AVENSIS Tourer a bit big for you? Try out its baby brother stablemate – the 21st century version of a car that sold by the transporter ship load for Toyota back in the day.
The Auris, while admittedly good, has a fight on its hands for your money as there are a lot of similar cars ranged against it.
What it needs to be is, like the Corolla before it, all things to all families while at the same time living up to that well-earned world car tag.
IT was a small car that got the Spaniards off their donkeys and behind a steering wheel back in 1953 and it’s a small car – in the guise of the Ibiza – that is the mainstay of SEAT’s sales success here in the UK.
Back in those early days the 925 staff could only manage to churn out five cars a day.
Now the total figure produced stands north of 16 million and SEAT UK have seen six successive years of sales grown, bolstered by the Ibiza and the excellent Leon.
WHITE goods come in all shapes and sizes and prices these days, and the right car can be everything you’ll ever need.
Click the air con on warp factor whatever and it’ll turn into a fridge. Crank up the heating up and allofasudden it’s a cooker.
But slip one of the VW Group’s excellent diesel engines under the bonnet – in this case the 2.0 190ps one – and it’ll turn into a very acceptable user-friendly car that moves a bit.
And if it’s got a Skoda badge on the front and says Superb on its rump, then you’re quids in.
BACK to the Future is finally in the past, but for Peugeot it’s a case of the past IS the future.
The firm that brought us the 205 GTi 30 years ago has now pulled another trump card from up its sleeve in the shape of the new 308 GTi.
And if ever there was a full on performance model in the Peugeot range then this is it. Just like the 205 GTi was back in 1985.
IT’S been a struggle – a struggle going on for some three decades – but it looks like Jaguar might at last have come up with something capable of taking on the seried ranks of Johnny Boch.
For too long the Germans have held sway in the battle for sales in the premium sector. And rightly so. You can’t argue against the quality of the cars Audi, Mercedes and BMW line up for your approval.
But now they’ve got a bit of opposition from a car built here in the UK and spouting Land of Hope and Glory from its shiny exhaust pipes.
WHEN a nice sunny day presents itself but your heads sticks out into the wind a bit and what used to pass for a thick covering of hair is thinning out and losing its thermal efficiency, an autumnal morning can feel a trifle chilly.
But that’s no excuse not to drop the top on Mazda’s all new MX-5 and head out into our glorious countryside for a spin.
When you’re 6 foot 4 it’s a case of dropping into the Mazda as it sits as low to the ground as a dachshund’s dangly bits, but once you’re in you’re ready for business.
I ONCE described the Toyota Avensis as the Labrador of the motoring world – trustworthy, a loyal companion and eager to please.
Now, thanks to a bit of cross breeding and a healthy diet that has trimmed it up and altered its appearance, it now has the hallmarks of a Crufts champion in the making.
A BUDGIE with no beak sucks seeds, and Kia’s cee’d succeeds in being a very good all round car with that impressive seven year Kia warranty.
Now it’s got even better.
My favourite car from a far east manufacturer (yes, I’m aware it’s built in Europe) by quite some margin successfully marries up sporty looks with a reasonable price tag and real world economy and running costs in its new 1.0 form.
ANYONE who bought a Suzuki Vitara when it was launched 27 years ago will be rubbing their eyes in disbelief at how much the latest wearer of the badge has changed.
Suzuki’s global compact SUV still keeps things in manageable proportions, but it’s grown beyond all recognition from the model that was instantly recognisable in some circles for its huge wheel arches, even huger wheels – and not a lot else.
THOSE of us with long memories will possibly think of American GIs smoking huge cee-gars and hanging onto the top of the windscreen for dear life at the mention of the word Jeep.
It was the practical, utilitarian vehicle of the 1940s that helped to rout Johnny Boch and help win the second world war for the Allies. A brand that gave us – and the Germans – the WW2 Willys…..