Hutton Reports

It has been said that the next five years will see more changes in the motor business than at any time since the car was invented. I am not sure that I agree with that time-scale but there are certainly major shifts in design and engineering, public policy, and consumer attitudes that will alter the cars we drive and the ...

Renault UK boss Vincent Tourette believes Renault is too reliant on fleet and rental and needs more retail sales This ought to be a story of Renault’s revival, and in some ways it is but it also illustrates the uncertainty that currently surrounds the motor trade in the UK. In 2002, Renault sold nearly 200,000 cars in this country. Ten ...

Politicians in several parts of the world have promised to ban petrol and diesel engine cars from 2040. It is an easy gesture to make, reinforcing their countries’ commitment to the climate change agreements and justifying their governments’ investment in electric cars and alternative power sources, but it is also a cynical one. Those setting the targets know that, in ...

The new generation of the Ford Fiesta, Britain’s best-selling car, is in the showrooms. It is more spacious, more efficient, and better equipped than its predecessor. Although the price has gone up, we can expect the new model to continue Fiesta’s seven year reign at the top of the UK sales charts. With the Focus, due for replacement next year,  ...

Volvo’s recent announcement about its future electric strategy is only part of its Chinese owner’s worldwide ambitions You may have heard that Volvo is to be the first car company to go all-electric. The headlines proclaimed that this is the end of the internal combustion engine, the start of a new era in private transportation. Of course, it is nothing ...

The B-SUV sector is the fastest growing part of the new car sector and with the launch of the Crossland X, Vauxhall dealers are now offering customers two different models Naturally, when one car company opens up a new niche in the market, all its competitors will follow. The success of the Nissan Juke, launched in 2010, was a surprise ...

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Volkswagen set its sights on world domination back in 2009: it was to make orderly progress through expansion, increasing sales with new marques, a wider product range, and ventures into new markets. By 2018 it would be the global number one in terms of sales volume, profitability, employee motivation and customer satisfaction. Well, ...

We didn’t see this one coming. It was never very clear why General Motors invested in Peugeot in 2012 and when it sold its shares two years later, most assumed that it was end of the alliance between the two companies. No-one expected the tables to be turned and for Peugeot to purchase GM’s Vauxhall and Opel operations. On 6 ...

It was the Swift that changed our perception of Suzuki. Before it first appeared in 2005, Suzuki was known for its small workhorse 4X4s – the LJ, SJ and Santana – and cheap minicars based on Japanese market kei (or small) cars. Swift was a well-priced, modern, European-style supermini with a sporty flavour and was pivotal in Suzuki’s move into ...

The New Year signalled a revolution in the car business. For more than a quarter of a century, the Detroit Auto Show was the must-attend opening event for the world’s motor industry. But now the future of the car is presented more clearly at a rather different January event, CES, the Consumer Electronics Show, in Las Vegas. The keywords are ...