Innholdsfortegnelse for 1481 i Auto Express

James_Brodie@dennis.co.uk @jimmybrods OFFICIAL VOLVO has announced a major electrification push that will see the Swedish car maker transform its entire model range into hybrid and fully electric vehicles over the coming years. The firm says that every new car that it launches from 2019 onwards will be fitted with an electrified powertrain, beginning the push to phase out cars powered solely by internal combustion engines. Volvo also confirmed five all-new electric cars will arrive between 2019 and 2021. Håkan Samuelsson, president and chief executive of Volvo Cars, said: “We are determined to be the first premium car maker to move our entire portfolio away from the internal combustion engine. “People are increasingly demanding electrified cars, and we want to respond to our customers’ current and future needs,” the Volvo boss…

Lawrence_Allan@dennis.co.uk @LobAllan EXCLUSIVE IMAGES REBORN French brand Alpine is the latest in a growing number of sports car manufacturers developing an SUV, Auto Express understands. Expected to arrive in 2019, the newcomer – previewed in our exclusive images – will provide the company with the necessary funds for its return to showrooms. Even before the A110 sports car (see panel, opposite ) has reached dealerships, Alpine insiders have told Auto Express that development of its second model is under way. Positioned as a future rival to the Porsche Macan, the SUV is expected to borrow design and engineering inspiration from the new coupé. Alpine has access to a treasure chest of platforms in the Renault-Nissan Alliance; because the SUV is expected to be offered with the choice of both rear…

Honda adds black magic to the HR-V HONDA has revealed a new specialedition HR-V Black Edition (above), which features a black front grille and mirror caps, plus 18-inch alloy wheels and leather upholstery in the cabin. Entry-level versions get a 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine that is linked to a manual gearbox; these are priced from £25,000. Honda has also decided to extend the lifespan of the larger CR-V Black Edition SUV, which gets similar tweaks and costs from £31,000. Price is right for new Grandland X VAUXHALL’S new Grandland X SUV will be priced from £22,310. That’s a little more than rivals such as the SEAT Ateca, but standard kit includes an eight-inch IntelliLink screen with sat-nav, 18-inch alloy wheels and climate control. Driver aids and safety features including blind…

ANY change in taxes affecting drivers is a sensitive topic for politicians, and one which has to be calculated and carefully planned. This is why in April this year new Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) rates replaced a regime that was more than 15 years old (although the old system was revised in 2013), and why chancellors have kept fuel duty frozen at 57.95 pence per litre since 2011. However, it may not be long before the Government is forced to abandon the new rates entirely in favour of something completely different. According to a recent report by UK think tank Policy Exchange, if the Treasury wants to avoid a £170bn hole in its coffers between now and 2030, it must introduce a new set of VED and fuel duty rates…

Sam_Naylor@dennis.co.uk @SamNaylor_AE THE Skoda Octavia was recently crowned Best Estate Car at our New Car Awards, and it’s easy to see why: it serves up huge amounts of space, a composed driving experience and a well equipped interior. Whichever model you go for it’s great value for money, too, and now we’ve had the chance to try the facelifted 4x4 Scout version in the UK for the first time. It’s easy to pick out the Scout model next to the standard Estate, because it features plastic cladding around the wheelarches, plus silver skid plates on the front and rear bumpers. It rides 30mm higher than the normal car as well, with raised suspension that hints at its improved off-road ability. Every version has four-wheel drive and also features hill descent…

Lawrence_Allan@dennis.co.uk @LobAllan WE had our first taste of the updated UK-spec Sandero in February (Issue 1,461), but that car featured Dacia’s new 898cc turbocharged three-cylinder petrol engine. In keeping with the Romanian maker’s value-for-money mantra, we’re trying the new entry-level engine for the first time to see whether it’s a saving too far. Choosing the SCe model saves you £1,000 (13 per cent) over the turbo TCe. For that, you get a larger 1.0-litre engine, but despite the bigger capacity, power drops from 90bhp to 73bhp. While that might not sound like much, it’s the lack of torque that shows up the new unit: 140Nm for the TCe plays 97Nm for the car we have here. Unsurprisingly, acceleration suffers, with the SCe taking more than three seconds longer than the…

