Auto Express 1605

WHEN we started the 2010s, who’d have thought that, as the decade drew to a close, a great many of our news pages would be filled with electric cars; we’d spend time talking about cars driving themselves; much of our lives would be linked to phones that connect seamlessly with our cars; and a tiny American firm called Tesla would end 2019 as the most talked about (and copied) car company in the world? The shape of the automotive business has changed massively. Would you ever have guessed in 2010 that Vauxhall and Opel would now be owned by a French company? And that, by the end of the decade, that French company, PSA, would be looking to merge with FCA – which of course didn’t even exist in its…

Steve_Fowler@dennis.co.uk ● New platform, plus plug-ins and return of VXR badge for Astra ● Next Insignia given a more radical overhaul to boost sales VAUXHALL’S resurgence under the new ownership of the PSA Group is continuing apace, with major reinventions of the Astra hatchback and Insignia family car due in showrooms in the next 24 months. The new Astra will arrive first in 2021, and while the car will share much with other PSA-brand hatchbacks, Vauxhall boss Stephen Norman exclusively revealed to Auto Express that it will be “something much more than just a Vauxhall version of the Peugeot 308”. Auto Express understands that the Astra will eschew the current trend towards taller crossovers and be more of a coupé-style hatchback, as our exclusive images show. The new Vauxhall family…

THE proposed merger between PSA (with its Peugeot, Citroen, DS, Vauxhall and Opel brands) and FCA (Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge and Ram) could be tied up by the end of the year, according to reports. As we closed for press, both groups had told employees that a binding agreement would be signed within the coming weeks. The combined organisation is expected to be led by PSA CEO Carlos Tavares, with the global head count at both companies around 200,000 employees each, despite FCA having more brands. While a merger would create the world’s fourth-largest car maker, with global sales in excess of 8.5 million units, synergies in low-CO2 technologies and powertrains are expected to benefit both groups, especially FCA, while greater access to the Italian and US markets…

● Concept previews 2021 model ● Range of 400 miles is promised FOR a car maker with such engineering might, it makes you wonder what has taken Mercedes so long to produce a direct rival for the Tesla Model S. The US firm proved that there was a large and growing appetite for electric saloons costing well in excess of £100,000 way back in 2012 – and only now has Mercedes showed its hand. The Vision EQS was the German firm’s star at the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show, and before it goes on sale in 2021, Auto Express was invited to take a closer look at, and get behind the wheel of, this Tesla rival. Measuring in at an impressive 5.3 metres long and with a design defined by a…

THE next fully electric Mercedes launched under the EQ brand will be a compact crossover called the EQB. This prototype was spied undergoing final testing ahead of the new model’s launch in 2020, and there are several tell-tale signs that this is no ordinary car. A blanked-off grille has been added to boost aerodynamic efficiency, while smoother front and rear bumpers can be picked out beneath the cladding of this test mule. Visually, the EQB will remain largely similar to the GLB crossover on which it’s based, so as to not alienate customers looking to move into an electric vehicle. Beneath the skin, of course, the changes are more dramatic. The platform will share the same basic set of chassis components used across Merc’s compact-car range, but the set-up can…

Hugo_Griffiths@dennis.co.uk ● An average of 91.6 per cent of council vehicles use diesel ● London is still running 724 non-ULEZ-compliant diesel vehicles THE vast majority of the 66,000 vehicles operated by UK councils run on diesel, Auto Express has discovered, with authorities admitting that no “viable electric alternative” to the fuel exists in “the vast majority” of cases. And, in areas where emission zones are operational or planned, council vehicles often breach the limits set or proposed. A total of 66,617 vehicles are operated by the 320 local authorities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that responded to our freedom of information requests, with 91.6 per cent running on diesel, and 62 council fleets consisting entirely of diesel vehicles. Local authority fleets comprise everything from bin lorries and gritters…