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‘For the nose, we scanned the Tamiya toy and turned it into full size’
THIS WEEK
Issue 6484 | Volume 310 | No 3
NEWS
Mazda MX-5 Clever tech wil l keep al l -new one petrol 4 Nissan GT-R New-generation Godzilla is on the way 6 New car sales slump Analysis of 34% September fa l l 8 New Lotus EV chassis Other makers likely to use it 10 UK’s electric car grant How much longer wil l i t last? 12
TESTED
BMW i4 M50 M division’s f i rst EV outmuscles M4 16 Cupra Born Moment of truth for sporty take on ID 3 20 DS 4 E-Tense 225 Plug-in hybrid rival to A3 and X2 24 Honda HR-V Hybrid-only for all-new generation 26 Skoda Fabia Polished new supermini tries UK roads 28 Renault Arkana E-Tech Hybrid 145 ROAD TEST 30
FEATURES Mustang Mach-E vs Sierra Cosworth Fast Ford feud 40 BMW’s design chief Domagoj Dukec on being bold 48 Undercover report Real waiting times for new cars 50 New Tyrrell P34 The US racer who’s had two built 57
OUR CARS Porsche 718 Boxster GTS Epic European road trip 62 Ford Mondeo Roof box required on hybrid estate 65
EVERY WEEK Jesse Crosse Details of Lotus EV platform laid bare 11 Jim Holder China’s EV makers: the next big thing? 13 Steve Cropley French cars to the fore; cheapo ID 3 15 Subscribe Save money and get exclusive benefits 38 Damien Smith Evans above: Elfyn leaps to WRC win 54 Motorsport round-up F 1 , ral lycross , DTM, Le Mans 55 Your Views Boxster, digital licences, Citroën Ami 60 Matt Prior Daphne i s bound to love a Jazz, r ight? 82
DEALS
James Ruppert Top French execs for banger money 66 As good as new Audi A7 Sportback, now from £32k 69 Spied in the classifieds Estates special includes M5 70 Used buying guide Westfield SE: l ight , fun, cheap 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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FIRST VERDICT ON BMW’S 536BHP i40 M50 16
ROAD TEST: RENAULT’S NEW HYBRID ARKANA 30
MUSTANG MACHE vs SIERRA RS COSWORTH 40
COVER STORY
❝CAR BUYERS AND THE MEDIA ARE NOT EXAGGERATING THE NEW CAR DELIVERY ISSUE❞
JOHN EVANS GOES MYSTERY SHOPPING TO SEE HOW LONG YOU’LL REALLY WAIT 50
IMAGE
ALLNEW MAZDA MX5 KEEPS IT OLDSCHOOL 4
COMMENT
CHIPS ARE DOWN AS A NEW TREND RISES
LAST MONTH’S NEW car sales were the worst recorded for the traditionally bumper month of September since the UK switched to the twonumberplates-a-year system in 1999 (p8). The reason? It’s that shortage of semiconductor computer chips again, which are causing serious ongoing harm to the production of new cars and their availability. The tip of the iceberg is the Ford Fiesta. For so long Britain’s best-selling car, it didn’t even make the top 10 in September. There is not one Fiesta in stock in the UK, and if you order one now, it’ll arrive after next March. We reveal other remarkable, long lead times this week (p50). How about 2023 for a new Land Rover Defender? While you’d expect Fiesta sales to return to normal once the chip crisis is resolved, other sales trends seen in the latest data will be more permanent.
Just one in 10 new cars sold in the UK during September was diesel powered, compared with almost one in seven being purely battery-electric powered. Only five years ago, half of all cars sold here were diesel, and you couldn’t even fill Wembley stadium with the buyers of all electrified vehicle types (hybrids, plug-ins, full EVs). Now, electrified cars make up the majority of new car sales. Whatever the external factors, change is happening faster than ever to the UK’s car parc.
1 13:36:02
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Est.1895|autocar.co.uk|6Octob
Est.1895|autocar.co.uk|6October2021
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BMW’S BIG BET
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The radical saloon that’ll change BMW as we know it » EV power for 2025 »Amazing new tech » Bold new design
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KIA’S LOTUS
DRIVEN VW’s £17k EV
E-TYPE REBOOTED
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ROAD TEST: MERC E-CLASS CABRIO WE DESIGN AN ‘ ICONIC’ EV CHARGER
Mark Tisshaw Editor mark.tisshaw@haymarket.com
@mtisshaw
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