It’s time to say ‘buy, buy’ to the Covid crisis
As things open up, it’s your patriotic duty to purchase that car you’ve always wanted, writes Campbell Spray
IT is good that we are gradually getting back to a bit of ordinary life, even if that is the “new normal” of social distancing and expansive hygiene measures. Nevertheless, garages and showrooms opened again last Monday and reports talk of very brisk business in getting repairs done and enquiries about new and used cars.
I hope that is true. I am not a bannerman for the car industry, but, having lived through some dreadful recessions in the country, I don’t want to see the return of the despair that happened before.
After the 2001 Twin Towers
attack, the US vice president Dick Cheney said he hoped Americans would “stick their thumb in the eye of the terrorists and... not let what’s happened here in any way throw off their normal level of economic activity”. That’s been echoed over here now, with economists and others suggesting that those with money should spend it as a patriotic duty.
******** MOTOR companies have been quick out of the blocks with new offerings. In the first three days of last week, Kia, Mazda and Mercedes-Benz all announced models, some for sales in the 202 season, starting in July but more realistically to whet people’s appetite for next January.
One of my favourite cars launched in the last year was the Kia XCeed, it 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.
Over Christmas I had the petrol version of the car and enjoyed it, but felt it was a little underpowered. The car was attractive, sits high and has good room. The XCeed plug-in hybrid has now arrived and joins the Niro PHEV, which is currently Ireland’s best-selling plug-in Hybrid, plus the Kia full EV models eSoul and eNiro.
The new Kia XCeed PHEV has an 8.9kWh lithium-polymer battery pack, a 44.5 kW electric motor, and an efficient 1.6-litre ‘Kappa’ four-cylinder GDI (gasoline direct injection) engine.
The Kia XCeed will accelerate from 0-to-100 in 11.0 seconds, which is pretty slow compared with most electric cars but should give longer real-time EV driving to cut overall consumption.
Standard regenerative braking technology will recharge its battery pack while coasting or braking, further enhancing the overall efficiency of the powertrain. The XCeed PHEV is capable of travelling up to 54km on electric only power. It has to be above 50kmh to avail of the government grant system.
With its second SUV launch in as many months, Mercedes-Benz has introduced further choice to its compact SUV model offering, with the arrival here of the much-heralded new GLB.
Ranked as the first Mercedes-Benz 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.