks to be hidden beneath the wrap, and the bulky lower bumpers are expected to accommodate similarly racy aero-optimised bodywork. The electric AMG has been designed from the ground up as a performance car and is expected to place as much emphasis on dynamic performance and engagement as it does straight-line speed. It will be the first car to use a bespoke…

Porsche looks to be readying a Le Mans car for the road, which it could unveil at the famous 24-hour race in June. A shadowy teaser image released by the German brand shows a side profile of the 963 hypercar (below) that currently competes in the World Endurance Championship (WEC). During the announcement, Porsche heavily referenced the 917, one of few Porsche endurance cars ever modified for road-going use, some 50 years ago. Originally designed for track racing, chassis 030 was sold in 1974 by Porsche to Count Rossi di Montelera (the heir to the Martini brand), who then converted it. After showing…

New American EV manufacturer Slate, backed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has revealed a back-to-basics compact pick-up truck set to cost the equivalent of just £20,000. The secretive start-up had not made any public announcements about its debut model, called simply Truck, in the run-up to its unveiling, but is now taking reservations and plans to begin deliveries at the end of next year – with a targeted base price of $27,000 before local incentives. Only confirmed for a US roll-out so far, the utilitarian two-seat pick-up is engineered and designed to keep costs down in a bid to make…

The BMW 1 Series will return for a radically reinvented fourth generation within the next three years, as the German brand goes against its rivals in committing to its entry-level model.  As Mercedes-Benz prepares to retire the A-Class for good at the end of its current generation and Audi winds down production of the A1 and Q2, BMW says its smallest car remains an important part of its model range and a next-generation model will be the entry point into the new-gen Neue Klasse family. BMW will launch this new EV line-up in September with the unveiling of the second-generation iX3 at…

Most mechanical parts are still available for the Mondial and body panels can be found or fabricated. Trim is harder, says Collingwood, but can usually be made. What’s it like? We can’t drive this Mondial, because it belongs to a customer, but we’re taken for a ride in it over enough distance to suggest that it functions as it should, a sports exhaust lifting its aural impact. There are no rattles or squeaks, the engine sounds healthy, everything works and the interior is in excellent shape, as is the red bodywork. It feels like you could immediately do some distance…

Home charging for company car drivers is more complex, owing to the need to prove how the energy has been used. However, drivers can claim 7p per mile for business trips in electric vehicles, which is the easiest way to avoid administrative headaches. Home wallbox costs It’s possible to use the factory-supplied three-pin plug charger when refilling your EV’s battery cells, but charging times are lengthy and most manufacturers advise this method is for emergency use only.  Prices vary, but you can expect to pay £500-£1500 for a smart home wallbox that will communicate with your phone, allowing you to control…

BYD’s premium spin-off Denza has lifted the covers off a new concept previewing a Porsche 911 and Maserati Granturismo rival. Named the Denza Z, it is an electric car with a cab-forward design typical of midship sports cars. However, it can also seat two small rear passengers, in similar fashion to the 911 and Mercedes’ AMG GT. Detailed specifications have yet to be revealed but its low-set, wide-hipped design and large rear wing clearly signal a performance-focused intent. For reference, the Denza Z9 GT – a Porsche Taycan rival – is offered with a tri-motor battery-electric powertrain with a combined output of 952bhp,…

Volkswagen has unveiled a trio of concept cars ahead of the Shanghai motor show, previewing a dramatic expansion of its offerings in the crucial Chinese market. Developed in collaboration with the firm’s joint-venture partners SAIC and FAW, plus its sub-division headquartered in Anhui, the new cars form the backbone of a 30-model line-up that’s due in China over the next two years. The headliner is the ID Era, developed with SAIC, previewing Volkswagen’s first car with a range-extender powertrain. It’s a three-row seven-seat SUV similar to the existing Tayron that pairs a petrol-burning generator with a battery-electric powertrain for a combined range of more than…

The motors draw their power from a 70kWh battery pack that is fitted in a way that optimises agility and offers “spectacular” drift capabilities, claims Renault. It even has a dedicated drift mode and a rally-style vertical handbrake. The battery pack is good for a range of 250 miles, although Renault has admitted that it will last between 15 and 20 minutes when driven flat-out on a track. Given its track credentials, the thermal management of the battery is such that it can be driven at speeds of up to 168mph before being fast-charged at 350kW, enabling it to charge from…

The steering wheel is a non-adjustable leather Momo thing, the gearshift throw is perhaps the shortest in production, and the simple dials and toggle switches are pifflingly easy to acquaint yourself with. There’s a heater and a 12V socket, and even though the suspension design takes up more room than older systems, there’s still a boot, mohair-lined. Plus a roof. I don’t imagine anybody will think that the hood itself is plush. Magazines were complaining about the popper fastenings when I was a kid and the Seven still uses them now. Today, a Seven’s hood pulls tighter than ones of old and keeps…

Scott bought the car from a bloke in California. At the time, he was looking for an engine cover for his 1990 Testarossa coupe, a left-hand-drive car he’d bought from the Netherlands. (Seven of his Ferraris are left-hookers.) There he was, surfing the web, when up pops this four-year-old ad for an unfinished Testarossa spider project car. “I was intrigued and called the seller on the off-chance it was still available,” says Scott. “Incredibly, it was. He’d bought it intending to restore it but it just sat in his garage gathering dust. The owner said he wasn’t interested in selling…

“Until the next morning, that is, when a huge storm blew in, resulting in the single worst ferry journey I have experienced.” David Vivian “Two enterprising guys – I forget their names – had travelled to Germany to buy an Amphi-Ranger, a sizeable, angular amphibious 4×4, with a view to marketing the vehicle in the UK. “After taking delivery, they drove it back to Blighty. Thing is, when they came to the English Channel, they didn’t stop, and spent the next 21 miles dodging ferries and cargo ships. How could we resist the offer of a spin to the Isle of…

We tested three ‘cheaps from the old Bloc’ in November 1990… We go back to the 1990s and re-discover which budget Soviet brand was the best Europe was changing. We’d experienced the revolutionary Autumn of Nations in 1989, which began in Poland and soon spread like wildfire behind the Iron Curtain. By the end of that year, democracy had returned to Czechoslovakia. Just a year later, the very linchpin of communism, the Soviet Union, fell apart. And Yugoslavia was soon to follow, violently disintegrating into several Balkan states from 1992.  And so, unbeknownst to Autocar’s testers, our November 1990 test…

What really sets everyday cars apart, prices aside, is design. The reason one person falls in love with the Jeep Avenger may well be why another orders an Alfa Romeo Junior instead, despite their identical specs. Lancia has always been a design brand and, in this coming era of increasing mechanical and technical similarity, going all in on that appears to be an ideal strategy. “Many people came expressly to ask me to work for Lancia. There was passion in their eyes, and when I told them about the possible plans for the rebirth of this glorious brand, they lit up,” creative chief Jean-Pierre…

Nissan has now finished testing autonomous cars on UK roads, as its EvolvAD project has come to a close – the last part of an eight-year scheme. This bit was to see whether a self-driving Nissan Leaf could operate outside of cities and in less connected areas, on residential and single-track country roads, to discover what types of technology will be necessary to drive in such complex environments. Nissan says the trial has been “tremendously successful”, but you may note that there aren’t autonomous cars serving your neighbourhood yet. Over eight years, autonomous Leafs have driven 16,000 miles over all kinds of terrain. You…

On the road the XM never feels quite as enjoyably rapid as you’re expecting, which is manifestly un-M. But the comparative lack of practicality, the obstinately ugly aesthetic and the punchy asking price are all okay, because the XM redrafts the dynamic rulebook for fast SUVs, with M5 CS genes palpable in its very DNA, right? Wrong. And unfortunately, this is down to not just one key weakness but several.  For one thing, BMW might be weltmeister when it comes to disguising weight in performance cars, but the XM is a bridge too far.  It weighs an epic 2710kg. The…

Enjoy full access to the complete Autocar archive at the magazineshop.com Working on 4WD were Cosworth, BRM, Lotus, Matra, McLaren and Ferrari. Most integrated Ferguson’s proven system into existing chassis, but Northampton went its own way. We reported: “Drive is taken from the engine, which is installed with the flywheel end forward, to a two-shaft gearbox with Hewland gears to give a wide choice of ratios. An extra gear, mounted on the end of the second motion shaft, takes the drive sideways to an angled bevel differential from which it is taken to the front and rear final drives. The torque-split…

Horse, the engine-making joint venture of Geely and the Renault Group, has revealed a hybrid powertrain designed to be retrofitted into electric cars. It contains the internal combustion engine, electric motor, gearbox and related electronics in a single unit that, Horse said, can be squeezed into the same space as an EV’s main drive motor. This means manufacturers could retrofit an electric car with the unit without needing to comprehensively re-engineer the car or having to set up a new production line. The powertrain can be fuelled using petrol, E85 ethanol-petrol mix, pure methanol and synthetic fuels, Horse said. It can operate both as a…

