New car market in UK up 2.6 per cent in 2024, figures reveal January 4, 2025 The UK’s new car market recorded its second successive year of growth with a 2.6 per cent rise in registrations in 2024, new figures show. Industry body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said around 1,953,000 new cars were registered last year, compared with 1,903,000 in 2023. Growth was delivered entirely by purchases [...]
Cinch sales drop below £1bn after ‘rapidly falling’ used car prices January 3, 2025 Sales are car retailer Cinch dipped below £1bn after the company was hit by “rapidly falling” used vehicle prices. For the 12 months to 31 March, 2024, the Hampshire-based firm posted a revenue of £932.5m, down from the £1.01bn it achieved in the prior year. Newly-filed accounts with Companies House also show that its pre-tax [...]
Met Police fail to solve 90 per cent of London car thefts, figures reveal January 3, 2025 The Met Police have failed to solve 90 per cent of car thefts in London, according to new figures branded as “staggeringly high”. Data released by the Home Office showed the capital’s police force categorised 90.2 per cent of car thefts that took place in the four months to June 2024 as “unsolved cases”. The [...]
Honda and Nissan merger talks spark UK job fears December 18, 2024 Experts say the UK's unfavourable tax environment and declining automotive sector put it at greater risk as the industry consolidates.
Best cars of 2024 – From the new Aston Martin Vantage to the McLaren Artura Spider December 13, 2024 The car industry is facing strong headwinds, from import tariffs to mandated EV sales targets. Despite it all, though, 2024 has produced some genuinely exciting new cars, many of which we were lucky enough to drive. This isn’t a round-up of the ‘best’ cars of the year; many of the vehicles listed here are totally [...]
50 years on, Ford Escort RS returns as official continuation car December 12, 2024 The original Ford Escort is ready to fire back into production, some five decades after the final RS2000 was assembled. County Durham-based Boreham Motorworks, part of the DRVN Automotive Group, has revealed full details of its Escort RS Mk1 ‘Continumod’. Officially licensed by the Ford Motor Company, Boreham Motorworks’ Escort will use a continuation chassis, [...]
Kalmar 9X9 review: Exclusive drive of new Porsche-based hypercar December 11, 2024 Britain’s best-selling car in 1986 was the fourth-generation Ford Escort. In aptly named Popular spec, it had a 50hp 1.1-litre engine that could wheeze to 62mph in 18.2 seconds and nudge 90mph. The Escort brochure boasted of plastic head restraints, a lidded glovebox and ‘door panels with the unexpected luxury of cloth inserts’. Meanwhile, on [...]
Callum Skye: first look inside the radical, British-built EV December 11, 2024 Callum has revealed the interior of the new Skye – a mould-breaking, British-made electric off-roader, due in 2026. The Skye’s cabin is surprisingly spacious for a compact car, including two child-sized rear seats that fold down to boost luggage capacity. Its minimalist aesthetic is combined with high-end materials, plus near-endless scope for personalisation. I sat [...]
I drove a Rolls-Royce Spectre through a super storm December 9, 2024 It’s chucking it down in the airport pick-up zone, the soundtrack a cacophony of announcements, slamming doors, rat-a-tatting wheelie-suitcases, flapping umbrellas and the dull drone of aircraft taking off and landing. The waiting Rolls-Royce’s door closes behind me, and, cosseted inside a shell of black and Tango-orange, things are dramatically different. Rolls-Royce enjoyed record sales [...]
Tax expert: Bernie Ecclestone may face ‘sizeable’ tax bill over luxury car sale December 3, 2024 Bernie Ecclestone is set to sell 69 cars from his luxury collection believed to be worth more than £250m, but he may face a tax bill warned a tax adviser