Car review

Fourth gen of supermini brings new look and new engine but keeps Suzuki's trademark compactness and lightness At the launch of the new Suzuki Swift, the company said that so many small cars have been cut from manufacturers’ ranges recently that it estimates 250,000 people in the UK have bought a supermini in the past three years but won’t be able to replace it like-for-like when the time comes.There’s no longer a Ford Fiesta, a Kia Rio, a Nissan Micra and more besides; 28% of the small car sector has been binned off. There is, though, a new Swift, and this is it.And it’s good. It's in the UK from April 2024 in two trim levels, with a manual or an automatic gearbox and with the option of four-wheel drive. Read on to find out more.

Segment-straddling Porsche Macan rival looks to inject sporting appeal into a long-range, family friendly proposition In case you weren't keeping up, the Polestar 4 is – sensibly – the fourth model from the Swedish sporting EV brand. Somewhat less obvious is the fact that it's only slightly larger than the 2 and quite substantially smaller than the 3, but it's probably best to ignore that confounding nomenclature structure – which will soon give us a big new 5 saloon and a smaller 6 GT – and define the cars instead by their most obvious rivals.In the case of the 4, that's not especially easy. Rather like the 2, it is not immediately recognisable as an SUV, and nor does it sit quite close enough to the ground to be labelled a saloon, so it can be difficult to immediately pigeonhole. But its £60k start price and 4.8m length line it up neatly to contend with the new Porsche Macan Electric, and thus you imagine it will also be cross-shopped with the likes of the BMW iX3, Audi Q6 E-tron and Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV.Frustratingly, the same-sized Jaguar I-Pace – with its similarly segment-straddling silhouette and overt focus on dynamism – would have been one of the 4’s most obvious and natural rivals, but is getting on in years and coming up for retirement by the end of 2024, so doesn’t really bear comparison. Due to start deliveries in August, the 4 will be built initially in China, but a second production line opening soon at a Renault-owned facility in Korea could eventually supply cars to right-hand-drive markets. Polestar says it is the fastest and lowest-carbon car it has yet produced, and has lofty ambitions for the 4 to play a core role in its plan to drastically boost its global volumes, alongside the larger, US-built 3.It is Polestar’s first car atop parent company Geely’s new SEA modular platform, which means it is also the brand’s first model to not use Volvo-derived underpinnings, as do the 2 and 3. SEA is more a catch-all name for a family of architectures than a single modular structure, so the 4 is only partly related to the smaller, SEA-based Smart #1 and Volvo EX30 crossovers, which brings two crucial advantages: Polestar was able to engineer in its dynamic proclivities right from the get-go, while benefiting from the use of existing components like the electronics systems and HVAC pipework. 

Facelifted SUV gains new tech and enhanced interior, but is it enough to challenge its luxury rivals? Five years after the launch of the third-generation Volkswagen Touareg, the German brand has refreshed its flagship as it looks to keep pace with rivals such as the BMW X5 and Mercedes-Benz GLE. Beyond mild design changes to the front and rear, the focus has been on interior revisions, with the facelifted Touareg gaining the previously optional Innovision Cockpit infotainment system as standard – 12.0in and 15.0in digital displays are available. There’s also greater flexibility in the software, with upgrades made to HD map data and a new voice-control system with more conversational functionality.The powertrain line-up is a familiar one. There is a pair of 3.0-litre V6 diesel engines with 227bhp and 282bhp, and a 335bhp 3.0-litre V6 petrol. All of those are exclusively available in Black Edition trim.Alternatively, you can have a plug-in hybrid in more subdued Elegance trim, which combines the same petrol V6 with an electric motor and a 14.3kWh battery for a total of 375bhp. If you like your Bloody Mary with more heat, there’s a range-topping ‘R’ variant, which gets the same powertrain but boasts 455bhp and more aggressive styling cues.As standard, the Touareg is suspended using steel springs. As before, rear-wheel steering is an option on all trim levels.So is this ‘new’ SUV, a quiet mainstay within the VW range, set to boost the 1.13 million Touareg sales, or does it fall short of its rivals? Let's find out. 

Following its heralded arrival as an EV, Jeep's compact crossover has received a mild-hybrid petrol option Back when the Jeep Avenger was revealed in late 2022, it was slated to arrive in the UK only with an electric powertrain. But things have changed since then - market conditions, customer desires, you name it - and now the Stellantis brand will offer not just the manual petrol variant here but also this one: the mildly electrified petrol Jeep Avenger e-Hybrid. It's a similar story over at Fiat, which is also now bringing the petrol version of its closely related 600e to the UK. There are benefits to choosing either an electric Avenger or a petrol one, but the real question is this: which should you buy? Read on to find out what we think... 

Big SUV relinquishes V6 engine as Italian luxury brand initiates electric transition Electric cars struggle to excite enthusiasts, so Maserati has used some powerful imagery to sell its inaugural crop of EVs: lightning, or folgore if you’re Italian.The first of them to arrive is the Maserati Grecale Folgore, a large (4.8m-long) SUV that has been on sale here in V6 and four-cylinder turbo petrol forms (and viewed with tempered admiration by Autocar) since 2022.There’s a lot of weight on its broad shoulders, not just because it sets the tone for the Italian luxury brand’s switch to electric power but also because it will be the volume seller – well, at least relative to the impending Maserati Granturismo Folgore coupé and Maserati MC20 Folgore supercar.That might be why, unlike the standard Maserati Grecale, which was very late to the D-segment SUV party, the Grecale Folgore has arrived promptly to fight it out with the Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV and the closely related inbound Porsche Macan Electric and Audi Q6 E-tron.So, what’s actually new? Well, while it externally looks very similar to the petrol Grecale, the front grille has been modified to optimise the cooling of the EV componentry under the bonnet, while almost all the other holes have been blocked off. Even the quintessential triple side vents have been replaced with LED lights.