Tang called on the government to work more closely with instructors to resolve the issue and suggested an airline-style standby system could be the answer to long waiting times. “If one of those original candidates doesn’t turn up, you’re still taking one out [of the waiting list],” he said. “That would cut down the waiting list a lot.” “Booking a driving test is awful” Heman Leung moved to the UK from Hong Kong in 2020. Because of the urbanisation in Hong Kong, he arrived with no driving experience but, soon after arriving in London with his family, he realised he…

Subaru is planning to offer performance models in its future full electric line-up – which could include new sports cars in the vein of the Impreza STI and BRZ. The brand gained a huge cult following for its rally-honed performance machines in the early 1990s, and also enjoyed success with the BRZ sports car that launched in 2012 as a twin to the Toyota GT86.  In recent years the firm has focused its efforts on rugged SUVs, and has withdrawn all its performance models from Europe due to emissions regulations.  But speaking at the unveiling of the new Trailseeker EV at…

Production of the Grenadier was suspended for four months late last year after seat supplier Recaro Automotive went into liquidation – having given Ineos only a few weeks’ notice, noted Calder. The German firm has since been rescued by Italian supplier Proma Group and full Grenadier production speed will be achieved again in May. Despite the hiatus, Ineos grew Grenadier sales by 40% last year as it entered its 50th worldwide market. One of them is China, by far the world’s largest. Total capacity at Hambach could be up to 50,000 or so cars per year with all-shift working, but Ineos…

Audi says it has taken inspiration from its past for the new A6 saloon.  The ICE model has gained a wide-reaching overhaul for its sixth generation and become a curvier proposition with a drag coefficient of just 0.23, which makes it the most slippery combustion-powered Audi to enter production.  Most notably, in pursuit of improved aerodynamics, it has gained the same style of curved rear end that marked out the Mk2 ‘C5’ A6. To make this design a reality, Audi used steel instead of aluminium for the bootlid because it can be shaped more easily.  Arriving hot on the heels…

Audi says it has taken inspiration from its past for the new A6 saloon.  The ICE model has gained a wide-reaching overhaul for its sixth generation and become a curvier proposition with a drag coefficient of just 0.23, which makes it the most slippery combustion-powered Audi to enter production.  Most notably, in pursuit of improved aerodynamics, it has gained the same style of curved rear end that marked out the Mk2 ‘C5’ A6. To make this design a reality, Audi used steel instead of aluminium for the bootlid because it can be shaped more easily.  Arriving hot on the heels…

Morgan has taken all of the things that the Plus Six was and moved them on considerably. Whatever you think of it, its appearance has moved itself up and away from the existing Plus Four, extending the Morgan range usefully. In terms of performance and ride and handling, too, particularly in terms of its linearity of responses, it’s in a different league to other Mogs.  Ultimately, though, it still feels like a Morgan in the way it drives: you get the sensational view out, sit near the back, and it’s a compact, lightweight, engaging sports car – with some unrefinements. …

Best for: Value Is it an estate? Is it an MPV? Is it an SUV? It does have seven seats and a mildly raised ride height, but we reckon the Dacia Jogger is an estate – and a really good one too. Given the rampant rise in the cost of living that we’ve experienced in the past few years, the Jogger is particularly welcome. It offers all the space and utility you need, including a genuinely usable third row of seats, for significantly less money than most standard hatchbacks. And it’s not as if Jogger drivers have to give up a…

Mercedes-Benz is ramping up the development of its entry-level G-Class, a smaller electric car that will be pitched against a new breed of rugged crossovers such as the upcoming Land Rover Defender ‘Sport’. Pencilled to launch in 2027, the highly anticipated model, currently referred to as ‘Little G’, will be a sibling to the larger, legendary off-roader and sold exclusively as an EV. It is intended to give Mercedes a foothold in the popular rugged crossover market. The smaller G-Class was initially confirmed by Mercedes CEO Ola Källenius at the 2023 Munich motor show. It has been conceived to sit below…

For the interior, Skoda has done the usual sporty car thing of replacing most of the fabric and leather of the standard car with ‘microsuede’ (Alcantara, to you and me) and perforated leather. You can add normal black leather back in as an option. Otherwise, the vRS’s cabin is the same as on every other Kodiaq. You can find our full review of the rest of the Skoda Kodiaq range here, but in short, it’s easy to use, generally practical and well thought out, and very spacious. There are more physical controls than other VW group cars, and an appealing…

Of course, we can wax lyrical about Ford being a dab hand with damper rates, but the Puma Gen-E will live or die by its purchase costs – especially its monthly PCP and lease rates. List prices starting from under £30,000 for the Puma Gen-E Select are a strong start of it; although the keyless entry, Matrix LED lights and B&O sound system will no doubt swing the decision in favour of the Premium trim for a lot of buyers. You’ll be wanting to add the £350 pack to get heated seats regardless of which trim you fancy, though; a weird…

I was about four years old when I first laid eyes on a Peugeot 205: an Alpine White 1.9-litre GTi. Even then I knew it was special, and its clean-cut, Pininfarina-penned lines etched themselves onto my brain as the genesis of what would become my hot hatch infatuation. Later, I was shuttled to and from school in one, and 20 years on it’s still part of the family, albeit currently residing under a sheet and in a very sorry state of affairs. But while the 205 was pleasing to the eye and rewarding to drive, it was also a rather…

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Land Rover is gearing up to launch a long-mooted and highly anticipated smaller entry level Defender as a crucial new model in its electric car portfolio.  The rugged, compact 4×4 is rumoured to have been on the cards for several years but has never officially appeared in JLR’s product roadmap presentations.  But Autocar spy photographers have spotted the model testing for the first time, confirming development is well under way and indicating it could arrive in dealerships as soon as 2027.  These first images reveal it will have a close visual relationship with its full-sized namesake in its chunky, straight-edged…

Anyone stepping out of the relatively minimalist cabin of the previous A3 and into this new one will be in for a shock, albeit mostly a pleasant one. There is a wider variety of materials and a dashboard that is, to a degree, split in two, with a more driver-focused design. Audi acknowledges that this generation of A3 has been criticised since its 2020 launch for the finish and design of its interior, and the priority for its mid-life update was to give the cabin a quality and charisma boost. So there are now illuminated door panels (30 colours available), redesigned air vents…

There is a “renaissance of retailers” happening in the industry according to the boss of Polestar, who credits the firm’s recent increase in sales with having more physical retailers and people selling its cars. Polestar started as an online-only brand with limited physical presence but CEO Michael Lohscheller, who took the top job last October, is overseeing a roll out of a physical retail network that is doing “active selling”. “Leasing or buying a car is an important decision and you don’t just do it online, or at least not everybody does,” he told Autocar.

It’s the third of the Icona-series cars, after the Ferrari 812 Superfast-based, barchetta-bodied Monza SP1 and Monza SP2, but the first that you can use properly, on account of it having refinements such as a windscreen and roof. Like its name, its styling is designed to evoke memories of that great day more than fifty years ago. Those curvaceous front wings and rear haunches are pure P4 and all the better for it. I’ve always considered the P4 the most beautiful car of any kind ever created by anyone anywhere in the world.  Whereas the SP1 and SP2 looked almost…

Arriving alongside the Aion UT is the Aion V, a Tesla Model Y and Skoda Enyaq-rivalling electric SUV revealed at last year’s Paris motor show.  It gets a 224bhp motor and a 90kWh LFP battery, giving a range of 324 miles. GAC has yet to fix a UK launch date, but Schemera told Autocar it would be “very soon”. He explained that the UK will feature in GAC’s second wave of growth markets, following its arrival in Portugal, Poland and Israel.  He added that the UK is a “very important” region for GAC to crack for various reasons. Chief among these is…

Sales of Morgan sports cars will not decline in the US despite the imposition of a 25% tariff on all foreign-built cars imported into the country, according to the marque’s managing director, Matt Hole. Speaking to Matt Prior and Steve Cropley on Autocar’s My Week in Cars podcast, Hole explained: “We gained the homologation in October last year for the Plus Four, so last year we didn’t have any US Plus Four volume, it’s all additional. And if you look at the 200 cars that we’ll add in production this year compared to last year, that entire growth is fundamentally the…

German tuner Brabus has got it hands on the new Smart #5 SUV, pumping it with 637bhp and giving it the acceleration to match a Range Rover Sport SV. The flagship variant of the largest car Smart has ever produced is described as the “pinnacle” of the Geely-owned brand.  It stands out from the standard #5 with a small front diffuser, 21in alloy wheels, a matt paintjob, red accents, red brake callipers and an assortment of Brabus branding. Inside, it features an Alcantara steering wheel, heated front and rear seats and a dashboard dominated by dual 13in OLED screens. The car also gets a Brabus mode that…

Think of endurance racing and your mind probably turns to the World Endurance Championship, in which bespoke hypercars rub wings with some of the world’s ultimate sports cars. It makes for stellar viewing but, given the sheer cost and complexity of the cars involved, can feel a bit samey once you’ve followed it for a couple of years. It’s pretty much a given that a Porsche, Toyota or Ferrari will win overall, while the GT3 class is a toss-up between Porsche (again) and BMW. Plus, the professionalism on display around the paddock matches – and maybe even exceeds – that in…

