Table of contents for January 21, 2026 in Autocar

DS will take inspiration from the original DS 3 for the next iteration of the hatch, which will arrive in the next few years with a “sporty, hot” and “futuristic” design. The current DS 3 is the oldest model in the brand’s three-car line-up, which also comprises the recently refreshed and renamed Nº4 and the radical-looking Nº8 flagship. They will be joined by the Nº7 family SUV by the end of the year. The next generation of DS’s entry model will follow that new naming strategy and be called the Nº3. But it will be completely redesigned from today’s model and could even push into “another segment”, DS design chief Thierry Métroz told Autocar at the recent Brussels motor show. Métroz’s comments echo what DS boss Xavier Peugeot told Autocar…

Kia is considering a production version of the recent Meta Gran Turismo concept as part of plans to expand its model range with new bodystyles. The Meta Gran Turismo is a four-door low-slung GT concept. While few details have been revealed, it could potentially fit into Kia’s line-up as a sleek saloon carrying the EV7 or EV8 badge. Oliver Samson, Kia’s European design chief, said that for its next generation of cars, the firm is “thinking about different ways of design”, adding: “We want to try some new ways of treating the surfaces, maybe even introducing different silhouettes.” Asked if the Meta Turismo hinted at a future production car, Samson said: “We’re really looking into having a dialogue with our consumers, to make sure that we are not designing something…

Geely is going after the Land Rover Defender and Mercedes-Benz G-Class with the Galaxy Cruiser – and it will be sold in the UK, the Chinese firm has told Autocar. The SUV, which first appeared at the 2025 Shanghai motor show, is currently in concept form but it is very close to production, according to design studio director Flavien Dachet. Sales are due to start in China by the end of this year. While no definite date for exports has been set, Yan Tianxiao, Geely Auto UK’s marketing boss, confirmed that “we will definitely launch that car in the UK”. The Galaxy Cruiser uses the same SEA-R platform as the Zeekr 9X. An adapted version of this architecture is also used by the incoming Lotus Eletre plug-in hybrid. While those…

As a volume manufacturer, Nissan is among the most vulnerable to fast-moving, aggressive Chinese importers. “The Chinese are putting us in an uncomfortable situation,” said Max Messina, Nissan’s new head of Europe. “The pressure on the margins has been very significant.” Nissan was itself once a leading threat to the British car industry with its quality imports from Japan, but then the company was persuaded to locate manufacturing in Sunderland and went from being a threat to a local hero. After kicking off production in 1986 with the Bluebird, Nissan rose to become one of the two biggest car makers in the country, along with JLR. Now, however, it’s Nissan that is the local player on the back foot and the upstarts are the Chinese, with the likes of MG,…

A single set of roadworks can cost around £4000 in lost productivity per day, a study by Autocar and a leading data analyst has found. There were 2.2 million street works (use of equipment on or under the road) and roadworks (repairs or improvements to the highway) in England between 2023 and 2024, and over the past 10 years there has been a 30% rise in utility street works alone. More than 200 organisations are permitted to dig up roads. To find out how badly drivers are inconvenienced, data specialist Agilysis looked at work carried out by SGN (Scotia Gas Networks) on Swan Lane near Sandhurst in Berkshire. The work started on 26 November and is scheduled to finish on 30 January. Traffic flow is controlled by multi-way signals. Agilysis…

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In 2020, Chinese EV start-up Xpeng really upped its game with its second model, the P7, in terms of both looks and self-driving ability. This sports saloon spurred multiple Chinese competitors, and by 2025 it was already outdated. Enter the futuristic-looking Mk2 P7. Xpeng finally entered the UK market in February 2025 with the G6 crossover, and the new P7 could well be on its way here soon. Unlike the anonymous G6, the P7 turns heads, and in a good way, with its concept-like looks. Air suspension gives it a ground-hugging stance when stationary and, thanks to its sloping bonnet, Xpeng’s robot face has a far more menacing aura than on other cars. Although saloon-shaped, the P7 is actually a hatchback – one that packs 575 litres of boot space,…

