The Ford S-MAX has been crowned the best MPV for the third consecuitive time at the recent Auto Express New Car Awards.

The Ford S-MAX was launched to great applause in 2006 and its enhancements this year have rejuvenated the model with an exciting new interior and exterior. Further improvements have come in the shape of new, highly efficient engines and a host of safety and technology features.

Auto Express editor-in-chief David Johns said: “With its eye-catching interior, razor-sharp chassis and adaptable seven-seat cabin, the people carrier benefitted from a thorough overhaul this year.

“A powerful new line-up of EcoBoost petrol engines and revised diesels, as well as an increase in cabin quality, has helped keep the Ford ahead of the game.”

Jon Gunn-Smith, Ford large car product manager, said: “Ford S-MAX’s hat-track of wins at the Auto Express New Car Awards is testimony to a car which has redefined the Multi-Purpose Vehicle segment. Almost 45,000 UK motorists agree with Auto Express and have bought one for themselves.

“They appreciate not only the looks and functionality of a Ford S-MAX, but also its driving quality. This has been strengthened by the latest model, which includes a 163PS 2.0-litre diesel engine returning almost 50mpg and 203PS 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine.”

The Ford Fiesta, last year’s Auto Express Car of the Year, continued its dominance of the small car segment by being named best supermini of 2010.

“Bold looks, a striking cabin and hugely entertaining driving dynamics see the blue oval baby retain its crown. The eye-catching styling still turns heads, while the fun and functional cabin delivers decent space for people and luggage,” said Auto Express of the top selling Ford Fiesta.



Unveiled earlier this year, the magnificent new, five-door executive coupe – the Audi A7 Sportback is now available for ordering. From today you can secure your brand new Audi A7 Sportback – a car that subtley merges the saloon car versatility with hatchback practicality in an elegant premium coupe silhouette.

The A7 will be available with a choice of four imposing engines (two petrol and two diesel), and will contain ground breaking technological features like head-up display – a feature that will project important information direct onto the windscreen.

Unlike many of the its competition models, the A7 Sportback comes with a high level of standard specification. The A7 comes as standard with leather seats, 18-inch alloy wheels, electric tailgate, front and rear parking sensors and MMI navigation.

The brand new Audi A7 will be launched across all Mon Motors Group Audi dealerships on Saturday 8^th January 2011.

Awards for The ‘Best Compact Family Car’ award went to Golf and the ‘Best Hot Hatch’ award went to Golf GTI at the recent Auto Express New Car Awards. Both accolades clearly demonstrating that the Golf is recognised as the best car it its class, in what are two very competitive categories.

The awards are judged by the immensely experienced editorial team at Auto Express and recognise the best cars on sale today in the UK. Both new and existing models are eligible, with the top performers in each category being selected for an award.

The Auto Express editor in chief, David Johns commented that: “With its classy looks, high-quality cabin and executive car refinement, the Volkswagen still sets the standard,” and added: “Better still, it’s great to drive, excellent value and has a brilliant range of engines – including innovative turbocharged TSI petrol units.” This is the second year in row that the Golf claimed the ‘Best Compact Family Car’ title.

It has been 33 years since Volkswagen launched the first Golf GTI and despite the fierce competition in the marketplace, these latest accolades highlight that the Golf remains the benchmark in its class. Johns said: “There are rivals that are faster and more eye-catching, but few can match the Golf’s all-round ability and appeal,” and added: “Its smooth 2.0-litre engine delivers perfectly judged performance, while its composed chassis mixes comfort and composure in equal measure. Plus, it comes in three- and five-door bodystyles, and with manual and twin-clutch DSG transmissions.”

Director of Volkswagen UK, Chris Craft was delighted with the awards saying: “A huge amount of work both in Germany and here in the UK goes into ensuring we offer the best possible mix of affordability, quality, safety and comfort. Since last year’s Auto Express awards we’ve added the Match model to the Golf range. Match brings new levels of standard equipment and technology to the line-up to ensure that Golf continues to represent incredible value for money in what is a hugely competitive marketplace.”

Škoda are still celebrating from a night to remember at the Auto Express New Car Awards, after the brand took home an unprecedented five awards.

Škoda won Best Crossover Car for Yeti, Best Family Car for Superb and Best Estate Car for Superb Estate. Most impressively, the Yeti drove off with the overall title of Car of the Year 2010. The brand also picked up the Driver Power Award for reliability and outstanding customer service.

The Auto Express judges commented on the Yeti, saying that: “In a year that has seen the arrival of some truly special cars, the Škoda is a worthy winner of our overall crown.” The judges went on to discuss the outstanding engine line ups, high levels of specification, reliability and value for money offered by the Yeti and all other Skoda model winners on the night.

Škoda UK Director Robert Hazelwood said: “This is a fantastic honour! We’re delighted that Auto Express thinks as highly of the Yeti as we do. It’s a fantastic car and is selling well, ahead of even our optimistic forecasts. It provides, as Auto Express said, stylish looks and great value with a huge helping of fun.”

“The awards for Škoda Superb Hatch and Estate, and the Driver Power award are also fantastic. Driver Power is especially rewarding, as it recognises the work that our retailers do to provide outstanding customer service to Škoda owners across the UK.

“Škoda is having a great year, with record sales and the largest order bank in our history. We believe the reasons for that are simple and are reflected in what Auto Express recognised with these awards – great products built with excellent engineering and a retailer network that takes outstanding care of our customers.”

The Audi A7 featured heavily in the latest edition of Autocar with a complimentary review and some stunning images of Audi’s latest model that is scheduled for a January launch in the UK.