It will follow up the revamped ZEV mandate with the unveiling of a “modern industrial strategy” in the summer, “which will help British businesses realise the potential of industries of the future”. The government is still attempting to negotiate a new trade deal with the US in a bid to neutralise the impact of the tariff, but ministers are drawing up a list of retaliatory measures that the UK could put in place in the coming weeks if it’s unsuccessful.  The government said: “Support for the car industry will be kept under review as the impact of new tariffs become…

Toyota, for example, had previously threatened “there would be an impact on a number of areas” of its business in the UK if full-hybrids – like the Corolla it builds at Burnaston in Derbyshire – were banned from sale alongside pure-ICE cars in 2030.  And Kia’s UK boss Paul Philpott told Autocar recently that clarity on post-2030 hybrid sales “will help us make final decisions about product line-up during that period”.  The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) had previously urged the government to recognise “the role that all technologies – including hybrids, plug-in hybrids and hydrogen – have…

TV’s Graham Norton got wind of the new calendar and featured it on his show. Within weeks, 100,000 copies had been sold around the world. It spawned other calendars, including ‘Best of British Roundabouts’ and ‘Roundabouts of the World’, plus books devoted to them – one of which Beresford now hands me, autographed by no less a figure than Sharon Osbourne. Nowadays, he and fellow members of UKRAS – usually six of them – meet twice a month to talk about roundabouts. Clocking my alarmed expression, he explains: “Artists have always been fascinated by the mundane. Think Andy Warhol and Campbell’s Soup Cans,…

The hydrogen fuel cell could be one of the most highly developed and rigorously tested automotive technologies never to reach mainstream production, but that doesn’t mean it won’t. The FIA Extreme H World Cup, a new off-road motorsport championship due to kick off later this year, aims to demonstrate just how capable the technology is.  Not only will its Pioneer 25 cars be powered by hydrogen fuel cells consuming sustainably produced hydrogen but the electricity powering on-site activities at the events will be generated using stationary fuel cells too. The cars are based on Extreme E electric off-road racers, using the…

We will have to wait to see how much this matters, because while it feels significant, it might be just online fuss that passes. Loads of people buy things from companies or places they don’t like, knowingly or otherwise, all the time, and saying you’re not going to is about the easiest thing you can do. I’m not buying anything Russian at the moment, but given that I wasn’t likely or able to anyway, it turns out that’s a doddle and makes no difference – something that Tesla might note about the kinds of people currently planning to protest against…

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The UK government is poised to relax its mandated electric car sales targets next week, in a bid to help manufacturers contend with the impact of the US’s newly imposed car import tariffs. According to The Telegraph, prime minister Keir Starmer will accelerate the changes that are being made to the framework of the UK’s zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate, following a consultation process with the industry in reaction to slower-than-expected uptake of EVs. It’s reported that the rules of the ZEV mandate will be changed next week to give manufacturers extra flexibilities, but the headline targets are expected to be unchanged. So…

Forseven has three units including a new design centre opening in Bicester, Oxfordshire soon. It also has offices in Leamington Spa, unsurprisingly given the volume of talent it has attracted from neighbour JLR. All McLaren facilities at Woking, along with its composites factory in Yorkshire, will be retained, and the companies will be integrated together rather than run separately. Collins favours the Bicester location as a central hub between the Midlands and London/south-east, allowing It to attract a wider talent pool. Further facilities are at Shalford, near Guildford, where the Gordon Murray Technologies operation is currently run. Collins said the new…

Ten minutes and 26 seconds into our conversation, the bombshell drops: “What I can say now is that we will merge Forseven and McLaren. It will all exist under a McLaren umbrella.” We had speculated as such in our reporting of Forseven previously, but to hear the words come out of the mouth of Forseven CEO Nick Collins made for quite a jaw-dropping moment. Wow, this is big! Collins had been one of the faces of JLR over the past decade, but had joined the previously almost mythical Forseven 15 months ago and disappeared from public view.

Two striking new Genesis concepts spawned from the Korean luxury brand’s G90 flagship showcase its “new chapter”. Unveiled at the Seoul motor show, the X Gran Coupé and X Gran Convertible have been created to “demonstrate the brand’s future position” and arrive 10 years after it was spun out of Hyundai. Given that both concepts clearly resemble the donor limousine (such as with the classic twin-lightbar design up front and at the back), they suggest possible intentions from the Korean brand to expand its line-up with niche model derivatives. What’s more, features such as the frameless windows, pillarless doors and the extensive use of quilted materials inside…

The new Honda Prelude hybrid sports coupé has now been shown in full, following the unveiling of its interior. It draws heavily on the Civic hatchback on which it’s based, borrowing that car’s 9.0in infotainment touchscreen, digital instrument display and climate control switchgear. However, several key changes reflect its sportier positioning. The steering wheel has a rally-style line stitched into the straightahead and there are bucket seats up front – more thickly bolstered for the driver than the passenger. There’s also an S+ button on the centre console that activates the car’s simulated gearbox – a key part of Honda’s effort to ensure the Prelude offers driving…

The Long Range version of the Vauxhall Corsa Electric has received an update that increases its range by 14 miles. Vauxhall attributed the gain to improved cell chemistry in the nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) battery and revisions to the electric car’s motor reducing energy consumption. This means the Long Range variant is officially capable of driving 266 miles between charges, compared with 252 miles previously. For reference, the rival Renault 5 gets 252 miles from a larger 52kWh battery, while the new Hyundai Inster’s 49kWh pack yields 229 miles. The updated Corsa Electric is also distinguished by the inclusion of vehicle-to-load (V2L) capabilities, meaning the car’s battery can power external…

New EVs registered on or after 1 April 2025 with a list price of over £40,000 are also required to pay the Expensive Car Supplement (ECS) on top of the £195 standard VED rate. This applies every year for the first five years of ownership.  There are some changes to hybrids, too. The first-year rate of cars that officially emit 1-50g/km of CO2 – mostly plug-in hybrids – has risen from £10 to £110. The rate for cars that emit 51-75g/km of CO2 has risen from £30 to £135.  How is vehicle excise duty calculated?  Cars registered from 1 March 2001 to…

The once-in-a-generation upheaval currently sending shockwaves through Europe’s suppliers has multiple consequences, one of which has been to close the book on a key part of British automotive history.  Back in January, Dowlais, the parent company of driveshaft specialist GKN Automotive, was sold to American Axle. “This whole sector has been really challenged over the last 18-24 months,” Dowlais CEO Liam Butterworth told Autocar, and selling up will allow the company to “to navigate this structural shift in the industry”.

A final model-year change is the addition of a one-pedal driving mode, for those who prefer to drive EVs without using the brake pedal much. That’s very welcome – but there’s a delay to the retardation kicking in, which makes it harder to control precisely than it ought to be. Not that one-pedal driving is what will motivate many XPower owners. So is this a Q-car, or a hot hatch, or something else entirely? The answer is probably closest to the last of those ideas.  The standard, single-motor, rear-drive MG 4 actually remains the discerning driver’s choice for those who like…

It produced something similar for the 1998 show, called the Rocket, again using that Korean V8 but with styling more akin to a pre-war Auto Union grand prix racer – although “we won’t go too near the stand, because these cars often disappoint when you get close”. If they had been unconventional in the 1990s, Sbarro and Rinspeed both really let loose in the 2000s, as exemplified by the latter firm’s millennium duo: a retro hot-rod pick-up truck with an integrated crane, called the Tatooo.com (huh?), and “an odd underwater scooter that looks like it’s from a B-grade Hollywood sci-fi movie”,…

The ZR-V departs more from the template set by the Civic mostly on the inside – if only a little.  The dashboard has the same design, featuring a horizontal strip of air vents – and the clicky physical buttons and dials for the climate control are as welcome as ever. The 9.0in touchscreen for the infotainment isn’t the crispest or most generously sized, and its factory sat-nav system isn’t especially clear, but shortcut buttons and wireless smartphone mirroring mean it’s largely simple and easy to use. The cabin materials have had a gentle quality uplift from the Civic’s, however, with…

So Stellantis gives credibility to Leapmotor in the form of brand recognition and a dealer network, but that’s about where the Stellantis involvement ends. The T03 isn’t a cut-down Vauxhall Corsa: it’s a pure Leapmotor development. There’s a battery under the floor, a motor in the front and, like many Chinese cars, a design that is inoffensive but very derivative. If the front has shades of cross-eyed Smart Forfour, from the back it could be absolutely anything. Instead, it draws you in by being apparently overspecced in almost every way, at least on paper. At the UK launch, Leapmotor’s PR…

Zagato insists that his firm will embrace new technology, rather than fear it. He cites artificial intelligence and 3D stamping as beneficial for its small-scale projects, explaining: “You don’t have to invest thousands of euros in moulds or tooling, because you can quickly build the parts to create one-off and few-off cars. We’re already building many one-offs with 3D stamping.” “We’re living through a technological challenge created by the war between EVs and ICE cars,” he continues. “If electric motors win, the standardisation in the industry will be maximised. I can see a time when you won’t be keen to own…

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Skoda will reveal the new Elroq vRS next week as the second electric car from its sporting sub-brand – and it’s set to be one of the company’s most powerful cars yet. To be unwrapped next Thursday morning (3 April) before a public debut at the Milan Deign Week a few days later, the Skoda Elroq vRS will be the latest entrant into a growing class of sporting electric crossovers, going up against the likes of the Mini Aceman JCW, Alfa Romeo Junior Elettrica Veloce and Abarth 600e. The Czech firm has released a preview image that confirms the “most dynamic Elroq…

Car makers in the UK and Europe are bracing for what for many will be the biggest financial shock since Covid when the newly announced 25% tariff on cars imported into the US are applied on 2 April. The tariffs apply to all cars and light commercials imported into the US that aren’t covered by the Mexico-US-Canada automotive tariff agreement, significantly raising the cost of doing business in the US.

