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| CHRYSLER YPSILON - ODD LOOKS BUT LUXURIOUS | 2011-10-14 | | CHRYSLER is stepping into the most competitive sector of the car market with this boldly styled five-door supermini, the Ypsilon.
Based on the Fiat 500 and Ford Ka (all three are built at the same fa | |
| MG6 - GREAT CHASSIS, LOTS OF FUN, GREAT VALUE | 2011-08-09 | | IN today’s world sentiment alone is not enough to make someone buy a car; the market is too competitive, the products on offer too good.
So I was a bit apprehensive about my first foray behind | |
| CHEVROLET CRUZE ADDS FIVE-DOOR APPEAL | 2011-07-27 | | THERE is a good case for saying that this is the car Chevrolet should have launched first because the five-door Cruze hatchback fits better into the UK market than the four-door saloon.
But, as Chevr | |
| FORD FOCUS ADDS ESTATE VERSION | 2011-07-18 | | IF you haven’t yet driven Ford’s latest Focus I recommend that you do because in my opinion, this is about as close to perfection as you will find in a mass market car.
I’ve just be | |
| NEW CHRYSLER JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE - THE BEST YET | 2011-06-24 | | YOU can’t call it the origin of the species exactly because models such as the Range Rover have been around for a lot longer but certainly the Jeep Cherokee of 20 or so years ago was very much i | |
| SUZUKI CONSIDERS SWIFT 4x4 | 2011-03-14 | | EVERY cloud has a silver lining, or should that be every snow cloud, because car makers with 4x4 technology are looking for a sales boost from our recent terrible winters.
At a recent Suzuki press ev | |
| WRX STi TAKES SUBARU BACK TO ITS BEST. | 2011-03-07 | | I DON’T recall the name of the village in North Yorkshire but as you approach it on a fast B road there is a wonderful sequence of bends. A tightening right which drops away is followed by a sh | |
| TIMING IS ALL IN USED CAR MARKET | 2010-12-21 | | WHEN’S a good time to get into the used car market? Well, in the time-honoured phrase, that depends whether you’re buying or selling.
According to the crystal ball gazers in the motor tra | |
| VAUXHALL'S `ASPIRATIONAL' ASTRA SPORTS TOURER | 2010-11-19 | | ONE of the words which kept cropping up on the recent press launch of the new Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer was `aspirational.’
Time and again this adjective was used to describe the styling, th | |
| CITROEN DS3 - BETTER THAN A MINI? | 2010-10-05 | | NO disrespect because it is a modern marvel but don’t you think the MINI is in danger of becoming a bit passé?
They are super cars to drive but with so many on the roads they could lose a bit o | |
| SKODA FABIA vRS - VERY RAPID SKODA | 2010-10-04 | | UNLIKE most people who drove it I was never a huge fan of the last Skoda Fabia vRS, finding the suspension too soft in roll and too stiff in damping. It never seemed a particularly well sorted car alt | |
| FALLING IN LOVE WITH ALFA ROMEO'S GIULIETTA | 2010-09-24 | | IT has been far too many years since I tested an Alfa Romeo and was able to look back and think `Wow, that is some car.’
But that was my reaction after climbing out the all-new Giulietta 1750; | |
| WELCOME BACK, SEAT CUPRA R | 2010-06-28 | | WITH some badges you just know that you’re in for a treat, with a car developed to give great performance wrapped in a practical package. Think Ford and RS, for example, or Vauxhall and VXR.
Th | |
| PEUGEOT RCZ HAS AUDI TT IN ITS SIGHTS | 2010-06-01 | | ANDREW Didlick, Director of Public Relations at Peugeot, drives an RCZ as his company car and has a game; pretty much wherever he stops the car draws an admiring crowd and people come up for a closer | |
| VAUXHALL HAS A NEW STAR | 2010-05-28 | | I WAS always a little disappointed with the first generation Vauxhall Meriva which wasn’t a bad car but neither was it as good as it could have been.
But I’m happy to say that Vauxhall ha | |
| FORD'S NEW S-MAX - A BETTER CAR FOR LESS MONEY | 2010-05-07 | | THERE can’t be many cars as successful as the Ford S-MAX. Launched to universal acclaim in late 2006 it became the European Car of the Year in ’07 as the judges and the public were won o | |
| A BRIGHT SPARK AT CHEVROLET | 2010-02-09 | | DONE properly I think the multi-layered structure of having different brands at different price levels can work well for both the manufacturers and customers.
