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AS the eyes of Britain’s motorists were focused on Chancellor Philip Hammond’s latest assault on diesel drivers last Wednesday (more on that on Page 16), it was easy to miss another story of arguably more far-reaching significance. Down in South Africa, the results of the first-ever crash test programme conducted by Global NCAP in conjunction with AA South Africa were published. Here in Europe, we’ve become accustomed to the work of Euro NCAP, whose testing regime has undoubtedly produced safer cars for us all to enjoy over the decades. Mercifully, other parts of the world are finally catching up. But those first results from Cape Town didn’t make for pretty reading. Among the five cars assessed, which accounted for 65 per cent of new car sales in South Africa last…

John_McIlroy@dennis.co.uk @johnmcilroy VOLVO is on a roll at the moment, thanks to the XC90 and XC60 SUVs, and the S90 saloon and V90 estate. And the next phase in the Swedish brand’s recovery from near-obscurity of five years ago starts here, with the XC40. Auto Express has been behind the wheel of the new challenger to see how it stacks up. The XC40 is clearly a Volvo, although the styling (which the designers say was inspired by sci-fi movies) is more edgy and youthful than the relatively mature XC60 and XC90. The newcomer is a little bit longer in body and wheelbase than Jaguar’s newly launched E-Pace, and a touch taller – it’s very much an SUV, not a crossover. The greatest significance of the XC40 arguably lies beneath it,…

John_McIlroy@dennis.co.uk @johnmcilroy VOLKSWAGEN is aiming to fight back against the likes of the Tesla Model 3 when it brings its I.D. range of pure-electric cars to market from the end of this decade. The process will start with a hatchback that promises to trump anything else in the class on space and practicality. The production version of the I.D. concept that was shown at last year’s Paris Motor Show will make its debut in 2019, with deliveries due the following year. Underpinning the hatchback – and the full range of I.D. products – will be VW’s new MEB platform. Auto Express understands that the architecture will be offered with a range of up to four battery capacities. Assuming that the entry-level I.D. hatchback uses the smallest of the units –…

John_McIlroy@dennis.co.uk @johnmcilroy BEFORE VW’s range of all-electric I.D cars hits showrooms in 2019, the German brand will roll out mild hybrid technology across its range of models. The systems are expected to be offered first on the next generation of the Golf, and we’ve been to the company’s test facility in Germany to try out some prototypes. There are two levels; the first VW calls MHEV (Mild Hybrid Electric Vehicle), which has a 48v-powered belt-driven startergenerator. The second, MHEVplus, adds an electric motor producing 25kW (34bhp) and a lithium-ion battery pack. The combustion engine in both cases is the VW Group’s 148bhp 1.5-litre turbo petrol unit, as seen in the Golf. The transmission is the firm’s latest seven-speed DSG, which has been engineered to be compatible with the forthcoming hybrid…

AHEAD of the all-new Mercedes A-Class taking centre stage at the Geneva Motor Show next March, the German brand has officially revealed the car’s cabin. The images show a revolution in the interior design of the new hatchback, with clear inspiration taken from the pricier E-Class and S-Class models. According to Mercedes, there will be more space and practicality inside than in the outgoing car, and new levels of luxury and comfort will be brought to the class. Auto Express was able to sit inside the new Audi A3 rival at an exclusive event, where we could see that the dashboard is divided into upper and lower sections by a ‘trench’ spreading across the dash behind the infotainment screen. Three central turbine air vents, inspired by the ones found in…

700bhp Audi RS 7 spied on the road AUDI has been caught testing its new RS 7 Sportback ahead of its launch next year. The hot five-door coupé will be available with two engine options: the base car will use a 4.0-litre twinturbo V8 producing 650bhp, while there will also be a plug-in hybrid developing around 700bhp. Both will be four-wheel drive, and the hybrid will offer a short all-electric range. It’ll be Audi’s first plug-in RS model. Traffic delays in UK are worse than ever TRAFFIC levels on Britain’s roads have reached an all-time high, with drivers facing up to six minutes of delays for every vehicle mile travelled, new figures from the Department for Transport show. Motorists drove 324 billion miles on UK roads in 2016, up 2.2…