All New KIA

The week began, in the motor world, with an event starring Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi. An appointment in which the three brands revealed their plans for the future: a new agreement that joins their paths for at least fifteen more years. A roadmap that includes new models such as the successor to the Nissan Micra: it will be less Nissan and less Micra.

In 2022, as indicated Automotive News EuropeNissan sold 31,105 units of the Nissan Micra in Europe: the figures come from Dataforce. The previous generations of the Japanese urban used to put on the streets of the Old Continent, on a regular basis, more than 100,000 copies per year.

an unsuccessful project

Until last year, the Nissan Micra was manufactured at the French plant in Flins: the same one where Renault also assembles the Renault Zoe. A project that, in the words of Luca de Meo, “was not very successful”. This agreement was an obligation for the Japanese brand: “Nissan was forced to do something that it did not want. Nothing was good: neither the car, nor the cost…”.

Something that, as they affirm, will not happen with the new model, since both parties will benefit from their association: “It is a very competitive proposal. We didn’t force Nissan to do anything: it was their choice.” They ensure that the next Nissan Micra built by Renault is the best example of how the alliance of the three manufacturers will work from now on.

Nissan’s change of decision

The dance of figures in the production of the Nissan Micra shows that something had stopped working and the brand had practically decided to abandon segment B… until Luca de Meo made them a proposal: with the restructuring of the alliance, it was possible to take the Renault 5 as a starting point to create an iconic model for Nissan. That was how he managed to convince them.

The new Nissan Micra will give Nissan profitable access to the small electric vehicle segment. They will not proceed as with the new Mitsubishi Colt and ASX, which are a Renault Clio and a Renualt Captur with a different logo. Although it is developed and built by Renault, they assure that it will have its own style: the teasers revealed in 2022 they showed a different design… despite the fact that it will share 80% of the parts with the next electric Renault 5.

The successor to the Nissan Micra is scheduled for 2026 and will be built at Renault’s factory in Douai, located in northern France. It is one of three production sites that make up the company’s ElectriCity industrial complex, which focuses on electrical vehicles and components, including batteries. The French brand will also manufacture the new Renault 5 there, whose launch is scheduled for 2024.

There is less and less left for the arrival of what will undoubtedly be one of the great releases of the year. Toyota has established itself as the leading brand in Spain, the one that sells the most cars, by far, and the one that has wrested hegemony from brands like SEAT, casting its products on the best-seller lists.

A leadership more than deserved. For years, Toyota has opted for the electrification of its range, preparing the most complete range of hybrids on the market, with a wide variety of models and displaying technology that, today, is precisely what the Spanish buyer is looking for.

While in other European countries sales of fully electric cars and plug-in hybrids are growing at a good pace. In Spain, its sales continue to be almost testimonial and, at this rate, it will be difficult to meet the transition objectives towards the electric car that have been set from Europe. At the moment, we only have one thing clear, what we Spaniards can and want to buy are hybrid and non-electric cars.

Toyota will launch a new SUV this year, of course hybrid and with an ECO label

Toyota’s new SUV, of course hybrid and with an ECO label

AND that is precisely what Toyota continues to provide, with the launch this year of a new SUV that should occupy an important place in its range. A practical, spacious SUV with a good trunk, but without reaching the size and space of a Toyota RAV4 that has a price from €39,950.

The Toyota Corolla Cross – despite its name – will be an SUV with a very different aesthetic from the Toyota Corolla, which with a 433-liter trunk will not be as spacious as a RAV4, which reaches 490 liters in capacity, but more spacious than the Toyota Yaris Cross, with 390 liters of capacity.

We don’t know its price yet. But we have been able to make some estimates knowing the price of the Toyota Corolla Cross in other European markets where its marketing has already begun, considering that it should be between €28,650 for the Toyota C-HR and €39,950 for the Toyota RAV4. Probably a price in the region of €31,000 and €35,000. Although the escalation of prices that is being experienced in new cars and in which Toyota models are also being plunged, could make their price higher.