The BMW i4 might well have gone underneath the radar of a great many EV buyers when it first appeared back in 2021, when premium car makers were mostly busy producing zero-emission SUVs. BMW’s own electric hopes were pinned on the high-rise iX and more accessible iX3. Sheltered somewhat from scrutiny, however, Munich’s first all-electric saloon has now survived into middle age – receiving a couple of packaged revisions since we road tested one in 2022. Time to catch up with exactly where those overhauls have left it, then. Four years is a long time, of course, especially given the pace of EV tech development during that time. So could this car’s shadowy waiting game have finally paid off? DESIGN & ENGINEERING PROS More grunt; more efficiency CONS No significant…

Given that my Audi A2 was returning 75mpg in normal use, I had idly wondered what I could get out of this 1.4-litre diesel hatch if I tried. It was a bank holiday Monday, I was in no rush and I was driving from Bicester to Petersfield and back to visit family. So I had a go. Traffic was light, I found the odd van to slipstream and nobody had binned a BMW M3 into a hedge on the A272. The answer, without trying that hard, because I don’t like being a 40mph menace, was 94mpg. I figured I could do better than that. In fact, I thought I could get 100mpg out of it. Which is why I’m on the A34, again, with nearly a full tank of fuel,…

WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT Finally, a proper EV hot hatch – but is it as brilliant every day as the Renault 5 on which it’s based? This will be interesting: what happens when you take a highly acclaimed new car and turn up the wick at the expense of its utility credentials? There’s almost no point outlining the commendable attributes of the Renault 5 by now, so many column inches have we (justifiably) given over to them in recent months, but suffice to say that it’s a very well-liked little car: it looks great, it has a decent range, its interior tech all works nicely and it’s pretty fun to punt around. So surely a quicker and more engaging take on the formula can only be a winner? Certainly, our…

MILEAGE 2748 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if BYD’s value-focused newcomer can dislodge Europe’s small car elite After several months with a Dolphin Surf Boost, I’ve topping Comfort model. The most obvious difference is impossible to miss: its vivid Lime Green paint. This is the supermini’s standard colour and wouldn’t look out of place courtside at Wimbledon. It’s delightful, don’t you think? The Comfort model comes with plenty of equipment on top of the already healthy spec of the middlerung Boost. It costs around £2000 extra, at £23,950 – about the same as the 152bhp version of the Renault 5, which has comparable kit. The halogen headlights of the Boost have been replaced with much brighter, automatically activated LEDs, which has emphatically addressed one of my major gripes with…

AN OWNER’S VIEW CLIVE MINTON “I have just come back from a blast across Europe in my 2017 3.0 V6 diesel, and I must say how impressed I am, especially after averaging 41.7mpg. We crossed six countries, including long spells on the autobahn in Germany, taking the Giovi Pass across the Alps and encountering snow. It handled everything comfortably. It’s a great car for a long drive: relaxing, fast and economical.” BUYER BEWARE… ■ FOUR-CYLINDER ENGINES There are many horror stories about the 2.0-litre diesel engine in pre-facelift cars, particularly concerning the diesel particulate filter, timing chain, turbos, oil dilution, excessive cylinder wear and coolant leaks. The 2.0-litre petrol four and later 2.0-litre mild-hybrid diesel are safer bets, but they can still suffer timing chain and turbo issues. ■ SIX-CYLINDER ENGINES Many…

Ferrari Amalfi: our verdict Illya Verpraet heads to Portugal to see how an entry-level Ferrari with ‘just’ 631bhp fares. Go to our YouTube channel to watch the action. Slowest ever lap of the ’Ring Microcar maker and former F1 team Ligier has officially claimed the slowest lap of the Nordschleife with its JS50 quadricycle. Why weren’t they stars? Sometimes a car that looks like a sure-fire winner fails to make the cut. Pricing, design, how it drives all matter. But so can other things… autocar.co.uk…