The classic case is the VW family which | |
| NISSAN TARGETS LEXUS WITH NEW INFINITI BRAND | 2009-11-26 | | By Syd Taylor
With the opening of the first sales centre in Reading, Nissans' luxury brand, Infiniti, is now on sale in Britain.
Centres in Birmingham and Glasgow will follow soon and there will | |
| CHEVROLET'S CRUZE MISSILE HITS TARGET | 2009-07-23 | | IT’S probably fair to say that after some initial confusion about what it stood for when it replaced Daewoo in 2005 the Chevrolet badge is now established as the value brand in the GM family.
D | |
| CITROEN PAINTS A PRETTY PICTURE WITH NEW MPV | 2009-07-05 | | CITROEN is arguably the market leader in the MPV sector, having several sizes and variants in lots of different sizes but all with the common denominator of being very good.
The brilliant C4 Grand Pi | |
| ELECTRIC CARS FALL FLAT. | 2009-06-23 | | THERE has been a lot of talk about the benefits of electric cars and on paper at least there seems quite a lot in their favour.
Ignoring for the moment the cost both economic and environmental of p | |
| FORD FOCUS RS REWRITES THE RULE BOOK | 2009-06-04 | | EVERY once in a while comes along a car that changes the rules, a car that sets new parameters and redefines what you previously thought was possible.
This is what the new Ford Focus RS achieves, rip | |
| ALFA MITO TICKS THE BOXES. | 2009-06-02 | | ANYONE with a drop of petrol in their veins should rejoice at the arrival of the MiTo, Alfa Romeo’s first really sporty hatchback since the fabled Alfasud some 30 years ago.
This car has `winne | |
| HONDA LOWERS THE COST OF HYBRIDS. | 2009-04-09 | | HONDA will have a significant price advantage over rivals with its new Insight hybrid after the manufacturer acknowledged that the perceived high price of the petrol/electric technology was putting of | |
| VAUXHALL TRIUMPHS WITH NEW INSIGNIA | 2008-11-09 | | STUNG by criticism that its last offering, the Vectra, was worthy but dull Vauxhall has come out with all guns blazing in a no-holds barred programme to reinvent itself in the fleet-dominated mid-size | |
| PROTON GOES DOWN THE GREEN ROUTE. | 2008-10-21 | | STAFFS. ROAD TEST PROTON GEN2 EcoLogic
THE price of fuel might be coming down - for now but motorists are still concerned about running costs might be tempted by a new version from Proton that work | |
| HONDA'S HYBRID CIVIC GOES GREEN. | 2008-10-15 | | THE Japanese have long led the way in hybrid technology with the much vaunted petrol/electric cars from Toyota with its Prius and Honda which has this car, the Civic IMA.
The market does seem to be m | |
| SUBARU TAKES A RISK WITH IMPREZA. | 2008-10-15 | | I WOULD love to have been a fly on the wall when Subaru head honchos met to discuss the development of the latest Impreza.
Someone must have said: “hey, I’ve got an idea. We’ve had | |
| SUZUKI ADDS REFINEMENT TO GRAND VITARA. | 2008-10-14 | | WITH the state of the market at the moment it is brave move to introduce a facelitfed SUV that has a bigger engine than the one it replaces. As a rule of thumb bigger engines mean bigger bills and tha | |
| SSANGYONG CHAMPIONS VALUE FOR MONEY. | 2008-09-29 | | LET’S get one thing over and done with straight away the SsangYong Rodius has to be the most bizarre looking car on the roads today.
There is a reason for this; when SsangYong commissioned Bri | |
| VW SCIROCCO BLOWS AWAY RIVALS | 2008-09-28 | | IN the performance hatchback market I rank the VW Golf GTI, the Ford Focus ST, Honda Civic Type-R and the Renault Megane R26 as the best; the Golf gets my vote for its blend of power and excellent han | |
| SKODA'S NEW SUPERB LIVES UP TO ITS NAME. | 2008-09-10 | | A HATCHBACK or a saloon? This has been an either/or question that has faced car designers and their customers until now, thanks to an ingenious solution pioneered by Skoda on its new Superb.
You see | |
| SUZUKI MAKES A SPLASH WITH NEW MINI-MPV. | 2008-09-08 | | IT is difficult to think of many cars which have made such a big stride forward from one generation to the next as Suzuki has with this Splash which is a world away from its predecessor, the Wagon R.
| |
| FORD FOCUS ST - THE BEST ALL-ROUNDER. | 2008-07-11 | | FORD may have the Focus RS waiting in the wings but for the time being its performance arm is spearheaded by the supremely talented ST version which in my book is one of the top three in its class.
