New Santa Fe balances ‘big gob’, size and sophistication for Hyundai
IAIN ROBERTSON Seeking accord and upmarket aspirations are laudable qualities of the latest SUV from the South Korean manufacturer, writes Iain Robertson, while retaining mere hints of its past...
Sino onanistic excess broadens world market for Merc Maybach
IAIN ROBERTSON Contemplating the several decades’ worth of investment made by Daimler-Benz in the Chinese car market, highlights Iain Robertson, has proved to be immensely rewarding to the Teutonic...
Knuckle-scraping Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392 is hardly ‘last ditch’
IAIN ROBERTSON While D Trump’s final flailings set a poor example of grace in defeat, states Iain Robertson, his ‘private militiamen’ can look forward to an antediluvian class of...
Nissan’s British-built Qashqai takes tech-first stance for 3rd-generation
IAIN ROBERTSON Working from a premise of ‘building excitement’ into its immensely popular mid-size SUV, writes Iain Robertson, Nissan has gone tech-happy and engineering-wise in ways that will add...
Aznom Palladium: either the wittiest, or twittiest, new car to ever break cover
IAIN ROBERTSON Seldom lost for words, Iain Robertson admits to struggling with one of the strangest ever attempts of a notional Italian carmaker to formulate an entirely new strain...
New Santa Fe balances ‘big gob’, size and sophistication for Hyundai
IAIN ROBERTSON Seeking accord and upmarket aspirations are laudable qualities of the latest SUV from the South Korean manufacturer, writes Iain Robertson, while retaining mere hints of its past...
Crash investigation and why Volvo leads the entire market
IAIN ROBERTSON In order for a new car to be within half a chance of enjoying strong sales and market success, highlights Iain Robertson, it must pass a gruelling...
Fiat has every right to be Cross but tantrum, or not, it might not save Tipo
IAIN ROBERTSON Four years ago, recalls Iain Robertson, sometime Italian car giant, Fiat, relaunched its Tipo model, with a comprehensively well-considered ‘offer’ to both private buyers and business users...
Energetic, elegant and efficient, it’s all the ‘E’s’ for executive BMW 5-Series
IAIN ROBERTSON We are told that ‘E-numbers’ are not good for us but ‘E-words’ are a different measure altogether, writes Iain Robertson, and the latest generation 5-Series takes the...
Revised Velar takes another tilt at upmarket SUV sector
IAIN ROBERTSON While not suggesting that the previous Velar was on a hiding to nothing, Iain Robertson was heartily disappointed by the original test example’s electronic failures, which were...
Most purposeful 4WD from the Czech bus maker you’ve never heard of…
IAIN ROBERTSON Ever keen to introduce you to some of the world’s most novel forms of transport, Iain Robertson, no fan of SUVs, believes that the ultimate off-roader is...
The Mini that should be renamed MAXI is revised again as Countryman
IAIN ROBERTSON Any vestiges of original Mini-ness are now totally removed with the largest version of BMW’s comic-book replica of the once-British stalwart, reports Iain Robertson, as a comprehensively...
New mild-hybrid Rio proves that Kia remains on top regardless
IAIN ROBERTSON Gone are the days when Iain Robertson would refer to Kia as a ‘coming car company’, so well-paced has been its developmental curve and so highly regarded...
New Cupra Formentor sounds formidable, or perhaps it is just unhappy with taking a back Seat.
IAIN ROBERTSON Pondering over the potential of VW’s Seat division as a malcontent, Iain Robertson can see its value but not the premium status of its sub-plot Cupra and...
If you like your hot hatch cocktail shaken and stirred, invest in a Renault Megane RS
IAIN ROBERTSON Both RS 300 and RS Trophy versions of the Megane have been under the surgeon’s knife, highlights Iain Robertson, in the process underscoring a pair of the...
Living with Vitara – Covid-19 report
IAIN ROBERTSON Modern motorcars are far more demanding of their owners than many of us might suspect, highlights Iain Robertson, as he contemplates the ‘cost’ of delayed MOTs,...
VW knows that if you wait long enough for a bus, three come at once and Clubsport GTi falls into the category
IAIN ROBERTSON Having been exceptionally critical of the ‘Golfate’, as Iain Robertson has christened the eighth generation of the popular German hatchback, following the RenaultSport Megane and Hyundai i30N,...
Volvo makes electricity an high-priced commodity in its new XC40 P8
IAIN ROBERTSON With the sole intention of making its mark, or yuan, reports Iain Robertson, Volvo loads-up its first EV version of the much-admired XC40 with every imaginable bell-and-whistle,...
Unpronounceable Ssangyong survives with revitalised Tivoli
IAIN ROBERTSON South Korean Ssangyong (just ignore the first ‘S’) has been US supportive, Chinese owned and riven with controversy since it was formed in 1986, highlights Iain Robertson,...
Latest BMW Mini connects the dots for spiciest Works variant yet
IAIN ROBERTSON Although BMW regards its 20 years old version of the Mini as an ‘icon’, Iain Robertson holds fast on the 61 years old Issigonis original for the...
