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‘Imagine what options Ford went through to get to Nugget’
THIS WEEK
Issue 6477 | Volume 309 | No 9
NEWS
Alpine R5 Hot hatch begins brand’s EV-only future 6 Nissan Z car Toyota Supra r ival due in 2022 – in US 8 Range Rover Sport SVR f lagship for next-gen SUV 10 Zenvo hypercar Hybrid to replace 1177bhp TSR-S 12 Road to zero carbon Highways England has a plan 14
TESTED
Kia EV6 Advance access to exciting electric SUV 18 Skoda Fabia Next-gen supermini. Will Fiesta worry? 22 Mercedes-Benz EQS 450+ Luxury EV hits the UK 26 Hyundai i30 Fastback N Upgraded, now with auto 27 Ford Transit Custom Nugget L1 Four-berth camper 27 Hyundai i20 N ROAD TEST 28
FEATURES New vs used 16-page special. First up: I-Pace vs ID 3 36 Skoda Octavia vRS vs Merc-AMG C43 Wagons roll 42 Audi R8 vs Toyota GR Yaris Each i s yours for £34k 46 Also starring Cayman vs A110, plus two more battles 50 Drivers of Change Tech expert predicts the future 52 Fernando Alonso Two-time champ on his F1 return 57
OUR CARS Ford Mondeo Estate The farewell tour starts here 62 Ford Tourneo Custom Let’s surf while i t ’s charging 63 Volvo XC60 SUV upgraded thanks to subscription 65
EVERY WEEK Jesse Crosse Alloys? Nah, mate. They’re carbonfibre 13 Jim Holder The best way to reduce car emissions 15 Subscribe Save money and get exclusive benefits 16 Steve Cropley Solid-state batteries, I-Pace, Vauxhall 17 Damien Smith Andrew Jordan on BTCC’s hybrid car 54 Motorsport round-up WRC, Formula E, BTCC, F1, XE 55 Your Views Le Mans, Mini Convertible, Aston grilling 60 Matt Prior Let’s turn a Defender into a camper van 82
DEALS
James Ruppert So what’ll i t be worth in two years? 66 As good as new First-flush Peugeot 5008s, £18k up 69 Spied in the classifieds £15k SL 320, ‘ rusty’ Picanto 70 Used buying guide How to bag a Seat Leon Cupra 72 New cars A-Z Key car stats , from Abarth to Zenos 74 Road test index Track down that road test here 81
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IMAGE
ALPINE’S EV FUTURE: R5, SUV AND SPORTS CAR 6
ROAD TEST OF HYUNDAI’S i20 N HOT HATCH 28
KIA EV6 FIRST DRIVE: RIVALS SHOULD WORRY 18
COVER STORY
❝THE URUS SUV IS MORE FAITHFUL TO ORIGINAL COUNTACH TRADITIONS THAN THIS PASTICHE❞
STEVE CROPLEY CALLS THE REBORN LAMBO ‘A SANITISED AND OVERPRICED UPDATE’ 17
GOOD NEW CARS BATTLE TASTY USED ONES 36
COMMENT
SHOULD YOUR NEXT CAR BE A NEW OR USED ONE?
THE SQUEEZE ON the supply of new cars caused by the semiconductor chip shortage has caused prices of used cars to soar, as buyers originally seeking new cars turn to more readily available second-hand models.
Last week, the retail prices index reported that the inflation rate of used car prices more than doubled from June to July, from 5.6% to 14.4%, the largest increase since 2010. While prices are soaring, so is demand. The last quarter was the second highest on record for used car sales.
And we might not even be at the peak yet for used prices and demand, because the chip shortage affecting new car production shows no imminent sign of slowing down. Toyota was considered to be the most insulated from the crisis but last week said it will cut global production by 400,000 units to 500,000 next month due to the shortage.
For car buyers, all of this makes the topic of our cover story even more acute: do you buy new or used? Over 16 pages (starting on p36), we pitch box-fresh motors against even more desirable machines rid of that first hit of depreciation.
Although used car prices are rising and new car supply is strained, there are still deals to be had. So at a time when buying any car can be tricky, make sure it’s a good one.
Mark Tisshaw Editor mark.tisshaw@haymarket.com
@mtisshaw
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