Seat unleashes ‘super’ Cupra R

Seat is teeing up the showroom debut of its most potent Leon yet: the awesome Cupra R. Powered by a highly tuned2litre, four-cylinder, turbocharged petrol engine – revised by the engineers at SEAT’s state-of-the-art Technical Centre in Martorell – the R hits 62mph in 6.2 seconds. The  Leon Cupra R costs £25,205 on-the-road.

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Scrap-happy buyers lift a slow market for cars

Nine out of 10 new car sales over the past year would not have happened without the scrappage scheme, according to  Glass’s Guide.

Scrappage was one of the most successful-ever collaborations between car manufacturers and Government, says Glass’s, after its survey revealed that fewer than 10 per cent of customers who bought under it planned to buy a new car in future years.

Without the £2,000 incentive, the vast majority of buyers would instead have chosen to purchase used cars when the time came to change their vehicles, adds Glass’s.

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Fatherhood reduces speed

Becoming a dad slows a male driver down, according to research by used car sales site Carmony.co.uk, which reveals that more than half of new fathers look for reliability above all else.

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Euro Sportage here for summer

The new Kia Sportage, which goes on sale in August, is Kia’s latest European-designed model to have been specifically developed for the UK’s roads and drivers.  Research and development experts from Kia Motors in the UK have been involved with testing of the new Sportage, which will be built at the Žilina plant in Slovakia.

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Swift response to buyers’ needs

Suzuki has listened to British buyers and come up with more economical, third-generation models of its popular Swift supermini. The latest three and five-door Swifts go on UK sale in the autumn, with a 56.5mpg 1.2-litre petrol engine replacing the current, thirstier 1.3-litre unit, and a 67.3mpg diesel unit joining the range in 2011. More details, plus prices, will be available closer to the launch date.

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