The Daily Car

Ford sure has been busy. Just after the announcement of the new Fiesta, and it’s also unveiled the new Focus-based Kuga. Like the Fiesta, its première is at the Geneva Motor Show on March the 4th.

The Kuga is what Ford calls a crossover utility vehicle (CUV). Basically, it’s a small SUV, similar to the Volkswagen Plus Dune and SEAT Altea Freetrack.

The Focus hatchback’s platform provides a basis for the Kuga, only it gets four-wheel-drive to complement the rugged looks and increased ride height. The only engine available will be a 2.0-litre Duratorq TDCi diesel, mated with a six-speed manual gearbox.

The diesel engine should lead to satisfactory running costs; Ford says the Kuga will deliver fuel consumption of 44.1mpg, and CO₂ emissions of 169g/km. The car will be cheap to buy, too: Ford says the starting price will be £20,495.

A sporty off-roader seems like an oxymoron but Land Rover has already proven it is possible with the Range Rover Sport. Now the company looks set to create another fast tractor with the Freelander HST, set to go on sale next month.

The HST will feature a special Sports Styling Pack, which amounts to an array of cosmetic modifications including 19-inch 10-spoke alloys, a rear roof spoiler, aprons on the front and rear bumpers, side sill mouldings, leather seat facings and privacy glass.

The Freelander 2 HST, which will cost £31,990 when it hits the showrooms, will be joined by the Range Rover Sport HST. This will available with either the TDV8 diesel or Supercharged petrol engines and prices will start at £59,895.

BMW have just shown off their new X6, a sporty coupé which manages to have SUV-like qualities as well.

The 6 in its name hints at the car’s similarity to the 6-Series BMW, but the X tells us that this is an off-road car at the same time, joining the likes of the X3 and X5. The car will get permanent all-wheel drive to ensure optimum traction although a default 40:60 power ratio allows for a better-handling chassis all the same.

BMW will offer a choice of two twin-turbocharged direct-injection engines. There will be the xDrive50i (a 4.4-litre V8) the slightly less-lethal 3.0-litre xDrive35i (with 6 in-line cylinders). Both should prove to have a thirst for fuel.

The X6 apparently marks the world’s first “Sports Activity Coupé” and BMW obviously think they are on to something. But I feel that it’s all a bit bonkers, a weird mashed-up coupé thing with too many doors, and I wonder if this has never been done before for a good reason.

Perhaps we will find out more in the 2008 Detroit Auto Show which takes place in January. The car is set to go on sale in May 2008.

Yesterday was Friday the 13th, which means that lots of terrible stuff might have happened. While that was supposedly happening, Nissan told the world of their next X-Trail SUV, which will go on sale in the UK on 1st September with prices starting from £18,795.

That £18,795 price tag refers to the Trek, which is the entry-level model. The Trek - alongside all new X-Trails - will be fitted with lockable all-wheel drive, Bluetooth phone integration, 16″ alloy wheels, climate control, and a CD player

One step up from the Trek will be the Sport. Its pricing will starts at £20,695. The other, most upmarket trim level will be Aventura.

As well as 3 trim levels, 3 new (to the X-Trail) engines will be offered. First of all, there will be 100% new, 100% alloy 2.0-litre petrol engine which will generate 139bhp. The fuel economy of that engine is 32.5mpg.

Then, there is the 2.0 Diesel engine, which will be available with power outputs both 148 bhp and 171 bhp.

As well as the 3 new engines, a 2.5-litre petrol engine will be carried over from the outgoing X-Trail. This engine will only be available on Sport and Aventura models.

We recently learned of a version of the BMW X5 ‘off-roader’, modified by tuning company Hamann to be even more rubbish off-road. However, if you are in the market for blinging up your humongous vehicle but you want to please BMW - maybe saving a bit of money on the depreciation front (though certainly not up front) - you should go for this, encrusted with jewellery by the BMW folks themselves, rather than a third party tuner.

It’s the BMW X5 4.8i M Sport. It costs £53,440, and for that money you get the likes of leather inside, walnut/aluminiu/bamboo/poplar trim also inside, 19- or 20-inch alloy wheels outside, and an assortment of other treats.

If that sounds appealing to you, though, then I’ve bad news for you. Your feelings for the car are so common that the waiting lists go into next year. But if you must, go ahead and be patient, unless you’ve built a time machine, or you’re ahead of the game and have already ordered.