Porsche is synonymous with performance and quality, but which is the best from each model group? Owning a Porsche is quite a boast. But with so many models on sale, how do you choose the best for your driveway?  Ever since Ferdinand Porsche released the 356 in 1948, the Porsche brand has become synonymous with performance and quality.  Whether you’re looking for a car to run around a race track, a daily driver or an SUV for school pick-ups, there’s a Porsche that’s tailored to your needs.  We know the Porsche 911 S/T is an incredible five-star car and the Porsche 911 GT3…

A new tariff of 25% will be imposed on all cars and car parts imported into the United State, president Donald Trump has announced. This new levy will come into effect from 2 April, and will apply both to finished machines shipped into the country and car parts imported for vehicles assembled there. President Trump claimed the tariffs would lead to “tremendous growth” for the US auto industry, adding that it would create more investment for US-baed car makers and therefore more jobs. Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump said “this is very exciting”, adding: “What we’re going to be doing is a 25% tariff for…

Incoming Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa has vowed that “driving excitement will always be at the heart” of the firm, hinting that halo cars such as the Z and GT-R will remain a key part of the brand’s future – and be offered worldwide. The current R35-generation GT-R will finally be discontinued shortly, having been in production since 2007. However, it hasn’t been offered in Europe for several years, due to emission regulations. Nor has the Z. Asked about the importance of performance cars to Nissan, Espinosa said: “Driving excitement will always be at the heart of Nissan. This is what…

Aston Martin has revealed the drop-top version of its 824bhp V12-powered Vanquish flagship. Taking the Volante name, it is technically identical to its coupé sibling, which arrived in September 2024 to revive the Vanquish nameplate as one of the few V12 cars on the market. In drop-top form, this is one of only two new GTs – alongside the Ferrari 12Cilindri Spider – to offer open-top driving with a 12-cylinder soundtrack. The fabric roof is operated by a K-fold mechanism, similar to the arrangement in the new Vantage Roadster. The roof can be opened in 14 seconds and closed in 16…

Peugeot will launch a GTi variant of the e-208, new boss Alain Favey has confirmed, with the hot hatch set to spearhead an effort to “nurture the reputation of the brand for driving sensations”. It will be the first GTi model since the previous-generation Peugeot 308 went off sale in 2021 and Peugeot’s first sporty electric car. Speaking to media today, Favey said: “I’m in a position to confirm that we will reintroduce the GTi on the e-208 as soon as possible. We’ve made the decision that Peugeot GTi will be reintroduced.” He added that it is a “signal” about “what it means to reconnect to our past, our…

A new mild-hybrid diesel Toyota Hilux has gone on sale in the UK, priced from £49,640, with the brand claiming it offers the same capabilities as its regular counterpart plus better refinement and responsiveness. It uses the same 2.8-litre turbo diesel four that was already offered in the Hilux but adds an electric motor-generator and a 48V lithium ion battery, reducing the stress on the engine. For example, the electrical assistance reduces the engine’s idle speed from 720rpm to 600rpm and can supply a significant portion of the power needed to maintain a steady cruise. Its rapid power delivery compared with the diesel lump is…

Renault will continue to tap into its back catalogue with plans to revive iconic “Fast and Furious cars” of the 1990s and early 2000s. Speaking at the launch of the new Renault 5 Turbo 3E, group design chief Laurens van den Acker said he believes there is “a window of opportunity” for more desirable retro revivals, like the Renault 4 and Renault 5. “If you wait too long, people have forgotten about them”, he said. “If you’re too early, it’s still not cool enough. “Ten years ago, we did the [Alpine] A110. It was perfect, because it was a ’50s, ’60s kind of car, and we…

UK deliveries of the Smart #5 – the brand’s biggest car yet – will begin in October. An EV that will attempt to win over buyers of large SUVs with its hardy character, it will be underpinned by an 800V electrical architecture and major on in-car technology. It sits on the same Geely SEA2 platform as the smaller #1 and #3 crossovers. The #5 measures 4705mm long, 1920mm wide and 1705mm tall, which makes it a similar size to the new Peugeot 5008, although it’s not a seven-seater.  While retaining a lot of Smart’s modern design cues, such as concealed door handles and rounded edges, it differs…

After decades of ubiquitous grey, black and cream interiors, car makers are finally experimenting with more adventurous combinations of colours and materials. The new Fiat Grande Panda pairs a blue dashboard and seat upholstery with yellow mood lighting; Mini is stitching bold, brightly coloured patterns into the Aceman’s dashboard and door linings; and Volvo is using recycled plastic from discarded PVC windows for some of its interior materials paired with recycled fishing nets for floor mats in its EX30. As we usher in, at long last, an era of more adventurous and innovative and uplifting cabin design, here are the developments…

Within 30 minutes of arriving at the track I realise I have thoroughly underestimated the amount of faffing and form filling required to actually get moving.  I only achieve five laps out during daytime. And they were a bit of a blur to be honest. I didn’t manage to pick a quiet time and it felt like more serious racing machinery was constantly coming up in the rear view mirror and I was always off-line letting things pass and not quite learning the track. Night time soon comes and we head out on track. There were around 25 cars taking…

But there’s also a need for vans, minibuses and pick-ups, which, being four-wheel drive and much more rugged, can travel further towards the front lines than road-biased ambulances. But while Brake has a solid and trusted source for ambulances, “it’s harder to find reliable pick-ups”, he told us. “At the moment, we’re buying them at auction, and it’s very much pot luck what we get. I want to appeal to companies operating large fleets of vehicles like pick-ups.” Brake would take donated vehicles, but they need to be reliable enough to make the journey and still have a useful active life when…

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The AA today is a wide-reaching organisation whose services range from insurance and breakdown cover to giving driving lessons and general advice. It’s perhaps hard to believe, then, that this trusted body has its origins in a law-dodging activist group. The story begins in the pages of Autocar, dated 25 March 1905, with a delightfully sardonic letter from a motorist named Walter Gibbons, entitled To Circumvent Police Traps. These Edwardian equivalents of speed cameras were stopwatch-wielding policemen “hidden in hedges or ditches by the side of the most open roads in the country”, as motoring pioneer Earl Russell later put it to the…

With an easy-to-use automatic gearbox, the Mokka is equipped to suit a good proportion of its general target audience. Thus configured, it performs adequately, although a more interested driver might still look for a little more power or driver engagement. For the latter, we would point you in the direction of a car fitted with the six-speed manual, which is a pretty natural-feeling ‘box to use although the gearchange has a rather long and vague throw. The pure-petrol provides a decent blend of performance, refinement and efficiency. At 1220kg, the Mokka is relatively light, so with 134bhp and 169lb ft,…

Our next-door neighbours, with their 7383 miles of smooth, free-flowing highway linking the outer reaches of their pretty countryside to the ring roads of their major towns, provide valuable lessons in inter-urban road transportation. France’s first motorway – or autoroute – was opened in 1941. Called the A13, it was the result of a two-decade-long study into the suitability of a ‘highway to the west’ connecting Paris with Normandy. The concept proved popular and the network ballooned in size, with toll roads springing up nationwide from the early 1960s. The tolls are now ubiquitous. They’re there because the system is owned by…

How long do Tesla batteries last? Tesla claims its batteries last between 300,000 and 500,000 miles. For a Tesla Model 3 Long Range with a 436-mile WLTP range, that makes for between 700 and 1500 battery charge cycles. We have experience running used Teslas on our fleet, including a four-year-old used Tesla Model 3 that had covered roughly 40,000 miles. Despite this, its battery had degraded only 2%. Hundreds of other examples point to our findings too, so it’s safe to say that Tesla batteries can last for a long time and hold their all important percentages.  How can I care for my electric car battery? Happily,…

Volkswagen has confirmed plans to unveil a celebratory Golf GTI model at the Nürburgring 24 Hours race in June, marking 50 years of the genre-defining hot hatchback. While full details remain under wraps, the 50th-anniversary edition of Volkswagen’s most iconic performance model is expected to be based on the recently updated Golf GTI Clubsport, featuring unique badging and styling touches that pay tribute to its heritage. It isn’t yet known whether Volkswagen will introduce any power upgrades for the commemorative model. The current Golf GTI Clubsport is powered by a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, producing 330bhp – 34bhp more…

Before driving the Purosangue I’m gently asked whether I’ve driven an Aston Martin DBX, a Lamborghini Urus or a Rolls-Royce Cullinan. But I’m assured – as each of those companies would also try to persuade me – that the model operates in a sphere of its own, with no direct rivals. They’re curious sorts of arguments, these. There may be a certain mechanical accuracy to the fact that each offering is unique, in the same way that a fish-and-chip supper isn’t strictly a direct rival to a curry. But the short of it is that when Friday evening comes around…