DS will look to do something “completely different” and “revolutionary” with the next-generation Nº4, design chief Thierry Métroz told Autocar. At the end of last year, the French brand unveiled the heavily refreshed Nº4 hatchback, which itself ushered in a new look inspired by the radically different Nº8 flagship. But looking further ahead, Métroz said the design team is already sketching ideas for the next iteration of the car, which is likely to arrive at the end of the decade – and the plan is to “reinvent everything”. He added: “We are looking at something completely different. We are working with Gilles Vidal [Stellantis’s new head of group design]. We have great ambition on that car with a new form and language. We would like to do something revolutionary.” Speaking…

An electric equivalent of the Kia Picanto could be on the cards, with the Korean brand’s European marketing boss confirming it will “continue to study” opportunities in the electric city car market. Last year, Kia president and CEO Ho Sung Song told Autocar that “homework” for a sub-€25,000 (£22,000) EV was ongoing, with that car tipped to arrive before the end of the decade as a rival to the likes of the forthcoming Renault Twingo and Volkswagen ID 1. Kia recently revealed the EV2 as a model that will be sold only in Europe, due to its small size – and it is likely that the same would be true of any electric Picanto equivalent, which would be badged EV1. The pair would play a key role in helping Kia…

THE FORD MUSTANG Dark Horse SC has been revealed as a new track-focused variant that is designed to bring the performance of the flagship GTD to a wider audience. Developed in-house by Ford Racing, the SC essentially takes the popular Dark Horse variant of the Mk7 Mustang and adds key elements that have been honed on the GTD and its GT3 racing sibling. The new model has been created in line with Ford’s quest to ensure the Mustang rivals the likes of the Porsche 911 in offering a broad line-up to appeal to a wide range of buyers. Brand manager Ryan Shaughnessy described the car as an example of Ford’s ongoing “race to road” strategy and “the entry point into ultra-high-performance models for people who aspire to a GTD”. Whereas…

The design of the new Nissan Juke, due later this year, will be “provocative” and “polarising”. The third, and EV-only, generation of the small crossover will be built in Sunderland alongside the new Leaf, with which it shares its CMF-BEV platform, battery and powertrains. But whereas the Leaf has been designed as a global car, the Juke will be offered only in Europe. Giovanny Arroba, Nissan’s Europe design chief, said the regional focus enabled the firm to take more risks with the Juke’s design – and it will closely mirror the bold styling of the Hyper Punk concept. “When the first-generation Juke came out, it was super-provocative and radical,” said Arroba. “The second-generation Juke was a more global car. It was not as polarising. We have no fear about bringing…

SLAP DASH I read of Michael Anstey’s Jeep Wrangler instrument panel woes (7 January) with sympathy and a wry smile. I recently bought a lovely 1997 Cherokee 4.0 on which the instruments sometimes all die. Apparently this is due to a poor connection on the PCB [printed circuit board]. Have they learned nothing in the last 28 years? My fix is a little easier, though: following advice from an excellent forum, a sharp slap to the righthand side of the instrument cluster returns everything to normal. Jeremy Law Via email DRIVING STANDARDS I don’t see the benefit in having a mandated three-or six-month learning period for new drivers (News, 14 January). That doesn’t mean people will spend longer learning, particularly those having to pay for lessons rather than learning with…

What if Honda had stuck with the E? It was a drive, but it needed a bigger battery and a lower price. We will never know for sure, because the E is dead and buried, but the Firefly might be a decent consolation prize. This new supermini is made by Chinese EV firm Nio, but Firefly is its own brand. There’s no model name, like when BMW relaunched the Mini: it’s simply the Firefly. It has been sold in Europe for a few months and is now confirmed to be coming to the UK later this year. And to my eyes, at least, it looks really cool. There’s a definite E vibe, but the triple lights on either side of the front and rear and the relatively big-wheeled stance mean…

