Author: Robin Roberts

New car registrations continued to improve in December and the market in Britain reached 1.61M, but still the lowest in three decades. The UK new car market recorded its fifth consecutive month of growth in December, with an 18.3% increase to reach 128,462 new registrations, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Hidden in the figures was the fact that evs outsold diesel cars for the first time. Volkswagen repeated its success of 2021 and was the top performing marque, ahead again of Ford with 8.17% share over Ford with 7.86%, while Audi…

For many pure petrol-heads, Porsche is the pinnacle of performance and a brand which has dominated endurance racing for decades. So the challenge of defending that reputation while moving into the new era of electrification means they have to come up with something special and they have. The Porsche Taycan 4S is a thoroughly modern and environmental expression of the company’s awesome mechanical engineering abilities. It has been out for a couple of years yet the range is compact, beginning with the Taycan 4S but then stretching minds and money to slightly more powerful and expensive derivatives, but the standard…

Quintessentially British Aston Martin has never shirked showing us something different and making heads turn and that’s very much the philosophy behind the flagship DBX707 SUV. Launching the marque’s new dedicated £250M factory at St Athan, 18 miles west of Cardiff, the DBX was the first SUV from this exclusive brand in 2020. It sought to redefine the rich-family friendly SUV sector delivering a strong dose of sporting musk to the market, and it has become the brand’s best selling model series. Now it has gone one better and added the more potent 707ps DBX to the line-up and seems…

Toyota dominated this year’s World Rally Championship and hopes some of this success will spread into its sophisticated city car, the Yaris. It launched the Yaris GR Sport about 12 months ago and my test drive really took me back, more than a year, to a time when hot-hatchbacks were all the rage and any car which had a rally or racing pedigree was guaranteed to be a winner on a Monday after a competition on Sunday. But of course, times change and you can no longer just rely on performance per pound to pull in the punters, you have…

Kia has been in the forefront of the modern drive towards electric cars and its highly successful Niro compact SUV is the latest aimed at the mass market. It completes the Niro line-up which started with petrol models and then progressed to petrol-hybrids before adding the pure electric model this autumn and the latest models are slightly longer, wider and taller with stretched footprint. It is the second biggest selling Kia UK model series and comes in three trim levels. Using all its experience gained with the urban runabout Soul and at the other end of the market, the EV6…

To thousands of users, the Toyota Hilux is the golden oldie but 50 years after it hit British tracks, trails and tarmac it’s definitely less of the oldie and actually a very up to date model. Toyota keep updating but not altering the sound basics of their beloved and highly popular pick-up. With five models to choose it now has the strongest appeal to those who want a workhorse, or a weekend getaway for those with an active lifestyle. It comes with a choice of 2.4 or, as we tested, a 2.8 litre four-cylinder diesel engine, selectable 2 or 4WD…

Volvo has set out to change its drivers’ views on mass market electric cars with the latest addition to its battery-only range. It’s different from the moment you go on line to look at the C40 Recharge, with single or twin motors utilising 67 or 75kWh batteries and powering 231 or 408hp motors with front or all-wheel-drive. After the larger XC40 Recharge the more compact C40 Recharge will appeal to those wanting a sleeker looking, more sporty appearance without sacrificing practicality. It’s also available only on line. Volvo has carefully developed the C40 Recharge Twin to build on the EV…

Pick-ups have been the vehicle of choice for generations in the countryside and the backbone of the construction industry. A few years ago manufacturers raised their game when they realised traditional SUVs were becoming too expensive and a whole new customer profile was appearing in the shape of the active-lifestyle lovers. Meeting the twin needs of those who want a pickup for pleasure or one for purpose saw the emergence of the models such as the SsangYong Musso in the dying decade of the 20th century, How times have changed since. SsangYong sell a comparatively small range of carefully chosen…

We all want more for our money these days and the Audi A1 brings big car luxury features to a more affordable market. The A1 was introduced as the marque’s challenger to the growing number of superminis in 2010, initially with three-doors and then a five-door Sportback was added in 2012 and this first generation continued along with a lively S1 derivative until 2018, but in 2022 it underwent a comprehensive facelift. The result is that only the Sportback style remains with a choice of 1.0 litre 3cyl 110ps or 1.5 4cyl 150ps engines, both petrol, and Technik, Sport, S…

It’s the end of the road for the Ford Fiesta, the car maker announced this week. The highly popular baby Ford created in the wake of the early 1970s oil crisis to get Britons moving again  will roll off the Cologne, Germany productions line for the last time next June, after 45 years of sales. But before then, the axe will also fall on the sibling Ford S-Max and Galaxy SUV and MPV models in April after time was called on their Mondeo stablemate earlier this year and the Ford Focus will follow in a few years. Ford said it’s…