Latest automotive analysis
Comprehensive coverage of the automotive industry's latest, breaking news brought to you by just-auto's leading network of international journalists.
Will Kia succeed with multi-model Ceed plans?
10 Dec 2018 | Glenn Brooks
Kia Motors Europe is just weeks away from an annual sales record by crossing the half-million mark. In Britain, KME's best market, the brand will get close to six figures, the year-to-date total being 91,954 cars, some 6,000 ahead of Hyundai. The increasingly sought-after third generation Ceed is the new growth driver, building on the strong performance of the Sportage.
5 Dec 2018 | Cat Dow
This month in our Hands-On-Tech (HOT) reporting series, we put the Skoda Connect system to the test. Taking you through the top-spec connectivity features offered by manufacturers in detail, this HOT report series looks to benchmark the connectivity functionality of each manufacturer based on various test criteria. Skoda’s J-segment crossover impresses with a stylish design and responsive features.
Lexus LQ - the Audi Q8 rival and other future models
5 Dec 2018 | Glenn Brooks
Once little known outside North America, Lexus has steadily increased its rate of success in other regions. There is much more to do though, as sales in the USA and Japan are stuck behind Mercedes-Benz, while in Europe even Jaguar now outsells the brand - quite significantly too. The picture is far brighter in China, where Lexus sits at the top of the charts for imported models, and where local production will finally commence in 2019.
Jaguar Land Rover to miss 2019 Geneva motor show
4 Dec 2018 | Glenn Brooks
While quite a few brands have already announced world premieres for production models and concepts, JLR will be absent from the 2019 Geneva motor show. Tata Motors, which sells very few vehicles in the region, will have a stand though. Confirmed global debuts are listed below.
Toyota future models and platforms
4 Dec 2018 | Glenn Brooks
The Toyota brand has vast reach worldwide, particularly in Japan, where it controls half the market. Over the first ten months, production reached 8.8m vehicles, a gain of just one per cent. As ever though, the parent company Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) has a game plan for growth, the key element of which is a new wave of replacement models and fresh entries to expanding segments.
Interior design and technology – Jaguar E-Pace
3 Dec 2018 | Matthew Beecham
The Jaguar E-Pace features just about every conceivable connectivity and infotainment gadget that you could wish for Christmas. At first glance, it's an undeniably handsome beast with distinctive mesh grille, muscular build, short overhangs and powerful haunches all of which give it a bold, edgy road stance. Continuing QUBE/just-auto's review of interior design and technology trends, we take a closer look inside to see how it compares to its designer suit.
Detroit auto show world debuts list - Nissan EV concept
30 Nov 2018 | Glenn Brooks
Manufacturers have begun to drip feed the first details of concepts and production models which will be world debuts at the North American International Auto Show. The latest round-up of what has been confirmed is below, with the list to be constantly updated over the coming weeks.
Incentives help establish Thai plug-in hybrid industry - ANALYSIS
29 Nov 2018 | Staff reporter
The Thai government is expected to announce an overhaul of its Eco-Car programme in the coming weeks, as it looks to exploit growth opportunities in new segments of the automotive industry. It is looking, once again, to steal a march in its neighbours - this time by targeting regional opportunities for electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids.
2018 Los Angeles auto show world debuts list
29 Nov 2018 | Glenn Brooks
Vehicles which made their global debuts at the 2018 LA Auto Show are named below.
ANALYSIS - Range Rover Sport SDV8
29 Nov 2018 | Glenn Brooks
Porsche has pulled the 4.0-litre engine out of the Cayenne, while Audi, BMW and Mercedes offer a maximum of six-cylinders in their new Q8, X5 and GLE SUVs respectively. Land Rover therefore suddenly finds itself in the fortuitous position of having no direct rivals for its latest Range Rover SDV8.
The future models Changan needs for a turnaround
28 Nov 2018 | Glenn Brooks
With sales of more than 1.8m vehicles so far in 2018, including its joint ventures, Changan Auto is major player in the Chinese market. Some 750,000 of that total comes from its own brand models. Until recent months, heavy investments in expanding the Changan and Chana ranges of SUVs were paying off. Now though, sales are falling so key new models due in 2019 can't come soon enough.
Skoda Octavia Scout - Europe's Outback conquerer
26 Nov 2018 | Glenn Brooks
Subaru, mighty in the US, has only a small following in Europe, so the rarity of the Outback crossover means an opportunity for others. The number one beneficiary is Skoda, the Octavia Scout dominating its segment.
Mazda bets big on revolutionary new petrol engine
22 Nov 2018 | Glenn Brooks
Cautious not to over-spend on EVs, Mazda has turned to Toyota for help in that area as it concentrates engineering resources on a new family of compression-ignition petrol engines. At the same time, a great and growing reputation for design could help the company maintain its position as a successful, independent maker of beautiful, highly-efficient vehicles.
ANALYSIS - Skoda drops diesel from updated Fabia
21 Nov 2018 | Glenn Brooks
A facelift and updated engines for the big-selling Fabia have arrived at just the right time for Skoda, helping the brand into ninth place in the European region, placing it ahead of Toyota for the year to the end of October.
Global automotive market report - Q3 2018
20 Nov 2018 | Dave Leggett
There were signs of global vehicle market weakness in the third quarter and stock market volatility suggests investors have become more nervous as 2018 has progressed. Dave Leggett assesses the state of the global vehicle market.