Mercedes-Benz is planning the roll-out of humanoid robots and new artificial intelligence (AI) software across its US and European manufacturing lines to streamline processes, increase efficiency, and save money. The Apollo robots from US-based company Apptronik and AI software from Google’s DeepMind are currently being tested at the car maker’s Digital Factory Campus at its Berlin-Marienfelde factory, to see how the new automation processes can be integrated company wide. Apollo, a bipedal humanoid robot designed to mimic human actions, is being tested for logistics tasks, such as transporting components and assisting workers on the production line. Unlike traditional industrial robots,…

For a long time, Honda’s interiors were a mess of lines, slashes, different kinds of plastics and a horribly outmoded multimedia system. When it launched in 2022, this Civic followed the HR-V in offering something much more restrained and stylish. The interior features clean lines and an air-vent grille that runs the width of the dashboard. Honda hasn’t sacrificed ease of use at the altar of style – quite the opposite. The Civic has pleasingly clicky knobs for the cabin temperature and fan speed and plenty of hard buttons for essential functions. On the whole, the materials aren’t on the same level…

Ionity has launched an EV charge card with discounted rates for fleets as part of an effort to attract time-sensitive business drivers to its fast-growing network of rapid-charging hubs. The manufacturer-backed network is installing 500 additional chargers in the UK this year, more than doubling the 379 already operating across the country. Each of its hubs has at least six 350kW ultra-high-speed chargers, to reduce the risk of queueing, and they’re powered by 100% renewable energy, supporting businesses’ ever-tougher sustainability targets. Following requests from customers, Ionity Fleet offers similar benefits to the Ionity Passport subscription schemes, which discount the standard rate…

Rather bluff nose aside, this is a good-looking car to my eyes, with the neatly resolved rear in particular a big step forward over the slightly ungainly old RX. And it’s made all the more handsome by the sharp F-Sport Design addenda, which brings us full circle, back to the subject of driver appeal. This is a very large car, at nearly five metres long and a shade less than two metres wide, and on country lanes in particular it feels it, causing the odd sharp intake of breath as I dive into hedges to avoid getting intimate with oncoming…

In-car sleeping is an advertised feature of Xpeng’s G6, not just a theoretical possibility Have you ever noticed that there are regional market trends for seat adjustment mechanisms? I never had, until a wise colleague some years ago pointed one out. “Japanese and Korean cars very often have lever-style adjusters for seat recline,” he said, “whereas European and American cars [those without motorised seats, at least] tend to have those wheel-style adjusters that you have to wind all the way up and down.” This, he assured me, is because it’s much more common in Asian countries – Japan especially –…

The food was more Yucka than Yuma in the end, but it’s the thought that counts. An Australian mate told me he loves the UK so much because you can travel only a few miles and end up in a totally different landscape. The Sonoran Desert is the complete opposite of that – a bit like the Aussie bush in that there’s almost nothing to report for mile after mile. ‘Big RV park at Fortuna Foothills’ reads one of my notes from the road. I will never speak ill of the M6 again. When crossing into California, it looks like the Sahara for…

A sleek styling update means the Enyaq should remain competitive in the world of long-range electric SUVs. Its new face includes updated LED headlights, while aerodynamic improvements have bolstered its range by a single mile, from 358 to 359.  Read more about the new Skoda Enyaq Skywell Q The follow-up to Chinese EV maker Skywell’s BE11 crossover, the Q hatchback claims a range of more than 300 miles. Power is punchy, at 201bhp, with a claimed 0-62mph sprint time of 3.9sec.  Read more about the Skywell Q hatchback Skywell Skyhome This Chinese limousine will look to upset the Mercedes-Benz EQS with sumptuous luxury. Aside from…

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The ID 4’s interior shares many hallmarks with the other cars in the ID range. That of the Volkswagen Golf loosely inspires the dashboard topography but, as with the ID 3, the cockpit is even more minimalistic. The conspicuous lack of buttons and switches might even seem quite shocking to someone coming from, say, a Tiguan.  It gets a leatherette steering wheel that features haptic touchpads for controlling the music, display and cruise control, which are slow and frustrating to use and far too easy to press by accident.  As standard, the ID 4 gets interior ambient lighting, heated front seats and a…

The CLA EV can be rapid-charged at rates of up to 320kW, thanks to its 800V electrical architecture, allowing for a 186-mile top-up in just 10 minutes. In addition to the 85kWh battery, a 58kWh lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) pack will be added to the line- up shortly after launch. This will almost certainly bring a significant price cut but also reduce the CLA EV’s range to around 300 miles. Autocar can reveal that a hot AMG CLA 45 EV is inbound, too, with a pair of Yasa-developed axial flux motors providing more than 500bhp and a raft of extensive modifications aimed…

Spacious but compact MPV has posh interior and surprisingly good dynamic ability MPVs are a bit thin on the ground at the moment. But the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer proves they still have a place in today’s car market.The 2 Series Active Tourer is essentially a taller, more family friendly version of the BMW 1 Series. Confusingly, it sits on the same platform as the 1, but on a different one than the BMW 2 Series, which it actually shares very little with.Practicality and adaptability are the name of the game for the Active Tourer. As such, it offers…

BMW reaches for mini-iX design appeal and lots of digital interior tech in renewing its best-selling model BMW’s decision to follow up the groundbreaking X5 with the smaller BMW X3 was a pivotal moment for a firm then best known for sharp-handling saloons and estates, paving the way for the subsequent huge expansion of its Sports Activity Vehicle – you know, SAV – line-up.Now, 21 years later, BMW feels defined by such models as much as its saloons: the X3 was its best-seller last year, with around 1000 sold each day. Really, the only thing BMW got wrong was the…

Does the introduction of four-wheel-drive and an estate bodystyle dilute the lineage? And which really makes the M3 more usable? This, for the first time in history, is a BMW M3 with four-wheel drive. It’s also the very first M3 to be available as a Touring estate model. So if you thought performance cars were in full retreat, thinning down their ranks and ramping up their prices just for the sake of a stay of execution, while all the investment they might have had is poured in PHEVs and BEVs, there you go. There is clearly life to be found, money to…

The exterior’s retro theme extends to the interior, where the designers have carefully cherry-picked classic design elements and combined them with 21st-century tech to create something that is instantly recognisable as a Renault 5, yet also original, modern and easy to use. The passenger side of the dashboard, with its ribbed stitching, clearly takes inspiration from late versions of the first-generation Renault 5, but the big instrument binnacle that now integrates two 10in screens is more reminiscent of the mid-engined Renault 5 Turbos, as are the unusually shaped seats, with their seemingly free-standing side bolsters. Renault has also deployed colours…

Volkswagen has yet to confirm further details of the ID Golf, but design chief Andreas Mindt did confirm to Autocar that his team is working on the model. “I was involved in the design of the Golf Mk6 and Mk7, and right now I’m deep into the story of the Golf,” he said. “I see a lot of chances for a future and a lot of good things that can happen to it. “The Golf is a special thing within Volkswagen, and you have to stay true to the Golf. It’s a brand on its own, but you can play with…

Step into the iX1 M Sport’s modern and spacious interior and it’s hard not to be impressed. It’s especially roomy for the class, with lots of storage, hooks and cubby holes, with a floating centre console.  It certainly out-competes the Volvo EX40 and Audi Q4 E-tron, with aluminium seen throughout the cabin and pleasantly soft materials on the dashboard and armrests. The speakers look great too, made of finely machined metal.  Our M Sport test car was fitted with a panoramic sunroof, which flooded light into an otherwise gloomy interior. Sports seats are also standard on our car, which add…

A Nissan-led project has brought autonomous driving “one step closer to reality” in the UK, with specially equipped EVs trialled for the first time on the country’s residential and single-track rural roads. Part-funded by the government’s £100m Intelligent Mobility fund, the EvolvAD scheme was part of a wider project to ready the country for autonomous vehicles (AVs). Its aim was to assess if a fleet of self-driving Nissan Leaf cars could be used outside of cities and in less connected areas, utilising infrastructure such as CCTV in residential areas to improve situational awareness – known as vehicle-to-infrastructure. The project’s aim was also to explore…

The functioning of a lightweight and efficient car with a revolutionary propulsion system should be described in its shape; and lines that work attractively at the front of a car should be echoed and resolved on the sides and rear. Spowers, especially, felt one common fault was the students’ tendency to propose shapes that were fuller, and “more GT-like” than he had in mind. And in some cases the best parts of the development sketches didn’t make it to the 3D model. According to Callum and Day, that’s a fault that plagues even the professionals. It’s a reason why car design takes care and time,…

Although the Tayron feels well-built inside, it’s not a haven of plush materials. Some softer plastics and fabrics are present on the doors and dashboard, but there are still a few too many glossy and scratchy surfaces throughout. There’s a clear feeling that Volkswagen didn’t want its newest SUV to cross over too much with the Touareg, the brand’s more expensive luxury flagship. All Tayrons get a 12.9in digital display as standard, plus a 10.25in digital cockpit. A larger, 15.0in infotainment display is available as part of the £1130 Infotainment Package Plus, which also adds a head-up display, several USB-C…

