 The Dacia Sandero, Toyota Prius and Fiat Punto Evo met the press in the weekend newspapers.
If there ever comes a time when a new car can be picked up off the shelf in a supermarket - the Dacia Sandero would be that vehicle. That's the view of James May writing in the Daily Telegraph. He's been driving a Sandero even though we will not be getting the car in the UK for the time being.
Should the supermarket scenario ever be reality "and the car becomes a domestic consumable displayed between the veg and the men's grooming products, then that car, the car you bring home in a figurative carrier bag, will be something like the Sandero.
"The Sandero is the essence of a car, devoid of any of the sociological fug that turns it into a fashion statement, a status symbol, an indulgence, a brand experience or a lifestyle accessory. It's a medium-size hatchback doing a functional job and, as a proposition for the car enthusiast, it's a bit, well, humdrum.
"The Sandero is a basic car for less wealthy lands, or what we call emerging economies. The shape is inoffensive but rather ordinary, despite some claims that its profile takes the form of an upturned wave. The interior trim and fabric are slightly hose-down, the gearstick seems long and long of throw, the steering wheel a bit thin, the driving position a bit upright, the windows a bit wind-up-and-downy".
Anthony Andrew in the Guardian says that the Toyota Prius is not everyone's cup of tea, "nor, indeed, everyone's beaker of strained carrot juice. There are those who deride the hybrid as a horrid eco-box, and others question its eco credentials. Both have a point. It has never been in the running for automotive beauty contests: you know it's a car because it's got four wheels and moves, but aesthetically it has more in common with a vacuum cleaner or a desktop printer.
"Moreover, that strain of smug righteousness that characterised earlier Prius owners was not only insufferable but ill-earned. Although the half-battery, half-petrol engine cut consumption, its mpg was not that much better than several non-hybrid competitors and the difference in the carbon footprint was offset by the fact that the Prius was shipped from Japan and many of its components from around the world.
"And yet it worked. It was smooth, easy to drive, fast and fuel-efficient. And it worked particularly well in London, where it was made exempt from congestion charging. It spread like basement conversions from street to street until it seemed as if everyone had one. Having saturated the market, there was only one thing Toyota could do: produce a new Prius. It's fair to say that the update doesn't look any more captivating than its predecessor. It's still an oversized domestic appliance, although apparently it's a more aerodynamic oversized domestic appliance - a vacuum cleaner with less wind resistance."
Giles Smith in The Times Weekend section provided an insight into how not to launch a brand new car to the press after Fiat unveiled its Punto Evo on an Italian aircraft carrier.
"I'm not saying the night I spent on an Italian aircraft carrier was the worst night's sleep I've ever had. (I've slept more poorly in a VW camper van. And then there was that time in a small, double-glazed seaside hotel room with three vomiting children ... ) So, not the worst, then, but right up there.
"Nothing to do with the ceaseless pitching of the open ocean. The Italian aircraft carrier in question (the ITS Cavour) was docked at La Spezia in Italy at the time and the ship, being roughly the width of Preston, doesn't tend to rock.
"Nevertheless, I had a plank-style bunk in a tiny cabin that would ordinarily be home to four sailors but which, on this occasion, mercifully, wasn't. And something about the windowlessness, the recycled air, the powerful hints of prison and hospital in the shiny, disinfected floors, the permanent buzz from the ship's in-room Tannoy, the periodic hums and clankings, plus the low-level anxiety that it would all kick off internationally overnight and that, come the morning, I would report for breakfast and discover that we were in the Gulf and at war with Dubai - well, all these things combined to make sleep a little complicated.
"Why was I sleeping (or rather, not sleeping) on an Italian aircraft carrier? In order to bear important witness to the launch of the Fiat Punto Evo, of course. The connection? Well, according to Fiat, "both the ITS Cavour aircraft carrier and the Punto Evo are symbols of technological excellence and of Italy, representing the culmination of an evolutionary process involving technologies and innovative features". Fair enough. Mind you, you wouldn't want to go to war in a Fiat Punto. And neither would you want to pick up your kids from school in the ITS Cavour."
Source: Headline Auto
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