Author: Robin Roberts

The new Honda HR-V is a step-change for this conservative car-maker. While its head-turning but now discontinued NSX and still  in production hot Civics stand out from more run of mill models in showrooms, they made progress with the new Jazz but have really ramped up styling in the new HR-V launched last autumn. The latest Honda HRV appeared towards the end of 2021 and replaced the model that first appeared in 1998 and refreshed in 2013 but had disappeared in 2018. Of course, Honda never stands still and the newcomer uses a self-charging hybrid powertrain in conjunction with a…

The coronavirus pandemic masked a lot of changes made by car-makers last year and the SEAT Ibiza was one of them. SEAT was well advanced with giving the highly popular Ibiza family hatchback a mid-term make-over before the pandemic virtually paralysed production and it has raised the bar for the car against more expensive rivals. There is a new look to the car front to back with revised apron on some models and the latest high performance headlights while inside it benefits from a carefully integrated sound system and media interface. There are SE, SE Technology, FR, FR Sport, Xcellence…

A new high performance 193mph Aston Martin DBX will go into production in the company’s St Athan, South Wales plant. The introduction of the new generation luxury SUV will boost work at the plant two years after it opened in December 2019 to make their first SUV. The newcomer builds on the qualities of the original DBX with the 4.0V8 engine boosted to 707ps and 900Nm with upgraded, faster acting 9-speed transmission, sports suspension and competition style carbon ceramic brakes, all under an enhanced body with distinctive styling elements. The flagship sporting DBX707 takes 3.3 seconds to accelerate from standstill…

Collaboration to cut costs but not quality is very evident in the Suzuki Swace. There’s a lot more component sharing going on throughout the global motor industry than many realise but it’s not been a feature of UK in recent years, with just a few exceptions. We had extensive badge engineering across Midlands’ factories between the 1950s and 1980s but with the disappearance of the British Leyland group that also ended swopping brands’ models. Until fairly recently anyway and in 2019 Toyota and Suzuki entered into an agreement to badge engineer models in the former’s Derby car assembly plant. The…

Style and safety go hand in hand with Volvo, but today you can add success to that shopping list, as so many Brits did in 2021. In a UK market which saw just 1% expansion, the Volvo line up increased 4% to 48,260 cars giving them a record 2.93% share of the British total. Most of that came from the new Volvo Recharge PHEVs and pure electric models which doubled in demand and accounted for 37% of registrations. Alongside, its used cars Selekt programme went up 12%. Volvo boosted its Recharge powertrain last autumn and immediately picked up awards, sales…

The company moved to Tonypandy as part of the UK Government’s encouragement to boost jobs in South Wales following WW2 and it started production in 1947 for Land Rover. Work expanded and it was a significant supplier to car and light commercial vehicles over the next 70 years but the contraction in vehicle manufacturing in the UK combined with the global decline of the automotive sector along with the disruption caused by the Covid pandemic and semi-conductor shortages has made the plant unsustainable. In a statement issued this week, Allevard, which has been part of the Sogefi Group since 1999,…

With escalating costs of serious 4×4 cars and sports utilities it’s little wonder that edgy pickups have cornered the market, and one of the most popular series is the Isuzu D-Max. There are Utility, DL20, DL40 and V-Cross derivatives built on the same chassis, using the common powertrain with 6sp manual or automatic transmissions and nearly all 4WD, but their cab space varies along with payload so buyers have maximum choice of model for any particular purpose. Building purely commercial vehicles allows Isuzu to concentrate on a specific sector where work comes first but they recognise in the harshest conditions…

Everyone has their own opinion on supercars, but few would say one virtue is how slowly they can go and still excite,writes Robin Roberts.  Evolved from the 488 series, the Ferrari F8 Spider blends the performance of the more track focused Pista with the practicality of the GTB and creates a very useable supercar with its own personality. Add the versatility of a folding metal roof which operates in 14 seconds and you have a car that comfortably copes with the worst and wonderful best of British weather. The engine is the familiar 3.9 litre V8 which can trace its…

When it comes to choosing your new car it’s not always obvious that the better choice is not your first choice. Buyers who pour over print or on-line reviews can become numbed to the choices and models laid out before their eyes. Badge envy may blur vision and the surreal experience is sometimes far from reality. You have to physically get into a car and experience it to fully appreciate it and anyone who tells you different either does not want to sell you the car or is secretly worried its shortcomings may show up and you’ll shove off to…

The sporting Mustang name has been cloned from the muscle car launched in the mid-60s and its seventh generation becomes the brand’s longest-lived nameplate. The Mustang Mach-E is a family SUV and therefore vitally important to Ford with a choice of models based on standard or extended range batteries, rear or all-wheel-drive and software tweaked to give economy or exciting performance. Some equipment and styling changes distinguish the models to the users and viewers’ eyes and reflect in the prices from about £42,530 to £66,280 and at the upper end the Mustang Mach-E becomes the highest priced model ever sold…