tommallett

Audi: Sadly, they all look the same. However, the A3 (on the inside at least) is now exquisite.

Bentley: The 4X4 is having a redesign but the big news is Bentley is going racing again!

BMW: The i8 is rather lovely. BMW need an R8/SLS price pointed car.

Cadillac: A hybrid Escalade? It claims 25mpg…I’ll eat my hat…

Citroen: It’s all about Sebastian Loeb – WTCC?

Ferrari: F12 is a proper Ferrari and really well built now too. Excited.

Ford: The 3cyl 1.0 litre petrol engine is tiny…but the Focus is now very boring to look at.

Hyundai: Nice cars built well.

Infinity: Will its tie-up with Sebastian Vettel give them some traction in Europe?

Jaguar: I wish the F-Type was a touch prettier. It’s nice, but not E-Type nice and the interior is from the parts bin.

Kia: They’re now contenders as well.

Lamborghini: The Gallardo facelift is ‘blink and you’ll miss it” unless you know what you’re looking for, Aventador cues ‘n all.

Land Rover: The new Range Rover is very nice and there is clear air between it and the Sport. Will it deliver dynamically I wonder?

Lexus: Some concepts…that I’ll probably forget about soon.

Mazda: They barely facelifted the mk1. They barely facelifted the mk2 and the mk 3 MX-5 has basically stayed the same since 2005. They’re all good though.

McLaren: P1…straight to the top of the class.

Mercedes: You’d have to be a very committed environmentalist to buy a £300k electric SLS. A Class? Very pretty but no longer that practical.

MINI: Now Maxi in many ways. Looking forward to driving the new and similarly impractical GP Works.

Nissan: Nice cars built nicely.

Peugeot: Despite the protests outside there was a big stand. The 208 looks compact and quite pretty.

Porsche: The Panamera Sport Turismo. It’s very big but then that is what people want. Can I have that front end on a Panamera? The rear is fussy though.

Renault: New Clio…Sport – less good looking, turbocharged and no manual. Shivers.

Rolls Royce: Facelifted Phantom has more LEDs. Brilliant.

Seat: The Leon was always ‘emotional’. It is now German (not Spanish). But well made etc. etc.

Skoda: VW Group’s brand ‘ladder’ is brilliant – Mercedes and BMW seem dwarfed in comparison.

Smart: A strange looking concept on the stand. Will it go the way of
Maybach? I hope not.

Toyota: I am, of course, still excited about the GT86. However, it’s pretty boring otherwise.

Vauxhall: Adam. Oh dear. They got that past the board? I fear for them.

Volkswagen: New Golf is very nice and they’ll sell bucket loads. But, a boost gauge in the Beetle?!