Mason Gibbons

Next-gen motors for EVs and hybrids will be built, with maximum capacity of 100,000 per year Oxford-based electric motor manufacturer Yasa has opened a new factory capable of producing 100,000 electric motors per year.  The factory creates 150 jobs, and has benefitted from Government’s Advanced Propulsion Centre initiative , which aims to turn the UK into a hub for the development of EV technology, as well as autonomous driving. Yasa has in the past built engines for Jaguar, used in the CX-75 concept .  Read more:  Dyson electric car: solid-state battery exec departs firm 80% of the factory’s output will be destined for export . Yasa was originally a spin-out company from Oxford University, founded in 2009. The development flies in the face of more pessimistic British manufacturing reports , which pin the downturn to Brexit.  Yesterday, it was announced that UK car manufacturing had dropped by 3% , as fears of Brexit’s effect on the renewed UK car industry inc...

Cars sometimes bridge a special bond between humans, and the story of this Porsche 911 is no different. The German sports car marque has put a spotlight on the touching story of a 911 after the car's owner, Naja, inherited it from his late father. The 964-era 911 was the final car Naja's father collected, and after he passed away, the family sold...

Following the recent bidder showdown over one of Michael Schumacher's former Ferrari Formula 1 cars, another piece of the racing legend's motorsport legacy will soon cross the auction block. Bonhams will offer Schumacher's former Scuderi Ferrari motorhome at its Paris auction on February 8. The motorhome was in service with the Ferrari F1 team...

Nikola has taken a major step toward bringing its extended-range electric semi-trailer truck to market. The company announced on Tuesday that Buckeye, Arizona will be home to its future manufacturing facility. The American startup debuted its One electric semi in December 2016. At that time, Nikola said production would start in 2020. The latest...

The McLaren 720S is definitely a hot commodity right now, but one punter has plunkered down $650,000 to drive off in one. Sure, that price was paid for a one-off example featuring a few enhancements by the MSO personalization department. However, we're still talking far more than double the car's $284,745 starting price. It turns out the car was...

Dutch firm Pal V is ready to take to the skies and announced it will show its production flying car at the 2018 Geneva International Motor Show kicking off in early March. Following its debut, Pal V will enter the final stage of certifying its flying car, called the Liberty, for road use and flight. The Pal V Liberty will pack an internal...

The Ferrari 412 and earlier 400i and 365 GT4 models were never the prettiest of Ferraris, but their low popularity meant not many ended up being sold, thus making them quite rare today. Coupled with their boxy design that typifies the 1980s era, the cars are now highly sought after in the collector car world. One fan was so enamoured by the 412...

Off the back of its strong 2017 results, Caterham has ambitious plans for the future Caterham CEO Graham MacDonald has told Autocar that the brand’s recent sales success has reignited his desire to produce an aluminium version of the Seven . Following the announcement that Caterham had achieved an 8% growth in annual sales in 2017, MacDonald said that while no solid plans were currently in place, he “loved” the idea of a Seven based around a “milled aluminium chassis”. “If you look at a Norton bike, the aluminium work on that is a piece of art,” he said. “I would love for our customers to look at a Caterham’s suspension as a piece of art as well as engineering.” Seven models use a steel tube chassis and aluminium body panels, but MacDonald (pictured below) believes growing demand – Caterham deliveries hit a 20-year high in 2017 – has given his company the financial security to consider developing the car for the future, so long as it remains true to the Seven's 61-year herita...

The Subaru BRZ has been focused on handling and fun since its introduction in 2011. Dynamic drivability comes naturally in a lightweight sports car, after all. For 2018, the STI-tuned Subaru BRZ tS sharpens its handling further—nearly to the point of leaving bare the car’s power deficit. Less sideways, more grip The BRZ tS is...

British sports car marque Lister has unveiled its first new model since the Storm supercar of the 1990s. Lister based the car on the Jaguar F-Type, and the company is hoping to become in a sense an unofficial tuning company for the luxury automaker. A test mule for Genesis' first SUV has been spotted. The SUV was previewed by 2016's GV80 concept...

