Autoesque

Is there such a thing as too much choice? When it comes to the Kodiaq SUV, Škoda clearly doesn’t think so.

Standard-fit all-wheel drive should mean the Kodiaq Scout’s all-terrain ability lives up to its more rugged look.

Given the current trend for small-capacity, three-cylinder, turbocharged engines, Toyota’s decision to stick a 1.5 litre, four-cylinder, normally-aspirated petrol unit in the 2017 Yaris supermini might come as a surprise.

Sadly, the current Holden Commodore will soon be replaced by a rebadged Vauxhall / Opel Insignia Grand Sport. So, to commemorate the rear-wheel drive model’s imminent passing, three special versions have been created.

A series of small changes might make the all-wheel drive Outlander plug-in hybrid a slightly more practical proposition.

Figures published by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry show that over 146,000 new cars were registered in the country during 2016. In fact, market size grew by 17.5% compared to 2015, with most of the additional volume appearing in January and February.

Kia certainly created a stir at the North American International Auto Show earlier this month by unveiling the Stinger. Described by its maker as a fastback sports sedan, sales across Europe are due to begin during the fourth quarter of 2017.

Ford and Transport for London are collaborating on a project that's going to assess twenty plug-in hybrid Transit Custom vans. These prototype vehicles will be allocated to various fleets from autumn 2017 for a twelve-month period.

In its launch photographs, the new Crossland X looks fairly bulky. Don't be deceived though, because this B-segment crossover (which will sit alongside the Mokka X in the Vauxhall and Opel ranges) is actually quite compact.

Fiat's Ducato pretty much dominates the large camper van scene at the moment. Whether or not the all-new Volkswagen Crafter can steal market share from its established Italian rival remains to be seen, but conversions have already started to emerge.

Full marks to Nissan for giving its latest limited edition pick-up an interesting name. The Trek-1°, which is based on the range-topping NP300 Navara Tekna, alludes to the -1° longitude of the Navarre desert in Spain.

Holden has released the first images of its 2017 Astra sedan. This new four-door, which arrives at dealers in May, is essentially a Chevrolet Cruze with a restyled nose.

Current World Rally Championship regulations don't require manufacturers to build a certain number of identical cars in order to participate. That wasn't the case under the long-superseded Group B and Group A rules, which demanded the production of so-called homologation specials.

Total new car registrations hit an all-time high of 2,692,786 in 2016 . Compared to 2015, that figure represented a modest rise of 2.3%. Of course, some manufacturers comfortably beat the market average, but it was a year to forget for others.

After just eighteen months, production of the current Civic Type R has come to an end. A total of 2,500 examples were allocated to the UK market and, to celebrate the model's departure, the final 100 have been built to Black Edition specification.

2017's North American Car of the Year, Truck of the Year and Utility Vehicle of the Year have been announced at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

Numerous ‘experts’ predicted that economic doom and gloom would surely follow when the UK voted to leave the European Union. Well, if new car registrations are a pertinent measure, then they’ve been wrong so far.

Bentley has begun the new year by launching the most powerful car it has ever produced. The Continental Supersports, which revives a nameplate that last appeared in 2009, will be available in either coupé or convertible form.

Well, it only took five days for the first black-themed special edition of 2017 to appear. Ram is the guilty party, but doubtless many more manufacturers will adopt this time-worn tactic before the year is out.

2018 will see Ginetta participating in the FIA World Endurance Championship as an LMP1 chassis manufacturer. There won't be a works entry, though. Rather, Ginetta intends to supply three two-car privateer teams.

Plenty of new car launches are scheduled for this year. The ten listed below are worth getting most excited about, because they're all likely to have a significant impact on their respective market segments.