Five classy motors coming in 2016
From Bentley's first SUV to the eagerly awaited Tesla Model X, we look at some of the best cars hitting the road this year.
This year looks like it'll be another bumper one for car makers, says Jim Gorzelany in Forbes. A slew of brand-new and redesigned models are on the way to showrooms. Honda's NSX, for starters. The low-slung sportscar will sip fuel from its hybrid motor yet promises "neck-snapping" performance and head-turning good looks.
Expect a price of around £105,000. First deliveries in the spring.
Alfa Romeo has been absent from the compact executive market for the past four years, and it's been a less glamorous place as a result, says AutoExpress. This year that all changes with the launch of the Alfa Romeo Giulia. Most will be rear-wheel-drive to "compete with rivals for thrills", and its looks are "sensuous".
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Estimated price: from £45,000. On sale in September.
Expect to see Bentley's first foray into the SUV market before the year is out, says Autocar. The Bentayga is "exceptionally comfortable and always impeccably quiet", is as luxurious and comfortable as you'd expect from the luxury car maker, and on top of that, it is as happy belting along at over 180mph as it is traversing a sand dune or a frozen steppe. There is already a growing waiting list.
Prices from £160,200. On sale in the spring.
The Tesla Model X is one of the most eagerly awaited vehicles in recent memory, says Benjamin Zhang in Business Insider. It will be a unique proposition: a high-performance luxury SUV that runs entirely on an electric motor. We're promised 762bhp of power, a three second 0-60mph time and a 250-mile range.
Estimated price £50,000. On sale in the spring.
Fiat's cheeky ad saw its 500 hatchback grow into an SUV crossover after swallowing a pill, says AutoExpress. Now, Abarth, the arm of the company that tunes Fiats into high-performance sports cars, is set to pump the 500X up further, creating a 200bhp monster.
Pictures are not yet available, and production has not yet been confirmed, but the Abarth 500X, if given the go-ahead, would get far more than just a flash new bodykit it's likely to use the Alfa Romeo 4C's 1.75-litre turbo-charged engine. That would make for a 0-62mph sprint time of less than seven seconds and give the driver "an extremely fruity soundtrack to match".
Estimated price: £22,000. On sale: perhaps winter 2016.
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