Thursday, 27 November 2014

TMW - The 2014 Large Car Award goes to...............

LARGE CAR - From the mile munching Company car to the Executive saloon, this is the sector to win.

MERCEDES C-CLASS - The new C-Class has really hit the nail on the head, shame that it has already had a rather large recall, but when you executive saloon, looks like the huge S-Class, who is not going to like that, with better interiors, and smoother and more frugal engines, the C-Class is a world beater.

FORD MONDEO - An odd choice this one, it has to be added, as Ford has ruled the company car, car park for decades, and the new Mondeo, although years late in arriving, and already looking dated, is a large enough jump from the current one, to be a true contender this time around.

AUDI A4 - or is the A3, or A6 or maybe the A8, can anyone actually tell the difference, I know i get it wrong, the AUDI A4, is a good car, but is great, is it good enough to beat the competition, or will it falter at the last hurdle because of the poor and lazy design language tat AUDI has had for years, thankfully it is changing, but that's not soon enough for this years award.

TESLA MODEL S - now i have chosen this as it has to be a contender, it is new, modern, has tons of space, is a hybrid that does decent mileage, the double tablet dash design looks stunning and the overall look of the car stands way ahead of its competition

VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT - A good car is the standard these days, whereas a great car is hard to find, and here the VW leads, whether it be the saloon or Estate, the Passat has proven to be an ideal choice for millions around the globe, and in the UK, it is hugely popular, but will it win ?

JAGUAR XE - the new car that will make or break Jaguar, will the staid looks hinder sales, or has Jaguar got it right, will the featureless interior harm its outlook or will it sell like hotcakes, find out next year.

--------------------

The company car class of car is one of those sectors that is manipulated by the bigger brands, offering the company car driver a car that has it all, and at a price that is just too tempting to ignore, but it is not as easy as that, the Merc C-Class is truly a great looking car, it is a small S-Class, and for a C-Class owner that's a great thing, but not for the S-Class owner, that has spent anything upwards of £150k for their S-Class, just to have it look like a £30k C-Class.

The Merc already suffers from a number of recalls, something that Mercedes was doing well and keeping away from, so, the reliability is at odds with its quality persona, it, also, like the 3-Series and CLA/CLS suffers from rear passenger access issues, and a car in this class needs to be accessible for all.

The All-new and very late arriving Ford Mondeo (Ford Fusion in the US) fails immediately for us, the Fusion has been around for a long while, and the Mondeo should have been replaced well before now, so it looks like Ford is selling us an old car before it even arrives, and that just niggles us too much, the tech and pricing will keep the Ford up there with the best sellers, but ignore those two items and what does it have to tempt you ?

The AUDI A4, is another one of those odd cars, it does not really look like it is any different from the model it replaces, and to be honest, with the A4 badge removed, you might be hard pushed to decide which AUDI it actually is, the S4 quattro is the star in the range, as all the 'S' models are but they are still not different enough, which is something the entire VW portfolio suffers from, all cars from all mainstream brands are the same, thankfully Lambo and Bentley are there to show them how it is really done.

Our outside choice is the Tesla Model S, it is expanding at a vast rate of knots, there are a number of free charging posts going up all over Europe, and especially in the UK, the car is as near to perfect as can be, it has the aggressive looks, with the environmental figures to keep any tree hugger happy, the space inside is vast, with both boot and bonnet areas having space for luggage, and if "Ray Donovan" is anything to go by, you can even get a body in the front, but we don't recommend it.

The interior is light, airy, ultra modern with twin vast tablet touchscreens, the Tesla is going to be a slow burner, and i mean by that, that it will increase sales slowly, but steadily, and as new models are added, the model X, the sales will continue to grow, it is a shame then that the USA is giving TESLA attitude, and keeps trying to block the sales, so much for being able to sell freely and without hindrance.

The next generation Passat will have to go some to beat the current one, we have one and apart from a couple of issues, the car has proven to be a reliable runabout that piles on the miles, without grumble, it also does it at a high rate of MPG, with us frequently achieving high 60's low 70's on a nice run, the new one, should be better on that front too, making it a car that has to be considered when looking for a new car in this class, it suffers though, from boringness, a VW trait of recent years, the Wolfsburg designers seem like they are unable/unwilling/scared to design something with a touch of flair, and that's whats missing from all VW's these days, and for us that's not what we look for.

And then we have the last entry in our list, the All-new Jaguar XE, the new car that will double or treble Jags annual sales, but is it any good, well, in our opinion, based on first look, and spending some time with the car, the answer is NO, Jaguar has gone the Audi route with lazy design, the XE is a smaller XF, which is now coming up to it's seventh birthday, the interior is so bland, comparing it to the XF or XJ, they seem to have lost the plot with this car, or are just playing it safe, if that's the case they have played too hard, and have lost all the great quirkiness that makes the XF and XJ great.

It is not easy to get in or out of, isn't that comfortable, and Jaguar keeps harping on about the 70mpg and 99g/km, but that model, is so pared back that there is nothing on it, thus making it a model that hardly anyone will want, so what have they really achieved, well, apart from a totally new platform, all new engines, of which some are not even going to be available at launch, so what was the point in pushing those, the XE will sell, it will be an alternative from the trio of German cars that dominate this market, but is good enough, NO, so you can tell this is not going to win.

SO, THE MOTORING WORLD LARGE CAR OF THE YEAR IS.......

The Tesla Model S. 



An easy choice to be honest, it has some great looks, lots of interior space, modern tech, can do some highish mileages for a hybrid, stands out in the company car park, an just beats everything else hands down, well done TESLA.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please leave a message, I will verify them swiftly, Sorry to have to do this now as some twat keeps spamming my message system, unfortunately they are ignorant and spoil it for everyone else,

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.