Autocar November 2, 2022

Collating this Brit issue has been uplifting, because it serves to reinforce all of the automotive brilliance around us. From our road test of the new Range Rover Sport (p30), which we find to be better than a Porsche Cayenne and BMW X5, to a celebratory drive of five Brit-built cars (p38) that demonstrate the impressive breadth of models available, there’s plenty of cause for positivity. Away from the mainstream is perhaps where we Brits shine most of all. No country around the world has more of a noteworthy line-up of niche car makers (p43) than us, making quirky, fun and innovative cars. And vehicle makers aside, there’s also a vibrant technology industry creating everything we put in our cars and their ecosystem, now and in the future (p56). But…

Collating this Brit issue has been uplifting, because it serves to reinforce all of the automotive brilliance around us. From our road test of the new Range Rover Sport (p30), which we find to be better than a Porsche Cayenne and BMW X5, to a celebratory drive of five Brit-built cars (p38) that demonstrate the impressive breadth of models available, there’s plenty of cause for positivity. Away from the mainstream is perhaps where we Brits shine most of all. No country around the world has more of a noteworthy line-up of niche car makers (p43) than us, making quirky, fun and innovative cars. And vehicle makers aside, there’s also a vibrant technology industry creating everything we put in our cars and their ecosystem, now and in the future (p56). But it would…

Back in 2015, a few weeks before the Volkswagen Dieselgate scandal and seven months before Britain’s momentous decision to leave the EU, the UK’s motor industry society, the SMMT, voiced an exceptionally bold claim about the future growth of car manufacturing. This history-changing forecast was rapturously received a few weeks later by a confident, 1200-strong audience of industry luminaries at the society’s lavish annual dinner in London’s Park Lane. The nub of the prediction was that by the end of 2015, British car production would have scored its sixth straight increase – another 15% this time – to top 1.7 million cars. At this unprecedented expansion rate, which back then experts were confident would continue, UK car production would set a new record of two million cars a year for 2016.…

Back in 2015, a few weeks before the Volkswagen Dieselgate scandal and seven months before Britain’s momentous decision to leave the EU, the UK’s motor industry society, the SMMT, voiced an exceptionally bold claim about the future growth of car manufacturing. This history-changing forecast was rapturously received a few weeks later by a confident, 1200-strong audience of industry luminaries at the society’s lavish annual dinner in London’s Park Lane. The nub of the prediction was that by the end of 2015, British car production would have scored its sixth straight increase – another 15% this time – to top 1.7 million cars. At this unprecedented expansion rate, which back then experts were confident would continue, UK car production would set a new record of two million cars a year for…

THE DEARTH OF UK car production continues to make life difficult for consumers in this country – and it will do so for some time. The supply of semiconductors remains the primary shortage. (Supply to makers of the most expensive cars, such as Rolls-Royce and Bentley, is significantly better than to those who make more mainstream cars.) However, other components and even primary raw materials, such as steel, continue to be hard to source. Speaking at the recent Paris motor show, Stellantis boss Carlos Tavares said there were signs of the difficulties easing, although unevenly, and he expects the computer chip problems, at least, to be “over” by the beginning of 2024. This shortage of new cars has created an extraordinary overheating of the UK’s market for nearly new cars, although the…

THE DEARTH OF UK car production continues to make life difficult for consumers in this country – and it will do so for some time. The supply of semiconductors remains the primary shortage. (Supply to makers of the most expensive cars, such as Rolls-Royce and Bentley, is significantly better than to those who make more mainstream cars.) However, other components and even primary raw materials, such as steel, continue to be hard to source. Speaking at the recent Paris motor show, Stellantis boss Carlos Tavares said there were signs of the difficulties easing, although unevenly, and he expects the computer chip problems, at least, to be “over” by the beginning of 2024. This shortage of new cars has created an extraordinary overheating of the UK’s market for nearly new cars,…