Table of contents for November 26, 2025 in Autocar

This new technology is coming of age quickly. It is already fitted to the Lexus RZ and is set to feature in the new Mercedes S-Class EV and incoming Nio ET9. So what is it? In a nutshell, it means that the connection between driver and wheels, which is traditionally mechanical, is now… not. Instead, the link is electrical, with driver’s inputs sent to a steering rack unit. There are many benefits to this. The key one is that engineers can programme the ratio, meaning less input can be asked for at lower speed, aiding agility. They can also use software to tune it to create attributes that best represent a particular brand without the need for extra hardware. It means fewer parts and shorter development time too, resulting in…

The Volkswagen Golf will gain new hybrid powertrains by the end of 2026, company officials have confirmed to Autocar. The new petrol-electric unit will initially make its debut in the second-generation T-Roc and is aimed at providing plug-in-free electric driving capability similar to that offered by the Toyota Prius. Volkswagen has already confirmed it will come in two power levels: 136bhp and 170bhp. Autocar has been told the Golf will receive the more powerful version in various global export markets, including the US, but it remains to be seen which version will be offered in Golf models sold in the UK. “It offers better efficiency than our mild hybrid” Volkswagen’s latest hybrid powertrain represents a significant departure from its previous electrification efforts. It combines a turbocharged 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine…

Wayve will next year take part in what will be the biggest test of driverless cars in the UK to date. A large mass of autonomous taxis will take to London’s roads as part of a government-backed pilot scheme that aims to accelerate the tech’s arrival. Wayve has partnered Uber for the trial. US firm Waymo will also participate. Although personal driverless cars won’t be legal on UK roads under current legislation until the second half of 2027, a new government framework allows Uber and Waymo to run the technology before that date. This legislation has already been used by Wayve and Nissan in testing autonomous technology.…

Mazda has begun testing prototypes of its first bespoke EV, tipped to be a sibling to its best-selling CX-5, ahead of a planned launch in 2027. The Japanese firm is one of the largest independent global car makers that has not yet used a bespoke EV architecture for a production car. Its first EV, the MX-30 crossover, was based on the underpinnings of the combustion-engined CX-30 and its new 6e saloon and EZ-60 SUV are based on platforms supplied by Chinese joint-venture partner Changan. But as part of a $10 billion (£7.6bn) push to electrify its line-up over the coming years, Mazda is now well under way with the development of its own platform for EVs, having previously announced plans to launch a bespoke EV in 2027. Now, a prototype…

BYD could bring its new Racco kei car to Europe if the EU’s mooted E-car category for small cars increases the viability of such models. The Racco was revealed at the Tokyo motor show last month as a landmark non-Japanese entry into a segment that represents almost a third of car sales in the country and which is served almost exclusively by domestic manufacturers. The Racco has been designed and engineered to meet the kei class regulations of Japan, where it’s initially set to be sold exclusively. It measures 3.4m long, 1.475m wide and 1.8m tall and has boxy, straight-edged styling similar to its Japanese kei class rivals. It has a 20kWh battery that is said to be good for 112 miles of range and charging at up to 100kW…

NO QUESTIONS ASKED My mother conducted market research interviews in the late 1950s and early 1960s. She was proud of how the Ford Cortina was heavily influenced by the research she did. The main finding was customers wanted as much car as they could get for the money, with room for the family, modern styling and a sporty image, but were not very concerned about having the latest tech. Ford delivered on those features and attributes and success followed. Fast forward to today and you have to wonder if companies do any market research before spending billions on a new car. Not one of my friends or relations really wants any new car on the market. Electric cars of today are likely to be seriously obsolete in a short time,…

It says ‘T-Roc’ on the back, but one of the engineers called this newcomer “the anti-Diess car”. The years under Herbert Diess weren’t Volkswagen’s happiest. The company was weathering the Dieselgate storm and getting to grips with electrification. In the process, sacrifices had to be made, and the results were the software glitches and iffy plastics in the Mk8 Golf and the ID 3. Thomas Schäfer is the CEO now, things are going better for Volkswagen and there’s some time – and, importantly, money – again for niceties. The T-Roc has quickly become part of the furniture at Wolfsburg, but it’s worth remembering that it hasn’t actually been around for that long. Whereas the Tiguan is already in its third generation, the original T-Roc was introduced only in 2017. Because…

