“Traditional lenders are just not set up to take account of some of our customers’ more complex financial arrangements, where salary is only part of the story,” says Selig, who trained as a chartered accountant and has a master’s degree in engineering.

I’ve met him at Romans International, a luxury and supercar dealer based in Surrey. A Ferrari LaFerrari is an arm’s length away from my perch on the showroom sofa, and in front of it is a Porsche 918 Spyder, a pair of Ferrari SF90 Stradales and a McLaren Senna. Seeing these and all the other uber-expensive cars on the forecourt, it’s hard to believe we’re in the midst of a supercar drought, as Selig claims.

“In my 20 years financing cars, I’ve never seen the level of demand we’re experiencing now,” he says. “Applications for our finance are running 50% higher than our highest peak in the past six years. The market is overheated and cars are in short supply.”

Reasons for this, he says, include people rushing to spoil themselves after the restrictions of the past 16 months and the fact that while many people have suffered during the pandemic, quite a few have actually increased their fortunes.

At the same time, the ongoing global shortage of semiconductor computer chips has stalled deliveries of new models, forcing buyers to consider nearly new cars instead.

“You will wait nine months for some new versions of Porsche 911,” he says, “while the £30,000 discount that was available on a new Rolls-Royce Cullinan a few months ago has evaporated. Dealers are fighting over the best used cars and prices are rising. My fear is that premiums will begin creeping in, which is when people start paying more for cars than they’re worth.”

JBR’s most popular arrangement is a lease purchase deal – a form of hire purchase but with a balloon (or deferred) payment. The value of the balloon, which is calculated at the start of the deal, can’t be more than the car is likely to be worth at the end of it, because unless the customer intends to pay it to own the car, it’s settled using the proceeds from the car’s sale. “Ideally, a customer will have some equity to put towards their next deposit,” says Selig.

Mercedes has put a lot of effort into the interior of the EQS, which combines bespoke elements with those already used in other models. As standard, it has a layout similar to that of the S-Class up front, with 12.3in and 12.8in digital displays for the instruments and infotainment system, in combination with a steering wheel that features touch-sensitive controls on its upper spokes.

Buyers can also specify the EQS with the new Hyperscreen: a one-piece curved display that stretches across the width of the dashboard, housing three digital screens: one for the dials, one for the infotainment and one for the front passenger.

It’s impressive, no doubt, but the 1410mm-wide display is prone to reflections in sunny conditions, despite the inclusion of a sensor that alters automatically its brightness. It does work with impressive speed, mind you, thanks to an eight-core processor and 24GB of memory.

It’s all controlled by the latest generation of Mercedes’ MBUX operating system, which has both touch controls and ‘Hey, Mercedes’ conversational speech input as standard. It also supports over-the-air software downloads, so owners can update various features and tap into a new subscription-based service available via the Mercedes Me app. What’s more, there’s a head-up display with augmented-reality functions for the sat-nav directions.

A high-set centre console divides the front seats, providing various oddment storage possibilities. The seats themselves are broad and magnificently comfortable, if a little short on lateral support. They can be ordered with up to 19 adjustment motors and 10 massage programs.

The rear can be configured with either a three-person bench or two chairs. Accommodation is excellent, especially for legs and shoulders. While the EQS does without a ‘frunk’, unlike some EVs, its 610 litres of boot space is 60 litres more than that offered by the S-Class, and the space extends to 1770 litres when the split-folding rear seats are collapsed.

Two EQS variants are available initially. Opening proceedings is the 2480kg EQS 450+, which has one motor that develops 329bhp and 419lb ft, affording a 0-62mph sprint time of 6.2sec. It gets a range of 485 miles from the 107.8kWh battery pack used by all models at launch, equating to efficiency of between 3.1 and 3.9 miles per kWh.

The Fiesta ST’s engine is also not the reason you buy the car, but it is full of energy. It eggs you on to work it hard, and it’s a little more sensitive on the throttle than the Hyundai if you put it in Race mode, but both of these cars allow for precise metering of the power on offer.

As for the practicality of these cars? Well, how much stuff you can get in your dinky hot hatch is unlikely to be a headline consideration, but real life always demands some concessions, otherwise we would all be driving Porsche 911 GT3s. So if you do have kids to worry about, the Hyundai has a bit more space for people in the back and things in the boot. Indeed, it’s actually one of the most practical small cars. It also has the bigger, glossier and more logical touchscreen infotainment system.