R | |
| HONDA PUTS COMFORT FIRST WITH NEW ACCORD. | 2008-06-21 | | THERE'S a story that when Honda was developing its latest Accord it went over budget on the design and construction of the driver's seat.
It's hard to believe that a company of Honda's size had to t | |
| JAGUAR AT ITS BEST WITH NEW XF. | 2008-06-13 | | FOR decades Jaguar stylists have been in a straitjacket, always having to look over their shoulder at the great cars from the company's past rather than being allowed to look forward with change.
If | |
| SUBARU BUILD SUPERB NEW DIESEL. | 2008-06-06 | | SUBARU may have been the last significant car maker to join the diesel market but if a brief test drive of its new powerplant is any guide, the wait seems to have been worth it.
Subaru resisted the t | |
| FORD KUGA SPRINGS INTO SUV CLASS CONTENTION. | 2008-06-02 | | ACCORDING to conventional wisdom the four-wheel drive market should have died off ages ago in the face of higher fuel bills and greater awareness about the extra pollution they - supposedly - cause re | |
| BRERA S - ALFA'S BEST YET. | 2008-05-29 | | WHEN Alfa launched the Brera coupe a couple of years ago I was one of many who felt frustrated that yet again, one of the most emotionally-charged brands had made a beautiful looking car that made all | |
| BIG FUN IN A SMALL PACKAGE FROM DAIHATSU. | 2008-05-23 | | THERE has always been a niche market for small, charismatic sports cars which has been filled over the years by the likes of the MG Midget, Suzuki Cappuccino and now this car, the Daihatsu Copen.
Ori | |
| CHEVY AVEO - A STEP FORWARD. | 2008-05-19 | | CHEVROLET has a problem which, at best, is confusion over what it stands for and at worst, a lack of awareness that the brand even exists in the UK.
For those of you who don't know, in 2005 Chevrolet | |
| PROTON PERSONA DELIVERS COMFORT. | 2008-05-09 | | PROTON is one of those car companies operating on the fringes of the marketplace, seemingly not quite able to generate the critical mass it needs to raise its profile.
I've said before that this is a | |
| BRILLIANT NEW AGILA CUTS YOUR MOTORING COSTS. | 2008-04-29 | | WITH the cost of motoring heading ever higher and pressure on us to reduce our carbon emissions a lot of drivers are seeking to reduce their bills by opting for smaller, cheaper and more economical ca | |
| SUZUKI SX4 - EXTRA HEIGHT, EXTRA ROOM, EXTRA SAFETY. | 2008-04-27 | | FEW car makers have produced such a huge leap in quality between one generation of cars and the next as has Suzuki.
Now its European sales have reached the critical mass needed for the Japanese manuf | |
| NISSAN HITS THE TRAIL. | 2008-04-23 | | NISSAN'S original X-TRAIL was widely regarded as being one of the best in its class, many would say the best, and over the years it has racked up dozens of awards both as a new car and used.
This sec | |
| AN EVO FOR THE 21ST CENTURY. | 2008-04-22 | | IN the battle between successive generations of the Mitsubishi Evo and its arch rival, the Subaru Impreza, in the eyes of independently-minded enthusiasts it is the Evos that have generally been the m | |
| THE BEST MASERATI IN DECADES - THE NEW GRAN TURISMO. | 2008-04-20 | | I'VE always thought it a bit of a slight on Maserati when it is so often described as a poor man's Ferrari, the suggestion being that it exists only as a sort of inferior substitute for someone who ca | |
| LEXUS SHOWS THE ROUTE TO LUXURY. | 2008-04-03 | | SOME car companies have a very pronounced characteristic that both defines their brand and attracts customers.
For example, BMW is renowned for its fine chassis, excellent engines and increasingly th | |
| VW TAKES BLUE ROUTE TO GREEN FUTURE. | 2008-03-26 | | IN the race to lower CO2 and raise mpg manufacturers face a couple of choices. One route is to follow the lead set by Toyota and Honda and adopt hybrid petrol/electric power, the other is to take the | |
| FORD FIESTA IS STILL A CONTENDER IN SUPERMINI CLASS. | 2008-03-25 | | IT'S getting a bit long in the tooth now and its stunning new replacement is hovering in the wings but for hundreds of thousands of drivers, the Ford Fiesta is still one of the great superminis.
