It will be a pub trivia question soon to ask which manufacturer doesn’t have an SUV in their model range. The latest to announce that it will join the party is SEAT. The Spanish company says that the compact SUV is already under development at the Martorell facility and it is due to be launched in 2016. This particular segment of the market is presently estimated to be over one million vehicles in Europe alone, so in many cases it is just that a manufacturer cannot afford to ignore the SUV area. Of course, you do wonder how this will turn out, and just what the difference will be. SEAT is part of the VW Group, as is Skoda, who build one of the best compact SUVs on the market with the Yeti. Given also that the Yeti has now been able to build itself an excellent reputation, plus it’s been a Class winner in our 4×4 Of The Year competition for the last two years. The SEAT will have to go some to beat that.
… as does Lexus.

The new Lexus NX (pictured) was debuted at the recent Beijing Motor Show and at least this new Crossover option does not look like every other model on the market. There’s no mistaking the angular Lexus front end. Three powertrains will be available in the NX range: a petrol-electric hybrid in the NX 300h; a 2.0-litre petrol turbo in the NX 200t; and a naturally aspirated petrol unit in the NX 200. The UK powertrain line-up had not been decided at the time we closed for press.

Now this is a proper adventure! A group of ex-military personnel have restored a 1993 Toyota Land Cruiser, which they intend to drive from Kabul in Afghanistan to Goodwood in leafy – and somewhat safer – Sussex. The journey will cross some 17 different countries and will cover over 4600 miles. Leading the trip will be ex-marine Chris Short, who is making the journey as a symbolic statement to encourage other veterans in their readjustment to ‘ordinary’ life. Highly laudable, but the guy’s obviously something of a madman since instead of doing the trip from behind the wheel of the Toyota, he’s driving an all-terrain motorbike. Strap it to the rear and jump in would be our advice, Chris. The trip has been organised by Shoresec Racing and all funds raised will be given to Mission Motorsport, a charity that helps recovery and rehabilitation of ex-service personnel through motor racing. We hope to give more details of the trip in a forthcoming issue.

Tough Mudder is said to be ‘the toughest obstacle challenges’ in the world, which is some claim! This series of events tests the endurance and strength of participants over a 10-12 mile course, and is the sort of event that makes a lot of sense to sponsor, hence Jeep UK’s involvement. Jeep will supply a number of Grand Cherokee, Wrangler and new Cherokee models at the events throughout the year. Damien Dally, head of brand, for Jeep UK explained: “The Tough Mudder ethos is very much in line with that of Jeep. We’re not only passionate about adventure, but encouraging people to challenge themselves too – and everyone who took on the Tough Mudder challenge at the weekend, or plans to attend forthcoming Tough Mudder events, certainly does that.”

If the G-Class is the ‘yin’ of the Mercedes range, then this thing has to be the ‘yang’. The Concept Coupe SUV was unveiled to the world in New York, and to be honest it can stay there. To be fair, there’s no attempt to say this is anything other than a performance sports saloon that just happens to be four-wheel drive, fitted as it is with the company’s 4MATIC permanent all-wheel drive system, linked to the 9G-TRONIC nine-speed automatic gearbox. Apparently the gearbox has five transmission modes; Comfort, Sport, Sport+, Individual and – we kid you not – Slippery… For many, the most ugly, pointless all-wheel drive production saloon has been the BMW X6. It seems that Mercedes now wants to challenge for that title, although there are no immediate plans to put this concept into production. Thankfully.