Will Suzuki still dominate India in 2030?
19 Nov 2018 | Glenn Brooks
In October, Maruti Suzuki's share of the Indian market dipped below fifty per cent. In no other market of this size, let alone one of around five million vehicle sales per annum, does a single brand dominate. As India's economy expands and its new vehicle market inevitably overtakes Japan to become the world's third largest, will Suzuki Motor have the right models to stay firmly in first place?
2018 Guangzhou motor show - world premieres list
19 Nov 2018 | Glenn Brooks
Below is a list of vehicle world premieres which appeared at the 2018 edition of AutoGuangzhou.
Citroen 'Europeanises' the C5 Aircross with new rear seats
15 Nov 2018 | Graeme Roberts
When it reaches European showrooms early in 2019, Citroen's C5 Aircross C-SUV will be new to this market but not new to the world - as we note in our PLDB database, it's actually been in production in China since the second half of last year, having made its global debut at the Shanghai show in April 2017. In China, with 40,000 sales to date, it supplemented the C5 sedan, over here it replaces the C5 (sedan and estate car) completely, tipping the established nameplate out of the non-premium D-segment pack and into the competitive C-SUV segment into which tout le monde de l'automobile is piling. On first look, it's very competitive.
Has Audi created a new segment with the Q8?
15 Nov 2018 | Glenn Brooks
Once again, Audi is ahead of rivals in finding yet another market niche. This time it's for a big SUV-coupé, the new Q8 being lengthier than the BMW X6 and Range Rover Sport which some claim are its natural rivals.
ANALYSIS - Lincoln future models
14 Nov 2018 | Glenn Brooks
Having first examined the current and likely next generation of Ford cars, followed by SUVs and pick-ups, the Ford Motor Company future vehicle series now turns to Lincoln.
F90 M5 - BMW's first four-wheel drive M car
12 Nov 2018 | Glenn Brooks
With 441kW or 600 horsepower on tap, the latest M5 is the most powerful car yet from BMW's M division. Taming its 750Nm of torque meant the chassis engineers decided to give this super-sedan four-wheel drive for the first time in the model's history.
ANALYSIS - Future Ford SUVs and pick-ups
8 Nov 2018 | Glenn Brooks
After taking a look at Ford's worldwide plans for cars into the second half of the 2020s, this second feature investigates what the brand is likely to be doing in crossovers, SUVs and pick-ups, and that includes certain battery-powered vehicles as well as JVs with VW, Mahindra and Zotye.
Hands-On Tech - Nissan Qashqai
7 Nov 2018 | Cat Dow
Nissan’s Qashqai Pilot One Edition is this month’s test vehicle in our Hands-On-Tech (HOT ) reporting series. Taking you through the top-spec connectivity features offered by manufacturers in detail, this HOT report series looks to benchmark the connectivity functionality of each manufacturer based on various test criteria. Nissan’s attempts to leapfrog competitors to deliver a next-generation package that will future-proof its popularity and perhaps jobs in post-Brexit Britain have mixed results.
Future plans show Ford isn't exiting cars
7 Nov 2018 | Glenn Brooks
Ford has been telling anyone who will listen that it believes its US market future lies with SUVs, pick-ups, EVs and autonomous vehicles. Outside North America though, there is a big future for a wide variety of Ford cars.
ANALYSIS - ASEAN vehicle sales rise 10% in Q3
6 Nov 2018 | Staff reporter
New vehicle sales in southeast Asia's six largest markets combined continued to strengthen in the third quarter of 2018, with total volumes rising by 9.7% to 899,541 units from 820,135 units in the same period of last year, according to data collected by AsiaMotorBusiness.com from the mainstream local trade associations.
Interest rates don’t slow US market, yet - ANALYSIS
5 Nov 2018 | Bill Cawthon
As our preliminary data published on Friday indicated, rising interest rates and higher petrol prices didn’t stop US light vehicle sales from rising in October.
Estate sales in decline? Nobody told the Volvo V90
5 Nov 2018 | Glenn Brooks
Sometimes, if you continue to evolve a product you've long been famous for, ignore those claiming that people have moved on to different things, you can not only stay successful but become even more so. Worldwide demand for the Volvo V90 is up so far this year - proof that big wagons are far from dead.
New Duster lifts Dacia to same market share as Nissan
1 Nov 2018 | Glenn Brooks
The biggest mistake for anyone to make when summing up Dacia is to think of it as a provider of cheap, basic, boring cars. A major update for the Duster is now taking the brand right into the mainstream, with an emphasis on value rather than low pricing.
ANALYSIS - Land Rover future models
30 Oct 2018 | Glenn Brooks
September was an uncharacteristically poor month for Land Rover, with deliveries down 19 per cent. That's being blamed on tariff rises in China. Europe and North America are still strong though, and new models should help get Land Rover back into growth mode in all major markets.
Kia overtakes Hyundai in EU thanks to Sportage
25 Oct 2018 | Glenn Brooks
WLTP changes made for a strange September, with Opel-Vauxhall Europe's number one ahead of BMW, Mercedes and Ford with Volkswagen plunging to fifth. Of all the brands in the top ten, Kia, in ninth place ahead of Hyundai, was the only one to post higher sales. That wasn't due to a fluke month either, it was thanks to multiple new models and a freshened Sportage in particular.