Performance, practicality, ride and handling balance: Legacy GT-B nails them all After 36 years, Subaru Legacy production is about to end. We reflects on the lineage’s diverse appeal The turbulence of this transforming new car market has already claimed some notable victims. Who would have imagined a world without Mondeos and Fiestas just a handful of years ago? And true car obsessives will soon have another name to mournfully raise a glass to, because Subaru Legacy production will end this spring. Okay, its loss won’t garner the same school-run or L-plate anecdotes as those famous Fords, but the Legacy is a…

A rounded rear end promotes air swirling and creating little eddies, almost clinging to the body and adding drag. That car designers go to the trouble of aerodynamically sculpting rear light clusters shows how it’s worth making even small improvements here. Especially with EVs, in which aerodynamics play a bigger part in the overall efficiency than in ICE cars, and because more drag doesn’t just add fuel cost but charging time too. It’s such little details that the old A2 doesn’t have. Its door handles stick out, its windscreen wiper sits above the windscreen edge and there’s (very subtle) body cladding. Practicality and regulations…

In a free and exclusive bonus podcast episode Autocar’s Editor, Mark Tisshaw, meets Rawdon Glover, Jaguar’s managing director, to talk all things Jag: its present, its electric future, and the feedback on that teaser video. Make sure you never miss an Autocar podcast. Subscribe to our podcasts via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts or via your preferred podcast platform. And if you subscribe and rate and review the pod, we’d really appreciate that too.

And as soon as she had passed this hard territory, Sheridan got the car hopelessly stuck in a sand dune. Its wheels spun lamely, a burning smell filled the air and a tyre burst. A jack, floorboards, petrol cans and collected scrub plants all failed to give traction. Luckily, a caravan of camels passed nearby and the nomads came to Sheridan’s aid. It took 17 men about an hour to free the car. As the temperature plummeted, another tyre gave up – and so did the jack. As the mechanic fretted in feeble moonlight, Sheridan mused: “The Sahara at night is…

The SQ5 comes with air suspension as standard. Some petrolheads sound like broken records when it comes to Audi suspension, repeating old lines about shattered teeth, largely associated with S Line cars of a decade ago. But the SQ5’s set-up is lush.  Even in its firmest setting, I could use it day-to-day. It all feels very connected, well thought out. Comfortable but with enough heft and damping to not make it feel like a burly, two-tonne SUV. The steering is a touch light but feedback is strong. Dynamic mode adds a bit of heft and a bit of feel too. …

Bell said the SPA3 is “a big step from a mechanical perspective, but from a software electronics perspective, it’s a straight evolution”. He added: “All the work we’re putting into the EX90 will go directly into the SPA3 cars as well. It’s basically the same software stack. “SPA3 is designed from the beginning to be much more scalable, in size and price point and across regions, but also scalable in volume.” “It’s designed for scale in every dimension: when it comes to size, my job is to make sure that the company has optionality. We are designing [the SPA3] to be…

Volkswagen describes the ID Every1 as a four-seater and says it also offers a 305-litre boot – a substantial increase on the 251 litres offered by the Up.  The interior of the ID Every1 features a simple design with a prominent-looking dashboard. While the dash is dominated by a centrally mounted touchscreen, it is notable that there are physical buttons for the temperature, heating and volume controls below it. The steering wheel is a squared-off two-spoke affair. Meanwhile, the front passenger has access to a variable multi-purpose panel to which different items, such as a tablet or shelf, can be attached. A removable Bluetooth…

Customers of early versions of the new Volvo EX90 will be offered a complimentary hardware upgrade to give it the more powerful computing system from the new ES90. The new ES90 gets two Nvidia Drive AGX Orin processors to run the car’s hardware and software, whereas the EX90 has one Orin processor alongside an older Nvidia Xavier chip. Volvo will be addressing this on EX90s that have already been delivered by retrofitting the dual Orin system, which will boost the car’s computing power eightfold. The first EX90s were delivered to UK customers last week, but plans for how and when…

On the interior, Glover said Jaguar won’t be “bombarding the driver with technology”. “Most importantly, it’s got to be an amazing place to be in. The technology is there when you need it,” he said. “Jaguar is not going to win by having the best technology. That’s not a strategy. “It’s a bit like the great watchmakers. Yes, there’s innovation in there but they don’t win by having tech. I think there’s an analogy there in terms of design, craftsmanship and engineering, and how things drive, rather than pure tech. I think we’ll probably leave that for the Chinese [car…

Dominik Voogdt, head of overall vehicle engineering for the GLC EV, describes this new braking system as a “game-changer” for overall efficiency. The Galtispuoda Pass: a test of grit and grip For my first drive of the GLC EV, Mercedes has brought me to the Galtispuoda mountain pass, just outside Arjeplog in Sweden’s Arctic north. This winding, snow-covered mountain road is a relentless test of a car’s mettle. It’s got it all: steep inclines, precipitous descents, fast open bends and sharp hairpins – all with surfaces that, at this time of year, shift unpredictably from compacted snow to sheer ice and…

In 2020, Matt Prior discovered as much when he drove the D8 GTO, the model that makes way for the wilder F22. It was “blindingly quick” and “thoroughly sorted” but also on another level to anything by Caterham in terms of weekend-away ability. The catch? An eye-widening price. On the way here, quite naturally, I was preoccupied with the driving element. That power-to-weight ratio borders on the macabre and rain was forecast. However, once on the factory floor, the balance shifts.  Passing through the double doors that connect Donkervoort’s showroom to the workshop behind, you begin to understand how Augustus…

Japan’s nascent electric hypercar company has wasted no time in staking its claim to the title of ‘world’s quickest car’. It is without question one of the fastest cars ever built.  It set two world records in 2023, completing an eighth of a mile at an average speed of 192.03mph (309.02kph) and the quarter mile at an average speed of 198.12mph (318.85kph). Roll on November 2024, where it achieved a Guinness world record for the fastest battery-powered electric prototype hypercar in the world, hitting a top speed of 273 miles per hour.  Powered by four electric motors with a staggering combined output…

You can do this too, without actually leaving the road. Organisations involved in using and maintaining places you can freely take your 4×4 are quite keen to make a distinction about this. Using Britain’s network of byways, colloquially known as green-laning, is not off-roading. These are highways just like the M1 is a highway, subject to road laws and accessible to all traffic. These are roads. There will be some in your area, if you live in England and Wales. (In Scotland, they don’t exist and access rights are different. In Ireland, they don’t either but some very minor rural roads are stony tracks.)…

It combines superbly well with a torque-converter gearbox that itself winds up like some kinetic snatch tow rope to twang the drive through, multiplying it usefully at low revs. You seldom need more than 2500rpm to get where you intend in this car – and, thanks to the new electromechanical power steering system, it’s so much easier to steer than the lumpy, inconsistent-feeling tiller of the Grenadier. The Land Cruiser’s electronics for the traction, suspension and diff don’t feel as clever as the Defender’s but, with just a bit of forethought, the end result is mostly the same. And you would bet…

Jeep played a blinder with its Harrison Ford Super Bowl commercial – but not with its in-car ads Jeep has had quite the few weeks. Initially things went rather well for it, because it convinced Harrison Ford to star in its Super Bowl half-time commercial, which not surprisingly was received very fondly. Ford teased himself about his name being Ford and teased Ford itself for copying the Wrangler with the Bronco. You can imagine the marketing teams sharing high fives. Until, that is, somebody reported their Jeep was serving them advertisements in a pop-up on its touchscreen that, try as they…

Lexus has always gone above and beyond European luxury class norms in pursuit of a particular kind of material richness, tactile appeal and weighty perceived quality. The new RX is evidence that the firm continues to – and with apparent success in terms of how hefty- and solid-feeling are the car’s cabin fittings, and how expensively put together they all seem. The brand’s latest interior layout philosophy, which it calls ‘Tazuna’, aims to put all controls within easy reach of the driver; to keep their hands on the wheel, and eyes on the road, for as long as possible. It…

Volkswagen will bring back discontinued names, such as the Scirocco, only if the intended vehicle is “true to the genes” of the original model.  Brand CEO Thomas Schäfer said: “The Scirocco is a very special model. I can name a few others, but if it doesn’t reflect the DNA of the original car in a really strong sense, then [we would] rather give it a new name and do something else.”  This approach goes against the market trend of other car makers launching new cars that use names from the past, including the Ford Capri, Ford Explorer and Vauxhall Frontera. In some cases, the public…

The Kia EV2 will arrive next year as one of the brand’s smallest and most affordable electric cars yet. Previewed by the EV2 concept, the small SUV will be priced from around €30,000 (£25,000), positioning it as a rival for the Renault 5 and Renault 4 siblings and the Vauxhall Corsa Electric. Technical details remain under wraps, but the EV2 is expected to utilise the entry-level 400V version of the Hyundai Motor Group’s E-GMP architecture, which also underpins the larger Kia EV3 and EV4.  It’s therefore likely to offer a similar assortment of powertrains as its siblings, which pair a 201bhp motor with a choice…