And | |
| MAZDA ADDS `6' APPEAL. | 2008-03-25 | | THE last Mazda6 was a breakthrough model for the company because whereas it had long been known for excellent engineering, its saloons were not the most exciting of machines.
That all changed with th | |
| PEUGEOT 4007 SUV- WORTH THE WAIT. | 2008-03-17 | | PEUGEOT may have been a little slow in joining the SUV market but its contender is worth the wait.
The 4007 is the result of a collaboration between Peugeot and Citroen and Mitsubishi on whose Outlan | |
| SKODA ROOMSTER - INTELLIGENT DESIGN FOR FAMILIES. | 2008-03-04 | | THE Skoda Roomster has won many awards over the past couple of years but there is one it hasn't, even though it would do so with ease and that is the prize for the oddest looking car on the road today | |
| FORD FOCUSES ON IMPROVEMENTS | 2008-02-29 | | IT'S hard to think of any other car which has enjoyed such a sustained run of success as the Ford Focus.
Launched in 1998 it became an overnight sensation, instantly making every rival obsolete thank | |
| KIA PROCEEDS WITH COUPE. | 2008-02-22 | | KIA'S breakthrough in quality and desirability with the cee'd hatchback it launched a year ago is well documented and every word of praise is richly deserved; the car is indeed wonderful.
Since then | |
| CUTE AND CAPABLE TWINGO FROM RENAULT. | 2008-02-14 | | RENAULT wouldn't import the last generation Twingo to the UK, fearing it would take sales from the Clio in a decision that left many people frustrated at not being able to get their hands on the novel | |
| AUDI SUCCESS A4GONE CONCLUSION. | 2008-02-07 | | IF there is one manufacturer at the moment which is doing everything right it is Audi, the car maker that seems to have found the Midas touch.
Last year its UK sales rose by 18 per cent to break thro | |
| VW ON TRACK WITH NEW TIGUAN. | 2008-02-05 | | VOLKSWAGEN might not be at the forefront of your mind when thinking about four-wheel drive vehicles but it has done pretty well with its big Touareg and is hoping to repeat that success with its new, | |
| HONDA CIVIC TYPE R - FOUR WHEELED MOTORIBIKE | 2008-01-31 | | THIS is a car that - on paper - should not work half as well as it does; most of its rivals have more power, a few have a theoretically better rear suspension but the Honda Civic Type R has a few tric | |
| DAIHATSU'S SUPER SIRION. | 2008-01-18 | | DAIHATSU has long carved out a reputation for building small, ultra-economical and environment-friendly cars and has won many eco-awards over the years but it has excelled itself with the latest gener | |
| KIA SOWS THE `CEE-D' OF ITS SUCCESS. | 2008-01-10 | | ANYONE involved in the car trade will know that the explosive growth of Kia has been one of the main talking points of late.
In five years its annual sales have trebled and it has stated its aim is | |
| LEXUS MAKES AN OVERWHELMING CASE FOR HYBRIDS. | 2008-01-03 | | IT has long been commonly accepted that hybrid petrol/electric engines work best in larger, heavier cars.
Put simply, adding the extra weight of the hybrid system to a small hatchback probably does m | |
| DAIHATSU TERIOS - A GENUINE BUDGET 4x4. | 2008-01-02 | | AT a time when most four-wheel drive vehicles are becoming increasingly car-like in both their styling and manners, it is actually quite refreshing to find an honest-to-God, unashamed and unapologetic | |
| MAZDA MAKES LIGHT WORK OF BUILDING GREAT SUPERMINI. | 2007-12-14 | | ON the face of it you might say that here is yet another supermini, albeit a stylish one, but in fact the significance of this little car runs much, much deeper than that.
Because the Mazda2 is the f | |
| SUZUKI GRAND VITARA - THIRD GENERATION IS BEST YET. | 2007-11-30 | | WHEN Suzuki introduced the first generation Vitara back in 1988 it effectively created the market for 4x4s as we know them today. It took four wheel drive vehicles out of the realm of being strictly w | |
| SUZUKI SX4 - JAPANESE QUALITY, EUROPEAN TASTES. | 2007-11-28 | | FEW car makers have produced such a huge leap in quality between one generation of cars and the next as has Suzuki.
Now its European sales have reached the critical mass needed for the Japanese manuf | |
| HUMMER MAKES A SPLASH - IT'S BETTER THAN YOU THINK. | 2007-11-27 | | IT WILL be a focus of hate from the anti-4x4 but I suspect the HUMMER is about to win a lot more friends than enemies.
