Table of contents for February 19, 2025 in Autocar

RENAULT IS CONSIDERING offeringa steering yoke in future cars but will pursue the technology only once buyers have sufficient trust in its reliability. Executives cite the extra packaging space created by steer-by-wire tech as a particular advantage, because it does not require the fitment of a traditional steering column. The company will develop the system in its one-off Filante streamliner before putting it through focus group tests. “It needs to be superreassuringin terms of: is it still nice to drive and safe to drive,” Renault design boss Gilles Vidal told Autocar. “That will be the first question. Once people are reassured, we [will] deliver even more, even better.”…

Just 12 months ago, Oliver Blume lauded his decision to approve the Taycan electric saloon for production at his firstever supervisory board meeting as Porsche CEO, back in 2015. “We were talking about billions in investment. It required a lot of courage,” he recalled. Today, Porsche is having to backtrack on its electric ambitions after a pretty grim year in which Taycan sales plummeted 49%, sales in China dived 28% and the company’s share price tumbled 53% from its 2023 peak. The fallout has pushed Porsche to the brink of a major leadership overhaul – one that’s expected to cost the jobs of deputy chairman and chief financial officer Lutz Meschke and sales and marketing director Detlev von Platen. The pair are being blamed for the company’s downturn and a…

PEUGEOT HAS LAUNCHED the five-seat version of its 5008 SUV, trading its third row for extra boot space. The car has 994 litres of cargo space behind the second row of seats, which is 78 litres more than in the seven-seat version when its third row is folded flat. For reference, the space in the five-seater is just 100 litres shy of that in the mammoth Land Rover Defender 130. The five-seat option will be available on all versions of the combustion-engined 5008 and electric e-5008 but not in all markets. This is believed to include the new dual-motor, fourwheel-drive e-5008, which offers 321bhp and 311 miles between charges. The five-seat 5008 is expected to slightly undercut the seven-seat version, which starts at £38,095 in mild-hybrid form and £48,595 as…

One of the UK’s largest charger companies is facing a fight for its future, after the slowdown in EV take-up wiped more than £10 million from its market value overnight. On the release of its 2024 results, which revealed a £7m shortfall on its revenue target of £60m, Pod Point’s share price fell 41%. The EDF-owned company, which has installed 250,000 chargers since 2009, blamed its downbeat forecast on the UK government’s recently launched zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate review, saying this is causing uncertainty and worsening an already “challenging backdrop”. Inreal terms, it said this meant fewer private buyers were choosing EVs, resulting in a drop in sales of its chargers during 2024. CEO Melanie Lane said that although Pod Point “achieved a lot in 2024 against a difficult market…

GROUP TEST MOST FUN EV SUPERMINI NAMED We line up the Alpine A290, Mini Cooper SE, Cupra Born VZ, MG 4 EV and more to see which electric supermini achieves the most smiles per hour FIRST DRIVE FERRARI 12CILINDRI SPIDER Is Ferrari’s flagship V12-powered GT just as majestic with its roof down? FEATURE ALL THE STAR CARS FROM RETROMOBILE IN PARIS We explore France’s top classic car show and pick out the highlights EVERY WEEK LIVING WITH AN… INEOS GRENADIER How will we get on with this 2025 alternative to a classic Defender? USED GUIDE SKODA OCTAVIA Practical all-rounder isgood value new but even better used…

Boop, boop. Beep, beep, beep. Etc. You probably expect a higher standard of writing from Autocar than some disconnected onomatopoeia, but then we expect a higher standard of safety systems in cars. During my first handful of miles in the Leapmotor C10, it would not shut up for more than 10 seconds. Eventually, I figured out that the driver monitoring system couldn’t recognise my face and I turned it off (the system, not my face), together with the lane keeping assist, which tugs at the steering incessantly. Leapmotor is the latest Chinese entrant into the European market, but with a difference: it’s backed by Stellantis, which owns 51% of its export operation and even builds the T03 city car in its plant in Poland for LHD markets. Such integration, it…