The last three mentions of ‘intake plenum’ I can find in Autocar’s archive related to the Ferrari 849 Testarossa, Gunther Werks’ Porsche 993 Speedster and, er, the world’s fastest tractor. Now to make another for the Skoda Fabia 130. It may just be a warm version of a small hatchback, not hot enough even by Skoda’s own reckoning to earn a vRS badge, but it seems that some proper hardware engineering has gone into this little car. Platform sharing generally means there are a couple of engines in a couple of states of tune to be used across the group, with little room for further ad-libbing. But for the Fabia 130, Skoda has taken the familiar (and generally very dull) 1.5 TSI turbo four and developed a new intake plenum,…

For many years, Peugeot enjoyed an enviable reputation as a maker of cars that were at once impressively affordable, supremely stylish and pretty darn nice to drive. It was a proper people-pleasing brand that had more than its fair share of loyal customers and passionate enthusiasts all around the world. But over the past two decades, Peugeot has lost some of the spark that had won it such cult appeal among enthusiasts and made it the darling of the dealer network on several continents. Drawing the curtain on a period during which it had some of the world’s greatest cars in its showrooms, it introduced a new line of forgettable and uninspiring alternatives that couldn’t hold a candle to their forebears. Cars like the stodgy 307, oddly packaged 1007 and…

WHY WE RAN IT To see if the clever design of Volvo’s small electric crossover can win us over in extended use We’re in a transition era, witnessing the most dramatic shift in automotive technology since the car was invented. There’s the switch from combustion to battery power, of course, but another kind of seismic change is also ongoing: digitisation. Cars are increasingly being developed around computer chips and software, and that will make for a profound change in how we use cars in the future. Most drivers will initially notice that shift through how they interact with their car, with the increasing reliance on touchscreens and digital controls instead of physical buttons. As with the transition to electric propulsion, things are a bit messy right now. Car makers are…

JAECOO 7 Mileage 4858 Last seen 7.1.26 Silverstone’s ‘Lap of Lights’ has become a Christmas tradition for us, but awful traffic made the journey a slog this year. Luckily the Jaecoo is comfy (although daughter one says the floaty ride makes her queasy) and once there we could set the cabin lights to a festive hue, switch on heated seats and enjoy a great view through extensive glazing and a panoramic roof. AC FORD PUMA GEN-E Mileage 3110 Last seen 14.1.26 I’ve always thought that the branded puddle lamp is like the Bat-Signal for people with poor taste. The Puma’s is actually quite funny, because it isn’t even a Ford badge. What was the plan here? Did the branding team expect little darlings on their way home from school to…

FERRARI FF 6.3 V12 F1 DCT 2014, 16,000 miles, £109,995 There’s nothing like an Italian sports car with a sonorous V12. We’d plump for this FF for two reasons: its stunning tan interior and the fact that somebody else has taken the £30k hit on a new power transfer unit for the complex 4WD system. VOLKSWAGEN GOLF R ESTATE 4MOTION DSG 2017, 68,000 miles, £17,480 Golf R estates go under the radar. They’re great cars, too, with oodles of pace and space and a 4WD system keeping everything in check. The 306bhp 2.0-litre four has enough grunt to be enjoyed, and at a cruise it should do close to 40mpg. AUDI RS6 AVANT 5.0 TFSI V10 QUATTRO TIPTRONIC 2008, 87,000 miles, £29,980 Like the M5 Touring (left), this stunning RS6,…

“Sources say Audi is determined the RS6 won’t lose its autobahn-bred character” Audi is preparing its most powerful RS6 yet, with sources revealing that the next car will come equipped with a V8 plug-in hybrid powertrain as part of a major electrification push across the company’s performance range. The move will align the new RS6, due next year, with key rivals such as the BMW M5 and Porsche Panamera Turbo S-E Hybrid in retaining V8 power but adding hybrid components to improve emissions and boost performance. V8 power has been a defining element of the majority of Audi’s flagship RS models since the original C5-generation RS6 of 2002. While Audi’s performance car division has yet to officially confirm the move, Autocar has been told the combined system output will rise…

