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The new Genesis X Gran Equator concept showcases the brand's intention to tap the lucrative luxury 4x4 market with a rival to the Land Rover Defender and Toyota Land Cruiser. 

Revealed at the New York Auto Show as an electric concept car, the vehicle has been designed to accommodate both combustion and range-extender powertrains. Although it is strictly a concept at this stage, Genesis design boss Luc Donckerwolke hinted that the car would enter production and suggested it would take three years to develop a road-ready version, indicating at a possible arrival in 2028 or 2029.

Notably more slab-sided than existing Genesis models, the silhouette of the X Gran Equator almost recalls the sizeable American station wagons of the 1970s and 1980s, with a long bonnet, a low shoulder line and a rakish rear window.

Indeed, Genesis said the concept “defies traditional SUV conventions”, more closely resembling high-riding estates such as the Audi A6 Allroad, Volvo V90 Cross Country and classic AMC Eagle.

Nonetheless, it's intended to be a fully fledged off-roader and is fitted with a set of 24in beadlock wheels (so called because the beaded edge of the tyre is clamped to the wheel with a series of bolts) shod with chunky all-terrain tyres.

Donckerwolke said the decision to eschew many of the traditional luxury off-roader design cues was to ensure that the X Gran Equator offered a fresh, modern design.

"We would not do a [Mercedes] G-Wagen, because that is clearly a vehicle that is anchored in the tradition for Mercedes," said Donckerwolke. "We would do something like an old version of a Range Rover, old version of a Jeep, but obviously transporting all our brand DNA and the values of luxury and hospitality into the car. It's a mix of off-road capability, off-road performance and luxury.

"We don't have the design DNA of a Jeep or Range Rover. It's a different brand, so this car has the design DNA of a Genesis. I don't care what the other brands do: I do it my way."

Donckerwolke added that the pared-back design of the X Gran Equator was a deliberate contrast to other cars on the market: "We are living in a time where design is over-saturated. In every car, you have design elements where you can make three cars out of one, because there are an overkill of design elements. We don't need that. Everybody is free to have their own identity, but at Genesis, we are living in purity. We are reducing. We are about what we call the beauty of the empty space, the white sheet of paper. We really care a lot about the proportions.

"This car has such incredible proportions that you don't need to put a lot of make-up on it. If you have a pig, you need to put a lot of make-up. We are working to make sure that we don't have a pig from the start."

Inside, the dashboard does away with the large screens typical of modern cars. Instead, there are physical switches for important functions such as the drive mode and small gauge-style displays showing the sat-nav, wheel travel and an inclinometer. The car’s speed, remaining range and time are shown on a pod of three smaller dials in front of the driver. This design is said to focus the driver’s attention on the road ahead, rather than any interior accoutrements.

Chunky grab handles are mounted to the centre console – echoing a similar feature in the Defender – and the same motif is mirrored for the rear passengers.

The tailgate is split horizontally at the bootlid, opening in two segments, and the concept is fitted with a set of roof rails. 

The X Gran Equator concept is built on what Donckerwolke called a platform "similar" to that of the Kia EV9, but he confirmed a production version would be likely to accommodate a range of powertrains. Listing electric, hybrid and range-extender powertrains, he said that "now obviously we have to look at the business case and the differentiation" between powertrains and other models. However, while the Hyundai Motor Group continues to develop hydrogen technology, Donckerwolke ruled it out for the X Gran Equator.

A range-extender model could prove crucial in helping any production version to win over buyers in the Middle East and parts of the US, where there is plenty of demand for premium off-roaders but still a limited market for EVs. It's a similar move to Volkswagen's revived Scout brand, which will launch with off-road pick-up and SUVs offered with range-extender drivetrains,

The radical concept is the latest in a series of experimental models from the Korean brand, all hinting at a push much further upmarket than Genesis's current positioning as a value-focused BMW and Mercedes-Benz rival.

The first model to be launched under Audi's Chinese-market sub-brand, AUDI, will be called the E5 Sportback.

The name represents the car's postioning as a battery-electric car (E) in the mid-size segment (5), Audi said, suggesting it may be bookended by an E3 and an E7 in the future. 

Evolved from the bold AUDI E concept shown last year, the new model will be unwrapped at the Shanghai motor show on 25 April as the first of a line of bespoke EVs designed for younger buyers in China.

While similar in size and proportion to the new Audi A5 that was recently launched in Europe, the first AUDI model will be based on a new 800V architecture developed in partnership with joint venture partner SAIC (which owns MG) and completely unrelated to the other models in Audi's global line-up.

