Cars to Look Out for in 2015

2015 promises to be a MASSIVE year for the motoring industry! With a number of huge new models hitting the roads, you'll be spoilt for choice when it comes to picking a new vehicle. To help you decide which model is best for you, we've picked 5 of our favourite motors set to make waves in 2015.

Suzuki Vitara 2015

It seems that all manufacturers have jumped onto the compact 4x4 bandwagon, with almost all of them adding at least one compact 4x4 in their line-up, but it has been Suzuki who has been in the segment long before any other brand, with vehicles such as the Jimny and the Vitara.

Now Suzuki has unveiled its new Vitara, and with it they aim to take back the small 4x4 crown that all the other brands have muscled in on in recent years. The Vitara will be the lead in Suzuki’s crossover lineup, which include the award winning S-Cross (which we can personally vouch is a brilliant car), and the rugged and original Jimny.

The Vitara is a car that focuses on function as well as form, and because of this it will undercut its rivals considerably while still delivering exceptional driving characteristics, an aesthetically pleasing design, and good quality craftsmanship all round.

This model is very much a utilitarian car (unlike a lot of style-over-substance crossovers on the market), meaning that it is more than capable off-road, and that its quality makes it feel like it’s built to last. Overall, Suzuki will be on to a winner with this one.

Volvo XC90

For Swedish motoring giant Volvo, the XC90 is their most important car to date, and is the replacement for their best-selling, albeit venerable flagship 4x4. It is hoped this new model will take on the likes of the BMW X5 and the Audi Q7, which are two of the most popular vehicles in an intensely competitive but hugely lucrative market. 

The great news is that the new XC90 is more than a formidable opponent for the likes of the X5 and Q7, mainly because the XC90 is not only a looker, complete with a clean, functional and aesthetically pleasing style, but it’s also a technological masterpiece, thanks to its plethora of luxury items and trend-setting safety features.

Along with a stylish yet functional design that the Swedes are famed for (complete with leather, chrome, and a new infotainment system), their cars also feature excellent engines like fuel efficient diesels, a powerful V8, and a mooted 400 break horsepower plug-in hybrid.

This is a car that promises to set the luxury 4x4 segment alight, so watch this space.

Honda Civic Type R

2015 will herald the return of Honda’s Swindon-built pocket-rocket, taking on the likes of the VW Golf GTI and the Ford Focus ST.

Building on the standard car’s already extravagant design and adding to it a 2 litre turbocharged engine which generates almost 300 break horsepower, a six-speed manual gearbox, a complex suspension setup to help reduce torque-steer, and a raft of aggressive styling cues to help mark it out as a hot hatch, such as mesh grilles, deep side skirts, LED running lights, and an imposing rear spoiler.

Its predecessor didn’t go down too well in the motoring world, so the pressure is on for Honda’s new baby to be the car that all Type R’s (bar the last one) have been before: the holy grail of hot hatchbacks. But with all of the mouth-watering features at its disposal, and Honda’s extensive Nurburgring testing, it’s looking like this car will deliver.

Mazda MX-5

The Mazda MX-5 is the world’s best-selling roadster, and for good reason! It’s always had elegance in simplicity, going for small engines in a lightweight car, as well as having conventional manual gearboxes, and only having two seats rather than trying to squeeze another two in the rear. It's obsessive attention to detail, ensures that the car is nimble and capable at all times; and of course having competitive pricing, so that your average Joe has enough welly to stick it to the Audis and the BMWs that normally own the road.

The great thing is, Mazda have unveiled the latest generation MX5, due to come out in 2015, which looks like it will be an absolute cracker: the exterior looks familiar (as have all MX-5s), but now has sharper and aggressive lines, as well as more angled lights and grills which keep it looking modern and fresh.

The interior has stuck with the traditional minimalist approach of previous models, but with some up-to-date touches such as a floating infotainment system, thinner A-pillars and a wider windscreen to maintain the driver’s view of the road, and speakers in the headrests too.

All in all, the 2015 model looks to build upon the MX-5’s already sterling legacy and maintain its roadster crown.

Jaguar XE

This could quite possibly be biggest launch of 2015, the eagerly anticipated return of the British luxury marque to the small saloon segment, taking on the likes of the BMW 3 Series, the Audi A4, the Mercedes C-Class, the Lexus IS, etc.

The new XE is Jaguar’s first foray into the compact car segment since it’s promising but ill-fated X-Type, and will be the first Jag to utilise their new range of efficient engines, and a new all aluminium architecture, thus culminating in a car that claims to be most fuel efficient saloon on the market, as well as being a car that will feel light, responsive, not too taxing to live with, and above all else it’ll be tough, courtesy of that aluminium bodywork.

Inside, the car will have an abundance of all the luxury features that big cats are famous for like leather upholstery and dual zone climate control, it’ll have nifty features such as excellent levels of space, alongside a new minimalist approach that will utilise a touchscreen infotainment system in place of most buttons (though there will be a fair few to operate important things like air conditioning), giving the driver a sense that the car is perfectly executed until it’s ‘just so’.

This is a car full of promise, capability, ingenuity, and could well be a car that could go down in history.