Most of us have heard of Geely by now. It’s clearly a force to be reckoned with, having bought up a significant slice of the European automotive industry. Volvo, Polestar, Lotus, LEVC (which makes the TX taxi) and Smart are all owned, at least in part, by the Chinese giant. Zeekr and Lynk&Co, both of which are sold in continental Europe and may come to the UK at some point, are also Geely brands. But like some reclusive billionaire with fingers in many pies, the Geely brand itself has so far been invisible in Europe. But that’s now changing, because the Geely brand plans to launch a range of its own cars over the next few years. The company says it’s here to stay and therefore it intends to be…

Just two weeks ago in these pages, deputy road tester Richard Lane celebrated a half century of the BMW 3 Series, the once undisputed king of the compact executive class. But while he sang the praises of the sharp-suited and quick-witted saloon that almost single-handedly hooked British buyers on their premium brand habit, he sounded an alarm that time could be up for this evergreen class leader, as the future of the 3 Series now hangs in the balance. Why? The compact exec has always been the first choice of company car drivers looking to cut a dash, but the tax-slashing benefits of going electric mean that corporate tastes have changed. Three still remains the magic number, but for BMW now read Tesla. The Model 3 has become the user-chooser’s…

It’s pleasing to see that, despite the painfully awkward political background, Audi is acknowledging its grand prix heritage. Between 1935 and 1939, the biggest honour in motorsport wasn’t the FIA Formula 1 World Championship but the AIACR European Championship – which existed under crushing German domination. Mercedes-Benz won three times, Auto Union twice, but the two varieties of Silver Arrow were equally mind-boggling. Alfa Romeo and Bugatti, for years seemingly assured of every win, suddenly didn’t stand a chance. Unusually for the time, Auto Union placed the driver in front of a mid-mounted engine – initially a supercharged 4.4-litre V16 with 290bhp and ultimately evolved to 6.0 litres and 520bhp. In 1936, for crying out loud, all through a manual gearbox and what look like bicycle wheels with drum brakes.…

“The GTE was the comfiest car I’ve driven this year” WHY WE RAN IT To see if the latest hot PHEV Golf is truly a wallet-friendly alternative to the beloved GTI An email sent to me by reader Rob Lightbody provides an ideal starting point for this final report and ties in nicely with the mission statement for our long-term test car displayed above. “As the owner of a 2017 Golf GTI, I was wondering if you think you’d be better off in the GTI version instead of the GTE,” he asked. “The boot in the GTI is quite a lot bigger and you’d have no large cable to store. You’d lose some MPG, but on a longer run I get over 40mpg.” This is an interesting question from Rob,…

MILEAGE 12,607 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To discover if Renault’s retro-infused EV hit is as good to live with as it is to look at It’s not quite curtains for our Renault 5 yet, but its departure from our long-term fleet is fast approaching. It’s therefore definitely time we started talking about what worked and why, rather than conveying too much further excitement about its arrival (even if privately I still have such feelings). Two things continue to stand out about this rule-changing Renault, and I suspect they would still be highlights in a year’s time, were it to remain on our fleet. One is the car’s sheer, enduring star quality; the other is the maturity of its development, especially given that it was rushed into production from a standing…

AN OWNER’S VIEW ALIE SMITH “I’ve got an Autobiography on a 63-plate, now with 96,000 miles on the clock. I bought it five years ago when it had done 70,000 miles. I service it on the button at an LR specialist and seem to spend an additional £600 per year on the odd replacement part, on top of servicing costs. The car is utterly majestic. In my experience, there’s nothing quite like it. The Meridian 1700W stereo is exquisite – almost certainly the best car stereo you’ll ever hear. My car’s build quality is excellent. There’s not a squeak or a rattle anywhere. Go and buy one.” BUYER BEWARE… ■ ENGINES On the TDV6 and TDV8 diesels, the crankshaft is known to fail. Some last 20k miles, but some 200k,…