Audi bosses suggest the design will be little changed from 2024's show car and production models for the AUDI brand will indeed forego the German marque's historic four-ring logo in a bid to mark them out as differently positioned products. 

The AUDI brand is described as having been developed "in China for China" and will play an important role in catering to explosive demand for EVs in the world's biggest car market - which is currently far outpacing most other regions in which Audi operates.

There are no plans to sell AUDI cars outside China.

Planned to go into production later this year, the E is the first of three new AUDI models, the others being a saloon and an SUV set for introduction in China in 2026 and 2027 atop the same architecture.

The expansion of the joint operations of Audi and SAIC aims to harness the former’s reputation for design and engineering with the latter’s speed-to-market capabilities and local expertise.

Significantly, the first AUDI model was developed in just 18 months - less than half the time of traditional Audi models.

Audi CEO Gernot Döllner previously emphasised that the Audi-SAIC partnership provides a foundation for a “new generation of advanced, intelligent vehicles, which will be exclusive to China”.

"The joint platform allows us to address a promising yet demanding segment with state-of-the-art connected vehicles," he said.

At 4870mm long, with a 2950mm wheelbase, 1990mm wide and 1460mm tall, the E is claimed to offer a roomier interior than the similarly sized A5. 

The styling of the E combines flamboyant LED light designs with clean and largely unadorned surfacing, to provide it with a more monolithic appearance than more recent models from the main Audi brand.

Based on the new Advanced Digitalised Platform developed by Audi and SAIC, it features an 800V electrical architecture and a dual-motor drivetrain that delivers a combined 754bhp and up to 590lb ft of torque.

With Quattro four-wheel drive and torque vectoring capability, AUDI claims a 0-62mph time of 3.6sec.

A 100kWh battery also provides the E with a range of more than 435 miles under China’s under CLTC test standards.

Details of the charging rate are yet to be revealed, but the E is claimed to offer a 300km (186-mile) replenishment of energy stores in 10 minutes on a high-powered DC charger.

Other features being touted for the upcoming production version of the E are four-wheel steering and air suspension.

Subaru has given its Solterra electric SUV a wide-reaching update that introduces a new look, extra range and more performance.

Arriving in the UK in early 2026, the facelifted EV had its covers pulled off at the New York motor show, where the Japanese firm also revealed the new Outback-sized Trailseeker electric SUV.

The new Solterra is visually a big depart from the car it replaces, with a new front panel and new headlights.

It follows its Toyota bZ4X and Lexus RZ siblings in being updated with a fresh look as it vies to compete with new rivals in the busy electric family SUV segment.

In that pursuit, the Solterra's underpinnings have been significantly upgraded. Key to that is a new 74.4kWh lithium ion battery, replacing a 71.4kWh unit. 

This boosts range to “more than” 285 miles on the US's EPA test scale, says Subaru, which it claims is 25% more than offered by the outgoing model.

While WLTP figures have yet to be confirmed, this means the SUV could offer as much as 356 miles - mirroring the improvements made to its also updated Toyota and Lexus siblings.

Subaru claims the new Solterra is better equipped for colder climates (a key criticism of the previous car), thanks to improvements made to the motors and the battery.

What’s more, a new battery pre-conditioning system will allow for faster charging speeds in all temperatures. It can now charge at speeds of up to 150kW, allowing for 10-80% fill-ups in less than 35 minutes.

The Solterra’s four-wheel-drive powertrain now makes 230bhp, up 15bhp, in standard form. A new XT trim - as of yet unconfirmed for the UK – boosts this even further to 333bhp, giving a 0-60mph time of less than 5.0sec.

Both motors can now work better independently, and the power controller has been improved. In all, these updates improve driving performance on and off road and in different weather conditions, says Subaru.

Pricing has yet to be revealed, but the Solterra currently starts at £52,505 in the UK.

Hot hatches are the Goldilocks performance cars – they're fast, mischievously good fun, whole-heartedly practical and some are even quite affordable. What is not to like?

The best hot hatches come from a recipe that has been around for decades: take an otherwise ordinary hatchback, up the performance and upgrade its powertrain and chassis technologies. 

Some car makers even hand them over to their own in-house performance sub-brands to work their magic. Think Mercedes-AMG, Hyundai N, Toyota's Gazoo Racing and Ford Performance.

Hot hatchbacks are equally capable of zipping through city streets or tackling winding roads, offering exhilarating driving experiences without sacrificing everyday usability. 

You should make the most of them while you still can. Increasingly strict emissions regulations mean hot hatches are no longer the overtly affordable performance machines they once were. 

