If you could wrap up the success of the British motor industry in modern times, it would shape up as the Vauxhall Vivaro. Fourteen years of continuous production has seen three generations of the serious workhorse come out of Luton and the current model is taking that to a million vehicles. When the newest was given the go-ahead in mid-2014 it saw a £185 Million investment guaranteeing 1,200 … [Read more...]
Roadtests
Sunday drive: Kia Venga rejuvenated
Kia is on target for another record year of sales in the UK in 2015. For the first six months of this year their new car sales have reached a total of 42,248 units, an increase over last year of 3.5%. Their goal is to exceed 80,000 sales this year, around 3,000 units more than last year’s all-time record. One of those Kia model ranges finding approval from UK customers is the rejuvenated … [Read more...]
Weekend Roadtest: Jaguar XE will rewrite rule books
The Jaguar XE is rewriting rule books. The unwritten law which states Germany’s dominance of the premium small executive saloon sector is unchallengable is about to be broken. Pitching into the premium small executive sector, the four-door XE is up against long established rivals from Germany. It can beat them with 3,000 orders on the books in just a few weeks. The brand is seen as making … [Read more...]
Dacia Stepway is a move in the right direction
One of the success stories of the year has been the launch of Dacia into the UK market. In January we saw the first Sandero hatchbacks and Duster SUV and now they are joined by the 2WD Sandero Stepway crossover. It looks similar to the stablemate Duster which is sold with 2WD or 4WD, but the Stepway has only front wheel drive and is to all intents and purposes a beefed up Sandero … [Read more...]
Weekend Roadtest: Kia Sorento 2.2 CRDI KX2
Kia has mounted its strongest challenge yet to Europe’s premium brand SUVs with the latest Sorento. Boasting a completely new design with the latest cleaner engines, sophisticated equipment and a sharper quality edge, the third generation Sorento has also moved up the price brackets. Six models in the seven-seat series comprise three trim levels with a choice of six-speed manual or six-speed … [Read more...]
Sunday Drive: Renault Twingo Dynamique ENERGY TCe 90
The City Car sector of the new car market is awash with fuel efficient, low running cost, cheap-ish small cars. But only around 85,000 of them were sold in the UK last year and the Fiat 500 family is the only City Car to appear in the UK’s top ten sales chart. Customers prefer the roomier ‘Supermini’ sector which sold ten times as many cars last year compared to City Cars and are not that … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: Nissan Juke Nismo RS 1.6Dig-t 2WD
A little bit of what you fancy really can do you good, particularly in the case of the Nissan Juke RS. The quirky-styled but award-winning Juke was given a serious make-over towards the end of 2014 and the RS was the result. A more powerful engine, tauter steering, revised suspension and bigger brakes, sitting in a strengthened chassis with a bigger boot under the bulbous bodywork has … [Read more...]
Sunday drive: Nissan Note n-tec
The British built Nissan Note is a five door, higher roof hatchback cum compact MPV and the restyled range has a new edition, the comprehensively equipped 1.2-litre, 90hp petrol n-tec variant priced at £15,365. Other versions in the range see prices from £9,995 for the 1.2 Visia Limited Edition to £17,870 for the 1.5 dCi 90hp turbodiesel Tekna Style. In between are the 1.2 DIG-S 98hp … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: Ford Kuga Titanium X 1.5 EcoBoost man
Kuga has been a tremendous success for Ford since it was launched, taking the family-focused brand into the sporting sector. There are diesel and petrol versions and the latter now comes with the newest 1.5 EcoBoost engine built in Bridgend supplied in two power outputs, and we tested the lower version. It replaced the 1.6 EcoBoost with a greener version 1498cc four-cylinder and matched to a … [Read more...]
Sunday drive: MG6 is significantly improved
MG celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2014 and has a history of ups and downs. The British MG marque has been around since the mid 1920’s with the name originated from the initials of Morris Garages and the famous MG Octagon badge was initially carried on MG two-seater sports cars before being applied to sports saloons initially finishing with the MGB at the end of 1980. From 1982 the … [Read more...]