Officially imported for the first time by GM in right hand drive form, this is t | |
| THE RETURN OF A LEGEND - VAUXHALL CORSA SRi. | 2007-11-26 | | FOR legions of enthusiast drivers the suffix SRi has been the key to some great cars from Vauxhall and this new Corsa looks set to take its place among them.
It has a good start in life, being based | |
| CAN CAPTIVA BOOST CHEVROLET'S PROFILE? | 2007-11-22 | | IF there is a prize for the manufacturer that is the least understood and which has the lowest profile relative to what it should be, I reckon it would go to Chevrolet.
A couple of years ago it took | |
| MAZDA RX-8 - FLAWED GENIUS? | 2007-11-21 | | I MUST hold up my hand and say that I was one of those who doubted the RX-8 when it first appeared in 2003.
I loved the looks, the way it went, the way it handled and of course, the brilliantly cleve | |
| NISSAN HITS THE MARK WITH NEW X-TRAIL. | 2007-11-14 | | NISSAN'S original X-TRAIL was widely regarded as being one of the best in its class, many would say the best, and over the years it has racked up dozens of awards both as a new car and used.
This sec | |
| ALFA ROMEO 159 - THE JEWEL IN THE CROWN. | 2007-11-05 | | ALFA Romeo has often over-promised but under-delivered with some of its cars but with the 159 it seems to have hit the bulls' eye.
I think it could and should do more with its sports car range but th | |
| BMW'S LITTLE FIRECRACKER. | 2007-11-01 | | BMW has produced a masterpiece in the form of its new 1 Series Coupe flagship, the 135i M Sport. Compact but blessed with a 300 bhp punch, the 135i reverses the modern trend for performance cars to ge | |
| BETTER QUALITY FROM RENAULT WITH NEW LAGUNA. | 2007-10-26 | | IF there is one word that Renault wants you to think about when considering its new Laguna, it is `quality'.
Quality in the choice of materials and components used, quality in the way the car has be | |
| SKODA FABIA -ROOMY AND ROBUST. | 2007-10-25 | | If there is one car which forever killed off the Skoda jokes, it is the Fabia hatchback, which found a ready audience among British motorists when launched several years ago.
Its combination of pract | |
| MINI MARVEL FROM MITSUBISHI. | 2007-10-22 | | MITUSBISHI has come up with one of the strangest sights you will see on our roads, this amazing little `i' city car.
Yet beneath the outlandish styling of this incredible looking machine is an intrig | |
| KIA SOWS THE `CEE-D' OF ITS SUCCESS. | 2007-10-22 | | Anyone involved in the car trade will know that the explosive growth of Kia has been one of the main talking points of late. In five years its annual sales have trebled and it has stated its aim is to | |
| JAGUAR XK - PACE, GRACE AND SOME SPACE. | 2007-10-18 | | The Jaguar XK may not be a big volume seller for the company but it is significant for showing the depth of engineering talent there which has produced one of the best GT cars on the market.
Like the | |
| LAND ROVER FREELANDER2 - A BIG STEP FORWARD | 2007-10-17 | | There may be a question mark over the future ownership of the company if it is sold to generate some cash for current parent, Ford, but what is beyond doubt is that Land Rover has a winner on its hand | |
| PEUGEOT 308 OFFERS SENSIBLE FAMILY MOTORING | 2007-10-17 | | Peugeot has adopted a conservative route with its new 308, its mid-sized family hatchback that has just replaced the popular 307.
The policy seems to have been that it decided to keep the 307's best | |
| PEUGEOT 308 OFFERS SENSIBLE FAMILY MOTORING | 2007-10-17 | | Peugeot has adopted a conservative route with its new 308, its mid-sized family hatchback that has just replaced the popular 307.
The policy seems to have been that it decided to keep the 307's best | |
| NISSAN QASHQAI - ODD NAME, GREAT CAR. | 2007-10-15 | | If nothing else, you have to give Nissan credit for being bold and having the guts to challenge convention with this new car.
It's called the QASHQAI (say `cash-kai') and is what the trade calls a Cr | |
| PORSCHE CAYMAN - THE BEST OF THE RANGE? | 2007-10-15 | | It was my privilege a while ago to spend a day at the Donington race track with Porsche to sample their current range of cars.
The big topic of conversation was the mighty new 911 Turbo, a 480 bhp be | |
| FAMILIARITY BUT NOT CONTEMPT FROM TOYOTA AURIS | 2007-10-15 | | TOYOTA has adopted a conservative approach to its Auris hatchback, the replacement for the Corolla.