Although internal combustion still rules the roost, there’s a definite sense that these petrol-engined machines are the last of the breed. Two cars on our list are actually electric. 

But which should you choose? We think the Toyota GR Yaris is the best hot hatch money can buy today, offering stunning cross-country pace, engaging handling and compact proportions. 

Read on for our full top ten list of the best hot hatches on sale today. Whether you're after speed, style, or versatility, these cars have it all.

The Autocar was the very first motoring magazine to use a standardised series of tests to deliver a verdict, and nearly 100 years on, we're still doing it.

Things have changed since those early days, of course. Sadly our early road testers are unfortunately no longer with us, but some of the magazine's more recent alumni have shared their memories.

Below you'll find the ones we could actually legally use.

John Barker

“I was a bit surprised to find myself going backwards at 100mph. One moment I was steering the Nissan Maxima gently left onto the wet asphalt apron at the end of Millbrook’s mile straight, the next I was fast reversing towards a steep grass bank, bracing for impact...

“An impact that was thankfully soft. I got right to the top of the 30ft bank, the wipers gave a flick, I breathed a sigh of relief – and then gravity asserted itself and we started back down on the wet grass. The Maxima nosed heavily into a French drain and was stuck but, incredibly, unscathed.

"The recovery truck driver said as much, before adding ‘we found this on the driver’s seat’ and presenting me with a sizeable turd that was, in fact, part of the soil sample the Maxima’s tailpipes had made on impact and chugged out on the way back down.”

Chris Chilton

“Tyres tests were an Autocar regular in the early 2000s and as a junior road tester, I was tasked with taking a Ford Transit full of fresh rubber to Michelin’s Ladoux track in the middle of France in preparation.

“Naively/stupidly taking as read Chris Harris’s dubious assertion that I’d easily be able to get there, dump the tyres and get back to Teddington in a day, I set off for France with no spare clothes, no hotel and, this being 2002, no smartphone to book one. By the time I’d arrived, the facility was closed and I spent the night driving back and forth between autoroute toll booths to stay warm.

“Years later as road test ed I made up for it, sending my rookie to deliver the rubber and then flogging the lot to a part-worn tyre dealer three weeks later.”

Gavin Conway

“It's May 1994. The McLaren F1 Autocar was testing sat before me, V12 ticking as it cooled on a remote Welsh road. At the time, road test supremo Andrew Frankel said the magazine would never run figures on a faster car (he hadn’t anticipated the Bugatti Veyron).

"The F1’s 627bhp magnificence could reach 100mph in 6.3sec and top out at 240mph, and 25 years ago it cost a staggering £627,000 (we also didn’t anticipate that today you won’t get change from £11 million if you want a good one).

“I hadn’t been a road tester for much more than a year and I didn’t really expect to be more than a passenger in the McLaren. So I was baffled when the half dozen or so road testers and snappers piled into the support van.

"The last of them, Autocar superhero Steve Cropley, walked over and handed me the keys to the F1: ‘See you back at the hotel. And take your time.’ Alone, with the keys to a McLaren F1 – I don’t believe I’ve been so trusted since then. Thank you, Autocar.”

Jamie Corstorphine

“In 2008, I was running a long-term Caterham 7 and, in search of a destination for a farewell journey, I ended up touring the Isle of Man.

"I was so impressed by the quality of the roads and hospitality of the locals that I returned with a pitch to base our annual Britain’s Best Driver’s Car contest there. The fact that the local officials had offered to close a road sealed the deal with the editor. 

“It turns out that closing a road on the Isle of Man is as simple as completing a form, turning up at the transport depot to pick up a few cones and ‘Diversion’ signs and setting to work yourself.

"At the time, the whole thing felt somewhat unreal. Five of the year’s best driver’s cars and one spectacular mountain road all to ourselves. Even the rain held off.

“Until the next morning, that is, when a huge storm blew in, resulting in the single worst ferry journey I have experienced.”

David Vivian

“Two enterprising guys – I forget their names – had travelled to Germany to buy an Amphi-Ranger, a sizeable, angular amphibious 4x4, with a view to marketing the vehicle in the UK.

"After taking delivery, they drove it back to Blighty. Thing is, when they came to the English Channel, they didn’t stop, and spent the next 21 miles dodging ferries and cargo ships. How could we resist the offer of a spin to the Isle of Wight? 

“A day that starts with a bump across a Portsmouth pavement and a sandy slither past open-mouthed beach dwellers towards the sea has a certain surreal promise, although the anxiety aroused by the sight of my hosts’ legs dangling through the open sunroof and a brick on the accelerator to provide forward thrust was rivalled only by the urgent flashes of bilge pump warning light.

