Auto Express 1586

I WAS back at the BBC again this week; asked to comment on the many car makers releasing their financial results – and they didn’t make for good reading. Nissan took the headlines with a reported 12,500 jobs going across the world – with folk in Sunderland crossing their fingers that it won’t be them (and I hope it won’t be them, either). That’s off the back of falling sales that resulted in a 94.5 per cent drop in net profit for the first quarter of 2019 – a dreadful stat by any stretch of the imagination. It’s been a torrid time for Nissan of late, with allegations against former boss Carlos Ghosn (that he denies), reported strains in its Alliance with Renault and a product range that has dated…

John_McIlroy@dennis.co.uk @johnmcilroy ● Sportier look but same practicality for next Tiguan SUV ● Mild-hybrid, plug-in and performance versions on the cards THE Volkswagen Tiguan is now the German manufacturer’s best-selling nameplate globally – with more than 850,000 examples sold in 2018 alone. But with pure-electric ID. SUVs on the horizon, the company is taking a different approach with the next generation of the car that will arrive in showrooms in 2022. Keeping SUVs relevant when they’re powered by combustion engines is no small task, not least because of social pressures and the likely costs (more than £2,000 per vehicle, according to some estimates) of making Euro 7-compliant diesel engines. So VW design boss Klaus Bischoff and his team have been allowed to take a radical approach with the next Tiguan’s…

Jonathan_Burn@dennis.co.uk @Jonathan_burn Cars in order of UK sales figures * Mercedes prices varied so widely that we obtained two extra quotes of £1,111.80 and £1,198.80 from other dealerships REPLACING a car’s battery is something that many buyers will face at some point. But how much does it cost on the UK’s most popular new cars? And are buyers getting a fair deal? An Auto Express investigation can reveal that some car owners are being charged a staggering £1,250 for battery replacement, while others face bills as low as £98. Auto Express compiled a list of the UK’s 20 best-selling vehicles and contacted three franchised dealer networks across the country to get a price for parts and labour. The only information dealers requested was the vehicle’s registration details. Owners of the…

James_Brodie@dennis.co.uk @jimmybrods ● EQS saloon in development ● Built on all-new EV platform THESE revealing spy shots (right) and exclusive image (above) show an all new, all-electric flagship Mercedes saloon, due in three years. Set to be called EQS, it will be the range-topping model as part of the German manufacturer’s electrification plan, which will see 10 all-electric Mercedes passenger cars arrive by the end of 2022. The EQS will join the existing EQC SUV and forthcoming EQV MPV and EQA hatchback, and these latest images confirm that the model is already well into its development phase. It’s likely that Mercedes will preview the model as a concept car at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. While the EQC uses an adapted version of the platform that underpins the medium-sized…

THIS is our first glimpse of BMW’s upcoming, ‘ground-breaking’ electric SUV, the iNext. The prototype, now wearing production bodywork, was spotted by our spy photographers during transit from a BMW facility in Germany. The model will act as the brand’s technological flagship, debuting Level 4 autonomous driving and bringing huge developments in electric-vehicle technology. The model was previewed by the iNext concept at the 2018 Los Angeles Motor Show. These latest spy shots give us our first glimpse of the interior, which BMW has teased over the past six months. Features include a large infotainment system, a digital gauge cluster and an unconventional, squared-off, two-spoke steering wheel. BMW says that the wheel will be fitted with optical fibres that inform the driver when autonomous driving modes are available, as well…

ELSEWHERE at BMW, the German firm has become the first car maker to make Apple CarPlay smartphone integration a paid-for service. All new BMWs with the latest 7.0 operating system now come with a year’s free CarPlay subscription, but after the first 12 months owners will have to pay to continue accessing it. A month’s trial costs £1, after which owners can pay £85 for a full year, £255 for three years, or £295 for lifetime access to the service. In comparison, buy an £18,600 Kia Ceed, and you get CarPlay included, as well as Android Auto, which isn’t available in BMWs. Car makers have to develop CarPlay software integration themselves, but Auto Express understands that Apple does not charge licensing fees to install it.…