POWER CUT

VW’s big SUV, the Touareg, is now available with a lower powered version of its 3.0-litre V6 diesel engine. The new motor produces 231bhp against the 286bhp of the current engine. This new version brings the base price down to £48,995. That’s all we need to know for the moment because we’ll be testing the new Touareg in a month or so.

We might be witnessing the slow death of the three-door family car. SEAT has just withdrawn from sale its Leon SC and the three-door version of the Mii city car. VW has already told us that the next-generation Golf and Polo won’t be built with three doors. Land Rover has dropped the three-door Evoque and Vauxhall its GTC version of the Astra. It’s obvious that having only three doors isn’t as practical as having five, but the styling often looks a lot nicer.