Try to ignore the ‘schnozz’ on the latest BMW 128ti, as it is what lies behind it that matters most!
IAIN ROBERTSON Cyrano de Bergerac was a Gallic novelist, playwright and duellist, highlights Iain Robertson, yet he will forever be remembered for possessing a most sizeable nose, a factor...
Vauxhall prays that motorists’ lives will be mocked without a Mokka!
IAIN ROBERTSON Stymied by ‘lockdown’, the latest Corsa has enjoyed zero market wiggle-room before PSA Group’s insistent and unrelenting product planners weigh-in with the forthcoming crossover variant, about which...
Think 4×4 anywhere in the world and Toyota percolates to the top
IAIN ROBERTSON Not intended as an insult to Land Rover, emphasises Iain Robertson, although jingoists may read it that way, venturing off the beaten track has been a Toyota...
Dipping into VW Group’s enormous spare parts bins enables new Audi A3 hybrid development
IAIN ROBERTSON At a moment in time, when the automotive business is looking all shaky and EV charged, highlights Iain Robertson, it is heart-warming for fans of quality cars...
Despite the virus, Skoda testing continues with new Enyaq iV
IAIN ROBERTSON Snapped opportunistically as it piles on the proving miles, reports Iain Robertson, the next and possibly most important step in Skoda’s brand development has been revealed in...
MG elects for ‘conventional’ approach to its latest MG5 EV estate car
IAIN ROBERTSON Describing the atmosphere as ‘heavy with irony’, Iain Robertson reviews the new MG5 SW and appreciates its ‘compact Passat’ stance, mainly because it is NOT an SUV...
Can PSE actually boost the brand, or is Peugeot’s business acumen forever Sino-tainted?
IAIN ROBERTSON Unsure of whether to revel in Peugeot’s latest launch, or to chuckle at its inherent wit, Iain Robertson questions the logic of relaunching ‘Peugeot Sport Engineered’, which...
As readily defensible as oak and Coke, an all-new Moke might be 3rd-time-lucky!
IAIN ROBERTSON At around the same time as he developed the ubiquitous classic Mini, states Iain Robertson, the inventor of the Car of the Century also designed a rudimentary...
It’s all about the ‘schnozz’, as far as BMW’s new M3 and M4 are concerned
IAIN ROBERTSON Having focused earlier this year on the changing face of BMW, Iain Robertson believed that familiarity with the Munich firm’s much-altered grille outline and the slow but...
Love ’em, or loathe ’em, you can’t avoid ’em – Anatomy of the SUV
IAIN ROBERTSON Treated literally, the Sport Utility Vehicle is an horrendous misnomer, writes Iain Robertson, possessing some elements of all-wheel drive, on a hiked-up, family-orientated platform that ought to...
Sometimes, being ‘disagreeable’ can reveal con-jobs and skulduggery
IAIN ROBERTSON Realising that he is hardly alone in questioning the premature return-to-work strategy being exercised almost wholesale across the UK motor industry, Iain Robertson is concerned about other...
Isuzu D-Max XTR (Colour Edition) makes purpose work
IAIN ROBERTSON Introduced originally as a ‘concept’ by International Motors Group, the official importer of Isuzu pickup trucks to the UK market, Iain Robertson is only too delighted to...
Survival forces Suzuki into strategic alliance with Toyota for Swace
IAIN ROBERTSON Things are tough at present across the entire motor industry but, writes Iain Robertson, the deal between Suzuki and Toyota was struck long before the pandemic did...
Next-generation Audi A3 saloon benefits from substantial character injection
IAIN ROBERTSON With deliveries hoped to commence this summer, reports Iain Robertson, Audi’s latest compact 4-door has become more mature and markedly less of a niche-filler than its predecessor,...
Genesis – The car you almost certainly never promised yourself
IAIN ROBERTSON Despite teasing British motoring journalists for the past decade, reports Iain Robertson, Genesis, the luxury arm of Hyundai, has been shaping up in other new car markets,...
Book Reviews
IAIN ROBERTSON There has seldom been a more apposite time to highlight the latest automotive books worth reading than now, states Iain Robertson, and you can order copies direct...
New Peugeot 3008 and how fruit often goes putrid from within
IAIN ROBERTSON Seldom has Iain Robertson felt so alienated by one single motorcar (perhaps a pair), as he has been by the latest crop of SUVs (3008/5008) from Peugeot,...
Recognition of great design does no harm to Mazda’s fine repute
IAIN ROBERTSON At a time when the motor industry is free thankfully of mainstream mundanity, Iain Robertson is utterly delighted that his tip-for-the-top from May 2019, the new...
New Merc S-Class confounds critics, rivals and customers but it should not be a surprise.
IAIN ROBERTSON Every time Daimler-Benz launches a new version of its most prestigious S-Class, it would be fair for Iain Robertson to state that its technological mandate is not...
Subaru and the death-defying vital automotive safety factor
IAIN ROBERTSON It can be either totally swamping, or too easy to ignore, but, states Iain Robertson, the wide-ranging subject of in-car, passive and active safety addenda, whether considered...