General set to return
Big news this week is that General Motors is coming back to the UK in 2023. We hopped across the pond to Detroit to chat to the General’s engineers and execs who gave us lots of clues of what to expect. Officially they will only announce their full strategy early in 2023 but we drove the electric Cadillac Lyriq, Chevrolet Bolt EUV, Chevrolet Corvette and the massive Hummer EV, all of which are likely to be in the mix. The Lyriq and Bolt will be the main models as GM pushes its electric vehicle strategy, but we could also see some performance models join the Vette, such as the Cadillac Blackwings. Don’t expect to see a local dealership though, we got the impression that GM will go with an online, direct sales approach to minimise costs, although there will probably be some boutique showrooms similar to Genesis, Polestar and Tesla. Keep an eye out for our full story on GM’s plans next week.
Then we promised you more details on the new Honda Civic Type R but the Japanese brand still isn’t giving too much away. Yes it’s based on the new Civic, features loads of aerodynamic stuff and has a new rev-match system, but what we all really want to know is its performance stats. Honda isn’t telling, saying only that the engine is an evolution of the motor from the last generation Type R and that the car set a new front-wheel drive lap record at the Suzuka circuit. No doubt the details you want will be coming soon.
MG is about to launch its new MG4 in the UK and we’ll be getting behind the wheel later this month, but in the meantime the importer has announced the pricing for its new hatchback. The standard model, appropriately called SE Standard Range starts at £25,995 while the long range model which has the equally creative name of Trophy Long Range, starts at £31,495. We did expect it to be a bit cheaper, quite a bit cheaper in fact, mainly because this puts it up against models like the Volkswagen ID4 and Nissan Leaf. Standard models have a range of up to 218 miles and the longer range is claimed to go up to 270, with 64kWh versions able to charge at up to 135kW.
Jeep has confirmed it will launch the new Grand Cherokee in the UK early next year. Only available as a plug-in hybrid the Grand Cherokee 4xe will start from £69,900 and offer that all Jeep stuff you expect, like Trail-rated off-road ability combined with comfortable Quadra-Lift air suspension, loads of space and tech for infotainment and driver assistance systems. It’s not likely to be a match for rivals like the BMW X5 or Jaguar F-Pace in terms of luxury but with 32 miles of electric-mode driving available, it’s got a bit of city slicker usefulness to go with its renowned go-anywhere attitude and ability.