DON’T BE DECEIVED by the jazzy bumpers, racy alloys and GT badging: Great Wall Motor has not made an Alpine A290 rival. This is the new top-rung version of the GWM Ora 03 (formerly the Ora Funky Cat), and while it might look every inch the hot hatch hero, it’s not trying to trouble the podium at a future running of our Britain’s Best Driver’s Car showdown. This £32,995 range-topper is more of a GT-Line than a true GT, distinguished from other flavours of Ora 03 largely by the extra kit it comes with: panoramic roof, heat pump, massaging front seats and those bespoke alloys. It comes as standard with the 63kWh battery that also powers the mid-rung Pro car, at £28,995, while the entry-level Pure gets a 48kWh battery…

Love of four wheels isn’t exclusive to car fanciers. At last year’s Newark Vintage Tractor & Heritage Show, one of many similar events held throughout the country, tractor fanciers were out in force celebrating their fourwheeled passions like petrolheads at a car meet. Through the gates they poured, keen to gawp at the machines that ranged from the humblest horticulture tractors to the show-stopping John Deere 8RX 410, an agricultural colossus withtraction-boosting triangular tracks. The real stars of the show, however, were Ford and Massey Ferguson, both the subject of 60th-anniversary celebrations, with the Basildon-built 6X 1000 and Coventry-built 135. They may only be tractors to thee and me but if you’ve ever seen Jeremy and Kaleb squabbling over who has the best machine on TV’s Clarkson’s Farm, you may…

WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To celebrate the last of the small petrol hot hatches As I write, it’s the absolute bleakest of the bleak midwinter. My study is as cold as my shed and I’m peering out of a drizzle-slicked window at a rather dour, dark grey hatchback that’s coated in a thick film of salt and road slime. Yet I’m feeling atypically upbeat. The weather is as wet as my January was dry, the sense of freshness that comes with the new year all but dissipated and the prevailing atmosphere rather sombre on the whole, but I’ve got to drive up to Solihull tomorrow, and I couldn’t be happier about it. Usually, the prospect of schlepping from my south London pad to the West Midlands would have me frantically…

Mercedes-Benz is gearing up for one of the most ambitious range expansion plans in its history when more than a dozen new models, a further eight facelifts and a pair of future-looking concepts will be launched in a crowded 24-monthperiod. The push comes as the German car maker seeks to bring stability to its global production and sales in key markets, including the UK, following a turbulent few years that have resulted in deliveries falling and profits dipping. The new rollout is centred on the second phase of Mercedes’ EQ electric strategy, which the company will pursue while also balancing the introduction of updated ICE models, including the launch of new-generation mild-hybrid and plug-in hybrid drivetrains. 2025 NEWCOMERS Spearheading the new model blitz is the thirdgeneration CLA saloon, which is…

There will soon be just10 pure-petrol superminis lefton sale in the UK, the Mazda 2 having been axed after a decade on sale and the Audi A1 being due to retire. The 2 was launched in 2015 and was a steady seller in the UK, with facelifts in 2019 and 2023 helping to keep it competitive. It is effectively replaced by the Mazda 2 Hybrid, a rebadged Toyota Yaris that was launched in 2023. Mazda has declined to specify why it has taken the petrol 2 off sale, but the ongoing cull in the segment is a product of several factors that have hampered the business case for small cars. The European Union’s General Safety Regulations 2 (GSR2) is a key culprit. It requires various safety systems to be fitted…

