Welcome to the latest happenings update for the Southern Group. This time around we take a look back at March. And no, we cannot believe the year is going so quickly either.
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Here you’ll find a selection of the latest highlights from SGMW members, including car reviews and news, social media posts, occasional profanity, and maybe even the odd witty anecdote, along with a brief summary of the important goings-on in the UK automotive industry.
Read on for the highlights from the SGMW from March 2025.
March started on a high note with the reveal of the new Morgan Supersport, a £102,000 sports car with straight-six power. The new model is available in both hard- and soft-top guises and is the Malvern based brand’s new flagship model that’ll fill the sizable void left by the now departed Aero 8. Most pleasing is that Morgan has stuck with its retro styling ethos for the Supersport, which includes a forged aluminium bonnet to save weight and new door hinges to reduce exterior noise. We think it’s a glorious looking thing.
Filed under ‘cars you cannot buy just yet’ is the new Volkswagen ID.Every1 concept car. A tiny electric city car that previews the upcoming ID.1. The concept boasts Mk1 Golf vibes styling-wise and should cost around £17k when it goes into production in 2027.
A new challenger arrived last month in the form of the ChangAn Deepal S07. “The what?” I hear you say. Well, the Deepal S07 is an Italian-designed electric SUV that’ll rival the Tesla Model Y. It offers up to 295 miles of range, and prices will start at around £40k when it launches in the UK in April. Consider yourself up to speed.
The final new arrival highlight from last month was the new Mercedes CLA. The big news is that the CLA gets the brand’s new styling and that it’ll be available as a full EV for the first time. According to Mercedes, the new CLA ushers in a new era of lighter and more efficient EVs. The headline figures are impressive, with a promised near-500 miles of range. The good news for buyers, though, is that they’ll get the choice of hybrid-powered models alongside the electric ones.
Lastly, and we’ve left the sad news to the end, the Ford Focus has gone the way of the Fiesta and will end production in November this year. Launched in 1998, Ford’s brilliant family hatchback has spanned four generations, with the current model winning high praise for its practicality and affordability. Sad times indeed.
The updated Skoda Enyaq won high praise last month due to its ability to blend easily into daily life, with the facelifted model getting tweaked styling, more tech, improved performance, and more range. Good job, Skoda.
Sticking with big cars, the Dacia Bigster also won all of the plaudits from road testers thanks to its very tempting sub-£25k starting price that gets buyers plenty of space and great tech. Just don’t look up the meaning for Bigster in the Urban Dictionary, whatever you do.
Elsewhere, there were several models that were tested on the less-than-smooth roads of the UK. As you’d expect, Skoda’s roll of brilliance continues with positive reviews for the Elroq electric SUV, while the Alfa Romeo Junior proves to be an equally as good and sportier option over its Czech rival. In the premium sector, the new versions of the Audi Q5 and BMW X3 continue to fight for buyers on an equal footing, with reviewers confirming that both are similarly good.
Want to go camping but don’t like all of the boring stuff like pitching a tent and lighting a fire? Phil Huff has the solution with the ultimate camping pickup truck, the Isuzu D-Max Basecamp – a fully fledged home away from home on wheels.
Trinity Francis takes a look at Everatti’s electric reinterpretation of the original Land Rover for Forbes.
In his latest update, Ben Griffin finally gets around to trying to start his BMW Z4 that’s been sitting for years. Will he succeed? We certainly hope so.
As part of the What Car? Reliability surveys, Claire Evans takes a look at the most and least reliable Land Rover models.
Herbie goes to the airport; last month Stu Bird braved a trip to Heathrow in a car that is over half a century old that likely drove itself around and caused chaos while he was away. Bravo Stu, we applaud you.
A world-first (we think) group test of three boxer-engined Alfa Romeos.
— Tim Pitt (@timpitt100) March 28, 2025
From left to right: Arna 1.2 SL, 33 1.5 and Alfasud Sprint Veloce.
Feature coming soon to Auto Italia magazine. pic.twitter.com/fMVyKHUXqd
Tim Pitt presents a world-first triple test with a trio of boxer-engined Alfas. Which must have been a good day.
Canada’s Suzuki importer kind of acknowledged just how challenging a sell the X90 was in this frank 1996 ad #suzukix90 pic.twitter.com/LgpIsKdpu4
— Chris Rees (@quillerrees) March 12, 2025
In Canadian news, Chris Rees speculates that the advertising campaign for the Suzuki X90 was not very appealing to consumers.
Drove the new BYD Sealion 7 this week...pretty impressive EV all rounder
— Peter Nunn (@PeterNunn3) March 22, 2025
Oh, and if you like the design, overseeing the project was Wolfgang Egger, ex-head of Alfa Romeo Centro Stile (he did the 8C Competizione, among others)
Just imagine this in red with with Alfa badges... pic.twitter.com/PqEzgo3LqU
In road test Twitter, Peter Nunn confirms why the design of the new BYD Sealion 7 looks rather familiar.
