Auto Express 1740

VAUXHALL’S new Astra (above) has been a long time coming but, according to Associate editor Sean Carson, it’s well worth the wait – it’s a very good car. “Very Golf-like,” were Sean’s words. High praise, indeed. The Astra may not be what it once was in terms of sales (and it’s no longer built in Britain) but the class it competes in remains mightily important to all those who are in it – and that’s still pretty much every single maker. With the Corsa dominating the UK sales charts, things are looking rather good for Vauxhall. Especially when you delve into the latest results for parent company Stellantis and see how important Vauxhall and the UK are to the group. We recently spoke to Stellantis UK boss Paul Willcox, and…

Steve_Fowler@autovia.co.uk @stevefowle • More luxury and electrification plus new platform for Disco 6 • Nameplate could spawn a family of models like Defender LAND ROVER’S forgotten child, the Discovery, is set for a major reinvention under Jaguar Land Rover’s Reimagine strategy to halt sliding sales that are partly down to the introduction of the Defender. Speaking to Auto Express, CEO Thierry Bolloré said, “We are completely reinventing Discovery. We believe there is a space for it, but we have to be creative. Defender is such a success that it has eaten a part of what was the territory of Discovery. “Defender is a brand. We believe that Discovery could be a brand as well. We are looking at how we present our future line-up – it’s something we have in…

sean_carson@autovia.co.uk THE Land Rover Discovery is as old as Auto Express. Original prototypes began testing in the same year (1988) that we published our first issue. Over the three-and-a-bit decades since it hit the market, expanding Land Rover’s line-up beyond its iconic Series model and the Range Rover, the Disco has evolved into a core component of the brand’s range and underpinned much of Land Rover’s success. Just five generations span that time period, with iconic and sometimes challenging designs, but always superb off-road performance and a luxurious edge (set to be pushed even further for the new model) characterising the car. Here’s a summary of each generation, explaining why the Discovery’s popularity has remained strong for so long.…

Alastair_Crooks@autovia.co.uk @AllieCrooks THROUGHOUT its lifetime, the Honda Civic Type R has been a stalwart of the hot hatch class. Now there’s an all-new car – the last petrol-powered Type R ever – and we’ve already sampled it from the passenger seat. Full specifications have yet to be confirmed, but leaks of customer brochures suggest the car’s 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine will produce 325bhp and 420Nm of torque; it will stick with a six-speed manual gearbox. We headed for the Tazio Nuvolari circuit near Milan, Italy, where lengthy, sweeping bends, tight chicanes, a hairpin and a long pit straight would stretch the Type R’s legs. Jumping in the passenger seat for some hot laps, I join Honda’s World Touring Car Championship driver Nestor Girolami. It’s very grown-up in here: the steering…

THE automotive industry as a whole might be slowing down because of circumstances outside of its control, but one area is gathering momentum: electric pick-up trucks. More and more EV trucks are appearing stateside, ranging from Tesla’s as-yet-unrealised Cybertruck, to the vast Hummer EV and the Ford F-150 Lightning. Another American upstart is Rivian, and having made plenty of noise over the past few years with a prototype EV pick-up called the R1T, it’s finally on the road. We’ve been for an early drive. The first production R1Ts are now with customers, and the brand’s forthcoming SUV, the R1S, will share much of the tech from this truck. They’ll be in Europe from next year and RHD UK cars may follow. Instead of traditional dealerships, Rivian plans to open ‘Hubs’,…

ITS V8-engined Griffith sports car isn’t even on sale yet, but TVR has already revealed plans for three fully electric models, including a Griffith EV as well as pure-electric saloon and SUV offerings. These images, revealed at a TVR event in London, show what the brand’s all-electric cars could look like when they break cover, following the Griffith V8, which will go into production in 2024. Technical details for the EVs have not been revealed, but the sports cars will use the Griffith V8’s chassis. TVR has been marooned since the unveiling of a production-ready prototype of the new Griffith at the 2017 Goodwood Festival of Speed. The new car, envisioned on legendary Formula 1 and Automotive engineer Gordon Murray’s iStream system, has been subjected to lengthy delays since its…