This car’s broad array of powertrains lends it the configurability to suit a range of different roles and briefs, and makes it quite a versatile choice. You can have simple, everyday, longer-distance efficiency for a reasonable price in the GLE 300d, or that bit more torque for effortless towing, hauling, climbing and motorway driving from the six-cylinder diesel -450d. You can have sweeter-revving power on tap, without a care for efficiency, from either of the straight-six petrols; or you can combine either a petrol or diesel engine with PHEV power for precisely the kind of electrified compromise you like. Or…

Just 78,012 vehicles rolled off UK lines in January Close 2 mins read 27 February 2025 UK vehicle production fell again in January as the sector faced – and continues to face – an array of global headwinds. These challenges are the result of softening demand for cars in key export markets, which has led manufacturers to slow new model rollouts and instead focus efforts on retooling factories for new-age EVs, said the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. As such, just 78,012 vehicles – both commercial (CV) and passenger – rolled off production lines in the first month of the year. To access…

“I think this is very important,” Rawlinson says, “because if you look at the amount of electricity it takes to mobilise cars, I don’t think that’s an issue. The average person may travel about 20-30 miles a day, because not everybody is doing long commutes.  “Lucid can do five miles per kilowatt hour now [on the US test, which is more stringent than the WLTP test used in Europe and the UK]. To get that 20 miles [range], it requires only 4kWh in a 24-hour cycle. “Don’t tell me there isn’t enough electricity on the grid. That isn’t the issue. I…

Used electric cars are representing better value to second-hand buyers, as their prices undercut some combustion-engined equivalents.  Cox Automotive, which owns Manheim Auctions, has reported a “stabilisation” in used vehicle prices, especially for EVs, which are now typically cheaper to buy than equivalent diesels and free of the economic volatility that dogged them earlier in the decade.  The average price of a two-to-four-year-old EV sold by Manheim Auctions was £15,142 as of this week, up 1.1% (£162) from January but down 6.5% (£1,061) year on year.  That was 23% (£3477) cheaper than an equivalent diesel car, the average price of which was…

You’ve guessed it: the interior is exactly the same as the old XC40 Recharge’s. This is a good thing, meaning it avoids falling into the hands-free, overly-minimalist approach of the EX30 and EX40.  While there’s no ignition or starter button in here (get in, select drive and off you go), there are still several buttons and physical on/off/volume controls for the stereo, plus buttons on the steering wheel to easily access useful functions.  Our car was equipped with a portrait-orientated 9.0in infotainment touchscreen, paired with a 12.3in digital instrument display. Both displays are crisp and clear, and Volvo’s Google-powered user interface is still one…

Ferrari fits a folding hard top to its V12 grand tourer The Ferrari 12Cilindri is a more relaxed-feeling car than the 812 Superfast that preceded it because of the existence of the SF90. That’s true in Coupe form and now is our chance to try it as a convertible, or the Spider in Ferrari-speak.The 12Cilindri Spider is the folding-topped version of Ferrari’s grandest V12 tourer, which will go on UK sale this autumn and cost from £366,500 before you specify a single option, and you can bet a Ferrari retailer will encourage you to do that.With the SF90 as the…

For the new flagship, it seems more likely that Morgan will use lessons from the limited-edition Midsummer to produce a considerably more exclusive and upmarket model, clearly differentiated from the Plus Four, that will justify higher prices and more interest in the firm’s bespoke programme. Some people inside Morgan have been calling for this move for some time as rivals take similar approaches, Autocar understands. The Supersport will use an evolution of the Plus models’ CX extruded-aluminium chassis, plus a version of the outgoing Six’s 3.0-litre BMW-derived turbocharged inline six, which currently makes 335bhp but is thought to be reliably capable…

“In the past, if firms were building a cheap car, they would use the cheapest chip they could. “For medium cars they would use a medium-price chip, and for high-end cars they would use an expensive chip. Then Tesla put high-performance chips in all their cars and focused on software,” he explains. “With a software-defined vehicle, you put the highest-performance computer and richest software in the car and over the life of the car keep upgrading it.” It’s the same approach, notes Kani, that Apple takes with its iPhones. And while established car firms were slow to react to Tesla,…

It would be reasonable to assume that motorised commercial vehicles came some time later than cars, considering how puny the very first cars were. Take the Benz Viktoria of 1893, for instance: its single cylinder put out just 3hp. But you would be dead wrong: that very car was used to create the first combustion-engined bus in 1895 – the year of this magazine’s foundation – and shortly afterwards the first combustion-engined van. And we can go back even further, all the way to the 1830s, when the first steam-powered buses were tried (at about 12mph) in London. “It is…

This visionary, this deal maker, this man who had come close to death was ready for them – and made an offer they couldn’t refuse. “My big idea to give something back to Taunton was to open a car museum in the centre of the town, and I knew just the place: a failing food store called County Stores that had been trading since 1832,” says Hawkins. “I told the council I wouldn’t make buying my land difficult if they would help facilitate my plans. They agreed.” That was the easy bit. The hard part was relieving the owners of…

The electric Mercedes-Benz G-Class I reviewed recently is an intriguing car. Tell me that loading your new 4×4 with four big blokes would take it over its gross vehicle weight and normally I’d tell you that I’d rather drive a 40-year-old Suzuki SJ 410 for the rest of my days than give it the time of day. And I do still think I have warmer feelings towards a small Suzuki. But give it time, think of it as a technical exercise and we will see where we end up. Because the idea of electrically powered 4x4s is not in itself a bad one. They should work well…

Electric car production at Mini’s Oxford plant has been delayed for an unconfirmed amount of time, with the worldwide slowdown of EV sales blamed. The decision was confirmed to Autocar this evening by Mini parent company BMW Group. The German firm previously announced all non-Chinese market production of the electric Mini Cooper and Mini Aceman would move to Oxford from China in 2026. More than £600 million has already been spent readying the factory, and the nearby Swindon body pressing plant, for electric car production. That money has chiefly funded an extension of the body shop, the construction of a new area for battery installation and new…

It was late, dark and chilly if not as cold as when it snowed and the car obliged with 213 miles, or 2.6mpkWh, from 100%) and fast chargers are expensive. If I’d backed off, I’d probably have reached home, by slipstreaming a coach or truck if things had become critical. Or I could have carried on driving at the speed limit and taken five minutes for a ‘splash and dash’. That would probably have taken a few minutes longer than plodding on. The battery would have needed only a tickle to confidently get me home. I’d have been in the…

New Gen6 EV architecture includes slimmer batteries, more efficient motors and clever tech New electric powertrain technology will allow BMW Group to launch electric cars at a cheaper price but while offering more range and better efficiency than today’s cars, the firm has claimed. The Munich firm has been working on an entirely new electric vehicle architecture, which will start to be rolled out with its forthcoming line of ‘Neue Klasse’ models. Now labelled ‘Gen6’, the platform will first be used for the next BMW iX3, which will be unveiled in September and was previewed with the Vision Neue Klasse SUV concept. The…

That interior is centred on the hydraulically assisted driver’s seat, which can switch from the standard driving set-up to one that mirrors an F1 bucket. The pedals also raise, while the steering wheel transforms from wide to narrow and displays extra information such as the weather. The cabin has also been designed for the front passenger to “share the driving experience”. As well as getting the same type of seat (although without the ability to change position), a panel is fitted to the dash displaying upcoming road information. This means, according to Villain, that they are “no longer a passenger, and now a co-pilot”. …

The Kia PV5 has been unveiled as the brand’s first van, conceived as a futuristic rival to the Volkswagen ID Buzz. The first in a new line of models dubbed Platform Beyond Vehicles (PBVs), it will be followed by a larger PV7 due in two years, aimed squarely at the venerable Ford Transit and Geely-owned brand Farizon’s SV. It has been developed from the ground-up as an electric van rather than using an adapted combustion-engine platform, as is the case with the Ford E-Transit Custom. Technical details have yet to be confirmed, but the PV5 concept shown in 2024 used a modified…

Formula 1’s inaugural season launch event last night was, perhaps unexpectedly, a resounding success.  In the past, we’ve had weeks of unremarkable individual team launches or even new cars simply being rolled out of the garage at the first pre-season test. But here, all 10 teams and 20 drivers were presented in loud-and-proud style to 15,000 fans and suits (probably more of the latter, to be honest) at the O2 Arena in London. It was all high-value, modern, concert-style stage production: bright lights, deafening music, giant screens, even pyrotechnics. Very impressive too, with a giant central video-screen ‘box’ rising and…

Inside, you certainly get a lot of space for such a small car. One of Autocar’s 6ft-plus testers had no trouble climbing in and getting comfortable, and with two adults sat side by side, there is much more shoulder room than you might expect in this class, to go with the generous head and leg room. In truth, it puts cars like the Spring, 500 Electric and even the larger Mini Cooper to shame. There’s also an Isofix mounting for a child seat if you need it too, the T03 being a ‘proper’ car. The dashboard design is also trying to…