THE JENSEN INTERCEPTOR will be reborn as a new UK-built V8-powered GT, 50 years after production of the classic model ended. It will be created by Banbury-based Jensen International Automotive, the engineering firm that specialises in restoring and modernising Interceptors, but this new muscle car is JIA’s first clean-sheet creation. The as-yet-unnamed JIA GT, which will sit on a lightweight aluminium chassis, will sport a design “inspired” by the 1966-1976 Interceptor and is claimed to be an “ultra-high-performance” luxury proposition that will offer a fully “analogue driving experience”. Autocar understands the new car will be powered by the engine from the latest Chevrolet Corvette. Its 6.2-litre V8 puts out 495bhp and 452lb ft of torque, but JIA said the GT’s powertrain will be “bespoke”. Arriving next year, it will be…

LEAPMOTOR’S RANGE-extender (REx) technology for EVs could be used by other Stellantis brands in Europe as part of a move to increase “synergies” across the group. The Stellantis-backed Chinese company offers its B10 and C10 with the option of pure-electric power or a REx system, in which a small petrol engine works as a generator to charge the battery on the move. It claims the system allows the C10 Hybrid EV to travel up to 606 miles on a full battery and tank while emitting just 10g/km of CO2 in official testing. Leapmotor International CEO Tianshu Xin suggested the REx technology could also be used by its sibling brands, possibly including Citroën, Peugeot, DS, Fiat and Opel-Vauxhall. He said Leapmotor and Stellantis are evaluating various opportunities to share technology from…

TYRE WEAR HAS always been a challenge for the people who manufacture them. Too much of it is undesirable from a value-for-money point of view, but also because as tyres wear so does the road surface, producing tiny particulates that pose an emissions problem. Friction between a tyre’s contact patch and the road is an obvious cause of wear but, says Continental, many factors contribute to the generation of tyre and road wear particles. According to Continental and the European Tyre and Rim Technical Organisation, these factors include (in order of rising influence on wear), weather, temperature, tyre design, vehicle, road surface, route topology and, most of all, driving behaviour. It’s a subject that major tyre makers such as Continental and Michelin have been studying closely for years and pressure…

AMID THE RUBBLE of future business cases that were going to unlock billions in investor value for the car industry, robotaxis and autonomous driving are among the few still standing. True, autonomous vehicle (AV) flag-waving will look incongruous this year as car companies promote a more ‘back to basics’ message to investors after reality intruded on the dreams of software-led disruption. But the idea that the self-driving car will tap great wells of untouched revenue still holds sway. For instance, this year there will be fleets of robotaxis from Waymo, the UK’s Wayve and China’s Baidu on London streets. The more freewheeling, ‘end-to-end’ AI solution promoted by the likes of Wayve, Tesla and Xpeng offers a faster path to wider city coverage. However, there’s every chance that once the AV…

FEATURE DEFENDER TAKES ON THE DAKAR Find out why JLR entered this gruelling event for the first time – with no chance of an outright win – and how close its rally-raider is to an Octa TWIN TEST ROCKETEER MX-5 vs FRONTLINE MGB Lightweight, manual sports cars from top UK restomodders lock horns FIRST DRIVE INEOS GRENADIER Hardcore off-roader gets improved on-road steering and infotainment EVERY WEEK USED GUIDE DACIA DUSTER How to buy a tidy Mk2 version of everybody’s favourite budget SUV from as little as £5000 LIVING WITH A… RENAULT 5 Read our verdict on living with 2025’s most talked-about car. Is it as good as the hype suggests?…

Geely arrived in Britain a few months ago with the EX5 electric crossover – and coming next is its plug-in hybrid sibling, the Starray EM-i. The EV fell short of many class standards in our road test, scoring just two stars. Might the addition of a petrol engine improve matters? To find out, we’ve come to the testing facility at Geely’s Linhai factory – a circuit designed to put cars through their paces and then some, featuring a mix of corners, obstacles and a decent straight. In the metal, the Starray looks handsome enough – which is a good thing for everyone because, thanks to a low price of £29,990, these will probably soon be peppering various well-to-do suburbs around Britain. Like plenty of other cars coming over from China,…