It was the source of transport for French president Emmanuel Macron's inauguration, but can the DS 7 Crossback stand out in a crowded compact SUV segment? This is the DS 7 Crossback – the almost inevitable assault by DS Automobiles on the compact SUV hierarchy.You might have seen its global dynamic debut in the news, because it was via a bespoke DS7 Crossback that French president Emmanuel Macron made his way to the Champs-Élysées during his inauguration.As a product of the luxury arm of PSA Group – comprising Peugeot and Citroën, along with DS itself – it’s aimed more squarely at the likes of the Range Rover Evoque, Jaguar E-Pace and Audi Q3, rather than your Nissan Qashqais, Seat Atecas and Renault Kadjars.To help the 7 Crossback’s cause, DS has shoehorned in so many features that it’s difficult to know where to start. Alongside semi-autonomous driving programs, night-vision and aesthetic elements intended to capture French ‘savoir faire’ both insid...

Last-person-standing contests are nothing new, but Mercedes-Benz is bringing the concept into the 21st century. During Sunday's Super Bowl 52, one lucky and very patient fan will win a Mercedes-AMG C43—and all they have to do is keep their finger on their smartphone. It sounds easy, but it will be a tedious task that will require plenty of...

Revived British sports car marque Lister has unveiled its first new car since the Storm of the 1990s. We use the term “new” lightly, however, because the car unveiled by Lister on Wednesday is actually a modified Jaguar F-Type. Lister is calling it the Thunder, and just like its Storm predecessor the Thunder is powered by a Jaguar...

Formula 1 chiefs have announced that the championship will end the tradition of using grid girls from the 2018 season

A new behind-the-scenes Amazon documentary on McLaren has revealed there were genuine fears Fernando Alonso would quit during 2017 Formula 1 pre-season testing and that the team would 'collapse'

The Volkswagen Group's Spanish unit SEAT on Wednesday announced the launch of Cupra as a new performance sub-brand. Previously a label for its hottest performers, SEAT is in the process of transforming Cupra into a sub-brand to rival the likes of Nissan's Nismo unit or Volkswagen's R division. So far SEAT has only shown us a new logo. However, the...

Jaguar's I-Pace electric SUV will be revealed to the world in production trim on March 1. The reveal will take place online ahead of a formal debut on March 6 at the 2018 Geneva International Motor Show. The I-Pace was first previewed in concept form in 2016. Prototypes have been testing on public roads since then, revealing a design closely...

German car makers have admitted an organisation of theirs used monkeys in diesel fume tests German manufacturers admitted to financing a study that was designed to prove emissions were lower by forcing animals to breathe in exhaust fumes Volkswagen , BMW and Daimler have "blood on their hands" because of the deaths caused by excessive nitrogen oxide emissions from diesel cars, a former government scientist has said. In the week that followed news of a diesel fume test that involved caged monkeys, Sir David King, who was the UK Government’s chief scientific adviser until 2007, said that the number of fatalities caused by NOx emissions produced by cars in Britain "is really very, very large" - and that even he wasn't aware of the gravity of the situation until recently. His comments came in response to fresh details of a diesel test that was organised by t he European Research Group on Environment and Health in the Transport Sector (EUGT), which was an organ...

The next vehicle to join the growing lineup of DS has been spotted testing for the first time. The vehicle is a subcompact crossover SUV related to the C3 Aircross from sister brand Citroen, and will likely be known as the DS 3 Crossback when it reaches showrooms sometime next year. DS is the fledgling luxury brand of PSA Group, the French auto...

The current 10% buffer should be scrapped and speed awareness courses used less, says Britain’s road policing chief Britain’s road policing chief has proposed that the 10% buffer on speeding, which allows the police to give some leeway when enforcing the speed limit , should  be scrapped. Speaking at the Police Federation road policing conference, Anthony Bangham, the head of the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) on road policing said: “the law is set at the limit for a reason. “They should not come whingeing to us about getting caught. If booked at 35, 34 or 33 in a 30mph zone, that cannot be unfair because they are breaking the law,” he said, according to The Guardian .  Bangham suggested that the move would improve road safety. “On average, 5 people are killed on our roads every day. Our role is to help make our roads safer, and we will seek compliance with the law to help prevent the tragedies that happen too often,” he said. The NPCC alleged that tran...

