Automotive world says goodbye to Ferdinand Piech

THE global auto industry mourned one of its real giants in September, when Ferdinand Piech, grandson of Ferdinand Porsche and the man behind the relentless expansion of the Volkswagen Group, passed away at the age of 82.

Piech spent much of his life working for key German car manufacturers – first Porsche, then Audi, where he was instrumental in the creation and success of the four-wheeldrive Quattro. He also played a key role in the financial turnaround of Volkswagen in the early nineties.

THE last few years for Ford’s performance division have shown it hit a rich vein of form, with the likes of the GT supercar and Fiesta ST hot hatch – and it was no different when the Focus ST arrived earlier in the year.

It landed with plenty of tech, including adjustable driver modes that altered the adaptive dampers, the limited-slip diff, the throttle response and the engine note, not to mention optional extras such as launch control. However, it did this in a less overawing way than the i30 N it went up against. This hot hatch offers myriad settings, all tuneable independently as opposed to the Ford’s choice of four pre-set modes.

The ST’s fast steering, grippy but playful chassis, and its torquey engine meant it matched our benchmark, the Civic Type R, for performance, yet it just lacked a little of the Honda’s engagement and the shift quality of its beautiful six-speed box.

But the ST ticked all the other hot-hatch boxes; it was practical, reasonably efficient and had enough kit to feel hi-tech.

OCTOBER’S unveiling of the new generation of the popular Toyota Yaris was a significant development because the supermini promises to challenge the likes of the Ford Fiesta and Renault Clio on efficiency. The new Yaris sits on the latest version of the TNGA platform, which allows the car to get a fresh hybrid powertrain mixing 1.5-litre petrol power with a lithium-ion battery.