Welcome to the July 2026 edition of Southern Group Happenings! While the British summer heatwave continues to test the nation’s patience, SGMW members have continued to be out in full force, keeping the automotive content machine running at the redline without overheating.
Latest: 2026 Kia Driving Day: Roundabouts, Test Drives, and a Lonely Sportage
In this month’s edition, there’s our usual round-up of the best car reveals – from military-grade V12s to electric city crossovers – as well as our road test winners and losers to see who earned high praise and who got sent home with sunburnt red faces. Additionally, there is the usual curated selection of fresh member features, reviews, and social highlights, so there’s plenty to sink your teeth into.
Read on for all the highlights from last month.
SGMW new car reveals: July 2026
We start off with the Volkswagen ID. Cross SUV, an electric crossover aimed squarely at the Renault 4. Packing a 278-mile range and VW’s latest tech, it’s designed to bring a more affordable approach to the small EV market with more than enough range to suit a majority of use cases.
Meanwhile, Aston Martin threw the rulebook in the bin with the Dreadnought concept. A wild, V12-powered military 4×4 set to make its public debut in the Call of Duty video game, it’s less about doing the school run and more about surviving an apocalyptic invasion in luxury.
Over at XPeng, the Chinese brand unveiled the XPeng L03, a sleek electric crossover crafted specifically to steal sales away from the Tesla Model Y with competitive pricing and lots of tech.
Petrolheads got a tearful farewell with the Mercedes-AMG A 45 S Final Edition, marking the end of the road for the hell-raising 415bhp hot hatch. The final iteration gets plenty of visual upgrades, but more importantly, it is one last hurrah for that hyperactive 2.0-litre turbo engine – which at the time of its debut, was the most powerful production four-cylinder.
Elsewhere, BYD’s luxury spin-off brand dropped the Denza Bao 5, a rugged 536bhp plug-in hybrid off-roader that looks suspiciously like a Land Rover Defender – one that carries a price tag to match.
Finally, the MINI Countryman Edition debuted as a trail-focused trim, proving the not really ‘mini’ in any way at all SUV is determined to become a proper off-roader whether you like it or not.
SGMW Test Drive Watch: Winners and Losers
A round of applause for the winners
Kicking the month off on a high note was the new Mercedes C-Class Electric. Road testers were won over by its long-legged range, whisper-quiet refinement, and a staggering interior screen setup – proving Merc has finally remembered how to build a proper electric executive barge.
Next up was the GWM Haval H6, which proved impossible for reviewers to ignore simply because of how ridiculously cheap it is, starting at sub-£30k. And yes, this is cheap for 2026. While it won’t set any lap records, for the top-spec Dacia level price, it is a tech-laden family SUV that had road testers tipping their hats to it as a proper bargain.
For pure petrolhead indulgence, the Porsche 911 GT3 S/C delivered absolute sports car bliss according to testers. Well, it wasn’t going to be rubbish, was it? Essentially a GT3 without a roof with added bits from the S/T coupe, journos were smitten with its roadgoing prowess, manual gearbox, and that screamer of a naturally aspirated flat-six.
Rounding out the winners, the Audi Q4 e-tron facelift earned solid praise. A series of clever interior tweaks, sharper styling, and improved range figures raised its game just enough to keep it relevant in the hyper-competitive mid-sized SUV market sector.
And a chorus of boos for the losers
Moving swiftly over to the losers, where the DS No7 took a bit of a beating. While DS tried its hardest with its avant-garde French styling and quirky interior, testers found it somewhat underwhelming to drive, leaving it feeling like an overpriced exercise in fashion over function. Painful stuff indeed.
SGMW Web Watch:
Best superminis to buy 2026 – Shane Wilkinson
Despite losing some of its biggest sellers in recent years, the supermini class is still going strong with an array of top-notch models like the Fiat Grande Panda, the Renault 5, and the new Kia EV2. But which one should you pick? Shane Wilkinson runs through the very best models to buy for Auto Express.
Read the Auto Express article here
Honda Super-N review: a tiny electric city car that delivers – Jim McGill
After discontinuing the Honda e city car a couple of years back, the brand is back with the diminutive Super-N – a boxy Kei car based model that starts from sub-£20k. But is the Super-N worthy of consideration for EV buyers? Jim McGill takes one for a spin to find out (spoiler: it is very worthy).
Road Test: This New Lotus Emira Is Both the Calm and the Storm – Tim Pitt
The Lotus Emira 420 is the brand’s latest take on one of its existing cars, which uses the “add a bit more power and speed along with some extra letters to the name” recipe that has helped the British sports car brand continually evolve its line-up over the years. But is the hottest Emira yet a real rival to the Porsche 911? Tim Pitt took the Emira 420 for a spin at the brand’s Hethel test circuit to find out.
Read the Robb Report review here
Ineos Grenadier and Quartermaster cleared for UK blue-light use – Phil Huff
With rural crime on the rise, UK police forces have confirmed that the Ineos Grenadier and Quartermaster pickup trucks are now approved for emergency blue light service. Yep, two of the toughest vehicles on sale in the UK can now be had in full ‘Battenburg’ liveries with flashing blue lights and sirens – but only if you’re a police officer. Phil Huff runs through the details for Professional Pickup.
Read the Professional Pickup article here
Festival Of The Unexceptional 2026 – Furious Driving walk around – Matt Richardson
If you yearn for the era of black plastic bumpers, hubcaps, and winddown windows, then the Festival of The Unexceptional is the event for you. Matt Richardson gives the full lowdown on the 2026 event for his FuriousDriving YouTube channel.
SGMW Social Watch:
In finding things news, Chris Rees found his personal Utopia last month.
In financial mistake news, Shane Wilkinson goes time travelling to buy a car – a decision we fully support.
Moving onto European news, Ben Hodges takes a whistlestop tour of war memorials, cathedrals, and museums in France – all with a broken hand no less.
In sequel news, the latest Herbie movie gets the working title ‘eats through oil seals’ with the plot revolving around an old car leaking all of its oil onto a driveway.
