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‘Fast food is f ine as far as i t goes, but this is haute cuisine’

THIS WEEK

Issue 6589 | Volume 318 | No 6

NEWS

Volkswagen Golf GTI Last hurrah for petrol hot hatch 4 Kia’s EV trio EV2 city car, EV3 crossover, EV4 saloon 6 Kia’s family SUV How EV5 will take on Ford Explorer 8 Citroën C3 Electric supermini with a 2CV mentality 10 Skoda Enyaq Mk2 will be a landmark car for the firm 12 Euro 7 emission regs Why the EU has changed them 14 Geneva motor show It’s back for 2024 – with a twist 16

TESTED

Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 Four-pot PHEV fire-cracker 22 Ariel Atom 4R How to make a great car even better 24 Ford Transit Custom Revamp for UK’s best-seller 26 Vauxhall Corsa Electric Longer range, new looks 28 Hyundai Kona Electric All-new and now in the UK 29 Honda e:Ny1 Compact crossover eyes mainstream 30 Mercedes GLC 220d Coupé Rakish mild-hybrid SUV 31 Toyota Prius Pioneer reinvented but there’s a catch 31 Maserati Grecale Trofeo ROAD TEST 46

FEATURES Luca de Meo Renault Group CEO exclusive interview 32 Power List 100 Car industry’s top shakers revealed 36 Farewell, Audi R8 Frankel takes it for one last blast 38 Qatar motor show The Geneva convention, of sorts 42

OUR CARS Toyota GR Supra Last word on our manual coupé 54 Peugeot 408 Pure petrol versus plug-in hybrid 56 Lexus RZ We still haven’t seen another one in the UK 57

EVERY WEEK Jesse Crosse UK firm’s trick air-cooled 911 engine 13 Secret Source No business like (car) show business 15 Matt Prior Big-wing classic Mini with a Honda VTEC 17 Steve Cropley Citroën Ami real-world test: verdict 19 Damien Smith How Ash Sutton won the BTCC title 21 Your Views ADAS ‘not good enough, very annoying’ 58 Subscribe Save money and get exclusive benefits 62 Autocar Archive Issues from 1895 at your fingertips 64 On this day The long struggle to end chauvinism 65 Slideshow Do you know these German car makers? 74

DEALS

Second Chance Jaguar XK8: classy GT from £3000 60 James Ruppert £2500 used estates: take your pick 63 Road test index Track down that road test here 67 New cars A-Z Key car stats, from Abarth to Zenvo 68

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MERCEDES-AMG 671BHP GLC 63 RATED 22

THROUGH THE ARCHED WINDOW: QATAR SHOW 42

WHY THE AUDI R8 WAS ONE OF A KIND 38

C O V E R STORY

❝ PLENTY THINK WE’RE THE BAD BOYS, BUT WE’RE ONE OF THE GREATEST ENGINES FOR PROGRESS❞

WE MEET EUROPEAN CAR INDUSTRY LEADER AND RENAULT GROUP BOSS LUCA DE MEO 32

IMAGE

COMMENT

POWER LIST 100 STARS LEAD BY EXAMPLE

CAR FIRMS ARE huge organisations, often with hundreds of thousands of employees at facilities spanning the globe. That sheer scale can make enacting change very hard: analogies about trying to turn an oil tanker might be cliché, but they’re apt. Given such scale, it’s amazing how much difference a singular leader can make – but for numerous examples, check out our annual Power List 100. Luca de Meo, who tops our list this year (p32), is a great example. On arriving at the Renault Group in 2020, he quick ly implemented substantive changes that have galvanised the firm. One example: Renault bosses had long considered reviving the 5 hatch, with multiple concepts developed. De Meo made it happen within months of his arrival, making the car the visual embodiment of his ‘Renaulution’ plan.

And de Meo is far from the only strong leader in the industry, as our list shows. Of course, the boss of a car firm can’t really do it all themselves: they need a strong team around them. But their success lies in leadership, in setting a standard and putting the right people in the right places to implement it. That can surely make them difficult to work for, but it can also result in rapid success.

James Attwood Acting mag editor james.attwood@haymarket.com

@atters_ j

Rachel Burgess is away

NEW VW GOLF GTI: PETROL-FUELLED FINALE 4

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