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    All   Jaguar Land Rover   models equipped with the firm's latest infotainment system now offer Amazon Alexa voice control functionality. The software has been added to the most recent iteration of JLR's Pivi Pro system, following its debut on the new Range Rover, and will come fitted as standard to all new models.  Some 200,000 existing cars equipped with the platform – which first appeared in the Defender, from early 2020 – can be upgraded over-the-air with the Amazon Alexa system. Cars equipped with the entry-level Touch Pro infotainment platform, fitted to certain variants of the Evoque, Discovery and Discovery Sport, gain the Remote Skill, letting owners check in on their car on an Amazon Echo device in their home or via their phone. The new voice control system offers touchless control of the vehicle's navigation, music player, phone and smart device interfaces, and is so far available for both UK- and US-market cars. The company says this upg...

    All   Jaguar Land Rover   models equipped with the firm's latest infotainment system now offer Amazon Alexa voice control functionality. The software has been added to the most recent iteration of JLR's Pivi Pro system, following its debut on the new Range Rover, and will come fitted as standard to all new models.  Some 200,000 existing cars equipped with the platform – which first appeared in the Defender, from early 2020 – can be upgraded over-the-air with the Amazon Alexa system. Cars equipped with the entry-level Touch Pro infotainment platform, fitted to certain variants of the Evoque, Discovery and Discovery Sport, gain the Remote Skill, letting owners check in on their car on an Amazon Echo device in their home or via their phone. The new voice control system offers touchless control of the vehicle's navigation, music player, phone and smart device interfaces, and is so far available for both UK- and US-market cars. The company says this upg...

     Ford,   BMW ,   Mini . The top styling jobs at   Maserati ,   Ferrari ,   Fiat ,   Lancia   and   Alfa Romeo , then leading   McLaren’s   design journey from a standing start to the dawn of an entirely new product cycle. Frank Stephenson has some CV. Unfettered by the birth of Frank Stephenson Design in 2018, the 62-year-old American’s current projects are intriguingly diverse, extending well beyond the automotive world. So we wanted to know what views this unique perspective would lend to the armchair designer topics du jour. Should electric cars look different from fossil-burners? What four-wheeled artistry can I buy on a budget? And, not unimportantly, are SUVs inherently ugly? “The EV world will change everything we know about interior packaging. When you start reducing the powerplants, you’re going to open up a lot of room inside the vehicle, which should be used to maximum effect. You have to start radically cha...

     The forthcoming electric MG 4 hatchback, due later this year, is expected to be very similar in design to the Chinese-market MG Mulan, unveiled this week.  The Mulan shows off a fresh design language for the firm, marking it out from  the  MG ZS EV  and  MG 5 SW EV . The 4 was previewed in February, with the image hinting that the new arrival will feature radical design cues.  MG gave few details of the 4 at the time, but it did confirm it measures 4300mm long - a similar size to the Kia e-Niro – and "is developed with the UK consumer in mind".  The new car is set to be positioned as a value alternative to electric family hatchbacks such as the Volkswagen ID 3 and Kia e-Niro. For the Mulan, MG has claimed a 4.0sec 0-62mph time. However, this hasn't been confirmed for the 4. The Mulan will also be the first EV built on SAIC’s Nebula platform, meaning it will b...

 

    Skoda boss Thomas Schäfer has confirmed its next three electric cars will all be smaller than the   Skoda  Enyaq SUV and   Enyaq Coupé  - but has said the firm wouldn’t rule out launching larger EVs in the future. The new Enyaq Coupé iV is  Skoda ’s second model built on the Volkswagen Group’s versatile bespoke electric MEB platform. As previously reported, the firm’s next priorities include a smaller saloon-style car – likely to be similar in size to the Volkswagen ID 3 – and its first model on the compact MEB Entry platform, which would essentially serve to replace the Citigo e-iV that went out of production in 2020. Last year, the Volkswagen ID Life and Cupra Urban Rebel concept previewed the first cars from those respective brands to use the new, smaller MEB platform, previewing production models due to arrive in 2025 with a target price of around £17,000. Asked when Skoda would showca...

    The facelifted   BMW 8 Series   and hot   BMW M8   in coupé, cabriolet and Gran Coupé guises have made their public debut at the Amelia Island concours in the US. Set for UK sale in the coming months, the 2022 8 Series receives the performance-inspired M-Sport styling package – previously an option – as standard. It imbues the trio of standard 8 Series models with a number of signature BMW M design elements, including a more heavily structured front bumper and rear diffuser as well as new-look 19in wheels and upgraded brakes with blue calipers on six-cylinder models. The more powerful V8 models receive a similar treatment but with an added splitter element up front, M8-style exterior mirrors, a rear spoiler and a diffuser in what BMW describes as “Dark Shadow Metallic” colour. Also included are new 20in wheels and a M-Sport differential as standard. Changes to the range-topping BMW M8 models are even more subtle, restricted to a range of new e...

    The  Audi A6   will gain an all-electric equivalent in 2024, complete with an Avant-badged version that is set to be the first all-electric offering in the executive estate segment.  Following the reveal of the  saloon-shaped A6 E-tron concept  last year, Audi has revealed a follow-up concept that closely previews the estate variant. It won’t immediately replace the A6 Avant, though, because Audi is planning to launch a ‘parallel offer’ powered by combustion in the future.  Like its saloon sibling – which sports a rakish silhouette in line with a vision to provide an EV alternative to both the current A6 and A7 – the new A6 Avant E-tron sits atop the Premium Platform Electric (PPE) architecture, which Audi is developing in partnership with Porsche and will be deployed first in the new  Porsche Macan EV  and  Audi Q6 E-tron  in 2023.  This platform blends elements of the  Porsche Taycan  and  Audi E-...