The alternative for which there is no waiting

We said that Toyota is dominating the best-seller lists in Spain. If we look at the top 10 best-selling hybrid cars in January, we find that the leader, without question, is the Toyota C-HR. Probably the best alternatives to the Toyota Corolla Cross, if we do not want to wait for its launch, are the Toyota Yaris Cross from €24,925 and the Own Toyota C-HR from €28,650which you can see in these images.

The day of Valentine’s Day It is just around the corner; you are ready? Instead of weighing you down when the time comes February 14thThink about what your partner likes. If there’s a car enthusiast in your life, shopping can be much easier if you choose one of these five gifts. Any combination of these items will be a huge hit, and they can all cost you less than $100.

1. Car Wash Kit

Even if you live in a cold place, this gift will come in handy for your partner when the weather is much nicer. People who love their cars often spend time washing and waxing them to keep their beloved vehicle looking great.A complete wash and wax kit Meguiar’s Gold Class It costs less than $100 at O’Reilly Auto Parts.

2. Headlight restorer

Has your partner complained about the dirty and discolored headlights on his beloved car? Give him a headlight restoration kit that solves his problems. This kit can be a great Valentine’s gift for car lovers. He 3M headlight restoration kit It has everything you need to turn dull headlights into clear, clean beauties.

3. Scanner diagnostic tool

If your car lover doesn’t have a diagnostic tool or code reader, it’s time they did. This tool allows trouble codes to be at your fingertips every time your check engine light comes on. Modern cars have electronic components and computers that can be scanned and read with this tool, giving your car lover the information they need to fix any problem. This could be the best Valentine’s gift you’ve ever given your partner.

4. Protective cover

Your car lover spends hours working on or cleaning his vehicle; shouldn’t it also have a way to protect it from possible inclement weather? If your car lover parks his special vehicle outdoors in the driveway and does not have a protective cover, give him one as a Valentine’s gift. It could be the perfect gift and save you some time taking care of the look of your car between washes.

5. Rear view camera

Just because your partner is restoring a classic car that never had a rear view camera or any other modern safety technology doesn’t mean they can’t have those items now. Your partner can discreetly mount a rear view camera on the trunk lid.

These units come with separate screens to provide a clear view to the rear.

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It was a few weeks ago when we reported that the new Honda Civic Type R, which promises to be the definitive sports compact, could not be ordered, temporarily, in Europe, as well as that they were no longer accepting orders in Japan. The reason has been none other than the high demand for the model, the microchip crisis and the fact that the Japanese firm wants to prevent a bottleneck from occurring, a scenario that, on the other hand, has caused some speculate with the Type R.

And although it is true that no more units of the Japanese compact will be produced until further notice, those who placed their order before the stoppage of the presses will still receive their unit. This has made some already enjoy the new Honda Civic Type R in Spainbut also so that there are ads in which this is for sale for almost 70,000 euros.

Almost 70,000 euros are asked for the new Honda Civic Type R in an attempt to speculate

Being more specific, we can find a totally new unit -it only reflects 86 kilometers on the odometer- for sale in Murcia. This is carried out by the Onan Gold Cars dealer, which is also in charge of selling other sports-style vehicles. However, it is surprising when we find the Civic Type R that concerns us today accompanied by a price of 69,900 euros.

This implies an increase of 15,050 euros compared to the list price of the Japanese compact. And we must remember that Honda announced at the time a price of 54,850 euros for the Spanish marketa figure that was reflected in its configurator before it was temporarily withdrawn from sale.

However, it must be clarified that, although the production and sale of the Type R -and the access Civic- is suffering, some countries have priority to receive units, even if it is dropper. This happens in the United Kingdom, Germany or the United States, for example, leaving Spain in a more secondary place as it is not the birthplace of the sports compact.

That is why when Honda is awarding units to each country, it will prioritize those in which the Type R has caused the greatest furor. And it is that for the moment Spain has had 19 units assignedmaking it clear that our country is not a priority for the Japanese firm since there has not been, for the moment, a great demand for its sports compact.