That was the world's best selling name badge with tens of millions being sold over various generati | |
| COMFORT AND SPACE FROM NEW PEUGEOT 308 | 2007-10-15 | | Peugeot has adopted a conservative route with its new 308, its mid-sized family hatchback that has just replaced the popular 307.
The policy seems to have been that it decided to keep the 307's best | |
| SUZUKI GETS FRANCHISE VOTE | 2007-10-09 | | Suzuki has pulled off a surprise win by being named Manufacturer of the Year by the industry's most respected trade magazine.
It took the AM (Automotive Management) prize for being the best car maker | |
| PEUGEOT 207 GTi - THE LEGEND GROWS UP. | 2007-10-09 | | Almost a quarter of a century ago Peugeot created one of the most successful cars of its time and one which has gone down in legend as one of the greatest sports hatchbacks of all time, the 205 GTi.
| |
| MITSUBISHI GRANDIS - SPACE WITH STYLE | 2007-10-09 | | Mitsubishi has made a speciality of succeeding in niche markets as its well- established track record with models like the Lancer Evo series, the Shogun 4x4 and L200 pick-up truck attests.
It has ano | |
| NEW MONDEO - FOUR-WHEELED BRILLIANCE. | 2007-10-09 | | Last year Ford did something truly remarkable by launching a car which was so good and so desirable that 50 per cent of the customers were new to the brand and, more tellingly, could afford to buy the | |
| CHRYSLER SEBRING DELIVERS EASY MOTORING | 2007-10-09 | | AMERICAN car manufacturer, Chrysler, and its new brand, Dodge, are making a big push this year with a flood of new models coming through into the showrooms.
I've driven three new ones in the space of | |
| VOLVO V70 BUILDS ON 50 YEARS' EXPERIENCE. | 2007-10-09 | | It should come as no surprise that Volvo builds probably the best estate cars in the world because after all, it has got more than 50 years' experience of doing so under its belt.
Since its first est | |
| FORD FOCUS ST - ONE OF THE GREATS. | 2007-10-08 | | It doesn't surprise me that the Ford Focus ST has forged such a strong reputation in the world of high performance hatchbacks even though it is perhaps out-pointed by rivals in a couple of areas.
The | |
| ROLLS-ROYCE PHANTOM; BIG AND BOLD, BUT BEAUTIFUL? | 2007-10-08 | | I remember that the howls of outrage which greeted this car when it was first unveiled were especially strident in this area where a lot of people at Crewe were still smarting from the then recent div | |
| SEAT LEON FR - CONTINUING THE LEGEND | 2007-10-08 | | Most manufacturers have a performance division developing sports versions of their mainstream cars but few have done as well with them as SEAT and its FR range.
The FR-badged models have accounted fo | |
| PEUGEOT 207 - BIGGER AND BETTER HATCHBACK. | 2007-10-08 | | REPLACING what was for years the best selling retail car, the one bought by the general public rather than fleets and companies, is no easy task but that is the one faced by the Peugeot 207.
The 206 | |
| SSANGYONG KYRON - LIVING ON THE EDGE | 2007-10-08 | | It is not easy living on the fringes of the car market but a couple of small-name manufacturers seem to be doing a reasonable job of it.
One of them is SangYong which has seen its sales boom in the l | |
| VW'S FOXY BABY. | 2007-10-08 | | The market for the new generation of small hatchbacks has received quite a boost of late with a flurry of excellent new cars.
We have the Fiat Panda and Kia Picanto plus the Toyota Aygo/Citroen C1/P | |
| VOLVO'S ELEGANT C70 SOFT TOP | 2007-10-08 | | Volvo has adopted a clever strategy with its new C70 coupe-convertible which has a folding metal roof compared to the fabric ones of most rivals. Being classed as a coupe as well as a convertible migh | |
| FORD FIESTA ST - TODAY'S XR2 | 2007-10-08 | |
I DIDN'T need the six months I had with a Fiesta ST on a long term loan from Ford to know that here is a car that goes as well as it looks, but I wasn't complaining.
Over that time I had grown ver | |
| FORD SETS NEW STANDARDS FOR MPVs | 2007-10-08 | | Ever since I first drove the Ford S-MAX I have been aware that it is one of those rare cars which comes along and moves the goal posts for their market segment into a new dimension.
