Author: Robin Roberts

The UK new car market is buzzing with electric models at high prices, so it’s worth taking a look at one of the cheapest – the Leapmotor T03. A Stellantis joint venture with the Chinese company, the car is made in Poland on lines previously producing the Fiat 500, another Stellantis brand, and the Leapmotor models are sold through the more familiar showrooms selling Fiat and Alfa marques. This serves both parents very well, giving the Stellantis dealers a cheaper way into the bargain ev-sector while ensuring Leapmotor have a toe in the European market. How this will ultimately affect…

The hot-hatch has been reborn for Gen-Z, and there’s a thumbs up from their parents too if they want to enjoy driving a Toyota Yaris hybrid. The one-time must-have cars for the young drivers of the 1970s seemed to die out in the first decade of this century, but someone forgot to tell Toyota. It launched the original Yaris in 1999 and the second generation in 2005, a third six years later and the next in 2020 when it gained an electric hybrid powertrain. Now it has, literally, been given a big boost with the improved hybrid power to push…

Britain runs on vans of all sizes and capacities, so the entry of the world’s biggest motor manufacturer into this booming sector must be significant. After offering small and medium sized vans through its Professional line, Toyota has added the Proace Max, its first heavy duty range in Europe and it has immediately ramped up the competition against longer established rivals and listed both turbo-diesel and pure electric models. It’s a joint venture with Stellantis in much the same way as Toyota has worked with Suzuki on car models, but this time the Netherlands headquartered parent of Chrysler, Fiat and…

Toyota fans now have a completely electric model added to the range as the industry slowly but relentlessly rolls towards the end of hybrid and internal combustion engines. After dabbling with an electric version of their RAV4 off-roader in the late 90s and pushing ahead with hybrids and stablemate Lexus electric models, it’s now the time for the Toyota bZ4X; code for beyond-Zero, size-4 and X-suv. It makes sense, sort of, but a definitive name might have been a better marketing move nevertheless. However, we have to go with what we are given and assess how it stands up to…

When you hit 70 years, most things that haven’t fallen off or out may be about to, but that is really the turning point in the case of the Toyota Land Cruiser. From prototypes developed before and after World War Two, the model that became the Land Cruiser was commissioned by the Japanese Government in 1951. Ever since it has become a story of global success with an unrivalled reputation for ability and long life in the harshest conditions on earth. There have been 14 model lines in that time and it’s the company’s longest running product. Of course, it…

The motor industry’s headlong plunge into SUVs, MPVs and Crossovers has left the market short of compact city cars which are perfectly matched to the real-world needs of many drivers. While some manufacturers stopped making traditional small hatchbacks and are now living to regret their decisions as market share slides and rivals fill the gap, Hyundai has cleverly played its hand. While enjoying the booming interest in larger models in its range, it has kept the city-sized i10 rolling into showrooms and up the sales charts. Launched in 2008, the i10 has survived the cull which has seen rival small…

Exactly a century after Sir Malcolm Campbell set a 150mph World Land Speed Record at Pendine, grandson Don Wales revealed he eyes the 200mph barrier in a steam-powered eco-racer. 100 years after Sir Malcolm’s 350hp ‘Bluebird’ Sunbeam streaked across the sand to set the new world record on 21 July 1925, Don was in the driving seat for a staged photo-call pulled together by the National Motor Museum Trust, Beaulieu and supported by the Sunbeam Owners’ Club. The famous car has been recovered and renovated by the Trust and was started infront of about 200 spectators on the beach below…

Among the newest of the Chinese car-makers coming to the UK, XPeng has partnered with the people who brought us Subaru and Isuzu in Britain, so let that be a warning to rivals. The Chinese company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Guangzhou, Guangdong, with offices in Mountain View, California, and Munich. It has partnered platform and electrical knowledge with Volkswagen and is also looking to launch a flying car in 2026. That is a high ambition but don’t discount them for achieving what they have set out to do. Coming to market without any legacy burden from…

Manufacturer and dealer incentives meant the UK’s new car market grew for the second consecutive month in June, as registrations rose 6.7% to 191,316 units, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. It was the best June since 2019, helping lift first half performance 3.5% above the same period last year, although the market remains -17.9% behind pre-Covid levels. In Wales, 5,818 new cars were registered last month a drop of 4.17%. Despite a positive June performance, it too remained behind pre-pandemic levels, -14.4% lower than in 2019, and driven mostly by fleet activity with uptake climbing 8.5%…

Some cars immediately impress, others take a bit longer and they stand out against models which made no measureable impression after a much longer period behind the wheel. The Kia EV3 GT-Line S is an example of the series which seems to get better each time it’s driven. We first drove the new Kia EV3 last December and were impressed, but a lot’s happened since and it’s picked up numerous awards for the electric models which go that bit further, both on the road and into to the market place. Our range-topping GT-Line S came with a useful pre-heating pump…