British firm famous for its Knobbly Jaguar racers of the 1950s returns with 208mph sports car based on the Jaguar F-Type The new Lister Thunder will be produced in 99 examples with each priced from £139,950, the  Cambridge-based company has confirmed. Lister Cars is famous for its Le Mans-racing  Jaguar  ‘Knobbly’ D-Types of the 1950s and has  returned to new car production with a high-performance version of the  Jaguar F-Type . The supercharged 5.0-litre V8  has been extensively reengineered so it produces 666bhp.  Rory McDonnell, head of sales and marketing at Lister, told Autocar that the car is  capable of accelerating from 0-62mph in 3.2sec, to 100mph in 6.8sec and a will have a top speed of 208mph. This comfortably  beats  the quickest series F-Type on sale, the SVR , which has 567bhp and completes the 0-62mph sprint in 3.7sec. The Thunder's modifications include a new suspension setup to enh...

Dany Bahar, chief executive of Lotus from 2009 to 2012, is using a former Fiat and Alfa Romeo dealership building for his new company Former Lotus boss Dany Bahar has officially opened an impressive new headquarters in Modena, Italy, for Ares Design, the customisation and coachbuilding company he set up In 2014, soon after leaving Norfolk. Ares now occupies an 18,000-square-metre building, formerly a Fiat and Alfa Romeo dealership, on the outskirts of Italy's sports car capital, famous for its links with Ferrari and Maserati . It already has plans to more than double the size of its premises. Ares Design reveals G-Class and Bentley Mulsanne-based models The company has been based in the new building for months, but Bahar (pictured below) and his long-term partner and company chairman, Dubai-based Waleed Al Ghafari, believe they now have the equipment, competence and 110-strong staff of engineers and artisans to officially declared the new HQ open. "We were determined...

Recruiting Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz Jr has made a "massive difference" to the Renault Formula 1 team, says its chassis technical director Nick Chester

Jaguar's I-Pace electric SUV will be revealed to the world in production trim on March 1. The reveal will take place online ahead of a formal debut on March 6 at the 2018 Geneva International Motor Show. The I-Pace was first previewed in concept form in 2016. Prototypes have been testing on public roads since then, revealing a design closely...

German car makers have admitted an organisation of theirs used monkeys in diesel fume tests German manufacturers admitted to financing a study that was designed to prove emissions were lower by forcing animals to breathe in exhaust fumes Volkswagen , BMW and Daimler have "blood on their hands" because of the deaths caused by excessive nitrogen oxide emissions from diesel cars, a former government scientist has said. In the week that followed news of a diesel fume test that involved caged monkeys, Sir David King, who was the UK Government’s chief scientific adviser until 2007, said that the number of fatalities caused by NOx emissions produced by cars in Britain "is really very, very large" - and that even he wasn't aware of the gravity of the situation until recently. His comments came in response to fresh details of a diesel test that was organised by t he European Research Group on Environment and Health in the Transport Sector (EUGT), which was an organ...

The next vehicle to join the growing lineup of DS has been spotted testing for the first time. The vehicle is a subcompact crossover SUV related to the C3 Aircross from sister brand Citroen, and will likely be known as the DS 3 Crossback when it reaches showrooms sometime next year. DS is the fledgling luxury brand of PSA Group, the French auto...

Seat is turning Cupra into a full performance sub-brand Creating a standalone performance brand will allow Seat to appeal to two distinct audiences The difference between a Cupra Ateca and a Seat Ateca Cupra might sound pedantic – but it’s all about brand positioning. Cupra confirmed as standalone performance sub-brand of Seat Seat has always been positioned as the Volkswagen Group’s ‘youth’ brand. In the past, that has involved a focus on sportiness, with its Cupra models serving as halo products. But with the ‘smartphone generation’ more interesting in technology and style, Seat’s growth in recent years has been fuelled by broadening its appeal through SUVs and a focus on cool, ‘urban’ design.  So creating a stand-alone Cupra brand enables Seat Sport to develop hot machines that don’t fit the main firm’s new focus, but will still appeal to a core and passionate audience, and allow the wider Seat brand to become more focused on its new direction – without losing the benefi...

