Author: Robin Roberts

The most successful Skoda ever sold in Britain with over 500,000 delivered in four generations has picked up a clutch of awards, notably the latest for its family values as selected by an international group of Women Car of the Year judges. As part of the Volkswagen Group, Skoda has made 100,000 traction batteries for the hybrid models sold by the various brands and includes its own Octavia iV we have been testing in estate form. The Skoda Octavia iV plug-in hybrid electric estate delivers simplicity with substance and practicality with performance. Skoda has wisely decided to include as standard…

Diversity has driven the car industry for over a century responding to the changing society it serves, so we shouldn’t be surprised when a traditional sporting brand looks at something different,writes Robin Roberts. Premium brands including Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Jaguar, Maserati and Porsche are examples which come to mind, but there is also the more affordable sporting Italian marque of Alfa Romeo and its Giulia saloon-derived Stelvio compact SUV, which may have been overlooked by many in this sector. AR made a military and civilian general purpose model resembling the Jeep in the 1950s and teased the world…

The Government is immediately slashing the grant for battery electric vehicles, lowering the price ceiling while altering the qualification for electric vans and further reductions will come. It’s unheralded announcement about the changes effective today have been criticised by car makers, dealers, motoring organisations and fleet companies who say it sends the wrong message to motorists who want to move to zero emission vehicles and are struggling with funds as the country faces a major recession following the lockdowns since March 2020. The plug-in car grant introduced a decade ago to reduce the price of electric cars, which generally cost…

When a car-maker refreshes and updates one of its best selling models their rivals and customers had better take notice and the new Citroen C3 deserves that attention. It underwent an extensive makeover last year but global events overshadowed it so it was good to catch up with the compact five-door model a short time ago. The third generation C3 was launched in 2016 and has secured over 800,000 sales. Time and technology waits for no-one and Citroen has now given it a new look with the latest corporate front-end styling, some tastefully topical interiors and under their bonnets the…

There are more than 304,000 over 65s driving on UK roads with penalty points on their licence, nearly 25 times the number of young teenage drivers – of which there are just over 12,000 with penalty points. The findings, which came from a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the DVLA by the UK’s largest independent road safety charity – IAM RoadSmart – also revealed that the oldest person driving with points on their licence was 102 while there are more than 3,000 over the age of 90 currently driving with penalty points. Overall, there are more drivers in their…

Vehicle theft throughout Wales remains among the lowest in the country, according to new analysis by Quotezone.co.uk using the latest data gathered by the Economic Policy Centre. Dyfed-Powys Police recorded the 3rd lowest crime rate of 43 forces nationwide, with 1.43 incidents per 1,000 residents in 2020. This was followed by North Wales in 5th place (1.86 / 1,000), Gwent in 13th position (3.72 / 1,000) and South Wales in 28th spot (5.68 / 1,000). All four forces recorded a yearly fall in reported thefts, with South Wales registering the smallest drop – 17% – and North Wales the highest…

Fiat know a lot about turning the ordinary into the extra-ordinary, like they have with the hotter version of the very popular 500 series. Their best selling city car for some 60 years, the Fiat 500 has been boosted by the X Sport, given a beefier 150bhp 1.3 litre four-cylinder engine in the top model we tested and married to a silky six-speed automatic transmission with paddle changes on the column. If you’ve had a good breakfast you can zip along and make your own gearchanges, but after a leisurely Italian-style lunch the Fiat 500X autobox can do the work…

The Citroen C5 Aircross has been a winner for the French marque from its 2017 launch and it’s about to take them into a new era. Within six months of going on sale, over 50,000 models had been delivered and it’s updates include a Plug-in Hybrid Electric version. That brings a big saving if you only do a 15-miles commute each way and have access to a 7kW quick charger so you don’t have to use the petrol engine. At that output the car is fully charged in about two hours. However, if you do run out of charge the…

Aston Martin St Athan plant will play a crucial role in the company’s recovery and future plans. The luxury car maker will almost double production at St Athan and its Garden, Warwickshire sites this year after working through stock it’s held and which has plagued them since its 2018 shares floatation. The British company plans to make 6,000 vehicles this year compared to 3,394 last year, according to a statement on Thursday. It’s last quarter revenue and adjusted earnings beat estimates thanks to extremely strong demand for the DBX SUV it started building in Wales just over a year ago…

The 500 put Fiat back on the road after WW2 as the Cinquecento and it saved the company again with a comprehensive make-over in 2007, since when three-million have been sold. A new refreshed line-up is going on sale Spring 2021, but we wanted to catch up with the outgoing series to see just what is the attraction. And it’s easy to understand. While the most modern city cars are growing in size, the Fiat 500 bucks this trend and instead is a compact but capable city car as a hatch or convertible. Ok, it is a compromise between size…