"No matter. We gatecrashed Cowes week, trundled across Ryde and eventually, back in the briny at low tide, got stuck on a Solent and bank. At which point I opened the door, removed my shoes, leapt into six inches of water and walked to the nearest pub.”

Andrew Frankel 

“It's the launch of the original Ford Mondeo in 1993. For Autocar readers, the first group test was probably the story of the year and, as road test editor, it was my job to deliver it.

"Ford had hired the Byblos hotel in St Tropez, so we drove the rivals down for the showdown the next day. Then an American called Jack Daniels got involved, after which I remember nothing.

“The next day, I was so ill I’d pretend to take each car for a blast in the hills, only to drive out of sight, park and sleep for an hour. Then one of our number inverted the Primera, while another threw up three times on the way to the airport.

"Proud? No, and 25 years later I still cringe at the thought. But we got the test done and, most importantly, got the verdict right. That Mondeo was a landmark, so much so that not even the hangover from hell could disguise it.”

Chris Harris 

“June 1999. I flew into Stuttgart and took a taxi to Zuffenhausen – home of Porsche and a place I’d wanted to visit all my life. Just seeing the signs near the factory triggered spasms of joy, but the reason for my visit was almost too much to comprehend: to collect a new sports car called the GT3, a faster, more track-savvy version of the water-cooled 996.

"I signed the collection document and primed the map book to take me to Calais via every possible type of road. I drove at 180mph on autobahns and zipped through France on N-roads before landing in the UK, in the first GT3 ever to do so.

"I was 24 and thought – still think, in fact – that I had the best job in the world.

“These would go on to be the cars I would grow to love above all others. That was one of the happiest days of my life, because I was never happier than when I worked at Autocar. I still have that collection document.”

Simon Hucknall

“There's a reason why Autocar uses one of the UK’s two proving grounds for recording road test numbers: both have arrow-straight sections of at least one mile, allowing testers to pick off important ‘accel’ figures with ease, including the standing kilometre.

"But neither was free the day I had to run figures on the then new Maserati 4200 in 2002, so I headed for the Longcross test track instead. Longcross doesn’t have a mile straight; in fact, the only straight section it has is barely a kilometre, ending in a banked 180deg bend.

"Overshoot and you’re on the M3. The near-400bhp Maser was, Chris Harris assured me, a ‘sub-24-second car’ over that kilometre. At 125mph, I was two seconds shy of that target; at 130mph, I nearly spun braking so hard into the turn; and at 132mph/24.7sec, I received a ‘reckless’ warning from track control and had to call it a day. So, close, Mr Harris, but no cigar.”

Matt Prior

“Sometimes, when we performance test extremely fast cars at MIRA, its maker will send a support crew, who diligently check pressures and temperatures and offer new tyres every few minutes.

"Occasionally, they even send a driver to advise how to get the best from the car. Once Ferrari sent ‘Marc’, who turned out to be Marc Gene (who was utterly charming and thought our wet handling circuit was hilarious).

“When Porsche said it would support the 918 Spyder test, then, we thought we knew what to expect – which wasn’t one bloke in a 4x4 with some wheels in the back that stayed precisely where they were.

"His idea of checking the 918’s tyres was to put a cigarette down for just long enough to place a hand on a tyre to see how warm it was and shrug.

“Thus approved, the 918 went around our dry handling circuit a full second faster than a McLaren P1.”

Matt Saunders

“Morgan's elegant 'aero' series of flagship sports cars had escaped the full road test treatment until 2012, when Matt Prior and I took delivery of one of the factory’s ‘supersport’ Aero Coupe at MIRA.

“We watched it roll off the delivery trailer. It looked lovely. We cracked on with our numbers – until halfway through our dry handling lap times when there was a nasty lurch, the engine cut out abruptly and the brake pedal went worryingly dead.

"Turns out an engine mounting had failed, and the wayward motor had snagged and tugged loose the car’s brake lines while it was thrashing around. And so, contrary to our plans, it left MIRA the same way it had arrived.

“Three years later, I was figuring Radical’s Radical RXC500 Turbo when, at almost precisely the same point on MIRA’s Dunlop circuit where the Morgan came to rest, the Radical’s gearbox seized, ejecting me off across the damp grass, at speed, towards the tyres (which, pleasingly, I missed). It’s not my favourite corner.

“You will recall reading neither test, because neither car completed the process, neither could be photographed and so neither appeared. That’s the thing with low-volume British sports cars: you never quite know what’s going to happen.”