As the World Cup kicks off this week, David Miles looks at the rise of one of its major supporters and a global player among the car makers- Kia. Brand awareness through sponsorship is vital in these days of a very competitive and sometimes struggling new car market with diesel emissions and uncertainty over Brexit the latest issues to unsettle buyers. Kia, founded in 1946 in South … [Read more...]
First Drives
Suzuki Swift Sport returns this summer
There’s a warm new hatch coming this summer. An all new,lighter and quicker Suzuki Swift Sport goes on sale from 1 June with a £1,500 reduction for the first month making it £16,499. It copies the dramatic Champion Yellow of the Suzuki Works Junior rally car and inside there are sports seats and trim detailed with red accents. Developed from the Vitara and S Cross, unit, the 1.4 140ps … [Read more...]
From rally to road, Wales’s sporting Ford Transit
A new era has begun for Wales's automotive industry. Launch pricing and official photographs of the new motorsport-inspired MS-RT Ford Transit Custom have been revealed as the model made its official debut this week. The MS-RT Transit Custom has a fusion of style and practicality offered by no other vehicle on the road, with a choice of panel van or double cab options and two … [Read more...]
Vauxhall Grandland X Ultimate tops new range
Vauxhall is benefitting from a raft of new models in showrooms. Latest is the Vauxhall Grandland X mid-sized five door, five seater SUV from January and already 75% of sales have gone to retail buyers, making it Vauxhall’s second highest retail selling model range after the Corsa supermini hatchbacks. When launched to the UK media in October last year Vauxhall said they had targeted around … [Read more...]
Volvo XC40 raises the game
Volvo’s push with introducing new products continues with the arrival in April of the first models in their XC40 compact SUV range of 2WD and 4WD, petrol and diesel models and to come plug-in hybrid and fully electric powered versions to be added to the line-up later, writes David Miles. The Volvo brand has gone from near bankruptcy to high flying under the ownership of the Chinese … [Read more...]
Sunday drive: Kia Stinger 2.0 petrol
Kia is rapidly rolling out its range of new executive sporting models with the Stinger series now getting a 2.0 turbo-petrol alongside the initial 3.3V6 petrol, and a 2.2 diesel is due very soon, writes David Miles. Kia’s impressively styled Stinger five door Grand Tourer arrived at the end of last year powered by a 3.3-litre twin turbo V6 T-GDi 365hp, 500Nm petrol engine and I recently … [Read more...]
Revised Citroen C4 Cactus goes down new road
New technologies and higher quality trim have pushed up the price of the revised Citroen C4 Cactus, writes David Miles. Arriving in April and able to carry a new 18 registration plate is the revised Citroen C4 Cactus range of mid-sized five door hatchbacks with petrol and diesel engine options priced from £17,265 to £20,895. When the original quirky Citroen C4 Cactus was launched in 2014 it … [Read more...]
Sunday drive: Kia Picanto X-Line 1.25 MPI
The Kia Picanto five door city-car range launched in May 2017 and has gained an X-Line Crossover/SUV version for 2018. Although small City Car sales fell by 10% in the UK last year, close to 69,000 buyers were still attracted to this segment and Kia aims to boost its Picanto sales by a adopting the more desirable Crossover/SUV styling craze with their new X-Line versions from £12,595. Other … [Read more...]
Family values challenged by Mitsubishi’s newcomer
Thousands of mums and dads in Britain have welcomed the Nissan Qashqai into their family, but that could be about to change with the arrival of the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross, says Beth Keenan. As a long-time Qashqai driver I associate SUVs with safe, sensible and slow cars perfect for doing the school run and driving long distances; they are practical, comfortable and affordable which is why … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: New Audi A8 ahead of its time
The new fourth generation Audi A8 is really ahead of its time. It is the first car in the world to be built for the forthcoming age of autonomous vehicles which don’t require driver interaction in traffic at up to close to 40mph, the so-called Level 3 or “eyes off” category. As legislation changes to allow the Level 3 to be ‘turned-on’, beginning in America but gradually being rolled out … [Read more...]