In the case of th | |
| FORD JOINS THE SOFT TOP SET | 2007-10-08 | | Better late than never, as the saying goes, and if Ford has let Vauxhall and VW take something of a lead in the soft-top stakes, at least it now has the Focus-based coupe cabriolet in its showrooms.
| |
| PASSAT FIGHTS BACK | 2007-10-06 | | For so long the class leader, VW has had to dig as little deeper with this sixth generation of the famous Passat badge because of challenges from increasingly capable rivals such as the Ford Mondeo.
| |
| QUALITY MPV FROM VAUXHALL ZAFIRA | 2007-10-06 | | Several years ago Vauxhall stopped the market in its tracks when it unveiled the Zafira. At the time it was the only seven-seater on sale in the class but more than that, it managed to offer more pass | |
| FIAT PANDA BARES ITS TALENT. | 2007-10-06 | | The Panda was the first sign that Fiat was fighting back after years in the doldrums and focusing on its strengths which is to make world-beating family cars but you really need to drive it to appreci | |
| PUNTO, THE EXCEPTIONAL FIAT SUPERMINI | 2007-10-06 | | The Panda may have been the first clue that Fiat was getting serious about its cars but it was the arrival of the Grande Punto which removed all doubt from the issue.
Like rivals such as the Renault | |
| VW EOS - A NEW DAWN FOR VOLKSWAGEN | 2007-10-06 | | Volkswagen is just starting a programme to inject some glamour into its range of cars, adding a dash of sparkle to its already well-established reputation for solid build quality.
The first fruit of | |
| CORSA VXR - GOES AS WELL AS IT LOOKS. | 2007-10-05 | | It used to be the case that performance hatchbacks were limited by some kind of gentlemen's agreement to no more than 150 bhp but that was blown out of the water by the arrival of the 197 bhp Renault | |
| VAUXHALL 'S NEW CORSA; LOOKS GOOD, GOES BETTER. | 2007-10-05 | |
Perhaps only the Ford Fiesta enjoys such a long-established rapport with drivers in the supermini sector as does the Vauxhall Corsa.
Its name plate signifies sensible motoring, a cheeky shape and c | |
| MINI COOPER D - A CAR FOR THE HEAD AND THE HEART. | 2007-10-05 | | It was only ever going to be a matter of when, rather than if, BMW would join the ranks of those making diesel-powered performance hatchbacks with its MINI.
As it happens, BMW wisely decided to wait | |
| COMMANDING SEVEN-SEATER FROM JEEP. | 2007-10-05 | | With rivals such as the Land Rover Discovery and the next generation BMW X5 offering seven seats it was only natural that Chrysler Jeep would respond and it has done so with this new vehicle called th | |
| MITSUBISHI'S CAPABLE CONVERTBLES | 2007-10-05 | | Mitsubishi has done a pretty good job over the years of succeeding in niche areas - witness its market-dominating L200 pick-up and the Lancer Evo series - and its pretty little Colt CZC soft-tops shou | |
| ADRENALIN ON WHEELS FROM CIVIC TYPE-R | 2007-10-04 | | Honda has a fight on its hands with the second generation Civic Type R which finds itself competing in what is now a very crowded market and in which only the very best survive.
Its predecessor was o | |
| CHRYSLER 300C APPEALS ON MORE THAN JUST ITS LOOKS. | 2007-10-04 | | Entering a car into a shrinking market against the most prestigious names in the motor industry might seem an act of unbridled optimism to some, folly to others. Normally, I would tend to the latter v | |
| STRONG NEWCOMER FROM DODGE | 2007-10-04 | | It is rare these days for something completely new to come along in the motoring world but that is what Dodge has with its Caliber.
The Caliber is unlike anything else on the road and certainly compl | |
| C4 PICASSO PAINTS A NEW PICTURE. | 2007-10-04 | | It is not often that a manufacturer is able to come up with something that is genuinely novel and at the same time useful but Citroen has managed it with the incredible windscreen on its amazing new C | |
| 2007-10-04 | | Peugeot has adopted a conservative route with its new 308, its mid-sized family hatchback that has just replaced the popular 307.
The policy seems to have been that it decided to keep the 307's best | |
| MASERATI QUATTROPORTE - SOPHISTICATED SPORTS SALOON | 2007-10-04 | | Few names are as evocative as Maserati, a marque blessed with a glorious heritage created on both the road and racetrack over several decades.
Whether it be an image of Juan Manuel Fangio in the subl | |
| WAKE-UP CALL FROM HYUNDAI WITH ITS i30 | 2007-10-04 | | Hyundai's been threatening to break into the big time for some years now, giving us hints of what it might be capable of with cars like the excellent Santa Fe SUV and of course, its gorgeous Coupe.