Porsche has unveiled the long-awaited Cayenne Electric as its most powerful model to date, with 1140bhp on tap. The German car maker describes its third EV, after the Taycan and Macan Electric, as “the beginning of a new era”. The fourth-generation Cayenne is the first iteration since the SUV’s launch in 2002 to be sold without a combustion powertrain. It sits on the EV-only PPE platform – a decision originally taken as part of a bold plan by Porsche for 80% of its line-up to be electric by 2030. “With this car, we are reaching a new level of performance that sets standards for the future” However, during the Cayenne Electric’s development last year, Porsche shelved that plan, citing slower than expected interest in EVs. As a result, alongside the…

GENESIS HAS REVEALED a new mid-engined Magma GT Concept that previews a future road-going “pure sports car” and GT3 racer set to be launched some time after 2027. Described as the “clearest expression yet” of the Korean brand’s commitment to performance, the new concept was unveiled at the official launch of the Magma sub-brand and will spawn a future halo model that will pitch Genesis into competition with the likes of McLaren and Ferrari. Genesis creative chief Luc Donckerwolke said the model “represents the pinnacle of our performance vision and stands as a symbol of our commitment to true motorsport capability”. He added that the car is “not simply a faster Genesis” but “the most complete expression of Genesis performance to date”. The concept is powered by a V8 engine,…

PRODUCTION OF THE Ford Focus has ended after 27 years and 12 million sales. Ford announced the decision in 2022 as it sought to accelerate the transition of its European line-up to electric models. As a result, the hatchback’s place has effectively been taken by the Explorer and the Capri, electric crossovers based on the Volkswagen Group’s MEB architecture. Although the Focus has been discontinued, Autocar recently reported that Ford is looking to fill the gap it has left with a new mid-sized crossover, due in 2027. The Focus’s end also means that the Focus plant in Saarlouis, Germany, no longer builds any cars. Ford has yet to confirm a buyer, leaving the factory’s future in doubt.…

THE NEXT BMW X4 is in the works as a coupé-roofed version of the new iX3 EV and is set to offer a range of more than 500 miles. Prototypes of the new SUV have been spotted testing for the first time ahead of its unveiling, which is expected to happen early next year. It will be the first X4 to offer an electric powertrain, the model having offered only petrol and diesel options since it was launched in 2014. Being based on the iX3, it shares many of its visual cues with that car, although it gains a more steeply raked roofline. That body shape could make the iX4 one of the longest-range EVs sold in the UK, given the iX3 offers a benchmark 500 miles between charges. Power…

We’ve been cruising hands-free through north London traffic for about 40 minutes but our Ford Mustang Mach-E now faces a tough test: an unprotected right turn into a busy street. A parked black cab blocks the view on the left while the broad spectrum of London traffic dashes on by, not giving an inch. But the Ford behaves remarkably human-like, creeping out until it spots a gap and then nipping into the flow without drama. The demonstration makes a powerful case for what UK firm Wayve calls AV 2.0, where artificial intelligence (AI) makes decisions rather than the car following a pre-programmed set of rules. AV 1.0 by this definition is Google’s Waymo, the pioneering autonomous service operating in five US cities with a claimed 10 million rides under its…

DENZA WILL REVEAL a new flagship sports coupé at the Goodwood Festival of Speed next summer, before launching it in the UK and Europe in 2027. Denza, Chinese giant BYD’s answer to BMW and Mercedes, will come to the UK next year with the Z9 GT shooting brake, D9 luxury MPV and B5 SUV before adding the ‘Z’ supercar (pictured) to the range. The brand revealed a concept previewing the Z at the Shanghai show. Denza said the performance-focused two-door EV has steer-by-wire technology, magnetorheological suspension and a driver-focused but tech-heavy cockpit. It’s possible the Z could take the Z9 GT’s tri-motor powertrain and ramp up output beyond its 952bhp. Asked if the Z could act as a brand-building halo model for Denza in Europe, BYD executive vice-president Stella Li…