The Fiesta ST isn’t without practical merits, though. Its Recaro seats are more comfortable than the Hyundai’s, particularly on a long slog, and keep you a touch more firmly in place while you’re flinging yourself about the countryside.

In short, both of these hot hatches are strikingly brilliant for whizzy kicks on a good road, with ease of use, loads of comfort and safety kit and very reasonable running costs all there to make daily life convenient. I would add that all of this stands for the Fiesta ST-3 that’s closest to the i20 N, too, even if the upgrades brought by the ST Edition are worth the extra cash in my book.

The fact that these rivals have such different characters, from the i20 N’s overt machismo to the Fiesta ST’s more subtle playfulness, is only to their credit. But while it’s easy and correct to say that both are illuminatingly brilliant, we’re giving the nod to the Ford. It wins by such a tiny margin that even a half-star difference feels too much like overstating it, but it’s ultimately still peerless for depth of handling adjustability.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is launching an investigation into suspected breaches of competition law in the EV charging sector.

The CMA is concerned that the Electric Highway network, acquired from Ecotricity two months ago by nascent energy firm Gridserve, has a dominant presence at service stations run by Moto Hospitality, Roadchef and Extra MSA. 

According to the CMA, the Electric Highway operates 80% of all motorway chargers in Britain (excluding Tesla-specific Supercharger devices) and has long-term exclusivity agreements – of 10-15 years – in place at two thirds of the network’s motorway service stations. 

The investigation will determine whether the long-term exclusive arrangements entered into by the Electric Highway, Ecotricity and its host locations are in breach of the Competition Act 1998. 

Other operators, the CMA notes, could hinder the installation of devices from rival charging firms, meaning drivers lose out on the “benefits of competition”: greater provision, more choice, competitive prices and reliable, high-quality charge points.

The CMA notes that it has “not reached a view as to whether there is sufficient evidence of an infringement of competition law” and as such hasn’t issued a statement of objections to the named parties. 

In a statement, Gridserve said: “Our focus is on finding a path forward that addresses the concerns raised by the CMA, enabling us to retain momentum and continue to swiftly deliver the net-zero charging infrastructure plans and investment we have worked so hard to put in place, that support the successful uptake and transition to electric vehicles, in-line with the government’s clearly stated objectives”. 

The CMA has also published a series of measures aimed at addressing shortfalls in the EV charging network in the run-up to the 2030 ban on the sale of new combustion-engined cars.

“Access to charge points can be a ‘postcode lottery'”, it says, highlighting that Yorkshire and the Humber has 75% less chargers per head than London.

It also expressed concern about the limited choice and availability of chargers at motorway service stations, as highlighted by its investigation into the Electric Highway. 

Charging should be “as simple as filling up with petrol or diesel”, said the CMA, meaning working chargers must be easy to find, quick to pay for, have a clear pricing structure and be accessible by owners of all EVs. 

Gridserve said it agrees with these core principles, highlighting that it has recently launched a new interactive map “to make journey planning as seamless as possible”, offers contactless payment on every new charging device, has a “transparent” pricing structure of 30p per kWh at service stations and can accommodate all EVs at its charging stations. 

Audi will enter the notorious Dakar Rally in January 2022 with its all-new RS Q E-tron rally-raider, which it refers to as an “electrifying high-tech test laboratory”.

With testing underway, Audi has confirmed new details of the aggressively styled electrified off-roader, which will face what project manager Andreas Roos called “the ultimate challenge for an electric drivetrain”. 

With up to 500 miles to cover every day for two weeks, the RS Q E-tron needs to have an onboard charging solution, for which Audi has chosen the 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine used in its now-retired RS5 DTM racer, which is unconnected to the wheels and serves as a generator for a 50kWh, 370kg battery pack, developed with an unnamed technical partner. 

The petrol engine will spin at “particularly efficient” speeds of between 4500-6000rpm, and is claimed to emit less than 200g/km of CO2 for every kWh of charge gained by the battery. Regenerative braking functionality also features, further boosting EV range when on the move.

An electric motor taken from Audi’s 2021 Formula E car, features on each axle, while a third unit serves as an energy converter between the battery and combustion engine. The two axles are not mechanically linked, but torque distribution software plays the same role as a conventional centre differential, helping to save weight and space. 

Total output is pegged at 671bhp, but it remains to be seen whether Dakar officials will impose a power limit for the 2022 race.

Audi aims to be “the first car manufacturer to use an electrified drivetrain in combination with an efficient energy converter to compete for overall victory against conventionally powered competitors in the world’s toughest rally”. 