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| BRAVO FOR FIAT | 2007-10-03 | | There is a new spirit of confidence and optimism about Fiat these days and it is born of the conviction that its products are now a match for anyone's.
This movement began with the Panda and was ceme | |
| BMW X3 - AN OFF-ROADER WITHOUT COMPROMISE | 2007-10-03 | | Buoyed by its tremendous success with the big X5 SUV BMW moved into a new market when it added the X3.
Billed as a rival to the Land Rover Discovery, the X3 majors on sporty driving dynamics and as y | |
| BMW 3 SERIES - STILL THE KING? | 2007-10-03 | | Few cars achieve such dominance in their sector as to be the defining car for it; perhaps only two achieve it, the Ford Mondeo and the mighty BMW 3 Series.
Although the 3 Series has been around for 3 | |
| ALFA SPIDER - THE BEAUTY'S ONLY SKIN DEEP. | 2007-10-03 | | Few cars have such romantic appeal as an Alfa Romeo, a marque dripping in history, and when the car is a brand new soft top then its allure should be even stronger.
This new Alfa Spider is based on t | |
| BENTLEY'S SUPREME SOFT-TOP. | 2007-10-03 | | BENTLEY has done exceptionally well with its hugely successful Continental range but some customers want more than even those cars can offer and for them Crewe still has the hand-built V8 family of Ar | |
| ALFA ROMEO BRERA - FLAWED BEAUTY. | 2007-10-03 | | It seems as if new Alfa Romeos are like buses; you wait for ages for one to come along and then a load turn up. Well, to be precise, four, because in the past couple of years or so Alfa has introduce | |
| SECOND GENERATION TT THE BEST YET | 2007-10-03 | | We all know that the last Audi TT was one of the most successful cars of recent years but that didn't stop many critics saying it wasn't actually that great to drive.
Faced with new and talented comp | |
| AUDI ENTERS PORSCHE TERRITORY. | 2007-10-03 | | Over the past few years, Audi has not put a foot wrong. It now builds more than three times the variety of models it did 10 years ago, has doubled its sales from 43,000 in 2000 to 86,000 last year and | |
| SIZE MATTERS FOR AUDI Q7 | 2007-10-03 | | Audi does not make many mistakes these days and its Q7 is another example of its deft touch in producing the right model at the right time.
The Q7 belongs to a quite rarefied strata of the market cal | |
| AUDI SET FOR MORE SUCCESS WITH A5 COUPE | 2007-10-03 | | Audi is on the rampage at the moment, its sales charts defying gravity on their rapid ascent. Since 2000 it has doubled sales in the UK, from 43,000 to 86,000 last year and its target of 90,000 this y | |
| CITROEN'S MEAN GREEN SPORTS MACHINE. | 2007-09-26 | | Citroen has added an eco-friendly sports hatchback to its range in the form of the arrival of the 110hp C2 1.6HDi VTS, an exciting new diesel hot hatch that offers punchy performance, low emissions an | |
| Skoda Roomster | 2007-09-24 | | If there was a prize for the oddest looking car on the roads I reckon the Skoda Roomster would be a safe bet for winning it.
It's a bit of an ugly duckling, to say the least; the front is a fairly co | |
| JEEP SPRINGS A DIESEL SURPRISE. | 2007-08-22 | | To those who say that all 4x4s are gas-guzzlers, the archetypal manufacturer of this type of car, Jeep, has responded in the best possible way by producing a car that averages more than 40 miles to a | |
| Proton Satria Neo | 2007-08-22 | | Proton frustrates me - it's on the verge of making some really good cars but doesn't quite manage to get the package spot on.
I said as much recently with its revised Gen-2 and I'll say it now over i | |
| Volvo V70 | 2007-08-22 | |
It should come as no surprise that Volvo builds probably the best estate cars in the world because after all, it has got more than 50 years' experience of doing so under its belt.
Since its first e | |
| Chrysler 300 | 2007-08-21 | | Chrysler 300 Test
Entering a car into a shrinking market against he most prestigious names in the motor industry might seem an act of unbridled optimism to some, folly to others. Normally, I would | |
| Ford S-MAX | 2007-08-21 | | Something truly remarkable has happened - Ford has built a seven-seater MPV that handles like a sports car. It's the new S-MAX which not only looks sleek and sporty but performs and corners every bit | |
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