As motorists busy themselves with some spring cleaning of their garages, it's time to look ahead at what's coming onto the market in the coming months.Car firms are obviously hoping for an Indian summer, particularly considering quite a few of the convertibles - such as the Saab 9-3 - will not make it here until the autumn. Michael McAleer reports.
The good thing about summer motoring is that as the cars go topless, some of the more zany designs come into their own when they lose their tops. Among the more funky contenders will be the Streetka, along with more traditional though very stylish models such as the Peugeot 307CC and the Renault Megane cabriolet.
Perhaps the most innovative soft-top to take to our roads later this year will be the Citroën C3 Pluriel. While it might not become the top seller in its model range, it's sure to attract attention if it can get here in time for our glorious summer weather . . . or at least our yearly week of sunshine.
For more traditional small car fans, Daihatsu's Charade makes a welcome return in the coming months, hoping to regain the significant presence on Irish roads it had in the late 1980s.
Meanwhile Mazda will be hoping it can repeat the success of its Mazda 6 with its supermini entrant, the Mazda 2. This latest newcomer to its revamped model range takes its running gear clearly from the Ford stable, but it offers a more complete and well-finished product than its Ford counterpart and should do well in the segment.
However, not to be outdone, Ford is hoping to have its new Focus C-Max here before the end of the year. A more spacious variant of the popular small family model, though still only a five-seater, it nonethless features several innovative storage and seating arrangements that may prove popular with young families. The key will be if it manages to retain the excellent handling characteristics of the Focus. While summer brings forth thoughts of decapitating your motor, it would seem the real competition will be for spaciousness.
One of the main market segments to see an influx of new options onto the Irish market is the small or compact people carriers or mini-MPVs.
Two of the main competitors will be the new Renault Scenic and the all-new Opel Meriva, a junior version of its highly successful Zafira.
Not to be outdone in the larger category, we can expect Volkswagen to compete with the Touran. Referred to by VW rather uncharmingly as "multi-variable compact van" it will offer nearly 2,000 litres of space and be powered by a 1.6-litre petrol and 1.9-litre turbodiesel.
Away from full-blown MPVs, while keeping in mind the need for family motoring, the estate version of Honda's new Accord should also prove popular this year.
The Honda Accord Tourer, a sharply designed estate with distinctive lines is due here later in the year. Reminiscent of more 1970s lines, it may just follow the likes of the Alfa Romeo 156 Sportswagon and Renault Laguna in being regarded as better looking than its saloon sibling.
Off the main road, or at least up on the grass verge, Mitsubishi is also set to compete with some of the so-called "soft-roader" set. Its new Outlander, on which we will report next week, offers a 2-litre 16-valve engine with a choice of full-time four-wheel-drive or two-wheel-drive.
This summer is also set to see yet more marques enter or update their contenders at the upper end, in the luxury utility vehicle, or LUVs (this is a term not commonly used by the industry however). Perhaps the owners can then be properly referred to as LUVies.
In any case, VW will bring us its version of the Porsche Cayenne, called the VW Touareg. With perhaps a little drop off in power, it will nonetheless come with a 2.5-litre five-cylinder turbodiesel and a 3.2-litre V6 petrol. Of the road versions we have seen on the continent it is definitely a strong presence on the road.
Lexus has also updated its entrant, the RX300. Premiered at the Detroit
Motor Show last January it will go on sale here in early May with a price tag for the RX300 Executive of €67,150.
While Lexus claims the updated version contains over €6,500 more equipment than the outgoing model the price is €1,000 less. Sales are expected to be 100 units this year.
While there remains no diesel version, something that is definitely hurting its sales figures, a hybrid V6 petrol version will join the 3-litre 204 bhp petrol unit, the V6 engine with two electric motors for significant fuel saving.
But for all the aims to offer more space, in the more accepted markets of small to medium motors, new entrants include the second generation of Audi's A3. With five engine units, from 1.9-litre diesel to a 250bhp 3.2-litre V6, the A3 is aiming to capture those interested in fuel efficiency and more potent performance.
For outright performance this summer, Volvo will be introducing its performance variants, the R range, of its S60 and V70 models.
Other performance motors heading our way this summer include the much publicised Mazda RX-8 with its rotary engine. The 240 bhp RX-8 can pack a mighty punch with a 150 mph top speed and a 0 to 62 mph time of 6.2 seconds.
With 100-plus cars coming to our shores, and US prices for fully loaded versions going for $30,000, it may just manage to scrape into the good value category for the year.
And for sheer unadulterated fun, our favourite boy racer chariot, the Opel Speedster will get even better with the addition of a turbo, bringing it to a 0-60mph of just 4.9 seconds from its 2-litre ecotec engine. We can't wait.
Opel will also be busy this summer, introducing its new high-end Signum, a hatch-back executive car aimed at the upper end of the executive market, if not quite the long-awaited luxury entrant from the GM group.
Set to take some share from the Omega, it remains to be seen how popular this hatchback version will be with motorists who normally opt for the more conventional saloon format. The other marque to enter a hatchback format in the executive category was Renault with its stylish Vel Satis. Less revolutionary design is involved in the latest version of the Jaguar XJ, here within a matter of weeks with prices closer to the € 100,000 mark.
Finally, of course, the Maybach will arrive in its British showroom later this month. Irish importers remain tight-lipped as to the identites of the Irish motorists who've opted for the luxury €500,000 bus. However, given its physical size, it's going to be hard to hide this particular symbol of wealth from the public gaze, even if it does have little character in terms of design.
...and the cars we will not miss
In the old days, it used to be easy. There were cars that you could hate and you knew your hate words would find a sympathetic response with most people. Who remembers the Lada that was really built from the cast-offs of the old Fiat 124? It flourished here in the late 1980s when the Irish car industry was on its knees. In 1987, Lada actually achieved one per cent of the new car market, all of 55,000 or thereabouts in that year.
The Lada was truly the A to B car and truly awful. My abiding memory was of once turning the ignition key and it snapped in two. The car had to be abandoned in a roadside lay-by, eventually to be recovered from under the snow next day.
The people who drove Ladas always looked glum, a bit like their counterparts in far-off Russia. But Lada also offered me an opportunity to visit the most depressing car plant in the world. Located 800 miles south-east of Moscow was actually built by Fiat in the late 1960s, part of the deal for using the 124 cast-offs.
The Togliatti plant had a handful of robots but most of the manufacturing processes were manual. Chill wintery winds blew through the place and here assembly workers tried to keep warm, clustered around small homemade fires. The plant also gave sanctuary to thousands of pigeons and that meant vast amounts bird droppings everywhere, even on the car bodies. The pigeons gained easy access to the plant. When windows got broken, they weren't replaced: often makeshift cardboard covered the broken window space. The few Irish motorists still driving Ladas should know that their cars came into this world in appalling conditions. - Andrew Hamilton