WITH THE SHIFT to EVs and their near-silent drivetrains, the pressure to scrutinise noise generation from wind, tyres and vibration is getting even stronger, especially for premium manufacturers. BMW recently opened a new test facility called the Aeroacoustics and Electric Drive Centre (AEC) to replace its acoustic wind tunnel, which is almost 40 years old. Located at the BMW Group Research and Innovation Centre (theFIZ) in Munich, the new facility follows the addition of the Environmental TestCentre to the FIZ back in 2010. Geared up for the fast development of electric vehicle drivetrains, the AEC consists of two parts. One is multifunctional, housing workshops for prototype work and testing equipment, the other an aeroacoustic windtunnel, which is claimed to be the quietest and largest in the world, at 100m long,…

UNTAPPED MARKET I was interested to hear that the new CEO of Polestar wishes to increase sales in the UK (News, 29 January). We would love to replace our business-lease BMW iX3 with a 3 (or perhaps 4), but there isn’t a Polestar dealership in the whole of Northern Ireland – population 2.5 million. I think they’re missing a trick. For us to buy a Polestar, we will have to forgo the test drive, sign for one and then fly to Glasgow to collect it and drive it back, doing the reverse on the termination of the lease. There are a lot of successful and wealthy firms and individuals in the province. It could even be bolted to the large Volvo dealer in Belfast. David Thacker Northern Ireland I note…

The race championship that has inspired this faster, more focused version of Maserati’s eminently likeable MC20 supercar is called the GT2 European Series, which sounds very, very fast – but that’s somewhat misleading. The cars in this mostly amateur endeavour sit somewhere between GT3 and GT4 machinery in terms of their performance, suiting mildly uprated road cars. Those homologated include the Porsche 911, KTM X-Bow and Mercedes-AMG GT. The MC20 was made racy in 2023 and has since won quite a few times. Now Maserati has created a limited-edition road-going variant to mark the brand’s return to the track. And while the European GT2 series isn’t super-professional international GT racing, there is at least an identifiable link between the race and road cars. The MC20 GT2 Stradale, limited to 914…

As the mechanical restrictions of internal combustion technology gradually fade away, so too does the novelty of endowing everyday family runarounds with power outputs historically reserved for the most potent of road cars – which is why the 422bhp Smart #3 Brabus isn’t as outrageous a proposition as it might have been a few years ago. At least in potency terms, that is. Some will still find it difficult to reconcile the concept of a fairly chunky crossover bearing a badge previously reserved for some of Europe’s very smallest automobiles. But then this is a Brabus edition, of course, and though the #3 is far removed in conception from the hyper-saloons and monster trucks the German tuning firm is best known for, it does at least hold true to the…

Throughout its history, Porsche has been an expert at taking platforms and components from the wider Volkswagen and Audi family and imbuing them with a certain magic that no one else can replicate. The original Porsche, the 356, has its roots in the Beetle, and the Porsche 968 Clubsport goes back to the 924, which was intended as a VW with an Audi-derived engine. One of Zuffenhausen’s biggest commercial successes, the Macan, was loosely based on the Audi Q5 but reached heights of driver appeal the latter car could only dream of. For the new and electric-only Macan, Porsche isn’t waiting around, and played an integral part from the start in developing the new Premium Platform Electric (PPE) architecture together with Audi. As the second-generation Macan takes over from the…

The arches give it away. The Mercedes-AMG CLE 53 Coupé arrived on a wave of exciting claims – ones we knew we would have to put sternly to the test. But given that AMG had gone to the effort of extending its rear wheel arches by 75mm (accommodating a similarly widened axle and wheels wrapped in bespoke Michelin rubber), it was safe to assume it would hit harder than the 53s before it. And it promptly did. Golly, did AMG need the shot in the arm that the CLE 53 brought too, after its reputation had been more than a little shaken by the response to a hybridised C63 with half the usual cylinder count. That car had proved a far cry from the AMG glory days – a time…