DOUBLE ISSUE FESTIVE EXTRAVAGANZA! Get ready for a 148-page special involving Frankel in a Spitfire, Mario Andretti, Cropley’s Santa run, our road testers’ 2025 picks and more ROAD TRIP A ROAD TRIP WITH ALL THE TRIMMINGS Richard Webber takes an eye-catching road trip through Scotland in a BMW M3 CS Touring in pursuit of the country’s finest festive fayre ROAD TEST THE WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL TRACTOR Matt Prior brings you a Christmas Road Test you won’t want to miss: a 919bhp John Deere 9RX 830 with 32 gears and 3135lb ft. Yes, 3135lb ft MOTORSPORT AUTOCAR vs F1 DRIVER How fit is an F1 driver compared with Autocar’s rapid marathon man? We find out at Alpine F1 HQ INSIGHT YOU’LL SLOT RIGHT IN… Felix Page has a monster crash in…

When the Jeep Renegade 4xe finally shuffles off this mortal coil in the coming months, BYD’s new Atto 2 DM–i will take its place as the littlest crossover on sale with a socket on one side and a fuel filler on the other. Not only that, but with prices ranging from around £25,000 for the base model to £28,000 for the bigger-battery variant driven here, it will be the cheapest PHEV too. Launched recently as an EV, the Atto 2 has been retrofitted with a hybrid powertrain as part of BYD’s drive to sustain its rampant growth outside of its Chinese home market in the face of waning global demand for EVs. When we drove the electric Atto 2 we found it rational and sensible but short on visual or…

As you might have read in our news pages recently (Autocar, 1 October), the Volvo EX90 is in line for some key upgrades in 2026. Principally, an 800V electrical architecture delivering faster charging and better efficiency. It’s an unusual situation for a car that’s only been in the hands of UK owners for about a year and that, not so long ago, looked like a totem of Volvo’s bold electric future. After a delayed start at its US production base in Ridgeville, South Carolina, the car’s commercial success has yet to really take off on our side of the pond. Year-to-date UK registrations for 2025 make it less than half as popular as the related Polestar 3 and a fifth as successful as the BMW iX. Nevertheless, the EX90’s status…

If you’re buying with your own cash rather than company coffers, then for the same price as our box-fresh execs, you could upgrade to some seriously tasty second-hand EV bargains. PORSCHE TAYCAN 4S PERFORMANCE PLUS 2020/22, 32k miles, £46,989 The Taycan has experienced a dramatic price-related fall from grace, with the value of used examples of the pioneering electric Porsche tumbling. Despite that, it remains one of the most involving and exhilarating EVs out there, with sublime steering, incredibly poised handling and an interior that oozes upmarket appeal. It’s a great time to add one to your driveway. BMW iX XDRIVE50 M SPORT 2023/23, 24k miles, £46,990 If you want more of an SUV flavour from your classy highperformance electric family car, then may we suggest the iX? Look past…

WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT Is this the best cheap EV on the market? Dear reader, an interesting bit of insight into your life landed in my inbox recently: fresh Autocar market research with some illuminating statistics, figures and overall feelings towards lots of things. In fact, it’s possible that you personally took part in the survey. There is no getting around it: statistically, I am likely to be a good chunk younger than you. Which is why I’m deploying a bit of empathy and stepping into your shoes. A lot of you reading this might not be too interested in buying a new electric vehicle. You might consider them to be a pain to charge, with too much technology and, even worse, boring. But I’m hoping this Ford Puma Gen-E…

MILEAGE 2980 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT Because it might just be the most fun car you can drive at any speed It doesn’t matter where you go, even Goodwood or Hethel: whatever else you see, the Super 3 makes itself the centre of attention. So how, having spent a few months almost daily-driving a Super 3, do I think one should be specced? I ask because I have been on the configurator again. And for a car that has only one mechanical specification (a 1.5-litre Ford three cylinder engine, a manual gearbox and not even wheel or tyre options), a lot of customisation is possible. I think it could make the difference between having a pretty nice one and the perfect fun car. And soon to be facing the terrifying…