Rolls-Royce has introduced new levels of customisation with the Black Badge Spectre. One option enables buyers to fit the illuminated grille with a backplate that lights up in one of five colours.  This theme continues inside, where the treadplate can also be illuminated, this time in 10 different colourways. The cabin houses the same luxuries as the standard car, which combines an array of high-end materials with digital screens and physical buttons.  The Black Badge is also available with a new colour: Vapour Violet. This is said to be inspired by the “neon ambience of 1980s and 1990s club culture”.…

This must too be joined up with the wider policy to road transport taxation. In the most recent budget, VED rates were raised on new internal combustion engined cars while fuel duty was frozen. Throw in the lack of incentives to buy electric cars, and together these three things simply encourage people to stay in their existing cars for longer and opportunities are missed to lower CO2 and increase the amount of zero emissions vehicles on the road. Question 9: What are your views on whether small volume manufacturers (between 1,000 and 2,499 registrations) should be subject to the 2030…

Can this hybrid compete with the best superminis? Here’s our verdict What am I, Autocar’s supermini correspondent? I’d be quite happy with that, actually, having previously run a generally fabulous Renault Clio E-Tech hybrid and then an endearingly honest petrol Dacia Sandero on our test fleet. Now I’m trying the new MG 3 – a car on which I delivered Autocar’s first verdict back in May, and a very positive verdict at that. Well, MG did promise “everything about it was designed to put a smile on your face”. The old 3 seemed a generation behind the competition even when…

Kia has revealed the production design for its Volkswagen ID 3-rivalling EV4, ahead of a launch later this year. Little changed from the concept shown in 2023, the EV4 arrives to fill the gap between the EV3 hatchback and the EV5 SUV that’s due to launch in Europe soon. It will be sold primarily as a five-door hatch in Europe, where it will be a natural rival to the ID 3 as well as the Hyundai Kona Electric, Renault Mégane E-Tech and the Mini Aceman. The four-door fastback, designed mainly for other global markets, looks to keep the same wheelbase but add…

“Nothing to get excited about if you want a vehicle to transport sheep or hay bales but more than adequate for a vehicle that might be called on to rescue a sheep from a snowy hilltop,” we concluded. The Jeep Laredo (CJ-7) was a mixed bag: “It coped well with conditions on the farm, traversing our test field with scornful ease and leaping playfully up ridiculous inclines. It proved one of the better towing vehicles and with automatic transmission was without doubt the easiest to drive. It let us down only when required to start in thick, greasy mud at the…

Not only did it score top marks in our road test, it also won our Britain’s Best Affordable Driver’s Car contest ahead of the VW Golf GTI and Honda Civic Type R. The GR Yaris represented a high-water mark for fast road cars, offering exceptional levels of grip in both wet and dry conditions, thanks in part to that 4WD system. As standard, the front-to-rear torque distribution was 60:40, but if you wanted more traction, you could flick it to Track mode for a 50:50 split. Sport mode, meanwhile, tapped into the car’s playful side with a 30:70 configuration. And…

It doesn’t matter that, as it stands, it requires considerably more CO2 emissions to make a zero-emissions car than it does a pure-ICE one, nor that micro-volume cars are typically driven such small distances annually that it could take decades, if ever, for one to reach the point where a BEV would have been better for the planet. This will especially be the case once non-fossil-based, renewable ICE fuels – which will be so essential for construction, aerospace and agriculture – come on-stream. Concessions for these are being considered within the EU.It doesn’t matter that Ariel’s annual output wouldn’t keep…

The springs are around 10% stiffer, but otherwise the dynamics hardware is fundamentally unchanged, just retuned. As standard, like the regular MC20, you get a mechanical limited-slip differential but an electronically controlled one, which is all we’ve ever tried, is optional. You can move through drive modes to firm the dampers, which also punches gearshifts through harder and slackens off the driver aids. The most lax mode turns off the stability and traction control, makes the diff really aggressive and knocks the ABS intervention back to the minimum that Maserati can get away with within road regulations. We like the regular MC20…

In persistent rain, our 99bhp Vauxhall Corsa test car battled through a shortage of traction off the line to hit 60mph in 11.2sec. In similarly adverse conditions last year, however, a 94bhp Volkswagen Polo with smaller, 15in wheels and 185-section tyres was able to hit 60mph from rest half a second quicker. A respectable but not outstanding standard, then. The Corsa’s eight-speed automatic transmission made getting the car away from rest trickier than in the manual Polo, and was a contributing factor in its slower 0-60mph time. But it doesn’t quite explain why a lighter car with greater power and…

Part prescriptive (one can’t help but admire the inclusion of gear ratios), it took more of a manifesto form elsewhere. The intake needs to wail like this, the chassis balance should feel like that and so on. The car will weigh such and such in full running order (start with an original 911 T chassis, please, rather than a commonly used 964 one, as it will save us 300kg). There was also the design, both inside and out. The showstopping aesthetics of the European RS, down to the split-level ducktail, are mostly Walter’s handiwork. It’s hard not to be impressed.…

More visual tweaks come in the form of a new splitter and a gloss black treatment for the front grilles, making the car look even wider than it is, as well as a carbonfibre bonnet and carbonfibre front wings. They feature cavernous air outlets behind the front wheels, and there’s a different rear spoiler with a central spar, too. All of which explains the need to send the car to Bollinger Hofe for finishing by just seven specially trained employees. To the oily bits. For duty in the GT, the 4.0-litre TFSI V8 is unchanged and makes 621bhp and 627lb…

Kia will reveal the production versions of the EV4 and PV5 and a concept version of the EV2 later this month. The trio will make their debuts at Kia EV Day, the Korean brand’s annual showcase event that takes place this year on 27 February. Ahead of the event, the three new models have been previewed by images that showcase aesthetics inspired by Kia’s Opposites United design philosophy. The EV4 (below) will arrive next year and rival the likes of the Tesla Model 3 and Volkswagen ID 3. It will be sold in both hatch and a fastback bodystyles, with the former the main target for…

Best for: Off-road ability The latest, fifth-generation Range Rover is a very long way from the mildly gentrified farm truck that it once was.  Under the skin, it’s all-new, featuring Land Rovers MLA-Flex architecture, which has an 80% aluminium construction for lightness and strength (torsional rigidity is up 50% over the old car). In combination with finely honed air suspension, 48V active anti-roll bars and the availability of four-wheel steering, this Range Rover handles with assured precision and surprising agility. It’s also whisper-quiet on the move. A mix of petrol, diesel and hybrid engines means there’s a Range Rover for everyone, and there’s…

“An MX-5 with torque?! What’s that like?!” quipped a colleague. Well, mate, in short, the Electrogenic Mazda MX-5 is exactly what I imagined it would be like – except maybe a bit squirrellier. The good folk at Oxfordshire-based Electrogenic have created a kit for the Mk1 (NA) Mazda MX-5 of 1989 and installed it in the car before you. They’ve substituted the four-cylinder petrol engine for a single electric motor, pumping out 160bhp and 229lb ft torque, and 42kWh of batteries. The five-speed manual has been substituted for a single-speed auto. Range is said to be in the region of 160 miles. Quick summary?…

Renault is aiming to bolster the appeal and values of its historic cars with a new certification for specialist technicians and suppliers, comparable to the Ferrari Classiche and Porsche Classic programmes. Different garages will be recommended for specific models and services. For example, a classic Renault 5 owner would be guided to mechanics particularly well versed in maintaining the 1970s supermini. An extension of Renault’s The Originals division, dedicated to promoting its historic models and selling merchandise, the seal of approval will initially be applied to eight sites, exclusively in France. Renault said it plans to gradually grow the network to 25 approved…

With a dedicated electric motor for each of the rear wheels (they are entirely decoupled), the Granturismo Folgore needs no limited-slip differential. The delivery of power and torque is instead determined by Maserati’s proprietary Vehicle Domain Control Module controller. How much go you get, and applied to which axle/wheel, also depends on the drive mode you’re in. Choices range from Max Range, through the default GT, into Sport and then finally Corsa. Only in Sport and Corsa are you given access to all 751bhp and 996lb ft (in GT mode, you’re limited to 80% of those figures) and it is in these…

The Volvo EX30 has spawned a jacked-up, off-road-focused model that has become the first EV and first SUV to use Volvo’s Cross Country badge. Compared with the standard version, the EX30 Cross Country has been raised by 19mm, is fitted with chunky front and rear skidplates, can be optioned with mudflaps and is shod with 720mm all-terrain tyres. The electric SUV’s five-link rear suspension has also been softened to cope with bumpier, off-road terrain, as well as handle muddy tracks, “ankle-deep” snow and highways, claims Volvo. Despite this ‘all-roads’ positioning, the EX30 Cross Country is not a “hardcore” off-roader but is instead aimed…

Prototype for Jaguar’s £100k Taycan rival confirms no rear window and shows off unique design elements The first car of Jaguar’s new era, spawned from December’s Type 00 concept, has been spotted testing again ahead of its much-anticipated unveiling at the end of the year. The electric super-GT is the first all-new Jaguar since the I-Pace was launched in early 2018. It will pack north of 575bhp, have a range of more than 430 miles and be priced above £100,000. Due to hit the road next year, it’s the first of three Jaguar EVs due to arrive by the end of the decade atop…