After decades of ubiquitous grey, black and cream interiors, car makers are finally experimenting with more adventurous combinations of colours and materials. The new Fiat Grande Panda pairs a blue dashboard and seat upholstery with yellow mood lighting; Mini is stitching bold, brightly coloured patterns into the Aceman’s dashboard and door linings; and Volvo is using recycled plastic from discarded PVC windows for some of its interior materials paired with recycled fishing nets for floor mats in its EX30. As we usher in, at long last, an era of more adventurous and innovative and uplifting cabin design, here are the developments and trends that will shape your next car’s cockpit. SUNSHINE TONES The colour of 2024, Apricot Crush (according to trend analysis firm WGSN), has been used liberally in the…

For all its technical accomplishments – the first mass-produced car with a monocoque body, front-wheel drive, all-round independent suspension and rack and pinion steering – the Citroën Traction Avant will forever be associated with images of French Resistance fighters gunning down hated Gestapo officers at Parisian brasseries. At least that is the image playing in my head when a Traction turns up at my local car meet and parks discreetly away from the BMWs and Porsches. From it steps a woman – hiding a Sten gun in the poacher’s pocket of her long coat, perhaps? “Not today,” says Philippa Field. “I’ve just come for the coffee.” Her Traction Avant is a lovely car. It’s low-slung because of the absence of a separate chassis, and it has outsize front wings sporting…

VOLKSWAGEN COULD revive plans to launch a highly capable electric off-roader by using a new platform being developed by Scout Motors. The American brand, inspired by the Scout range of Jeep-rivalling off-roaders made by International Harvester in the 1960s and 1970s, was launched by the Volkswagen Group in 2022 and is currently developing an SUV and a pick-up truck that will sit on a bespoke ladderon-frame chassis. Although wholly owned by Volkswagen USA, Scout Motors is an independent company and has been conceived to act as a fast-moving start-up with a heavy focus on advanced technology. The Terra pick-up and Traveler SUV will both be offered with electric and rangeextender powertrains and will benefit from software developed by Volkswagen’s new joint venture with Rivian. The models will be built at…

KIA HAS REVEALED the production-ready design of the EV4, a Volkswagen ID 3 rival, ahead of its launch later this year. Remaining true to the concept shown in 2023, the new EV4 will fill the gap between the EV3 hatchback and the EV5 SUV, which is due to be launched in Europe soon. The EV4 will be sold primarily as a five-door hatchback in Europe. A four-door fastback, aimed mainly at other global markets, will be available, however. Kia hasn’t disclosed spec details yet, but the car is expected to share its E-GMP platform with the firm’s other bespoke EVs and therefore be offered with a choice of battery sizes and both front- and four-wheel drive. Its maximum range should exceed 350 miles, but it is likely to stick with…

A little-known British EV start-up has been quietly recruiting some of the industry’s best-known executives as it gears up to launch an assault on the global luxury car market. Named Forseven, the three-year-old company is backed by McLaren Automotive and Gordon Murray Technologies owner CYVN Holdings, an investment group majorityowned by the Abu Dhabi government. What makes this UK start-up especially interesting is that it has managed to attract some of Britain’s biggest names, despite never having revealed any sort of car or concept. These include many who were at JLR during the firm’s purple patch in the early 2010s. Its CEO is former JLR vehicle programme chief Nick Collins, who was involved in hybridising the Range Rover, as well as overseeing the development of the future electric Jaguars. In…

A PREMIUM BRAND can make cars at volume, but Audi has at times in the recent past made volume cars that happen to wear a premium badge. The fact that it’s on its third CEO since 2020 suggests somewhat of a crisis in where it goes next. In the UK, while Audi was the UK’s third-best-selling brand in 2024, its sales dropped 11% versus 2023. They were down another 27% in January to start 2025. Still, UK boss José Miguel Aparicio is not concerned. He said the figures last year were skewed by a bumper 2023 caused by clearing an order backlog from the industry-wide semiconductor shortage. More significantly, despite a plan to launch 20 new models across 2024 and 2025, half of which will be EVs, Aparicio “doesn’t expect…