LOTUS ELAN 1.6 S2 LIMITED EDITION 1994, 100,000 miles, £11,999 Many purists were put off by the front-driven layout when it was new. But Lotus’s handling nous made it accomplished on the right B-road. This one has done plenty of miles but looks to be in great condition. AUDI RS4 AVANT 4.2 QUATTRO 2006, 66,000 miles, £28,977 If you’d prefer your manual V8 to come from Ingolstadt instead of Munich or Gaydon (see Head to Head), this immaculate RS4 Avant should serve you well. The grey leather interior of this one sets it apart in the classifieds. It has a full Audi service history and just two previous owners. FORD ESCORT MEXICO 1973, 33,000 miles, £60,000 Rare fast Fords are incredibly sought after now, hence this low-mileage Mexico’s price. It…

The new Genesis GV60 Magma will arrive next year as a luxury rival to the Porsche Macan Electric and is the first model from the Korean firm’s new performance sub-brand. Described as a “luxury GT with the agility of a track car”, the new flagship version of the electric SUV is set to reach the UK around the middle of next year. It will be the first in a full line-up of Magma variants that will be used to help reposition Genesis with a greater focus on performance. The brand claims Magma models will serve as Genesis “superheroes”, maintaining the values of the standard versions but with “superpowered enhancements” that will enable them to offer a dual personality. Luc Donckerwolke, Genesis’s chief creative officer, said: “Magma is not a hardcore…

The Monaco Grand Prix circuit is a heck of a place to choose for your first drive of an unfamiliar prototype that introduces a by-wire steering system and a rectangular steering ‘wheel’. Peugeot’s brand-new Hypersquare steering system was previewed by the radical new Polygon concept, which was revealed earlier this month. The system, likely to be offered as an option on most models of the forthcoming new 208 in 2027, is the next step beyond the i-Cockpit design that the firm introduced 13 years ago. That consisted of a then rare small-diameter steering wheel, set low so the instruments were viewed over the wheel rather than through it. Company bosses claim big success for the i-Cockpit, having sold 13 million cars equipped with it since it first appeared in the…

VOLKSWAGEN MAY HALT its plan to move Golf production to Mexico, Autocar has learned. The news comes as the company reviews key elements of its global production strategy, announced last year. The rethink has been prompted by delays in the development of its Scalable Systems Platform (SSP) for EVs, rising financial pressure and employee unrest. A decision to transfer production of the ICE Golf from Wolfsburg, Germany, to Puebla, Mexico, in 2027 was announced in December last year as part of a job security deal made with Volkswagen’s works council. Simultaneously, Volkswagen confirmed its Wolfsburg manufacturing headquarters was to gain two EVs – the upcoming facelifted Volkswagen ID 3 and its Cupra Born sibling – from the Zwickau factory, ensuring production capacity at the historic plant remained utilised. However, Volkswagen’s…

HYDROGEN POWER JUST KEEPS ON TRUCKING ON WE OFTEN HEAR about technology crossing over from motorsport. But if hydrogen fuel cells ever do make it to mainstream cars, it’s looking as though trucks, not racing, will play a major part in establishing the technology first. Bosch sees hydrogen as a major contributor to decarbonisation in the future and has recently put an articulated lorry powered by its fuel cell power module (FCPM) into service at its plant in Nuremberg, Germany. It has good reason to feel positive about a future hydrogen economy. Bosch expects a global hydrogen energy capacity of 100-170GW and sales revenue for the company running into billions by 2030. Fuel cells consuming hydrogen and electrolysers making it have more than a little in common because one is…

IN JUNE 2021, Thierry Bolloré gave his only sit-down interview with Autocar in the middle of a two-year stint as JLR’s CEO. Bolloré started the modern evolution at JLR and outlined his desire for the firm to focus less on the scale it craved in the 2010s and more on becoming a financially sound business built on creating more profitable models, the star among them a reborn Jaguar. Four years on, where are those models? Derivatives aside, the last all-new model JLR revealed that is currently on sale is the Range Rover Sport, shown in May 2022. JLR has had more challenges than most, including the recent cyber attack, but to go more than three years without launching a new car… What’s happening? Bolloré was replaced in late 2022 by…

