56

‘If unforeseen emergency should oblige one to run up a tree, one feels

that the choice of tree should be entirely volitional’

THIS WEEK

Issue 6478 | Volume 309 | No 10

NEWS

New Defenders Luxury flagship, eight-seater, pick-up 4 Kia Sportage Next-gen SUV gets Europe-only model 8 Morgan 3 Wheeler Reinvented with a three-pot Ford 10 Radical new UK EVs Start-up with ‘off-the-wall’ cars 12 BP reshapes business Top exec explains future aims 14

TESTED

Genesis GV70 Hyundai luxury arm guns for BMWX3 18 Porsche Macan GTS Revised, faster, more dynamic 22 Lambo Huracán STO Road-legal Super Trofeo racer 25 Mercedes-Benz G400d £116k 4x4 with a diesel six 26 Toyota Yaris Cross Hybrid r ival to the Juke hits UK 27 Audi Q4 E-tron 50 Quattro SUV gains extra motor 27 Aston Martin Vantage F1 Edition ROAD TEST 28

FEATURES Four-door GT duel Alpina takes on Mercedes-AMG 38 Future classics named Today’s car, tomorrow’s star 44 McMurtry Spéirling Mad EV at secret supercar meet 50 Jost Capito Fighting talk from Williams F1 team boss 57

OUR CARS Ford Focus ST Final verdict on l i fe with the hot hatch 62 BMW 128ti Who’s got my car now? Second opinions 65

EVERY WEEK Jesse Crosse All you need to know about gearboxes 13 Jim Holder Do as I say, not as I do: MPs and EVs 15 Steve Cropley Alpine A110 Pure, Morgan, Williams F1 17 Subscribe Save money and get exclusive benefits 36 Damien Smith Le Mans 24 Hours race dissected 54 Motorsport round-up DTM, Formula E , WEC, WRC 55 Your Views EVs are for the r i ch only; f i rst hot hatch 60 Matt Prior Not everything i s as simple as yes or no 82

DEALS

James Ruppert How to beat the used car price hike 66 As good as new Pay less for a sti l l -fresh Ford Puma 69 Spied in the classifieds £15k Rangie, £5k Fiat Coupé 70 Used buying guide Lamborghini Diablo, from £105k 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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MERC AMG GT 63 S 4 DOOR vs ALPINA B8 38

INTERVIEW: THE MAN REVIVING WILLIAMS F1 57

FULL ROAD TEST: ASTON VANTAGE F1 EDITION 28

COVER STORY

❝NO OTHER CAR ON SALE ACHIEVES THE SAME BLEND OF HOT ROD ANTICS AND DYNAMIC PRECISION❞

RICHARD LANE EXPLAINS WHY THE BMW M2 COMPETITION IS HIS FUTURE CLASSIC 44

IMAGE

DEFENDER FAMILY TO GET LUXURY FLAGSHIP 4

COMMENT

DEFENDER IS POISED TO EMULATE RANGE ROVER

BUOYED BY THE Range Rover family’s unstoppable ability to drive profits, Land Rover has long desired its Discovery and Defender nameplates to enjoy similar success and become established brands in their own right.

In the case of the Discovery, desire is one thing, reality another. The ‘family’ has still not grown beyond two models since 2014 and it has suffered something of an identity crisis since the new Defender came along last year. Yet the Defender’s smash-hit earlysales performance is supporting Land Rover’s confidence that its most iconic nameplate could become another Range Rover with a line-up of cars. And not simply the same model with different wheelbase lengths, doors and seats, but also models with different bodystyles, as we reveal this week (p4).

It’s a smart decision. Jaguar Land Rover is perhaps the biggest small car company in the world, its relative independence allowing it greater freedom but not the economies of scale all its main rivals enjoy. It can’t just make models to fill a matrix, or to respond to a rival. Each new car has to be profitable, or the company’s wider fortunes can turn very quickly, as we’ve seen in recent years with Jaguar.

So when you’re onto a good thing, as Land Rover senses with Defender after years of experience with Range Rover, why not simply do more of it?

Mark Tisshaw Editor mark.tisshaw@haymarket.com

@mtisshaw

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1 SEPTEMBER 2021 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 3