Autoesque

As part of the recently-revealed Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance product roadmap to 2030, it’s been confirmed that the Nissan Micra’s successor is going to be an electric car.

Honda has reintroduced the CB300R, which joins the brand’s Neo Sports Café family of naked motorcycles alongside the CB125R, CB650R and CB1000R.

Nippy performance, great manoeuvrability, diminutive dimensions and zero emissions are qualities that any decent city car needs today. Arguably, a classic Mini running purely on electricity has them all.

A more extreme version of the Bronco SUV will soon be available. The new 2022 Raptor – which was devised by Ford Performance – is intended to tackle rough ground at high speeds.

A new mild-hybrid powertrain has been introduced for the Jeep Renegade and Compass. The system – known as e-Hybrid – is reckoned to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by 15 percent compared to its non-hybrid predecessor.

After 35 years, BMW is due to stop producing V12 engines for road-going vehicles in June. Such an event deserves a commemorative limited edition, hence ‘The Final V12’ which is based on the M760i xDrive.

In 1962, a Morgan Plus 4 SuperSports driven by Chris Lawrence and Richard Shepherd-Baron won the 2.0-litre GT class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Now, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of that victory, Morgan has launched a road-going limited edition.

Ford has created its all-new Mondeo to appeal solely to buyers in China. In fact, Ford China led the project, the car was unveiled at the company’s recently-established China Design Center in Shanghai, and all manufacturing will be done by Changan Ford in Chongqing. Sales in either Europe or North America are most unlikely.

Mercedes-Benz has confirmed prices and specifications for its improved eVito electric van, which is due to arrive at dealers in March.

Peugeot Sport is currently developing its new 9X8 Hypercar Hybrid for the World Endurance Championship. To mark the brand’s return to top-class racing, recently-founded watchmaker Lorige has been commissioned to design a special timepiece called the BL-Endurance Hyperblack.

After three rounds of voting, the 2022 North American Car of the Year, Truck of the Year and Utility Vehicle of the Year have been declared. A jury of 50 motoring journalists from across Canada and the United States decided all of the winners.

104,932 new cars were registered in Ireland during 2021. Although that figure represented a healthy rise of 18.8% compared to 2020’s total of 88,325, it was still short of the 117,109 deliveries achieved in pre-pandemic 2019.

New car registrations in the UK totalled 1,647,181 units during 2021. That figure represented a disappointingly small rise of 1.0% versus the previous year, but some manufactures did manage to significantly outperform the industry average.

2021’s new car registration statistics were markedly different from those of previous years, thanks to supply issues, the ongoing pandemic and changing buying habits.

A 0-62 mph (100 km/h) time of 3.8 seconds and an electronically-limited 155 mph (250 km/h) top speed demonstrate that the new iX M60 isn’t lacking in performance potential.

With four examples of the GR DKR Hilux T1+ currently competing in the 2022 Dakar Rally, now is the perfect time for Toyota to announce its new road-going Hilux GR Sport.