The new Cupra logo Hot Ateca to lead new sub-brand’s launch line-up, which will kick-start with an unveiling next month Seat has confirmed that it will turn its Cupra performance line into a stand-alone brand – and it has revealed the final version of the new logo. The first Cupra-badged models, including a hot version of the Ateca SUV , will be unveiled next month. Car sub-brands: the biggest hits and misses The move was first reported by Autocar last year when a draft of the new logo was shown in trademark filings. According to a short press release presenting the new copper-coloured logo, the move will give Cupra "its own soul, its own DNA, its own identity by becoming a new entity.” It is understood that Seat branding won’t appear on Cupra models. Talking to Autocar at the Frankfurt motor show in September last year, Seat boss Luca de Meo said turning Cupra into a stand-alone brand would give the firm the opportunity to “add another dimension”. Opinion: why spinnin...

Dieppe's latest hot hatch comes with four-wheel steering and a new 1.8-litre engine; is it a Honda Civic Type R beater? Renault Sport has a habit of producing extremely fine driver’s cars when its engineers get their hands on Méganes . We have fond memories of the last one, the deliciously involving Mégane 275 , so it’s fair to say expectations are very high for its successor. Thing is, the 2018 car is quite different. It loses its predecessor’s 2.0-litre turbocharged engine for a 1.8-litre one, so power is only slightly up. This leaves the car lagging behind rivals, like the Honda Civic Type R , which is 40bhp more potent. Can it make up the deficit with its clever chassis? More content: Hot hatch heroes: Autocar Awards Readers' Champion - vote now Top 10 best super sports cars 2018

Daniel Ricciardo believes his next Formula 1 contract could be "make or break" for his chances of winning a world championship in his career

Volkswagen’s ever-sensible supermini gets even more grown-up as the Polo hits its fifth decade, but can it take top honours? Since the 1976 original Volkswagen Polo reached these shores as a rebadged Audi 50, VW has conferred more than 1.4 million examples of the car to us Brits.For context, that’s some way short of the 4.5m or so Ford Fiestas sold since that model was introduced in the very same year, but it’s a fantastically large figure nonetheless. And with it comes to the pressure to err on the side of conservatism.So here’s the sixth-generation Polo although, at a glance, you may have mistaken it for the fifth-generation Polo, introduced in 2009.That momentary confusion is one of the hallmarks of an extraordinarily successful model, because the manufacturers of such vehicles know that they alter a successful recipe at their extreme peril. The new car thus springs few initial surprises. Its proportions are instantly recognisable and so, too, are its facial features. However, it i...

The first of two new SUVs due from Hyundai's upmarket Genesis brand by the end of the decade has been spotted in an early stage of development. Engineers are running test mules, i.e. the new mechanicals hidden beneath the makeshift body of an existing model, in this case Hyundai's Santa Fe. Modifications made to the Santa Fe body indicate that the...

Jaguar has confirmed the fast charging time for the new I-Pace Jaguar is racing to get its first electric car to market before the Audi E-Tron; it's due to arrive at the Geneva motor show Jaguar has confirmed that its first EV, the I-Pace , will be capable of charging to 80% of its capacity within 40 minutes, from a 100kW charger.  The latest development in Jaguar’s eagerly anticipated EV confirms claims made by the company ahead of its initial launch as the I-Pace concept, as Jaguar prepares to launch the production version at the Geneva motor show in March.  Jaguar has also revealed that the car has been testing in Sweden, with temperatures as low as -40 deg testing the batteries’ efficiency - low temperatures traditionally lower the range of EVs.  The car’s maximum range on a fully charged battery is about 310 miles, as measured on the New European Driving Cycle. It was previously mooted that a 50kW direct current (DC) charging point - currently the most ...

The abject failure of Nissan's Murano CrossCabriolet, pulled from the market after just four years, didn't deter Land Rover from attempting its own convertible SUV in the form of the Range Rover Evoque Convertible. The vehicle has managed to generate some positive buzz for Land Rover since it's 2017 launch, so it doesn't come as a surprise that...