Not content with combining two cars, Volkswgen has - like SEAT and Renault - decided to join in with the current SUV MPV spirit, only VeeDub’s effort is more extreme: it is the Hatchback SUV MPV.

Meet the Golf Plus Dune. It’s based on the Golf Plus but is 2cm higher and gets a few bits ‘n’ bobs plastered around the bodywork to spice things up. There are 400 coming to the UK and if you want to buy one it will cost you £18,495. But why would you want one?

To be honest I think it’s all a bit stupid - we don’t really need new niches of car to be created every time a butterfly sneezes. We’ve coped for ages with the usual selection of machine categories so why the need for change now? Can’t they be busying themselves with other, more important issues, rather than creating pointless niches in the car market?

Last week, Renault unveiled a vehicle called the Scenic Conquest - a beefier (yet two-wheel-drive) version of the Scenic small MPV, with SUV looks. SEAT has been quick to keep up with the Joneses and show off the similar Altea Freetrack, a vehicle based on the Altea XL and the company’s first ever off-road car.

This MPV/SUV thing is not a puny 2WD vehicle, however - it has four wheel drive: take that, Renault! The 4×4 system itself is the VW group’s Haldex four-wheel drive system which has been previously used in the Škoda Octavia Scout. There will be a choice of two different 2.0 litre engines - a diesel and a petrol. The former will have 167bhp and achieve 41.5mpg, whilst both numbers for the latter - which is also found in the VW Golf GTi - rise by 30.

Inside, the cabin remains unchanged but expect a battery of equipment, including a built-in DVD player.

The vehicle will be shown at the Barcelona motor show and is thought to go on sale in September, but there’s no word on pricing yet.

On Tuesday, Subaru announced a new Impreza, complete with a better-looking front end to replace the much-criticised aeroplane-like grille. The new Tribeca, too, announced on Wednesday, will gain that front end, as it too has been critisiced for the ugly looks.

The Japanese company will also address another problem - the engine. It’s size will increase from 3.0 litres to 3.6 litres and the power output will go up by 11bhp as a result. However, there’s still only the option of petrol power - diesel is proving to be a bit of a pipe dream.

The 5-speed automatic gearbox has been improved, and the firm says that the addition of a torque converter will allow quicker and smoother gear ratio changing.

The entire front end has been redesigned to fit in with the hastily re-thought-out new face of Subaru, as you can see. The headlights, rear light clusters, front valance and bonnet have all been redesigned - not just the grille.

The Subaru, which will lose the ‘B9′ part of its name to be just called the ‘Tribeca’, also gets updated rear suspension bushings which will allow folks to slide the second row of seats more easily. Grab handles that allow passengers to get to third row of seats with more ease will also feature.

We’ll have to wait until Spring 2008 for the Tribeca but the USA gets it at the end of this year.

Geneva is a hotspot in the motoring world currently as its motor show is under way. Today we saw news of an Opel Concept car and some 4×4s, but hottest of all was this new Volvo XC70 four wheel drive estate thing.

Recently news rushed ashore of the new Volvo V70 estate, and in time-honoured fashion, there will be a derivative made for rock-climbing, to compete with the likes of Audi’s A6 Allroad Quattro. The XC70 stars the new Volvo 4×4 styling cues previewed in the XC60 concept car early this year in Detroit.

Niche cars like this are hard for me to classify and this is no exception. It’s taking a more upmarket approach, like Volvo’s parent company - Ford - is.

Where once there were tacky dustbin materials there now can be found some posh painted stuff and there is also some leather. Golly.

But the car is still as rough ‘n’ ready as a lifestyle backpack. Volvo bigwig Stefan Jansson even went as far as comparing the new bumper-mounted air intakes to boxing gloves.

Škoda will take on the likes of the Daihatsu Terios, Fiat Sedici, Suzuki SX4, VW Polo Dune and Fiat Panda 4×4 with this - the enlarged, Scout badged version of the Roomster supermini-MPV.

On sale next summer in the UK, and to be unveiled at the Essen motor show in Germany, the Scout should cost about 14 thousand quid. Apart from the 1.2 litre basic engine, all motors from the normal Roomster will be carried over from the previous car.

This won’t be a proper SUV, however, with just 2-wheel drive at the front. That said, it will at least look the part with 16-inch rims (17-inchers are an option), and roof rails, topped off with underbody protection.