It’s ‘buy, buy Covid’ as country gets back motoring

IT seems that garages and showrooms reopening again have been reporting very brisk business in getting repairs done and enquiries about new and used cars.

Motor companies have been quick out of the blocks with new offerings. Kia, Mazda and Mercedes-Benz have all announced new models to their ranges, some for sales in the 202 season, starting in July but more realistically to whet people’s appetite for next January.

The Kia XCeed has the nice mix of rather rugged SUV/ Crossover appeal in a relatively compact size but quite Tardis-like room inside.

It merges Kia’s success in building well-priced small family cars with its expertise in having some of the best SUVs in the market, like the Sportage and Sorento.

With its second SUV launch in as many months, MercedesBenz has introduced further choice to its compact SUV model offering, with the arrival here of the much-heralded new GLB.

Ranked as the first MercedesBenz in its class to offer a seven-seat option, the two fully retractable extra seats are said to provide ‘comfortable seating for passengers up to a height of 1.68m’. The GLB looks imposing with a distinctive exterior true. Optional is 4MATIC all-wheel drive and the new GLB arrives against a backdrop whereby every third vehicle produced by Mercedes-Benz is an SUV and every fourth a compact car. Prices start at €42,350.

When most manufacturers are producing electric cars, with ranges far in excess of 200km, and models like the Hyundai Kona and Kia Niro will do around 450km, Mazda has gone in the opposite direction with its first all-electric model, the Mazda MX-30, for which it has just announced prices for the First Edition model. Limited to early customer orders beginning in 2012, the Mazda MX-30 First Edition costs €32,295, inclusive of the SEAI grant and VRT rebate.

Meanwhile, the first electric Lexus, the urban crossover UX 300e will come with a 10-year/1,000,000km (million km) warranty.

The first all-electric Lexus is powered by a newly developed 54.3 kWh battery that covers 300km+ (WLTP) while slotted under the cabin floor and rear seat.

A high-output 204 DIN hp motor/generator drives the front wheels.

Audi, meanwhile, is preparing its first purely digital worldwide market launch for the new A3 range. Around 15,000 sales and service staff and 20,000 service technicians are being prepared and trained for that.

We’ve been living through some strange times but now, on the motoring front, at least, there are exciting times ahead.

The first all-electric Lexus will com ewith a 10-year, million kilometre warranty.

The new Kia Xceed is well balanced between SUV and family car.