Recently, we brought you road tests of a pure Mercedes and of a pure Geely, which got us wondering where this week’s road test subject sits. Smart, in its current form, is a joint venture between Mercedes and Geely, with production in China but engineering and development by mixed teams. That has so far resulted in the #1 and #3. Now it has come up with its third model, the #5 (yes, Smart is sticking with the hashtag thing), which arrives in the ultra-busy and ultra-competitive electric D-SUV segment, otherwise known as the Tesla Model Y class. In its current form, Smart has yet to set the sales charts on fire. It probably doesn’t help that many people still associate the brand with tiny city cars, and neither the #1…

Undesirable when getting to know a highly extroverted car: an audience. Only moments ago, our pit garage at Anglesey Circuit was vacant apart from a new Maserati dripping with carbon and malevolence, plus associated stacks of warmer-coddled slicks and trolley-mounted air-jack canisters. But that was before Elliot, who attends to this car’s specific needs, fired life into its straight-piped twin-turbo V6. A spectacular, curiously Nascar-style idle quickly drew a crowd around the so-called Beast of Modena (so-called by the pom-pom-waving Maserati press department, admittedly). And because the V6 sips half a gallon of criminally expensive 102-octane warming through, there has been ample time for that crowd to swell. This level of attention is completely understandable. Just 62 slant-nosed MCXtremas will exist and only a small fraction of those will ever…

It’s a feeling akin to jet lag – that unmistakable sensation of time shifting in a way that your brain can’t immediately comprehend. Three minutes ago, I plugged this Nyobolt EV into an electric charger with its battery displaying 30%. It’s now breached 80% and its rapid, 300kW charge speed has begun to tail off. I have never actually timed myself filling a car with petrol, but it can’t be significantly quicker than this. There are numerous barriers to the mass adoption of EVs, several of which this Lotus Elise-esque roadster can’t hope to fix. Nyobolt might not make any examples beyond this tech demonstrator. If it does, the resulting car is never going to be cheap enough for government grants, nor flexible enough for family life. But what it…

MILEAGE 3442 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see how Volvo is keeping this decade-old SUV relevant Sudden loud screaming is possibly the last thing you want to hear while driving. Thankfully I managed to avoid crashing while jumping out of my skin on this occasion. And I was at least a bit sympathetic, because I am arachnophobic just like my poor girlfriend, who had just discovered the sickening cause of the tickling on her left leg in the dark footwell. The tarantula in question reacted as instinctively as I had, rapidly retreating back through a trim gap somewhere. He’s about as welcome to stay in my car as a politician would be in my home, but unfortunately he’s much harder to kick out – as evidenced by the occasional webs…

By 2015, we were familiar with brands like Porsche and BMW building highriding family cars – yet some still felt that an SUV bearing the leaping cat was a step too far. But exactly a decade on from our effusive first review (“looks like a Jaguar, feels like a Jaguar and, most crucial of all, drives like a Jaguar”), we can look back on this one-time pariah as a truly impressive and deservedly popular all-rounder. The F-Pace isn’t quite a jack of all trades, but it comes very close. Throughout its nine-year production run (ended just weeks ago as part of Jaguar’s luxury EV reinvention), we rated it near the top of the class for its combination of practicality and dynamics, which few could match. Those handsome, haunchy looks have…

George Flowerday’s fondness for the BMW M5 has its roots in childhood when his dad owned an E39-generation 523i. “When the M5 version came out in 1998 – I can only have been six – I got the brochure and took it to school to show my mates but, to my surprise, none of them were interested,” he says. “Then, when the E60-generation M5 came along a few years later in 2004, I watched Jeremy Clarkson’s review of it on Top Gear. For some reason, I really wanted the car to be good. Of course, in classic Clarkson style, he began by criticising some of the features including the sat-nav and then, halfway through, admitted they could all be corrected at the touch of a button when, he said, ‘the…