Autocar’s cover strap line sets the tone for their review of the Audi A7: “New Audi A7 – Watch out Merc and Jag, this one’s going to hurt”. The Audi A7 will sit between the A6 and A8 in their product range as a model that combines the sleek lines of a coupe with the practicality of five doors.

This article appeared in the 28 July edition of Autocar.

Around 5000 people turned out for the Cwmbran Round Table Spectacular at Llanyrafon South Fields, last weekend. The event featured an It’s a Knock Out competition, live music, a funfair and a host of vehicle display stands – the highlight of which was by the Mon Motors Group that featured cars from all four of our brands and an extra special guest appearance by the Skoda Yeti.

The Yeti spent the day handing out balloons and having his picture taken with fans of all ages. As you can see from the pictures, this usually elusive creature was more than happy to pose.

The new Audi A1 has been well received at the first round of press reviews this week. The latest edition to the Audi range is not due for release in the UK until late Autumn but motoring journalists from across the UK were given a unique opportunity this week to test drive a preview model.

“Sophisticated” is how an Autocar journalist described the A1 and then went on to say: “the well-finished cabin is a couple of steps beyond anything else in terms of quality you perceive from the driver’s seat.” Autocar added: “it has an air of sophistication and refinement that we haven’t seen before in this class.”

Autocar went on to say: “No other volume manufacturer keeps such a consistently premium feel in their cars across the range, and the A1 is no exception for Audi,”

“The A1 offers the tried and trusted Audi formula at an affordable level and this will obviously appeal to many.”

Finally, Autocar commented on the A1 TDI: “the TDI is both cleaner, quicker and most impressively, cheaper than Audi’s last small diesel the considerably more radical A2 TDI.” Autocar also appreciated the 5.2-litres/100km fuel economy, helped by the stop-start system.

The level of standard specification in the A1 was something that Car Magazine commented on: “you don’t suffer the ignominy of the basic MINI’s hubcaps that make sure everyone knows you’re a miser. And of course it feels just as expensive inside as the 1.4 S line we drove earlier. See the A1 for what it is, a premium supermini with a great badge and you’ll enjoy owning.”

A journalist from Auto Express focused on the A1’s performance: “It’s going to be strong and flexible in any gear, at any time. The 1.4-litre engine has 120bhp, so it’s no weakling at high revs, but its real strength is between 1500rpm and 4000, where all of its 200Nm of torque is available for heavy lifting all of the time.”

What Car? added: “we reckon resale values will be among the best, if not the best in class – this is an extremely desirable little car.”

For more information about the A1 then visit the contact us section of this website for your nearest Audi centre.

Last week saw Volkswagen win a raft of category awards and the overall top prize at the Best Car Manufacturer at the British Insurance Vehicle Security Awards (BIVSA) 2010.

Category wins came for the Polo SEL which secured the City Car/Supermini category, the Crossover class was taken by the Tiguan with Phaeton once again securing the top accolade in the Best Luxury Car category. The night was crowned off by Volkswagen winning the car Manufacturer of the Year at the awards ceremony.

The awards were hosted by Thatcham, at their research centre in Berkshire. All vehicles were judged on a number of different criteria and then only cars with the maximum five stars for ‘theft from’, with double locking, and an ‘E’ insurance suffix were shortlisted.

“It’s great to see Volkswagen as the new winner of the overall manufacturer award,” said Mike Briggs, Thatcham’s Vehicle Security Manager. ”This success clearly demonstrates how vehicle manufacturers are continuing to raise their game to reduce the risk of vehicle crime to insurers and the motoring public.”

Volkswagen’s Head of Marketing, Rod McLeod said that: “It’s a tremendous achievement for the Volkswagen range to be ranked as the best,” He then went on to say that: “To win the overall award is proof that security and safety features should not be the reserve of an elite few. We aim to extend the technology on flagship cars like the Phaeton right down to volume models such as the new Polo.”

The new Mondeo which is more stylish and technologically advanced to its predecessor, will be debuted at the 2010 Moscow International Automobile Salon on 25^th August. The new model is expected to be in UK dealerships by this October will feature a restyled exterior and an upgraded interior. The new Mondeo will also feature a range of high-efficiency engines in the shape of Ford EcoBoost petrol and TDCi diesel powertrains. Improved comfort, convenience and safety are also high on the new Mondeo’s agenda.

“The Ford Mondeo is already a very strong package and, with the significant design changes and in particular the comprehensive array of new technologies we are introducing, we have no doubt that the new model will strengthen Mondeo’s position as the flagship Ford model in our European line-up,” said John Fleming, Ford of Europe chairman and CEO. “This is the smartest, safest, most environmentally friendly and best quality Mondeo we have ever launched, and it completes the regeneration of our CD segment range in 2010.”

Preview images have revealed that the new Mondeo is following in the path laid down by the new Ford S-MAX and Galaxy models that were released earlier this year – continuing the evolution of Ford kinetic design.

The Skoda Superb Estate was featured on Fifth Gear last week (Thursday 24^th June), but if you missed the show, you can watch the clip by following the link below:

http://fwd.five.tv/fifth-gear/videos/features/great-estates-skoda-superb

The Fifth Gear team, were given a Skoda Superb Estate 3.6 V6 Elegance against two competitors from its class. The test film focused on the four ‘S’s – speed, style sophistication and space.

Graham Smiles, producer of Fifth Gear, told us: “Our filming with the lovely Superb Estate V6 went very well – we had great fun with it at Millbrook.”