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  Alpine has confirmed that its upcoming electric performance SUV will be called the GT X-Over and enter production at the firm’s Dieppe factory in 2025. The new model, which will use the same CMF-EV architecture as parent company  Renault’s new Mégane E-Tech Electric , is one of the first three EVs Alpine will launch as it becomes an all-electric brand. The others are a hot version of the new Renault 5 supermini and an all-electric replacement for its  Alpine A110  flagship sports car, due in 2026. The newly named GT X-Over was previewed last year as Alpine confirmed plans to launch  the hot 5 as its first EV in 2024 . A silhouette sketch hinted at its positioning as a high-riding grand tourer, which could provide the French brand with a rival to quick premium EVs including the Porsche Macan EV and Lotus Type 132. It will use the Mégane E-Tech’s 215bhp single electric motor at the front, but Renault engineering boss Gilles le Borgne has hinted at...

  Rolls-Royce will follow up its first EV,   the Spectre coupé , with all-electric successors to the current Cullinan SUV, Ghost saloon and Phantom limousine. Speaking to Autocar in the wake of the announcement that  Rolls-Royce  sold more cars in 2021 than in any previous year in its 117-year history, CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös said it’s important that each model is replaced by an EV alternative as the firm progresses towards a pure-electric line-up by 2030. The British firm will refresh its current range in the coming years but won’t launch any more combustion models, making the Mk2 Ghost the final petrol-powered Rolls-Royce to be introduced. Müller-Ötvös highlighted the UK government’s planned 2030 ban on new ICE car sales as a particular incentive but said: “We aren’t only driven by legal: we’re also driven by our fairly young clientele worldwide, and we’re seeing more and more people asking actively for an electrified Rolls-Royce.” The age of t...

  It seems dismissive, these days, to describe   Lexus   as an alternative premium brand. Hard to resist, perhaps, for European car consumers of a certain age. But this is a firm that’s long past the imitation phase, which so often characterises the premium wannabe. It has found its own direction and is doing its own thing. We can like it or lump it. The second-generation  Lexus NX  mid-sized SUV might be all the proof we need of that. Having come along in 2014, the first-gen version appeared at a time when the  Audi Q5  and  Range Rover Evoque  were breaking sales records, and yet it wasn’t a copy of anything. It was styled and proportioned differently. And it sold – more than a million units globally, becoming Lexus’s most popular car in both Europe and the UK. So it feels like a bit of a landmark moment now – an affirmation of sorts – for Lexus to simply give us more of the same. The second-generation car has a ‘finessed’ exterior des...

  At the CC8S’s centre was a 62kg carbonfibre tub, which was built in-house. The bodywork was also carbonfibre. Power came from a Ford-sourced V8 with new forged pistons and conrods, titanium headers, a carbonfibre induction system and a Vortec supercharger. Double wishbones and horizontal springs and dampers sat at each corner. Maximum torque kicked in very late, contributing to a 50-70mph time in top gear of only 10.2sec. But the six-speed manual ’box was satisfying and precise, and the brakes strong and feelsome. The CC8S was unwieldy at low speed but relished pace, which unlocked poise, grip and feel. The ride was uncompromising but not uncomfortable. Past the electric, forward-hinged doors, a gorgeous cabin of carbonfibre, aluminium and leather awaited. The front boot was large when not encumbered with the roof panel and the car’s decent cruising manners gave it true long-distance credentials. For:  Looks, build, chassis, brakes, gearbox Against:  Inflexible powertra...

  Genuine value has been hard to find in the market for electric cars, but it’s coming. Manufacturers have insisted that battery technology is expensive, production volumes are prohibitive and so profit margins are wafer-thin – but, gradually, all that’s changing.   MG Motor   has already been showing growing numbers of British buyers how affordable electric cars can be. Soon enough,   Ssangyong   will be doing exactly the same thing. The Korean SUV-specialist brand (its name translates as ‘double dragon’, which might only make it cooler to one-time owners of a Sega Master System, but it worked on me) has recently been  bought out of bankruptcy  by a consortium of private-equity investors. With plans to have a four-strong range of electric models, from crossovers and proper off-roaders to pick-up trucks, on the UK market within three years, it is all set to introduce its first European-market EV this spring: the  Ssangyong Korando  e-Mot...

  Yes, in one of those occasional reboots, here’s a new car that heralds a new age for the storied Italian sports car manufacturer. Mind you, it’s quite something, this new dawn. Much more exciting than a   BMW 5 Series -size saloon or an SUV. It’s a supercar. Coo. It’s called the  MC20  – M for  Maserati , C for Corse (meaning ‘racing’, for those who don’t know any Italian) and 20 for, um, 2020. It’s a mid-engined two-seater with a carbonfibre tub, from which are hung aluminium subframes front and rear, holding double-wishbone suspension all around and with adaptive dampers and anti-roll bars. In a cradle behind that passenger cell is a new twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 engine making the good side of 600bhp and driving the rear wheels through an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox, like the one the  Chevrolet Corvette C8  uses. It makes 621bhp at 7500rpm and 538lb ft at 3000-5500rpm. It’s said to do 202mph, and 0-62mph in le...