I recently bought a new Range Rover Sport P400e – a hard-reached ambition. Before it had even hit 20,000 miles, I found myself being rescued by the AA. I knew when buying the car that JLR didn’t have the best reputation for reliability but took the plunge anyway on the basis that the P400e’s reputation was reasonable. Having been unable to coax the car back to life, it was recovered to a large main dealership. The first alarm bell was when I’d heard nothing from them for a few days. When I called, I was told it would be a week before they were even able to look at the car, because “we get so many recoveries we can’t keep up”. Initially, they wouldn’t even provide me a courtesy car,…

Volume car makers no longer seem to believe that bigger-capacity combustion engines have any place in smaller cars. Save, perhaps, for one. Always an advocate of a sophisticated, multi-solution approach to decarbonisation, Mazda has been quietly running in the opposite direction to many of its peers when it comes to powertrain strategy. In 2022, it introduced a medium-sized SUV, the CX-60, with a brand-new, six-cylinder turbo diesel engine. And the same year, when rivals were announcing threecylinder turbo alternatives, it added a 2.5-litre four-cylinder atmospheric petrol option to its big-selling CX-5. Now, as part of a continued initiative of ‘engine right-sizing’, it has replaced a 2.0-litre unit with that same 2.5 in the nose of both the Mazda 3 hatchback and the closely related CX-30 crossover. It’s the latter we’re…

The engineers won’t even tell me how much power this has,” says development driver Jens Klingmann, as he casually hurls the BMW Vision Driving Experience into a corner fast enough for the tyres to howl in protest. “But it’s a lot.” Given that my insides are still churning from the hit of acceleration at the start, he didn’t really need to say that last bit. The Vision Driving Experience is, indeed, a lot. It’s a lot of car, with a lot of motors, a lot of fans (we will get to those) and a lot of performance. And it has a lot of significance for the ongoing development of BMW’s next-generation Neue Klasse EVs, which will start to arrive this year. This isn’t just your average prototype, then. But at…

WHY WE RAN IT To see if the definitive executive car – a BMW 5 Series – is now electric, albeit in £100k-plus M60 xDrive guise “The i5 melted into daily driving, whether town, motorway or B-road” The BMW i5 Touring has returned to its maker, having spent several months on the Autocar fleet in my custody. A time that has been almost entirely pleasurable. To recap, the i5 is an electric version of BMW’s 5 Series Touring, once (perhaps still) the archetypal big executive wagon. Bigger than ever, in fact, at more than 5.0 metres long and 1.9m wide, and with a lot of architecture that’s common between 5 and 7 Series BMWs. In making the car electric, BMW has fitted it with 81.2kWh of (usable) battery, and because…

If you want a compact SUV that looks great and makes you feel good when you drive it, the ultra-chic first-generation Range Rover Evoque is a hard car to overlook – and more so when you can pick one up for just £3000. Indeed, the swish and swanky Evoque hit the ground running in 2011, with modern styling that was a faithful translation of the striking LRX concept unveiled at the Detroit motor show almost 20 years ago. The Evoque racked up more than 800,000 sales worldwide before Jaguar Land Rover rolled out the second-generation model in 2018, and plenty of first-generation cars of varying age, mileage and price have filtered into the classifieds. Fashion-focused buyers are likely to be tempted by this cut-price baby Range Rover. If you’re looking…

There has been lots of offroad activity in Autocar recently, which made me wonder: did people try to drive through the wilderness before 4x4 cars were invented? Well, of course they did, such is the human spirit. As far back as the early 1900s, even – but the story that captured my imagination came from 1927. Imagine yourself as a British woman a century ago. Would you fancy driving a small, 15bhp Renault convertible across a large part of the Sahara desert inhabited by armed nomad groups, having no mechanicalknowledge and no experience of driving on sand, with your two young children in tow? Obviously not – but you’re not Winston Churchill’s troublemaking, globetrotting, Sovietseducing, writer and artist cousin. Clare Sheridan reported in The Autocar: “I do not happen to…