2022 might feel a bit 2021 but it’s a new year and we’re all feeling positive, well mostly positive. We’re expecting lots of new models this year, with something for everyone including electric vehicles. We will also be expanding our news and reviews sections here at Car.co.uk so you can expect much more from us when it comes to news, insight and advice.
Back to the news though and there were some big changes in 2021 when it came to vehicle sales. For the first time ever, the Vauxhall Corsa topped the car sales charts for the year. It wasn’t the top selling vehicle in the UK in 2021 though, that accolade went to the Ford Transit, showing that we still love the good old Transit van. There was a big change when it came to the top-selling car brand too, with Volkswagen topping the list for the first time ever. Then there was the continued shift towards electric vehicles which accounted for 11.6% of new car sales last year, up from 6.6% the year before. Times are changing.
Not surprisingly it’s been a little quiet when it comes to new models over the last few weeks as everyone enjoyed some festive downtime, but the industry is starting to wake up now. The year started with the reveal of the Mercedes-Benz EQXX, a luxury electric concept that could form the basis for a production model in a few years time. The design has certainly sparked lots of conversation, but so too has the promise of an energy consumption figure of 6 miles/kWh which would be very impressive.
Then all eyes moved to Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show where as well as a number of reveals from brands you have probably never heard of, BMW showed us a car that can change its colour at the press of a button on an app. James Bond must be seething, he could only ever rotate his number plates. The BMW iX Flow uses the same electrophoretic colouring technology as a Kindle e-reader, essentially passing electricity through a special E Ink in order to change its colour. It can even create patterns.
If that seems a bit too jazzy for you then how about another BMW iX that has just been revealed, the iX M60. It’s the new top dog in BMW’s electric line-up and boasts 619hp to get it to 62mph in 3.8 seconds. It also has a claimed range of 357 miles and will go on sale in the UK in the summer, priced from £111,905. It’s still not pretty but we drove the new iX recently and as much as we aren’t fans of the exterior design, once inside it really is very good.