Stefan Dreyer, development boss for motorsport projects at Audi Sport, promised that learnings from the Dakar project will “flow into future production models”, and confirmed that Audi’s passenger car development team is involved with the RS Q E-tron.

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The next-generation Honda Civic Type R has been caught testing again ahead of its expected 2022 debut, revealing new details of the final production design. 

The Renault Mégane RS rival remains heavily camouflaged in these shots but it’s clear to see that it doesn’t appear radically different from its predecessor externally. The overall body shape, with its low, wide stance, saloon-style bootlid and big rear wing is familiar, while a more production-ready rear end bears distinctive triple-exit exhaust pipes and the red brake calipers provide another nod to its performance potential. 

A close look reveals the spoiler features a new raised mounting, while the smaller lip spoiler on the bootlid no longer appears to dissect the rear window. Further visible changes include a lower shoulder line, a lower bonnet line and lower headlights, as previewed by the reveal of the standard Civic hatchback last month ahead of its European market launch in 2022.

A view of the interior shows what looks like different steering wheel and dashboard designs, alongside a dashtop-mounted touchscreen, although it’s difficult to draw conclusions from this early prototype. 

Autocar understands that the next Civic Type R will receive a hybrid powertrain as part of Honda’s electrification plans, which were accelerated last year with the aim of making all the brand’s European sales electrified by 2025. 

It’s also suggested that it will use a powertrain linked in concept to that of the NSX supercar, which mates a twin-turbo 3.5-litre V6 with three electric motors. It’s unclear whether that means four-wheel drive, but it’s likely if Honda goes full-hybrid in this way.

Such a development would also give Honda more performance potential, as engineers have previously hinted the current car is close to to the realistic limit in terms of power put through only the front wheels.

One thing is for certain: the new Civic won’t be built at Honda’s Swindon plant, because that will close in 2021. It’s unclear where the Japanese company intends to produce the next-generation family car. 

Volvo will move away from its current model nomenclature convention by giving future models names, rather than numbers, company boss Hakan Samuelsson has confirmed.

The Swedish manufacturer recently unveiled the Concept Recharge that previews the XC90 successor due next year. At that launch, Samuelsson said that Volvo would diverge from its long-running XC nomenclature for SUVs by giving the new car “a name, like a child”.

Asked by Autocar about Volvo’s model naming strategy, Samuelsson that next-generation models that follow the XC90 successor will also be given more ’emotional’ names.

“If you look at cars today, all of them are very ‘engineeredly’ named: XC, T8, All-Wheel-Drive, double overhead cams – it’s all specification on the rear of many cars,” said Samuelsson.

“We’re talking about a totally new architecture, a new-generation of born-electric, all-electric cars with central computing. It’s good and clear to mark that this is a new beginning, and that’s why we’re not going to have numbers and letters, an engineering type of name. We’re going to give them a name as you give a newborn child a name.”

Samuelsson said that the name for the XC90 successor had not been finalised and that “we have a very interesting and creative discussion going on”.

With a few exceptions, Volvo has used a numeric or alphanumeric-based nomenclature throughout its history. It adopted its current system in 1995, using S for saloons, V for estates, C for hatchbacks and coupés and XC for SUVs, followed by a size-based number. 

Volvo’s switch to model names bucks an industry trend towards alphanumeric titles, which are considered easier to standardise worldwide. Volkswagen, for example, is using model numbers for its ID electric car range, instead of the names such as Polo, Golf and Tiguan used for its ICE models.

Volvo targets further growth after strong sales results

Volvo sold 380,757 cars in the first six months of 2021, a 41% year-on-year change from the pandemic-hit first half of 2020. More significantly, that’s almost 40,000 more than Volvo sold in the first half of 2019.

Added to the final half of 2020, Volvo has a 12-month ‘rolling sales total’ of 775,000 cars, which the firm has targeted growing to 1.2 million sales a year by the middle of this decade.

The firm reiterated that the growth will come from both finding new customers in its existing markets and through the expansion of its model range.

Volvo working on a new small Volvo electric crossover – effectively an XC20, although set to adopt a different name – that will be based on parent firm Geely’s SEA platform. Samuelsson has said that “it’s very likely” this model will be built in China and noted that it will arrive some time after the XC90 successor, which is due next year.

When appearing on the bootlid of a fast BMW, ‘CS’ originally stood for either Competition Sport or Club Sport – depending on exactly when it was applied, and to what. That might lead you to expect this week’s road test subject to be some stripped-out racing machine, but it isn’t.

