Author: Robin Roberts

Jaguar Land Rover is moving its petrol V8 engine line from the Ford Bridgend Engine Plant to its in-house power centre at Wolverhampton. Workers at the South Wales engine plant closing at the end of September, have been building buffer stocks of the V8 engines to continue supplies to the luxury car maker until it can resume production in the West Midlands. Ford Bridgend has been building the Jaguar Land Rover V6 and V8 engines since the early 1990s when the company owned the prestige brands. In September 2016 the plant’s 20 Millionth power unit was a Jaguar engine and…

Some car-makers shout about their success in your face but the all-new Subaru Forester 2.0XE Premium Lineartronic actually watches your face. Facial recognition is fitted to the instruments to ensure the driver’s eyes concentrate on the road ahead and this combined with a suite of safety features using exterior cameras and sensors to keep the car on course and out of danger has won it much praise and a few awards. The acclamation for the Forester continues with its electrically assisted four-wheel-drivetrain and roadholding as well as its general fresh approach to the modern SUV concept. Because Subaru is really…

The official supporter of the Welsh Rugby Union has gone for the niche serious off-road and utility market with its 23-strong range of mostly double-cab but also a solo single cab and extended cab models. Isuzu dealers sell Business, All-purpose and Adventure Pickup ranges from £20,832 to £43,921. It’s a very defined and targetted range which also caters to true outdoor adventurers and country dwellers and not the weekend cottage set. Our DMax XTR test model sits between the practical and the extreme off-roaders. It’s very much a back to basics turbo-diesel of modest capacity but big ability nevertheless, thanks…

Tens of thousands of jobs are likely to disappear from the UK automotive sector before the end of the year. Some 11,349 jobs so far axed following lockdown will grow and despite this week’s 11% rise in new car registrations the outlook is bleak. That’s because the first upturn in showroom sales came at the end of three months when all showrooms were in lockdown and there was a lot of pent up demand. “The next few weeks will be crucial in showing whether or not we are on the road to recovery, ” said a concerned Mike Hawes, CEO…

The world’s best selling car and most successful British-built, the Toyota Corolla, goes from strength to strength. Toyota has been building cars in Britain since 1992 when the Burnaston, Derby factory came on stream as Toyota’s first manufacturing centre in Europe. In June it assembled its 4.5M model, a Corolla Hatchback to add to the over 46M Corolla models built worldwide since 1966, including 850,000 built in Britain over three decades. The Corolla name returned to the Toyota lineup for the 12th generation and replaced the Auris. Toyota’s world leading production system is held up as an example throughout all…

Car enthusiasts are getting a once-in-a-lifetime chance to buy a unique one-off four-year-old British sports car, and it could cost them hundreds of thousands of pounds. The Bristol Bullet roadster is among items being disposed of by joint liquidators of Bristol Cars, which folded earlier this year. Bristol Cars was formed in 1945 as an offshoot of the Bristol Aeroplane Company with a sole showroom in London close to Olympia Hall. A low volume car maker for enthusiasts, just 22 staff were employed and recorded on its books at Filton, Bristol when it suspended production in March 2011. It was…

Just 100 versions of the £2.36 Million ex-works three-seater with gull-wing doors will be available from January 2022 and they are expected to be snapped up by owners who will have the cockpit made to measure for them. The model celebrates Gordon Murray’s 50 years in the motor sport and road car design and engineering business which has seen him working at the sharp end of F1 and then use his advanced aerodynamics knowledge in creating the McLaren F1 Road car, styled by Peter Stevens from 1992 and which ran to106 cars before ceasing in 1998. That has been his…

Suzuki stand out among car-makers because they have some unusual and often trendsetting models which over the years have seen them punching above their weight in the showrooms, on the road and in the rough stuff. Now the new Suzuki Vitara 4×4 with latest hybrid technology is a sign of things to come. It learned a lot when launching the first hybrid technology in 2016 and building on that with the added benefit of its strong and impressive all-wheel-drive experience which is available throughout the Suzuki range of cars means that the latest Vitara is a very strong offering in…

A keen motorcyclist has turned her love of Wales into a new business and is ready to open the throttle after lockdown. Born and brought up in Yugoslavia, Maja Kenny has always loved travelling and after hitching and cycling across much of Western Europe she came to Britain and set up an office administration services business in Wales. In 2016 Maja bought her first motorcycle, passed her test and used that Suzuki SV650 to extend her travelling and touring experiences. Two years later she joined Blood Bikes Wales and was the first female ride in the Wrexham area and volunteers…

Aston Martin production of their luxury £154,000 DBX SUV started today in Wales. The big four-door model was announced for St Athan, some 20 miles west of Cardiff, in 2016 and over the last four years the company has been converting three massive superhangers into the company’s latest production centre at the former RAF base. It has gradually taken on over 600 employees to make the bespoke models at a rate of up to 4,0000 cars annually and eventually is planning to have 750 jobs when additional models are added as part of the multi-million-pound investment by the car maker.…