Stephen_Errity@dennis.co.uk EVERY athlete values a win in front of their home crowd and it’s no different in motorsport. Formula One’s world championship era began with the British Grand Prix in 1950 and that heritage has produced some of the most passionate fans in racing, eager to give ‘their’ driver the boost that Nigel Mansell once claimed was worth a second a lap. Having taken his debut home win at Silverstone in 2008 and triumphed there for the past three years with Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton heads to this weekend’s British Grand Prix looking to equal Jim Clark and Alain Prost’s record of five wins at the event. With this potentially historic result in mind, we’ve taken a look back over the British Grand Prix’s long history and picked out the top…

Mike Rutherford Britain is the hottest place on the planet for premium, luxury, performance and cool car design and manufacture HEARD the one about the Englishman, German, Indian and Scotsman who all liked the company so much they, er, took it over? The four in question are car addicts. They didn’t exactly meet at a session of Autoholics Anonymous but, thankfully, they did somehow team up under extraordinary circumstances to rescue Jaguar. And not content with saving the company, they achieved for Jaguar what its previous owner, Ford, couldn’t. In short, these guys have transformed the firm from struggling, quintessentially English bitplayer to genuine world champion. Jeremy Hicks (Englishman) is Jaguar UK’s brilliant MD-cum-salesman who assured me that if the F-Pace first won the Auto Express Car of the Year…

▪ All-new exec unveiled with world-beating self-drive tech ▪ On sale in September; prices likely to start at around £70,000 John_McIlroy@dennis.co.uk @johnmcilroy OFFICIAL AUDI is claiming class-leading autonomous features and new levels of efficiency with its latest A8, which has been revealed ahead of its public debut at this autumn’s Frankfurt Motor Show. The new limousine is the most hi-tech vehicle ever offered by the Ingolstadt brand, which is targeting customers of the Mercedes S-Class and BMW 7 Series. The A8 is 37mm longer than the outgoing model, in both standard form and long-wheelbase A8 L configuration. The wheelbase is slightly longer, too, but the car is very slightly narrower than the old A8. Audi’s new design language is introduced in the exterior styling, with a more muscular look and…

HÅKAN SAMUELSSON President and CEO of Volvo Cars Volvo boss will oversee move to electrification. Here he tells us why it’s decided every car it makes will feature some form of battery power from 2019 Q Only three years ago Volvo was against fully electric vehicles. What’s changed? A “What we were sceptical about was the cost and lack of charging infrastructure. We believe plug-in technology is a very good bridge, but things have moved faster and demand is increasing. Battery costs have come down and there is movement on charging.” Q Where do you see the greatest sales volumes with the new electrified powertrains? A “The new basic powertrain will be the [48-volt] mild hybrid system. That is where we will have the largest volume. Between plug-in hybrid and…

James_Brodie@dennis.co.uk @jimmybrods OFFICIAL VOLKSWAGEN has potentially given us our first glimpse of the next Golf at its Future Mobility Days event in Germany, with a new car dubbed the Gen.E. The mysterious model has been shown in a pair of official photographs, but VW is hesitant to call it a new concept. Instead, the car is described as a ‘research vehicle’. According to a VW spokesperson, the Gen.E is “being used purely to inform engineering developments”, but Auto Express understands that it could point to the look of the next-generation Golf. In terms of design, the Gen.E is a threedoor hatchback featuring angular lines and aero efficient blades at the C-pillar, but it looks quite different to the I.D. Concept. The front end appears to take cues from the Golf,…

James_Batchelor@dennis.co.uk @JRRBatchelor Videowatch AT youtube.com/Autoexpress this week, we drive Ford’s new Fiesta and join the Red Arrows at the wheel of an Aston Martin. All-new Fiesta first drive video verdict A LOT was riding on the new Ford Fiesta – not least the fact it’s been Britain’s best-selling car routinely since December 2014. Luckily, as we discover in our road test on Page 40, Ford has not only matched the old car but bettered it in a number of key areas. Head over to our YouTube channel to see James Disdale, road test editor at our sister title, evo, deliver his first drive verdict. Red Arrows take on Aston Martins WHAT happens when you teach the greatest air display team in the world to drive quickly? You get a great…