Everything we do is driven by you: that was the marketing mantra of Ford in the 1990s, but it seems to have forgotten. As a lifelong Ford fan, I’m dismayed at the brand’s slow demise in Europe, and your recent article (News, 29 October) filled me with sadness. Through my childhood I was ferried around in a succession of Ford company cars, and once I earned my driving gloves in the late ’90s, it was only natural that I chose the Blue Oval. By then the engineers were in charge, giving us dynamically brilliant cars such as the glum-faced Fiesta with its zingy, zesty 1.25 and the superbly composed Focus, which frankly embarrassed the competition. I loved those cars, and for a time Ford seemed like an indomitable force. The…

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If I were feeling glib, I’d describe this MG S6 EV as a larger S5 EV – but I’m not, so I won’t. That’s also beside the point, because you might not know the extent of MG’s EV line-up at the moment. The 4 EV (Volkswagen ID 3-sized), S5 EV (Skoda Elroq-sized) and S6 EV (Skoda Enyaq-sized) all sit on MG’s Modular Scalable Platform and form the basis of the Chinese brand’s core EV offering. The upmarket IM sub-brand (with its IM5 and IM6 cars) is the middle ground, then the Cyberster acts as a traditional halo car. The S6 offers a long range (up to 329 miles for the rear-wheel-drive cars), lots of space and all the kit you would probably want – and does it for a competitive…

One hundred and fifteen days, nine hours, 15 minutes and 30 seconds. On every wall, screen and set of lips at Audi’s new Formula 1 base in southern Germany is a reminder of just how little time remains until the Four Rings grace a grand prix for the first time in 87 years. But as the team hurtles towards that milestone, it faces a great many questions that remain unanswered. Not only has Audi made the decision to enter the fastest-moving motorsport category in a season in which its ruleset is being totally overhauled, but it has also decided to go it completely alone. Aside from purchasing longestablished backmarker team Sauber, which will build the team’s chassis, each and every element of the new team is being developed from the…

MILEAGE 5671 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if the clever design of this small EV can win us over in extended use The ever-shortening days and the arrival of colder weather often present a challenge for EVs, and sometimes in unexpected ways. Inspired by Tesla, the Volvo EX30 is now one of many EVs that have forgone a traditional instrument display and instead stuck key information such as your speed on the top edge of the central screen. It’s not a layout I’m a particular fan of but is one I’ve grown accustomed to and can live with. But it caused an unusual wrinkle when I first did an extended drive in the EX30 in the dark: I found the total lack of illumination behind the steering wheel really…

How good is the ‘L405’ generation of the Range Rover (2012-2021)? Put it this way: last year, we were confident enough to declare a used £55,000 L405 a better buy than a new Kia Sorento for the same price (Autocar, 2 October 2024). Which is especially attention-grabbing when you consider an L405 Rangie can now be picked up for just £10,000 (even though we would advise spending a little more, if you can). And just look at it. It’s upright, stately, monolithic, inherently classy – unmistakably and unapologetically a Range Rover, in other words. While it’s not quite as regally brutalistic as its ‘L322’ predecessor, it’s a mighty fine piece of design and brought the lineage into the modern world with a 0.30 drag coefficient (down from 0.38), a kerb…

Maximilian Chester’s 1990 BMW Z1 is not a keeper. “I would prefer one with a higher mileage because I want to drive and enjoy the car more,” he says. “For example, I’d have driven this one to the south of France a couple of times already but I’m reluctant to because much of its value is in its low mileage.” He’s got a point. His Z1 has done only 4000 miles, making it desirable to a collector. He says: “It was a French press car, which, surprisingly, doesn’t appear to have been used very much. It sold at auction with 250km on the clock and was then exported to the UK in 2018, where it was bought by racer and collector François Perrodo of Fanch Racing. One day last February,…