  Skoda has announced pricing and specification details for the new   Skoda Karoq , which has been updated four years after its original launch with new sustainable materials, improved engine efficiency and new technology.  The Czech firm’s order books will open on 17 February, with three specification levels available: SE Drive, SE L and SportLine.  Next-step SE L models are priced from £27,785 and feature 18in alloy wheels, chrome roof rails, keyless entry, start-stop tech and an extended rear spoiler.  Skoda ’s Winter Pack – which includes heating for the steering wheel, front seats and windscreen washer nozzles –  is also standard on the SE L model, as is the  Parking Pack, with its rear-view camera and front parking sensors.  Range-topping SportLine cars gain LED matrix adaptive headlights, ambient lighting and a panoramic sunroof, as well as metallic paint and an electronically operated boot.  As with the SE L, the SportLine i...

  Is it the pinnacle of combustion-powered brilliance; a multi-cylindered masterpiece that’s among the smoothest and most sweetly balanced engines found in any car? Or is it just the final bastion of automotive profligacy, the antithesis of all that’s clean and green, awaiting its inevitable death knell from legislators the world over? Ferrari  should know better than most. Of the four manufacturers in the UK that still sell V12-powered cars ( Aston Martin ,  Lamborghini  and  Rolls-Royce  being the others, if you ignore the odd niche luxury car), it has by far the longest back catalogue of road-going V12 models. In fact, you could argue that it’s a continuous one, too, given that Maranello’s flat-12 engines from the 1970s to the 1990s were actually wide-angled vees by another name. And being mid-engined, it’s those cars – Boxers,  Testarossas  et al – that separate the two eras of front-engined V12, two-seat production Ferraris. The first one end...

  From the 158bhp Nissan Skyline   Nissan GT-R   that made its debut in 1969 to today’s 562bhp all-wheel-drive monster with a sub-3.0sec 0-60mph time, it’s a prime example of what five decades of progress can do to a performance car. After its grand entrance in 2007, the latest model, referred to as the R35, made some significant waves in the automotive world. Built from the ground up to be a model in its own right, rather than a Skyline variant, the  Nissan  R35 GT-R arrived with immense performance and an ambition – that it realised – to take on rivals costing twice its original £70,000 price. Even a £150,000-plus  Ferrari 458  can’t keep up with it around the Nürburgring Nordschleife, the Italian supercar’s best lap time of 7min 32sec being no match for the GT-R’s 7min 27sec. The Nissan’s incredible traction, grip, power and quick-shifting six-speed d...

  Volvo says it has "taken a motoring industry lead" by launching a new online sales platform for approved used cars – the UK's first such programme from a manufacturer.  The new service, called  Volvo  Cars Selekt Direct, offers a full end-to-end buying service for pre-owned vehicles, which has been designed "for ease, speed and pricing transparency".  It's the latest step in Volvo's ambitious strategy  to ramp up its online sales operations . By 2025, the Swedish company wants most of its UK sales to come from online, and it expects that by 2030, all new Volvo cars will be sold digitally.

  The Aygo X might look new and yet strangely familiar, but what you’re seeing here isn’t simply a facelift of   Toyota ’s city car with a bolted-on SUV-style bodykit. No, this is an all-new car that combines a shortened  Toyota Yaris  supermini platform with a rugged-looking body and raised suspension to tackle the hustle and bustle of inner-city motoring. Oh, and the name is pronounced Aygo Cross, by the way, not Aygo Ex (or Aygo Kiss). Even with entirely electrified motoring on the horizon, there’s still a place for small affordable city cars right now – but have we really reached the point where even these have succumbed to the SUV trend? At least this third-generation Aygo has no pretence of providing any off-road ability. Toyota claims the 11mm-raised ride height over its predecessor is there to bring the Aygo X’s occupants closer in line with cyclists and pedestrians, making them easier to spot and less of a surprise when you encounter them....

  It’s all about timing. Some car manufacturers and the models they produce can be absolutely on the zeitgeist. The   Nissan Qashqai , for instance, or the first   Volvo XC90 . They define genres and shape the automotive landscape for years to come. And then there are others who never seem to get it right, like  Renault , with its  Koleos . The French firm had two stabs at the pie, failing both times. Take it from us, Renault, that’s a name to retire for good. Then we come to  Dacia . On the one hand, it couldn’t be more on-trend, offering the sort of value-for-money motoring that has been bang-on for years, and never more so than since the financial crash and the seemingly never-ending economic rollercoaster that we’ve all been on ever since. But here’s where it gets weird, because the brand is also defiantly anti-‘the moment’, too. We all know that it has had, er, let’s call them ‘issues’ with Euro NCAP crash testing, and it hasn’t exa...