    Another compact-class value champion from ascendent budget brand Dacia, and this time a bit of a versatility champion too. The   Dacia Jogger   is a smallish estate-cum-seven-seat MPV; an indirect replacement for the old   Logan MCV   in a way, but done with much greater individuality and charm. We’ve already had a go in Europe , but with the UK launch of the car, Dacia has confirmed the numbers that matter most about it. They are £14,995 (the car’s scarcely believable entry-point showroom price) and £195 (the monthly outlay for which you can get one on a personal finance deal, after a deposit of… wait for it… £195). A car in this position doesn’t really need to be particularly well packaged, refined, versatile or nice to drive in order to find a receptive market; it probably just needs to exist. The Jogger, however, does quite a bit better than that. It’s ostensibly a 4.5m-long, seven-seat family car built on a supermini platform, which is why Dac...

    A special AMG edition of the   Mercedes G-Class  has been unveiled to celebrate 55 years of the AMG brand. Based on the  Mercedes-AMG G63 , the Edition 55 is only available in either Obsidian Black or G Manufaktur Opalite White, with both colours featuring a side stripe showing a close-up of the AMG badge. Inside, black and red leather covers most of the cabin, while carbonfibre details can also be found, and a number of Edition 55 badges mark it out from the standard G63. Mechanically, it's unchanged from the regular G63, so it has a 577bhp  twin-turbocharged  4.0-litre petrol V8 that can propel it from 0-62mph in 4.5sec and on to a top speed of 137mph. UK prices are yet to be announced, but the car will cost €299,222 in Europe – equivalent to £248,915. Order books are open now but will close in November. Mercedes-AMG CEO  Philipp Schiemer  said: "The success story of  Mercedes-AMG  over the past 55 years is...

    The   Nissan GT-R , one of the longest-serving production cars on sale today, will finally go off sale in Europe in light of strict new noise regulations coming into effect later this year. Official confirmation of the move comes some 13 years after the GT-R first went on sale in Europe, and a few months after Nissan withdrew its supercar from the Australian market due to impending stricter side-impact crash regulations. The new regulations are aimed at reducing road noise with a view to mitigating sound-induced stress for pedestrians and people who live near roads. They will be tightened further in 2026 when the legal limit for engine noises will be reduced to just 68dB - which could have heavy implications for sports car and performance exhaust system manufacturers.  The final examples of the GT-R will arrive in the UK in summer, and Nissan has yet to officially detail plans for a replacement.  The hardcore GT-R Nismo,  which Autocar revisited ea...

    Another compact-class value champion from ascendent budget brand Dacia, and this time a bit of a versatility champion too. The   Dacia Jogger   is a smallish estate-cum-seven-seat MPV; an indirect replacement for the old   Logan MCV   in a way, but done with much greater individuality and charm. We’ve already had a go in Europe , but with the UK launch of the car, Dacia has confirmed the numbers that matter most about it. They are £14,995 (the car’s scarcely believable entry-point showroom price) and £195 (the monthly outlay for which you can get one on a personal finance deal, after a deposit of… wait for it… £195). A car in this position doesn’t really need to be particularly well packaged, refined, versatile or nice to drive in order to find a receptive market; it probably just needs to exist. The Jogger, however, does quite a bit better than that. It’s ostensibly a 4.5m-long, seven-seat family car built on a supermini platform, which is why Dac...

    UK sales of the rugged   Audi A4 Allroad   and   Audi A6 Allroad   estates have been ended, with   Audi  declaring no intention of importing any future generations.  The decision was taken due to the variants accounting for only a small proportion of sales for their respective model lines. Audi sold 292 examples of the A4 Allroad in 2021, for example, compared with 446 of the significantly more potent and expensive  Audi  RS4 Avant, accounting for just over a thirtieth of total  Audi A4  sales. The larger A6 Allroad was an even slower seller, shifting just 256 units in the UK last year, less than half the number of  Audi  RS6 Avants sold in the same period and just 4.4% of  Audi A6  sales. Neither variant is now available to configure on Audi UK's website, and a spokesman confirmed to Autocar that the German brand has no plans to bring any future Allroad models here. The A6 ...

     Lamborghini is readying a radical super-hybrid to follow up the   Lamborghini  Aventador, and new spy shots give us our first look ahead of an anticipated reveal later this year. It will be Sant'Agata's first plug-in hybrid, setting the tone for  an electrification push  which will see the  Hurácan  and  Lamborghini Urus  go down the same route in the years to follow, and an all-electric 2+2 introduced in the second half of the decade. The Aventador's replacement has been spotted as  Lamborghini  prepares to end production of the V12-engined flagship, more than ten years since it launched. The brand stopped taking orders for the commemorative  Ultimae Edition  in October last year. Importantly, however, while its replacement will use an electrified drivetrain, it will take the bulk of its power from a large-capacity V12, in line with company boss Stephan Winkelmann's commitment to the emotional value of its ...

     The new DBX 707’s place in the world might seem obvious: a faster, brawnier version of the find-handling   Aston Martin DBX   intended to put some clear water between it and rivals in this ultra-competitive segment. But it has another role, one that causes Aston Martin CEO Tobias Moers to acquire a predatory grin: proving itself the fastest production SUV in the world. But while that's the target, the revisions haven’t been allowed to compromise the DBX’s gentlemanly appeal. When Moers talks about the changes, he spends far longer talking about the new chassis settings than the revisions that have delivered the headline power figure (for the record: new ball-bearing turbos and a heavily revised induction system; the bottom end is unaltered.) While the front suspension has been stiffened to improve steering response, the rear dampers have been softened to improve traction. Having demonstra...