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THESE are interesting times at Lexus. For years, Toyota’s luxury brand has been an interesting left-field alternative to the established German premium manufacturers and Jaguar Land Rover, but no more than that. It nailed customer service from the start, of course, and our annual Driver Power poll indicates that Lexus hasn’t lost its touch in that area. But the company’s attempts to capture BMW and Jaguar customers by offering its interpretation of ‘driver involvement’ have, by and large, fallen flat. There are some signs, though, that Lexus is finally becoming comfortable in its own skin. The latest ES (above), driven this week (Page 30), is not the last word in driver excitement. But at some point during its development, Lexus’s engineers were clearly given the brief to chase after the…

Steve_Fowler@dennis.co.uk @stevefowler NISSAN’S next-generation Qashqai, due in showrooms in 2020, will feature two new hybrid systems plus a sleek design makeover, Auto Express can exclusively reveal. However, there won’t be a pure-electric version, while Nissan is also considering ditching diesel from what is currently the UK’s third best-selling car. Full electric power will be reserved for a separate SUV model based on an all-new platform. It’s likely to underpin a whole family of electric cars spanning B, C and D segments (everything from Juke to X-Trail) for Nissan and its Alliance partners Renault and Mitsubishi. The next Qashqai, previewed by our exclusive images, will be based on a new version of the Alliance’s CMF (Common Module Family) platform architecture that can accommodate hybrid tech. Speaking exclusively to Auto Express, Ponz…

“The Cross Turismo feels like a Porsche, but it’s made from a very different set of ingredients” PORSCHE begins its voyage into the world of electric cars with the Mission E saloon next year. But what we’re driving here, the Mission E Cross Turismo, could well be the second. It’s a concept car that was first presented at March’s Geneva Motor Show and if feedback is good, it could well make it to production. While the original Mission E will be closer to the idea of a sports car, the Cross Turismo could be a fresh and modern answer to the ever-growing demand for SUVs. With an appearance that’s akin to a shooting brake with higher ground clearance and rugged body cladding, it offers more room for passengers than a…

THE Macan has been Porsche’s stand-out success since it launched in 2014, with more than 300,000 examples sold. But now there’s a new version waiting in the wings, and we’ve driven it in prototype form. This updated Macan brings with it a wealth of updated technology, but there’s no diesel engine option any more. That leaves just the entry-level four-cylinder model, and the 3.0-litre V6 Macan S and Turbo: the diesel won’t be replaced by a plug-in E-Hybrid variant, either. The Macan S has a new 3.0-litre V6 that produces 351bhp (up 15bhp from before), but most of the engineers’ time has been spent tuning the driving experience. There’s a more vocal exhaust note for the new V6 and less vibration through all of the major controls, while body control…

James_Brodie@dennis.co.uk @jimmybrods JEEP has fully revealed its refreshed Renegade, and the facelifted model goes on sale in Britain later this year with a sharper look and a trio of all-new petrol engines under the bonnet. The Renegade’s chunky, Wrangler-inspired design has been refined with a series of minor styling revisions. On the sporty Limited model, the changes inject a more upmarket image into the company’s Nissan Juke rival. At the front end, the Renegade gets new headlamps with LED daytime running lights, while the bumper has been redesigned with a more aggressive front apron and repositioned foglights. New X-patterned tail-lamps are the highlight around the back, with LED clusters available on high-spec models. You’ll have to look hard to find changes inside. The only design tweak here is a new…

TESLA plans to build an all-electric rival to the Volkswagen Golf within five years, according to chief executive Elon Musk. Responding to a question at the company’s annual shareholder meeting in California, Musk said: “I think we’ll do a compact car in less than five years.” While he wouldn’t be drawn on details, Musk used the meeting to address concerns about the build quality of Tesla’s BMW 3 Series-rivaling Model 3, saying “the quality and reliability of the car has improved dramatically… by a factor of maybe four or five since it started production”. And while he said Tesla should be producing 5,000 Model 3s a week by the end of the month to help meet lengthy waiting lists, Musk conceded that “if you want the right-hand-drive version, you’re probably…