This leads to the fact that, on the one hand, the Type R is now seen as an exclusive vehicle. But the truth is that this is not subject to any limited edition, leaving its exclusivity to be, for the moment, temporary. In addition, the fact that only 19 units abound on our roads does not mean that the Honda compact is immediately the object of desire of hundreds or thousands.

And it is that said scenario could occur if Spain were the case of other countries in which the allocation of Type R units has been greater, unequivocal sign that it is a much more sought after car. In other words, that in countries like the United Kingdom or Germany, we could find ourselves with the situation in which someone was willing to pay 15,000 euros more for the Honda Civic Type R to avoid waiting for production to return to normal.

However, Is it impossible for the unit that we are dealing with today to be sold for that price? No, since after all the new Type R promises to be the king of compact sports cars as well as the most purist, and it is a pairing that is valued. Be that as it may, the sale is being carried out by means of a purchase-sale, so there would be no type of repudiation by Honda as it could be if it were an official dealer.

In recent weeks we have been talking at length about one of the great launches of Jeep that has already been revealed and has started its launch, confirming that it will be available with two possible mechanics, for a 100 HP gasoline engine, or in a fully electric version with 156 hp and a 54 kWh battery, reaching a range according to WLTP of 400 kilometers.

Of course we talk about Jeep Avenger, available from €21,800. The first reservations have already been made, waiting for the arrival of the first units at dealerships in the coming weeks.

And that’s where it comes into play one of the most interesting proposals of Jeep, with ECO label, light hybrid enginealready available at dealers and with immediate deliveries in stock units, and the cheapest for €24,000 until the arrival of the Avenger.

The Jeep Renegade is, until the arrival of the Avenger, the cheapest Jeep car, on sale from €25,759.60 and with stock units for just over €24,000

Jeep with ECO label, light hybrid, for just over €24,000

The Jeep Renegade offer this month is €25,759.60 and requires financing the purchase. We are talking about the versions equipped with the 130 HP micro-hybrid engine, which is equipped with an automatic transmission (dual-clutch) as standard and can be purchased in cash for €28,777.60.

Jeep proposes financing with 36 installments of €170.01, an opening commission of €32.26 (3.99%) and a final installment of €19,032.30. The total price in installments under these conditions, TIN: 6.99% and APR: 10.34%, is €31,583.92. The credit has a total cost of €5,824.32 and €2,806.32 higher than its cash price.

In any case, The most interesting offers for the Jeep Renegade are in the stock units available to the brand in Spain, in many cases with immediate delivery, and with prices that start at €24,075 and that also require financing the purchase, also with installments of €170/month. We recommend the guide on stock cars in which we tell you that these types of cars are completely new and have not been registered (unlike the zero kilometer). Stock cars usually enjoy immediate delivery – or almost immediate – with the disadvantage that they have already been produced with a certain engine configuration, equipment, and body color.

Is the Jeep Avenger worth waiting for?

As we told you, the Jeep Avenger has already opened reservations from €21,800. In assessing whether we are interested in buying it or not, we have to take into account that it is cheaper, but it does not have the precious ECO label in its access version, but rather an engine that, without hybridization, receives the C label. If it has a Zero Emissions version, fully electric.

The economical and complete hybrid alternative

He Toyota Yaris Cross starts from €24,925 and is therefore priced very similar to the Jeep Renegade. It also has a full hybrid engine and, therefore, an ECO label.

The most attractive alternative to the Jeep Renegade

With a price of €28,650 we also have a Toyota C-HR, the best-selling hybrid car in Spain last month. It is a complete hybrid, with an ECO label, somewhat larger than the Renegade but not more spacious, neither in its rear seats, nor in its trunk. It is also more expensive than the Jeep.

More images of the Jeep Renegade:

The high prices of new vehicles have led drivers to be cautious when disbursing such amounts. Before reaching that point, it is normal to collect all the information on the model in question and a fundamental piece of information would be to know the opinion of those who made the same decision: to be able to ask them if they would buy that car again. That is precisely what he has done. Consumer Reports: These are the 10 vehicles that owners wouldn’t recommend to their worst enemy.