Richard_Ingram@dennis.co.uk @rsp_ingram FOUNDED in 1965, the Red Arrows are famous across the globe for their precision aerobatic displays that wow air show-goers throughout the summer months. The iconic red, white and blue Hawk T1 jets fly in an unmistakable diamond formation, and at speeds of up to 600mph, just 300ft above the ground. As part of a team of 10 highly skilled personnel, each pilot has completed over 1,500 flying hours at the helm of frontline aircraft such as the Tornado and Typhoon. They are assessed and examined during a thorough week-long selection process, and usually spend three years with the team – holding the same position throughout their stay. But does their meticulous attention to detail, fastidious training regime and constant search for perfection help or hinder them behind…

Lawrence_Allan@dennis.co.uk @LobAllan WITH a truly distinctive design and character that is absent from many small SUVs, the Citroen C4 Cactus picked up a coveted Auto Express New Car Award this year: it was crowned Best Small SUV. But the quirky Cactus has always had a blemish on its copybook – the lack of a decent automatic gearbox. Customers determined to have a self-shifter were lumbered with Citroen’s ETG6 robotised manual set-up. Like many of its type it was extremely jerky, with an infuriating pause between gearchanges hampering progress. After a long period with only the manual transmission on offer, Citroen has finally brought in its latest EAT6 automatic gearbox on the mid-spec 1.2-litre PureTech 110 petrol engine. For now, there’s still no diesel auto choice, which is a pity. Nevertheless,…

products@autoexpress.co.uk “We shipped over 100 tyres to Bridgestone’s facility near Rome to pick a winner” WHICH are the safest, most fuel efficient and quietest tyres for your car? That’s what our annual tyre test aims to find out – and it’s more comprehensive than ever this year as we include some new names and established contenders. For 2017, we concentrated on the bigselling 205/55R16 size found on many medium-sized family cars. Familiar designs nearing the end of their production lives took on products from brands that are new to the test, like Syron and Nankang, plus a fresh tyre from Bridgestone. An upcoming new design accounts for Michelin’s absence. All in, we shipped over 100 tyres to Bridgestone’s state-of-the-art proving ground south of Rome to pick a winner. We may have…

Sam_Naylor@dennis.co.uk @SamNaylor_AE THE all-new A8 (Page 8) is just the start of Audi’s comprehensive model roll-out. The cutting-edge tech in that car will also trickle through the rest of Audi’s product portfolio. Bosses are talking openly about the imminent arrival of high-performance RS SUVs, while the brand takes its first step into the world of EVs with the e-tron SUV next year. Here we run through what to look out for. Audi RS Q8 Price: £100,000 (est) EXCLUSIVE IMAGES AUDI Sport, the division responsible for the brand’s hot RS models, is planning to expand its range beyond sports cars, saloons and coupés and into RS SUVs. Audi Sport boss Stephan Winkelmann told Auto Express: “Today we have a product line-up which we are working on which will be expanded in…

Michael_Cox@dennis.co.uk @AE_Consumer THE UK’s first pay-per-mile car insurance policy will launch later this year, promising to cut premiums for low-mileage drivers. By Miles will record every journey using a telematics ‘black box’ and charge motorists per mile driven instead of an annual premium. Drivers will be told the cost of each trip through a smartphone app and billed at the end of the month. Co-founder and CEO James Blackham told Auto Express he wanted to update a product that hasn’t changed in 50 years. “Right now insurance is ‘all you can drive’ but in this modern age that doesn’t necessarily make sense, especially if you’re driving less than the average number of miles in each year, which is about 7,500,” he said. Customers will be sent a matchboxsized telematics device…

OLD British cars were known for being rusty, but you wouldn’t think that would be the case nowadays. The latest anti-corrosion techniques mean modern vehicles are far less likely to decay, which is what Jim Jamieson of Tarbolton, Ayrshire, thought when he bought his 2009-registered Jaguar XF in December 2014. After a few months, he discovered blisters on the front doors, which he initially believed to be small paintwork imperfections. But the problem worsened, so he mentioned it to his local dealer, Parks Jaguar, during a service. Staff suggested taking it to an approved body shop, around 40 miles away. When the driver’s side electric window failed, Jim removed the door trim to investigate. “I was shocked to find severe corrosion within the door and there was also a considerable…

