Auto Express 1696

YOU’LL know that we’re fans of the Citroen Ami – we gave it our Technology Award this year. So we’re delighted with the news (page 14) that Citroen has listened to the public and will be bringing it to the UK. The Fowler family was lucky enough to live with an Ami for a few weeks earlier in the year and we can see how it will fit into many people’s lives as part of their household’s fleet; it certainly could with us. It proved popular with my twin boys for commuting and visiting their pals. My daughter used it locally for work. Even my 81-year-old mother-in-law was eyeing it up for trips to the supermarket. It’s not perfect, though. My wife, for example, prefers a little more luxury, so it wasn’t…

Yousuf_Ashraf@autovia.co.uk @ashrafoncars THE Ford Fiesta has long been Britain’s best-selling car, but so far in 2021 this hugely popular supermini, which is now in its seventh generation, has been trailing its Vauxhall Corsa rival in the new-car registration charts. Sound timing then, for an important mid-life update. In a bid to claw back some ground, the revised Fiesta is armed with revised styling, interior updates and additional tech. This updated Fiesta also previews a new Ford design language that will feature on all of the brand’s upcoming models. The grille is larger and more angular than before, and Ford’s blue oval badge is now housed within it, rather than above it. The bonnet has also been resculpted, and the nose of the car raised, with new LED headlights that give it a meaner look. Sporty…

Does the new tech go far enough? FORD has undoubtedly ticked a few missing boxes with this update of its big seller. Getting a digital dash, for example, brings the Fiesta up to speed with the likes of the Hyundai i20 and the Vauxhall Corsa. It has also gone further than is normal with facelifts, by changing not only bumpers and headlights but also some sheet-metal pressings too. The result is a neat rethinking of a package that didn’t really have much wrong with it anyway. But while the engine line-up looks decent enough, it also appears to confirm that at present, Ford has no immediate plan to offer a small, affordable pure-electric car. That means that these mild-hybrid Fiestas are probably as good as it’s going to get on electrification until 2024 at…

Q What were you looking to achieve with the Fiesta’s updated front end? Is this Ford’s new family face? A: “Yes it is. Normally with revisions you try to bring the car up to date with a new face, but for the new Fiesta, we were able to go further with a new bonnet that raises the nose by 15mm or so. There’s now a lot more content at the front; the grille is wider, we’ve moved the Ford badge down, and there’s contrast between gloss and matte finishes in the lower grilles. We also added a front splitter embossed with ‘Ford Performance’ close to the end of the programme.” Q The nose of the car has been raised. Is that for improved pedestrian safety, or was it a purely design-driven decision? A:…

sean_carson@autovia.co.uk • New all-electric SUV will be larger than Mégane E-Tech Electric• Shares tech with Nissan Ariya; will have range of up to 310 miles RENAULT will launch an all-new fully electric family SUV that will sit above the recently revealed Mégane E-Tech Electric – and we’ll see it at the 2022 Paris Motor Show, according to the brand’s bosses. Renault’s vice president for engineering, Gilles Le Borgne, told Auto Express that the brand is “already working on a new car in between the Mégane [E-Tech Electric] and the Nissan Ariya [with which the Renault will share its platform] for the year to come”. The French firm’s second electric crossover will sit on the CMF-EV platform and, says Le Borgne, it can be stretched to up to 4.7m long, with a wheelbase of up…

Q How big will the new car be? A “Width is actually very important when it comes to segmentation. You can enlarge the wheelbase, the overhangs, but the width, we can go easily to 1.85m. And of course we can go to 4.7m in length. Q Does that mean we will see a seven-seat version of the new car on sale? A “No, it’s not planned to do that. It’s two rows at the moment, but not three rows. It is quite a versatile platform though, and within the seven cars to be announced by 2025 you will have also another car on the CMF-EV platform.” Q Does moving towards full electrification mean you can develop cars more quickly? A “When we have the architecture of the car, the key features, the business case but…