Auto Express November 11, 2015

IT had to happen eventually. After over three-and-a-half years of growth, the latest car registration figures show a slight drop of 1.1 per cent year-on-year. Not exactly disastrous, but the big question is: What has the ‘VW effect’ been? We’re still being inundated with questions from VW owners and car buyers about the knock-on effect of the emissions scandal. It’s clear that many people are thinking twice about when they buy and what they buy – but they still want to buy. Looking at the figures, you’d easily draw the conclusion people have fallen out of love with VW – a sales decline of 9.8 per cent year-on-year is not good. But neither is a drop of 3.0 per cent for Skoda, 8.8 per cent for Ford, 12.9 per cent…

IT had to happen – on top of the regular SUVs we’ve had coupé-SUVs and performance SUVs, so surely a convertible SUV is a natural next step? Land Rover seems to think so, which is why the Evoque Convertible – previewed by a concept at 2012’s Geneva Motor Show – has got the green light and will arrive in time for when the warm weather returns next year. Okay, so we know there have been open-top versions of working Land Rover Defenders for years and there’s a soft-top version of the Nissan Murano available in the US. But Land Rover is keen to position the Evoque Convertible as the world’s first luxury convertible – with prices to match. When the car arrives in the spring, diesel versions will start from…

AS first rides go, this was pretty unusual. We didn’t bother with tarmac, but headed straight to the rough stuff in the new Evoque Convertible to prove it’s a real Land Rover. However, what impressed us most about our short sojourn over one of Land Rover’s milder off-road tracks was not the ease with which the new car rode the ruts, but the lack of any trace of chassis wobble. Chopping the roof off any model can have a dramatic effect on dynamics, and that would be exposed more over the bigger ruts and ridges on an off-road course. On road in some of the best convertibles, you can still feel the chassis flex slightly as you hit a pothole. The Evoque Convertible stayed resolutely silent as we went across…

WHILE Volkswagen’s new CEO Matthias Müller is discovering the emissions scandal is bigger than perhaps he ever imagined (Page 17), plans are underway for the German brand’s renaissance. A new plan called Strategy 2025 aims to focus on profitability – and key to this is building the right products for the right markets. VW has already announced a bespoke platform for a raft of all-electric cars, as well as promising to introduce a plug-in hybrid version of all its core models. However, the company’s future plans will extend further than EVs and hybrids as it eyes a range of all-new SUVs, which will begin to arrive as early as 2017. Central to this line-up will be a Golf SUV – revealed in our exclusive main image – which will slot…

AN internal Volkswagen investigation has revealed irregularities in fuel economy and CO2 figures for 800,000 of its models – dragging petrol cars into the scandal for the first time. The majority of the vehicles affected are diesels, but it’s believed the 1.4-litre ‘Cylinder on Demand’ petrol engines, found in many of the VW Group’s smaller Audis, VWs, Skodas and SEATs, are also involved. A VW Group spokesman said: “Under the ongoing review of all processes and workflows connected with diesel engines, it was established that the CO2 levels and thus the fuel-consumption figures for some models were set too low during the CO2 certification process.” VW is now “in dialogue” with the type-approval agencies to determine what these findings will mean for the company and its customers. The manufacturer estimated…

ELSEWHERE at Audi, the sleek new A5 Sportback is shaping up for its launch in the middle of next year. Our spies have caught the car on test, and our exclusive image shows how it’s set to take on a fresh look, inspired by the new A4, while there will also be more efficient engines. Although the spy shot of the camouflaged black prototype doesn’t give much away, we can see that the all-new A5 carries over the familiar coupé-like rear end, while a more aggressive nose and larger air intakes are visible at the front. Beneath the cladding – and as with the A4 on which the A5 is based – the four-door coupé will ride on the MQB Evo platform, which will see it shed around 140kg of…