There are many reasons why a vehicle may or may not live up to its owner’s expectations, but the question “If you had the option, would you buy it again?” it gives prospective buyers the ability to slow you down or boost you up before taking the final step. Consumer Reports has posed this question to its members to gauge their satisfaction and combined the results with their reliability ratings and test scores.

This is how he has measured which cars have met expectations and, above all, which have not. The result is a small guide for future buyers. As it is a study carried out in the United States, there are models that are not available in the European and Spanish markets (most of them): however, in our case, we can keep the result of the marks, since some have greater presence than others.

The least recommended cars

Mercedes, Volkswagen and Kia appear in the list of cars least recommended by their owners with two models each. Jeep is present with a single vehicle, while Nissan is the most popular in this ranking with two copies plus one from Infiniti: its luxury brand.

He tops the rankingVolkswagen Atlas Cross Sport, a seven-seater SUV that, if it existed in Spain, would be an alternative to the Volkswagen Touareg: yes, only 38% of its owners would buy it again if they had the chance. They accompany him on the podium Mercedes GLB because only 39% of drivers would repeat their purchase and the Infiniti QX50 with an intention of 40%.

The next models on the list are the mercedes gla (45%) and the Jeep Compass: 46% of drivers who opted for it would choose this compact SUV again. Consumer Reports also notes that it scored below average for reliability.

Behind them appear the Kia Seltos and the volkswagen taos (both with 48% intention), the nissan kicks (49%), the nissan altima (51%) and the Kia Forte (51%). Consumer Reports stops at the South Korean brand to point out that the Kia Seltos scored well in the other areas (reliability and driveability), while the Kia Forte was below average.

Thinking of hybrid cars is synonymous with thinking of Toyota, the largest manufacturer of this type of vehicle and which has led the way in the sector since the end of the last century. However, there are brands that join the bandwagon of HEVs and MHEVs, and irrefutable proof of this is Citroën. And it is that the firm of the two chevrons has everything ready to launch the Citroën C5 X Hybrid on the market, or what is the same, a light hybrid variant of which not only promises to complicate things for the Japanese brand, but also to stone the SUV, the fashion segment.

It was a few weeks ago when the CEO of Citroën, Vincent Cobée, announced his clear intentions to put an end to this type of vehicle. And to do so, he was not only going to resort to electric cars, but also to the concept that are implanting cars like the C5 X, C4 X or Peugeot 408 and that we will surely see later implanting in other Stellantis firms such as Opel, DS or Alfa Romeo.

The imminent Citroën C5 X Hybrid wants to be Toyota’s worst nightmare

Be that as it may, the next step at this crossroads is given by Citroën with the imminent C5 X Hybrid, a vehicle that will share mechanics with the 3008 and 5008 hybrids. This will be located below the plug-in hybrid versions already used by the offspring of the French firm, and surely will be responsible for replacing PureTech combustion engines which, to date, have not enjoyed any hybridization.

And it is that this will happen because the Citroën engineers have taken that same block as a starting point. This will work with a 48V mild-hybrid system that will increase power from 130 to 136 hp, while the torque will remain at 230 Nm. But not only will this electric motor provide power, but it will also reduce consumption and emissions.

According to the brand, fuel consumption will be reduced by 15% compared to the combustion engine to dry. This will undoubtedly be an incentive to purchase, especially for those who do not want or can not make the leap to the PHEV. Furthermore, thanks to the presence of a mild-hybrid system in the bowels of the Citroën C5 X, it will now display the DGT ECO label.

In turn, the entire complex will be managed by a six-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox, which will seek to optimize consumption compared to manual transmission. And although it is true that autonomy in electric mode is not something that micro-hybrid vehicles can boast of, the C5 X will be able to make very short starts and trips – there is talk of up to a kilometer – without using the combustion engine .

Now, when will the C5 X Hybrid hit the market? At the moment the firm has not given specific dates, but it will be throughout the year 2023 when what is probably the most interesting variant of the French will go on sale.