Car sales are a series of ups and downs but there are strong signs that Alfa Romeo has turned the corner this year, writes Robin Roberts. A recent independent survey of owners who have used their models for some time concluded that the sporting Italian brand was second only to Lexus in terms of overall satisfaction with models, manufacturer and dealership support. It was the highest placed … [Read more...]
First Drives
Midweek motoring: New Citroen C5 Aircross first drive
This is a big year for the French Citroen brand, writes David Miles. It’s their 100thanniversary and already has got off to a successful start with their products picking up several Car/Van of the Year Awards in the current round of annual ‘Oscars’ given by the motoring media. Also, Citroen won the first round of the 2019 World Rally Championship – the famous Monte Carlo Rally, … [Read more...]
Mid-week motoring: Honda Civic Saloon
With no Estate version in the tenth generation Honda Civic range, until now only available in five door Hatchback form, now Honda has extended the Civic’s appeal by adding four door Saloon versions, writes David Miles. Unlike the Hatchback and Type R built in the UK for global sales, the Civic Saloon is built in Turkey for European markets. Available with 1.0-litre three … [Read more...]
Mid-week motoring: Suzuki Vitara upgraded
On sale early in 2019, although UK order books were opened in September, is the upgraded Suzuki Vitara with mild styling updates but more notable are new engine options and specification upgrades, says David Miles. Priced from £16,999 to £25,649 the nine variant 2019 model line-up sees 1.0-litre and 1.4-litre Boosterjet turbocharged petrol engines replacing the previous 1.6-litre 120hp petrol … [Read more...]
First drive: New Suzuki Jimny
You’ll be lucky, very lucky, to get behind the wheel of the new generation Suzuki Jimny, says David Miles. Dale Wyatt, Director of Suzuki Automobiles in the UK said this week at the press launch for the new Jimny small SUV, “The new Jimny is the most irritating car I’ve launched. Why? Because demand is outstripping supply. “We received over 10,000 enquiries from potential UK … [Read more...]
Volvo XC40 range rolls onwards
With the September new registration plate month over, Paris Motor Show finished, diesel engine vilification ongoing, not to mention Brexit and, oh yes the Government’ Autumn Budget, it's still that time of year when car manufacturers need to roll out their 2019 model ranges, writes David Miles. Volvo UK has just done that for their 2019 model year range, no totally new models yet, … [Read more...]
Sunday drive: VW Touareg R-Line 3.0V6
The trials and repercussions of the Volkswagen Group brands over emissions have been well documented but didn’t stop them becoming the world’s largest manufacturer of vehicles with 10.74-million vehicles produced last year and 4.1-million sold so far this year, writes David Miles. However for annual top-dog global sales it’s a close run thing with the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance for … [Read more...]
Piece of cake sales success for revised Skoda Fabia?
To coincide with the launch of the revised Fabia ‘superminis’, Skoda UK commissioned 2016 Great British Bake Off winner Candice Brown to produce a small-scale version of the iconic Fabia cake which starred in the hit 2007 TV advert which was nearly four metres long and one-and-a-half metres high. But the new cake reflects a slimmer market in today’s world of falling new car sales and … [Read more...]
VW GTI twins natural birth
Brits love their hot hatches and Volkswagen has turned back the clock to mark time for future success. Just over 40 years ago, the original Golf GTi was released to eager owners and over the decades that popularity has spread to create the Polo and up! GTi models, which are arguably more in tune with today’s needs in towns and congested country roads. The days of a hot hatch may have seemed … [Read more...]
Contrasting SUVs compared
On a regular basis the UK’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders get together the latest new models at one of their test days for accredited motoring journalists to briefly sample the latest new car offerings. At the most recent event, due to the fact that sales of SUVs of all sizes and prices are booming and accounting for one of every three new cars sold, I took the opportunity to … [Read more...]