Publication

KIA vs TRAIN IN MAD EURO DASH

NEW ‘FIESTA’ IS GREAT BUT IT MUST DRIVE LIKE A FORD

The axing of the Fiesta and Focus remain standout moments in recent automotive history. How could Ford think it wise to get rid of its long-time top-sellers? Ultimately, such cars weren’t profitable for the firm. And the Fiesta’s indirect replacement,...

LOTUS’S ROOTS HAVE A PLACE IN ITS BOLD FUTURE

As football pundits will no doubt remind us in a few weeks, 1966 was a long time ago. Aside from some minor sporting success, that was the year Lotus moved to Hethel and, 60 years later, it remains a global hub of sports car manufacturing. But last...

ADAS FEATURES NEED TO IMPROVE – AND QUICKLY

Before journalists are let loose in a new car, a spokesperson for its maker usually runs through the key features. Lately, there’s been a new addition to those briefings: instructions on the fastest way to turn off the advanced driver assistance...

VW’S ID POLO GTI IS A CAR WORTHY OF THAT LINEAGE

The GTI badge has always represented the absolute best of Volkswagen, promising a finely balanced mix of performance and usability that has proven difficult for rivals to follow. And that, frankly, few electric vehicles have come even close to...

NOBODY MAKES SPECIAL CARS LIKE BRITAIN DOES

Amid a plethora of new challenges for the car industry in recent times, the fact that Red Bull is busy in Milton Keynes putting the finishing touches to its magnificent RB17 hypercar (p8) shows how Britain continues to display its mastery of top-end...

WAYS RENAULT 5

Urban cars need to be compact, easy to drive and affordable to run. But that doesn’t mean they have to be dull. That’s what makes the eye-catching Renault 5 E-tech electric so appealing. Here are five ways Renault 5 makes a convincing claim to be the...

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BUY A £7M ROLLS TO ENJOY IT

In a period of global uncertainty when rising energy costs are making daily life more expensive, it might seem odd for this week’s cover star to be a superexclusive Rolls-royce with an eye-watering price (p4). But even if most of us will never come...

WHY MCLAREN MUST REVEAL ITS NEW FUTURE

Exactly one year ago, Autocar broke the news that Mclaren Automotive had been bought by Abu Dhabi investment fund CYVN Holdings and would be merged with start-up Forseven, allowing it to massively expand its range – details of which, we were promised,...

HOW WELL DO YOU REALLY KNOW THE NEW JAGUAR?

Some irony that our latest drive of the new Jaguar GT prototype (p46) comes in the week Gerry Mcgovern’s departure from JLR – a story we broke in December – is finally confirmed. As creative chief, Mcgovern played a key role in the controversial...

WILL BMW’S NEW-ERA EVS BE TRUE GAME-CHANGERS?

The road to electrification feels more uncertain than ever. Despite the best efforts of legislators, EV sales are growing slower than expected, prompting manufacturers to scale back ambitious electric car plans. It’s eye-watering to consider how many...

THE BIG PLAN…

■ SCENIC MPV IS BACK! ■ FOUR DACIA EVS ■ PETROL A110 LIVES

EVS FALTER BUT PLUG-IN HYBRIDS FIND THEIR PLACE

At least a decade ago, I was told frequently by various car industry execs that hybrids were the ideal ‘bridging technology’ towards electric cars. Yet here we are 10 years later, and hybrids – particularly plug-in hybrids – are as relevant today as...

ASTON WHAT’S GONE WRONG?

POLESTAR MUST HANDLE ITS REVIVAL WITH CARE

In many ways, Polestar has been one of the most successful EV start-ups. In just seven years, the Volvo spin-off has established itself as a premium contender through distinctive branding and design, and strong product. But that has come at a...

NEW DEFENDER SPORT

ELECTRIC SPORTS CARS ARE DIVIDING THE INDUSTRY

Is there a market for electric sports cars? That question is vexing the industry right now. Alpine, as you’ll read on p4, is all in on the development of a new electric A110, with the firm’s CEO, Philippe Krief, plotting a family of variants to win...

WHY ARE CAR MAKERS FLOCKING TO FORMULA 1?

The first pre-season Formula 1 test at Barcelona last week was a closed-doors affair while teams adjusted to sweeping new technical regulations – but such is the anticipation for this season that plenty of information emerged from it. Even before the...

CAN THE EX60 GIVE VOLVO THE SUCCESS IT CRAVES?

Volvo is proof that the path of electrification does not run smoothly. In 2019 I attended the launch of its first electric car, the XC40 Recharge, when boss Håkan Samuelsson boldly vowed that EVS would account for half of the firm’s sales by 2025 and...

JAG F-PACE NOW £6K

UK SHOULD FOLLOW EU’S LEAD AND DELAY ICE BAN

Good news is worth highlighting and the UK reaching two million annual new car sales for the first time since 2019 (before the industry and wider world were hit by well-documented challenges) is definitely positive. Especially when you consider the JLR...