Paul Barker

1 day ago | autoexpress.co.uk | Paul Barker

European leaders need to look beyond electric vehicles to avoid being at odds with car manufacturers in achieving climate goals, according to Porsche’s head of procurement, Barbara Frankel. Speaking at the Financial Times Future of the Car Summit in London this week, Frankel said that while Porsche supports the EU “intensely pursuing” the Paris Agreement’s goals, doing that only through electric cars is risking a divide with the car industry.

1 week ago | autoexpress.co.uk | Paul Barker

As drivers and car lovers, we – and I don’t think it’s just me! – spend a lot of time moaning about what’s wrong. Whether it’s potholes, temporary speed limits, roadworks, other drivers, the cost of motoring, what manufacturers are doing badly, or a million and one other things, it’s easy to whinge. But recently I experienced a trio of diverse cars that put a smile on my face for different reasons.

1 week ago | autoexpress.co.uk | Paul Barker |Phil McNamara

The Ford Fiesta is as big a name as they come in the car world, particularly in the UK where the supermini was a perennial best seller for decades. Now it's dead, off sale and only available on the used car market but we've discovered that there's more than a flicker of interest within Ford in bringing it back. The question is, should Ford reanimate its small car icon for the electric car age or would it do better to look to the future?

3 weeks ago | autoexpress.co.uk | Paul Barker

A 600-mile Easter holiday trip through France really rubbed in the raw deal that drivers get from the British road network. Yes, I know France is a bigger country with a similar number of people, the toll road system is different to here and our motorway network runs fairly smoothly given the number of vehicles on it. But hundreds of miles barely having to come off a cruise-controlled 80mph compared rather favourably to my experience getting to and from Dover for the ferry.

1 month ago | autoexpress.co.uk | Paul Barker

I feel sad for SEAT. While the other Volkswagen Group bands have exciting new small cars to look forward to – such as the VW ID.1, ID.2 and ID.2 X, Cupra’s Raval, the Skoda Epiq and Audi’s Q2 e-tron – the Spanish stalwart is sat on the outside looking in. And now it’s leaderless, too, with Brit-born CEO Wayne Griffiths’ abrupt departure being announced late last month, only a couple of weeks after saying that he was there for the long haul, and that SEAT and Cupra were in his heart.