Contact Michael Cox mail@autoexpraess.co.uk @AutoExpress Write to: Watchdog/Letters, Auto Express, Dennis Publishing, 31-32 Alfred Place, London WC1E 7DP HOT TOPIC New BMW X3 revealed FROM: Wheats LOOKS like BMW is on to a winner with the new X3, which will no doubt move the brand back to the top of the class. The interior is classy, with a proper floor-mounted throttle pedal and steering wheel centrally aligned (unlike in the Audi Q5 and Porsche Macan). FROM: MrBMW THIS section of the market has cars to suit every taste. A few years ago it stood out but things have moved on, so it’s become a car which is good but rather unremarkable. I think BMW needs to work on a full redesign to make this car as good as it once…

James_Disdale@dennis.co.uk ITS clear that Peugeot has stuck I firmly to the philosophy of'if it ain't broke, don't fix if with the new 308 GTi by Peugeot Sport. Whereas most brands leave few stones unturned during a model's mid-life refresh, Peugeot concluded its flagship hot hatch is almost perfect the way it is. If s had some subtle visual tweaks in line with the rest of the 308 range, plus there are some infotainment upgrades and a couple of new colours, but otherwise it's identical to the version that made its debut in 2015. At the front a larger grille and revised headlamp design bring the 308 into line with the brand's 3008 SUV, while at the rear the subtly reprofiled tail-lights get a smoked finish fortheir lenses. If s all…

John_McIlroy@dennis.co.uk @johnmcilroy THE supercharged V6 version of Jaguar’s F-Type never really seemed like a car that was short of performance. But somebody at the firm clearly thinks the gap between the basic cars and its V8 range-topper is a bit too big. This model, the limited-run 400 Sport, sits as a halfway house between the two variants. The 400 Sport will be sold for the 2018 model year only, offering an additional 20bhp over the 375bhp R-Dynamic model. The chassis gets a mild upgrade, too, with enhanced configurable dynamics and Jaguar’s Super Performance braking system, which brings 380mm discs to the front and 376mm items at the rear. You can spec the car with rear or four-wheel drive, but it’s only available with an eight-speed auto box. On the face…

FORD FIESTA score 3.9 Ford SYNC3 Standard Key features: Apple CarPlay, Android Auto ZETEC trim gets a 6.5-inch colour touchscreen as part of the SYNC3 infotainment system. DAB is included, but sat-nav isn’t. This can be added for an affordable £300 and brings a larger 8.0-inch touchscreen, but there really isn’t much need when Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are included as standard and the screen is large enough. Smartphone integration is simple and the Ford’s graphics are much sharper than the Ibiza’s, meaning it looks better and is easier to read. The previous Fiesta’s infotainment was poor, but the latest model’s is a big improvement. It’s easy and intuitive to use, the screen responds quickly to your inputs and the integration with your smartphone is seamless. This also lets…

Got any car queries? Martin_Saarinen@dennis.co.uk @AE_Consumer Q Paint problem on my RS RECENTLY I took delivery of a new white Ford Focus RS and there are patches where the paint isn’t bonded to the seams around the boot opening, and the central pillar has runs in the paint. The garage agrees that it isn’t satisfactory, so can I get a refund? Kev Waltho, E-mail A IF the garage agrees there is a manufacturing fault with the car, the Consumer Rights Act lets you reject it as it wasn’t of satisfactory quality when you received it. You have 30 days to do this, so let staff know right away. Q Driving with Asperger’s I SUFFER from Asperger syndrome which affects my ability to learn new skills, but I would still like…

John_McIlroy@dennis.co.uk @johnmcilroy “I could concentrate on trying to get back to the proper rhythm. It felt for me like I hadn’t driven for one month, not six years” ROBERT KUBICA Racing driver ROBERT Kubica believes that his recent successful test of a Formula One car has given him renewed focus on a sensational return to the sport, six years after the rally accident in Italy that nearly cost him his life. The Pole’s F1 career stalled in 2011 when, days after setting the fastest lap with Renault at pre-season testing in Valencia, he crashed his Skoda Fabia S2000 into a barrier during the Ronde di Andora rally in Italy. Kubica lost several litres of blood and surgeons worked for seven hours to save his right arm. The 32-year-old has undergone…