Carbuyer Magazine – August 2019

Tr ustedReviews|Owner Opinion|ExpertAdvice

IT’S nearly twodecades sincethe Pumabadge satonthe back of

asmall Ford coupe. Nowthe name is back,but thi stime it’s being

applied to adistinctivelystyled small SUV,arrivin gearly nextyear.

It’llsit between theEcoSportand Kugain the brand’srange, going

head-to-head with the upcomingnew Nissan Jukeand Peugeot 2008.

Engineswillbeafamiliar line-up ofEcoBoost petrols initially, with

amild hybrid, adiesel andahot ‘ST’version joiningthe rangelater.

Outside, thePumaboasts morerounded looksthanmanySUVs.

Astartingpricehasn’t beenconfirmed,butaround£20,000is likely.

BMWhaslongdominatedthecompact

executiveestateclasswiththe3Series

Touring,andthelatestiterationlooks

settomantainthatdominance.It’ll

haveachoiceofpetrolordieselpower

initially,withaplug-inhybridarriving

by2020.Thebootisbigg erthan

before,whileoutsidethecarboasts

thesamesharplinesast herecently

introducednew3Seriessaloon.

KIAismakingthemostoftheplatform

underpinningitslatestCeedfamily car,

withregul arhatc hback,Sportswagon

estateandProceed‘shootingbrake’

vers ionsalreadyonoffer.They’llbe

joinedshortlybythisXceed:araised-

upcrossoverintendedasacheaper

alternativetot heMerc edesGLA.Petrol

anddieselpowerisonofferatlaun ch,

withaplug-inhybridtofol lowin2020.

NOTjustanewcar,butthelaun ch of
anentireelectricsub-brandforVW,
theID.3isasignificantmomentfor
theautmotiveindustryasawhole.
Intendedtobeofsimilarsizeand
pricetoaVolkswagenGolf,theID.3
will befullyunveile datSeptember’s
FrankfurtMotorShow,butVWhas
alreadytakenover20,000pre-
ordersforthi selectricfamily car.

YES,thatisthecorrectpicture–the
newRena ultCliolooksverysimilarto
itspredecessor,butRena ultsays
that’sbecausebuyerslovedtheold
car’slooks,andsoitsawnoreason
tochangethestylingforthesakeof
it.Qualityimprovementshavebeen
madein side,though,whilethe
caralsogetsup-to-dateengines,
includinganewmild-hybridoption.

FORDhasdoneverywellwi thprevious

generationsoft heKuga,sot hearrival

ofanall-newvers ionattheendofthis

yearismuchanticipated.Powertrain

choiceisthenameofthegamehere:

you’llbeabletopickfrompetrol,

diesel,mildhybrid,fullhybridor

plug-inhybridtosu ityourneeds.

Lugg ageandpassengerspacehave

alsobeenincreasedfromtheoldcar.

MGISmaki ngaboldentrancetot he

affor dableelectric-carmarket, taki ng

£3,500offthelistpriceofitselectric

SUVforthefir st1,000customersto

placeanorder.Thatmeans thezero-

emissionsversionoftheZS,which

hasa163-milerange,will beavailable

tosomebuyersforjustover£21,000,

maki ngelectricfamilymotoringmore

affor dablethanit’severbeensofar.

INcontrasttoVolkswagen,Peugeot

islookingtoi ntegrateelectricpower

seamlessl yintoitsregul arrange,

ratherthanlaun chinganewbrand.

Thenew208superminiisacasein

point:petrol,dieselandelectric

vers ionsareonoffer,withlittleto

tellthemapartvisually .Andthat’s

nobadthing,asthisnew208is

aseriouslygood-lookingcar.

ANOTHERsmallSUVontheway, this

is Skoda’svers ionoftheSEAT Arona

andVolkswagenT-Roc,whichare

alreadyonsale.Itwasreve aled earlier

thisyearattheGenevaMotorShow

andisexpectedtocostfromaround

£17,000whenitgoesonsale.It

shouldbeamongthemostspacious

carsinthehotlycontestedcompact

SUVclass,andin sideandoutittakes

designin spirationfromtherecently

laun chedSkodaScalahatchback.

ASISTERmodeltothePeugeot208

(above),theCorsaisalsogettingan

electricdrivetrainalongsidethemore

usualpetrolanddieseloptions.And

likethe208,there’llbelittledifference

betweenthethreeonthesurface.A

significantdropinweightcompared

totheoutgoingcarisexpected,which

shouldimprovehandlingandcomfor t.

There’llalsobemorespaceinside.

Ford Puma

ONSALEEarly 2020

BMW3Touring

ONSALESeptember

KiaXceed

ONSALESeptember

VolkswagenID.3

ONSALELate 2019

RenaultClio

ONSALELate 2019

FordKuga

ONSALEDecember

MGZS EV

ONSALENow

Peugeot 208

ONSALE Now

SkodaKamiq

ONSALELate 2019

VauxhallCorsa

ONSALEEarly 2020

Yo u’veseen the most

wanted carsonsale

right now, but thereare

evenmorejust around

thecorner...

SOONSOON