The CS model suffix has, in fact, been used of late by BMW’s Motorsport in-house tuning division to identify all kinds of extra-special M cars, and now it’s being used on a ‘Club Sport’ model of a bigger and more powerful size altogether: the £140,780 BMW M5 CS super-saloon.

This car refines and enhances the mechanical recipe of the M5 Competition in a number of ways that may seem quite subtle on the face of it. Their aim, however, is to produce a performance car of very special status: the most powerful road-going BMW M car there has ever been, for one – but also the ultimate M5.

In that lofty pursuit, M division has resisted the lure of turning this car into some four-door track-day monolith and instead cherished and honoured the M5’s enduring usability as a road car.

It has become such a habit of BMW to use later-model-life special editions to fully uncork the dynamic potential of its M cars that we predicted the appearance of this car in our 2018 road test of the current, F90-generation M5. We wrote: “If BMW M history is any guide (think F10 M5 ‘30 Jahre’, F82 M4 CS and others), the very best version of this M5 may be yet to come. And when it does come, it ought to be something very special indeed.”

Mitch, you’ve been at Jaguar since the team entered Formula E. How has it developed?

Evans: “The contrast between when we started and now is huge: we’re a completely different team. We operate at a much higher level now. To be part of that progress has been really special, and it’s very rare for drivers to be able to experience that. In the first year, we finished at the bottom of the teams’ standings, and now we’re fighting at the front. To be part of that and help set that direction is just awesome.”

Did you know Jaguar would be a long-term project when your signed?

Evans: “I was always under the impression it was going to be a long-term thing. Contractually, it hasn’t been like that: I had only a one-year contract initially, but it has progressed to build my reputation in the team so they would put their trust in me.

“It was tricky at first, when we weren’t the strongest team, so for the team to see that and potential in myself to bring them forward was a great thing.

“The team has been very honest, though. I was never under the impression that we would learn in the first year and the second year would be title contenders. It was always realistic, and the timeline has played out exactly as was set out to me.”

What’s the secret to success in Formula E for a driver?

Bird: “In Formula 1, it’s all about aerodynamics, air efficiency and monotonous fast pace. Formula E is about fast pace, but there’s a large chunk that’s about being efficient, rather than being quick. There’s a constant chess battle going on, trying to work out what others around you are doing on energy, where they’re strong and where they might be weak. You try to save in certain places while you prepare to attack – and when you do attack, you don’t waste energy when doing it, because if you do that too many times, all you’re doing is burning energy and not going forwards. It’s the world’s fastest game of chess.”

Mercedes-Benz expected big things of the R-Class, promising that it would provide “a wholly new motoring experience” as it attempted to combine saloon stylishness, estate practicality and 4×4 ruggedness.

This proved too high a bar for it to clear, but what it could do was act as a private jet for the road, with its luxurious accommodation for six or seven people, while standard four-wheel drive and a long-wheelbase option won it valuable utility marks.

Its unique design and versatility meant that it had few direct rivals to compete with, and its road-oriented performance made it an attractive proposition over the more cumbersome SUVs of the early 2010s.

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The R280 (later renamed the R300) and R320 (later the R350) CDI diesel models were equipped with two differently tuned versions of the same 3.0-litre V6, producing 190bhp and 265bhp respectively. The R350 petrol featured a 272bhp 3.0-litre V6, while the top-of-the-range, AMG-fettled R500 offered sports car performance, being capable of 0-62mph in just 6.9sec thanks to a 306bhp 5.0-litre V8.

All models were offered with Mercedes’ appropriately silky seven-speed torque-converter automatic gearbox. Unlike with some people carriers, the R-Class’s third-row seats are able to accommodate adults. And to ensure that they don’t feel relegated to the back, tri-zone climate control, Bluetooth and heated seats emulate the premium ambience of the front. Each rear seat has its own cupholder, too: now, that’s pure glamour.

The R-Class isn’t all champagne and caviar, however: it also has one of the biggest boots you will find in anything short of a Luton van, with short-wheelbase models built after 2009 offering 869 litres of space, increasing to a staggering 1048 litres if you opt for a long-wheelbase one.

This is, then, despite its objective appeal, quite a confused car, which is perhaps why prices have dipped of late, meaning you can pick up an entry-level R320 for as little as £3500.

Long-wheelbase models naturally command a premium. We found an R320L CDI with 99,000 miles on the clock advertised for £5999.