Aston Martin will invest £20 million into its Chinese dealer network British car maker is in China with Theresa May off the back of its strong 2017 sales performance there Aston Martin has announced a £620 million trade and investment plan that is designed to drastically boost its presence in China. The British car maker is joining Prime Minister Theresa May during her trade visit to the country this week on the back of its 2017 performance, which saw it grow sales there by 89% largely thanks to the introduction of the DB11. In a new five-year plan for the world’s largest new car market, Aston Martin will invest £20 million into its Chinese dealer network, with a new city centre showroom in Beijing it’s crowning site. Before 2018’s close, Aston Martin will have 10 new dealers in China, bringing its total for the country to 20. The company is readying its Chinese outlets for the introduction of its first SUV model, the DBX , as well as its first electric series model, the RapidE,...

Mégane RS has a chassis of remarkable deftness and balance that gives the hot hatch unmistakable class-leading potential Few performance cars have been lavished with a more consistent flow of praise by hot hatchback aficionados than the Renault Mégane RS. This car has bossed the fast front-drive niche for most of its life, having appeared with that memorable ‘bustle-back’ styling in 2004 and promptly set new class benchmarks for driver involvement and handling poise.But it’ll take something to reclaim that familiar old perch now, with the Honda Civic Type R having become a brilliant driver’s car in its own right and the Volkswagen Golf GTI, incoming Seat Leon Cupra R and four-wheel-drive Ford Focus RS suddenly making competition in the segment seem little less fierce than what Renault’s been coming up against in Formula 1 of late.For that reason and others, you could call the launch of this third-generation Mégane RS (it’s also the performance version of the fourth-...

Choose your favourite from the following 30 hot hatch heroes We've whittled down the best hot hatches of all time to 30 of our favourite examples. Now it's time for you to pick yours In this week’s issue of Autocar we celebrate 30 of our favourite hot hatches before crowning what we think is the best example of the breed. But today, here on autocar.co.uk, you can have your say by nominating your favourite of the bunch. Scroll through the gallery above to see what cars you can choose from.  Click the link here to select your favourite. More content: Top 10 best used hot hatches Why the new Megane RS will be a hot hatch champ

Choose your favourite from the following 30 hot hatch heroes We've whittled down the best hot hatches of all time to 30 of our favourite examples. Now it's time for you to pick yours In this week’s issue of Autocar we celebrate 30 of our favourite hot hatches before crowning what we think is the best example of the breed. But today, here on autocar.co.uk, you can have your say by nominating your favourite of the bunch. Scroll through the gallery above to see what cars you can choose from.  Click the link here to select your favourite. More content: Top 10 best used hot hatches Why the new Megane RS will be a hot hatch champ

Jaguar Land Rover's factory in Halewood, Liverpool has contributed to the car maker's top position with the most British-built cars The decrease in British-built cars is chiefly down to less demand in the UK, while warnings about the effects of Brexit continue The UK car industry faces “the greatest challenge of our time”, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders chief executive Mike Hawes, referring to ongoing uncertainty over Brexit and the anti-diesel rhetoric in the UK. “[Brexit] comes at a time when the global car industry faces so many challenges. Our global competitors are focusing on electric and autonomous vehicles when, in the UK, we’re focusing on Brexit and air quality,” said Hawes. New car sales fall 5.7% in 2017 Figures from industry body, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), show that 1,671,166 cars were built in the UK in 2017, down from 1,722,698 in 2016 . That represents a fall of 3.0% compared to 2016 - the fir...

This week: Britain's best hot hatch, BMW i3 driven, Aussie V8s for £6500, Volkswagen Polo road test, Megane RS tested and much more What's the best hot hatch ever? We've brought all the greatest together to decide, definitively, who rules the hot hatch roost. It's hatches aplenty this week, in varying degrees of hotness, with the Volkswagen Polo fully road tested, the BMW i3 S put through its paces and the Renault Mégane RS finally put to the test.  In news, we've got reports of super fast and super posh SUVs - the former in the form of the Range Rover Velar SVR , and the latter in the form of a Mercedes-Maybach GLS.  Also in this issue We've got more news, with the latest on the Mercedes-AMG GT 4 - the latest rival to the Porsche Panamera from Affalterbach, insight on why petrol cars need particulate filters too, and the possibility of an LPG comeback in the UK. Want reviews? We've tested the Honda Civic diesel , and have a huge hot hatch shoo...