Autoesque

With one exception, all of this year’s World Car Awards winners feature a battery-electric powertrain.

This year’s World Car Awards include a World Electric Vehicle of the Year category for the first time. However, it seems to be somewhat redundant, because all of the top three finalists for the main World Car of the Year prize happen to feature pure-electric powertrains too.

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.

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.

Toyota is still the world’s most valuable automotive brand, according to the latest Best Global Brands study by Interbrand.

As its name describes, the new Audi R8 V10 Performance RWD combines an enhanced 5.2-litre V10 naturally-aspirated engine with rear-wheel drive.

Supply issues caused by the ongoing semiconductor shortage were largely responsible for dismal third-quarter new car registrations in the UK. In fact, 2021’s September performance – just 215,312 units – was the worst since the two-plate-change system was introduced in 1999.

Audi is getting ready to enter the Dakar Rally for the first time in 2022. Its contender for the gruelling two-week event is the RS Q e-tron, which is now undergoing initial testing.

Ahead of the 2022 race season, Audi Sport has introduced an improved R8 LMS GT3. The new evo II package focuses on five main areas.

909,973 new cars were registered in the UK during the first half of 2021. Although that total was 39.2% higher than 2020’s corresponding figure, the industry is now experiencing supply problems caused by a global shortage of semiconductors.

Following a second round of voting, the top three finalists for each of this year’s World Car Awards have been named.

By the end of the first quarter, it was already evident that new car demand and supply were both going to be severely affected by the pandemic. Indeed, figures just published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders show a UK registrations total of only 1,631,064 units for the entire year, the worst annual performance since 1992.

Volkswagen dealers in the UK are now accepting orders for the R version of the eighth-generation Golf.

Compared to a regular Audi TTS, the new Competition Plus variant gains extra power and some cosmetic upgrades.

Rather optimistically, the latest Best Global Brands report by Interbrand is subtitled ‘A New Decade of Possibility’. On the face of it, such hopefulness might be understandable, given that the total value of the world’s top 100 brands rose by 9 percent year-on-year. However, in these extremely unsettled times, the combined result masks some dramatic ups and downs.

At the 1980 Geneva Motor Show, Audi revealed the original four-wheel drive Quattro. The fortieth anniversary of that event deserves to be celebrated, so a limited edition based on the current TT RS Coupé has been created.

117,100 new cars were registered in Ireland during 2019. That figure, published by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry, represents a 6.8% decline on 2018’s total.

New car registrations in the UK declined for a third year running during 2019, but the overall reduction was fairly modest. However, as statistics from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders show, buying habits continued to change.

Interbrand has just published its twentieth annual 100 Best Global Brands report. Apple, Google and Amazon continue to occupy the first three slots, but the automotive sector remains well represented.

WPP and Kantar Millward Brown have completed their annual BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands study. Amazon heads the overall list for 2019, rising from last year’s third spot thanks to an estimated worth of US$315,505 million. Apple remains in the runner-up position, just ahead of Google.