Infiniti, the premium brand from Nissan, has launched their all-new UK built Infiniti Q30 C-segment five door hatchback and it’s thoroughly British. Not only is it the first Infiniti ever to be built in Europe, it was created at the Nissan-Infiniti Paddington design facility, engineered at their Cranfield department and is now in production at Nissan’s Sunderland Plant. This range will be … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: Jaguar XE R-Sport 163ps
Jaguar is the cat with the cream in the shape of the new XE premium saloon. Pitching in against some longer established rivals from Germany, it not only has the measure of them but can beat them in many respects. We first drove the XE Portfolio last year and were impressed with the new 180ps diesel engine, but for this longer test we tried the cheaper 163ps 2.0 td in the R-Sport trim, which … [Read more...]
Toyota to build next generation hybrid engine in Deeside
Toyota Manufacturing UK will build next generation hybrid engines at its Deeside plant in North Wales for a future Toyota crossover model based on the company’s C-HR concept car. The addition of the new high-tech engine to the factory’s production is attracting additional investment of around £7 million in operations by Toyota Motor Europe, including grant support of more than £700,000 from the … [Read more...]
Come on the Red
SsangYong has added a limited edition model to its Giugiaro designed Korando SUV range - Red. Based on the Korando ELX 2.2, the car adds a stunning full red leather interior, a 6-way power adjustable and ventilated driver’s seat, powered sunroof and HID (High Intensity Discharge) headlights, with a choice of either a metallic space black or metallic techno grey exterior. The car also includes … [Read more...]
Pirelli Welsh series begins this weekend
The 2016 Pirelli MSA Welsh Forest Rally Championship gets underway this weekend with the Llandudno based Cambrian Rally. Last year was a bumper one for the championship with strong entries and close, exciting battles throughout the season. Early indications are that 2016 should match, if not exceed it. With reigning champion Bob Ceen stepping back from the sport for … [Read more...]
Defender models soaring in value after production ends
Fans of the iconic Land Rover Defender who rushed to buy a piece of history are proving to have made a smart investment decision as prices soar. Automotive valuation specialists cap say good examples are demanding a huge premium over new list price. Commenting on the trend, John Watts, senior editor at Cap said: “We have already started to see an upward movement in trade values for Defender … [Read more...]
Newslines 9 February
Subaru has made a series of upgrades to the XV compact crossover, designed to refresh the car’s exterior styling, raise cabin quality and improve refinement. In spite of the range of upgrades across the full model line-up, pricing for the Subaru XV is unchanged for the 2016 model, which goes on sale across the UK next month from £21,995. Up to 5,000 job vacancies in the UK automotive … [Read more...]
Newslines 8 February
Volkswagen will offer generous compensation packages for about 600,000 U.S. owners of diesel vehicles that emit an illegal amount of emissions, Ken Feinberg, the head of its claims fund in America, told a German paper. VW has still not decided whether vehicle owners will be offered cash, car buy-backs, repairs or replacement cars, and has ruled out similar compensation for UK and European … [Read more...]
Sunday drive: Mini John Cooper Works 3-door
With another record year of sales behind them in 2015, MINI is well placed with the introduction of their third generation range of models to continue their record breaking sales record. Last year MINI achieved 63,581 UK new car registrations, an 18.5% increase over the previous year and the sixth consecutive year of growth. During the latter half of 2015 MINI introduced the first … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: Volvo XC90 T8 Twin
Volvo is on a roll with its two in one luxury XC90 T8 SUV. The XC90 is the first model to be built on the firm’s scalable product architecture and using the latest low energy powertrains, the range topping hybrid combines 320bhp turbo-charged four-cylinder 2.0 litre petrol engine with a plug in rechargeable 87bhp electric motor at the rear, so it pushes out a maximum 407bhp and a whopping 640Nm … [Read more...]