Auto Express 1454

EXACTLY 40 years ago I had my first exposure to the British car industry. As a young boy watching the news on TV the name British Leyland cropped up repeatedly during the course of 1977. I didn’t fully understand what was going on, but it was clear the doomed company had problems aplenty. Fast forward four decades and the contrast is stark. As we enter 2017, UK car makers are generally in rude health; few could have predicted how positive things would be now in the dark days of the seventies. And what a bright outlook there is for the next 12 months. For a start, the juggernaut that is Jaguar Land Rover is set to continue its significant growth in recent years with some great new cars. The new…

JAGUAR Land Rover’s group engineering director, Dr Wolfgang Ziebart, has revealed to Auto Express that the company could create a Jaguar 1+1 EV that’s around half the width of most premium cars. The I-Pace Concept, Jag’s first electric car, stole the limelight at last November’s LA Motor Show, and buyers are already placing orders for the first production examples, due for delivery in 2018. It’s understood that this warm acceptance of, and apparent appetite for, Jaguars with 100 per cent electric power has further motivated JLR to establish a very different and versatile range of pure EVs – including the 1+1 – by the 2020s. “Such a thing is possible,” Ziebart told us following the I-Pace’s global debut in LA. The Indian-owned British brand boldly claims that in terms of…

@Jonathan_burn THE Kia Picanto has been something of an unsung hero in the city car class, but these official design sketches of the all-new third-generation model suggest things could be about to change. While we’ve already seen leaked pictures, the illustrations give us our best look yet at the newcomer before it’s officially unveiled at March’s Geneva Motor Show. Kia is aiming to put some distance between the Picanto and its closely related cousin, the Hyundai i10, in terms of image. The sketches show that the brand has taken a sporty approach; a narrow ‘tiger nose’ grille stretches across the front end, while the gaping bumper grille and red exterior detailing add to the sporty lines. Design elements such as the new LED headlamps, reworked nose and alloy wheels are…

@AE_Consumer WOMEN are likely to drink more alcohol than men before getting behind the wheel – but they are given shorter bans, exclusive Auto Express figures can reveal. Data from IAM RoadSmart’s drink-drive rehab course last year shows UK drivers are on average 2.1 times over the limit when caught, and receive a 20-month ban. And while men outnumber women four to one, females in their thirties were found to be nearly two-and-a-half times over the limit – more than any other age group or gender. Despite this, women received a 90-day shorter driving ban than male counterparts. The worst case was a 48-year-old woman from Aylesbury, Bucks, who registered 161mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath in a roadside test – nearly five times the 35mg limit – and…

THIS is set to be a busy year for McLaren, starting with an all-new Super Series model to replace the 650S. The car has already been spied testing, but the manufacturer has released a first image showing its carbon fibre Monocage II body structure. Unlike the 650S, the carbon fibre extends to the top of the car – it’s steel on the 650S – resulting in a weight saving of 18kg, as well as greater rigidity and a lower centre of gravity. The gaps in the model’s roof hint at McLaren F1-style door openings, with low sills for easy access. The new car’s design is expected to usher in a very different style for forthcoming McLarens, with 15 new cars expected between now and 2022. We’ll get our first look…

New Aygo specials are a big hit for kit TOYOTA is seeing in the New Year with two new trim levels for its Aygo city car. The x-press (above) features a brightred roof, bumper inserts and side sills, plus rear privacy glass. The x-style gets grey or silver grille and A-pillar trim. Both models start from £11,935, are available only with a five-door body and come with 15-inch alloys, body-coloured interior trim, a touchscreen multimedia system and climate control as standard. £7m uninsured cars are saved from scrap A SCHEME to help return uninsured cars to their rightful owners saved £7.75mworth of vehicles from the scrapheap in November. History checker HPI’s CrushWatch helps finance and leasing firms recover seized vehicles that would otherwise be scrapped or auctioned. The biggest recoveries…