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455 – Small cars think big

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4 June 2010

HERE’S a snapshot of average fuel prices for May from the AA: 121.5p a litre for unleaded; 122.9p per litre for diesel.

The cost of filling up is really noticeable now – I used my credit card at a self-pay fuel pump recently. The credit limit allowed for the fuel was so out of date: a £56 max when my Audi A6 can take around £80 of diesel at current fuel prices.

Little wonder then that smaller cars from premium car makers are getting a lot of attention from businesses and company car drivers thinking as much about their wallet as their image.

Take Audi’s new MINI rival, the A1. We don’t know the fuel figures yet, but the CO2 emissions are low, ranging from 105g/km to 132g/km, so whichever engine option you choose it’s going to be fuel efficient. And now you can get a feel for Audi’s newcomer. In virtual 3D.

At Audi Centres up and down the country ‘Augmented Reality’ kiosks allow you to view the newcomer in 3D. You need a special ‘MagicSymbol’ printed in the A1 brochure or downloadable from www.audi.co.uk, and the technology recognises this and merges an A1 model into real footage in real-time. You can even do it on your PC at home.

The real thing will be available from October.

A month before then, the latest version of the MINI will be available: the Countryman. This is a 4×4 version with four doors. And it looks to offer good value in the way that MINIs generally do, by hanging on as tenaciously to its value as it will to the road with the four-wheel drive powertrain.

The new MINI Countryman SUV has been given a residual value rating of almost 50% by CAP, which predicts values for the contract hire and leasing companies. Which means it should be good on lease rentals.

The MINI’s sales and marketing chief, Jochen Goller, reckons that holding 47% of its original value after three years gives it a clear lead over SUV sector rivals such as the Nissan Qashqai and Volkswagen Tiguan (both 37%) and the Skoda Yeti (35%).

And then among these two premium cars comes Nissan’s left-field Juke. It’s a mini-SUV and looks suitably funky. Like the bigger and highly successful Qashqai crossover, the Juke will be available with both two-wheel and four-wheel drive variants.

Prices for the Nissan Juke range between £12,795-£15,695; the Audi A1 between £13,145-£18,280; and the MINI Countryman £16,000-£20,810.

Going small looks funky and fun. Can’t wait to try all three.

Business Car Manager: Editor’s Blog

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Ralph Morton

Ralph Morton

Ralph Morton is an award-winning journalist and the founder of Business Car Manager (now renamed Business Motoring). Ralph writes extensively about the car and van leasing industry as well as wider fleet and company car issues. A former editor of What Car?, Ralph is a vastly experienced writer and editor and has been writing about the automotive sector for over 35 years.

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