New Jeep Renegade arrives: Geneva Motor Show

The new Jeep Renegade debuts at Geneva There’s plenty of choice if you want an compact faux SUV for the urban jungle, but the new Jeep Renegade – revealed at the Geneva Motor Show – promises to be able to do real off-road stuff as well as be a City warrior. Reviving a historic Jeep name, the new Renegade gets styling that shouts traditional Jeep – from its boxy shape, square wheel arches and upright look – and, even though it’s based on the underpinnings of the Fiat 500L (and the soon to arrive Fiat 500X), it conspires to be all American despite its Italian roots and diminutive size. Despite the rather retro look, the modern underpinnings borrowed from the 500L promise to be an effective basis for a compact Jeep, especially as Jeep has modified the setup to offer all independent suspension.

Dacia 'to stay true to its budget roots'

The global marketing boss in charge of Dacia’s roll-out has promised that Renault’s budget brand won’t move upmarket. Many bargain car marques end up inching – or scrambling – upmarket, with slicker products, big price hikes and a desertion of their value promise. But Dacia promises it won't follow the likes of Skoda, Hyundai and Kia by starting cheap 'n' cheerful and then raising prices.

McLaren plan to make windscreen wipers obsolete

McLaren plan to make windscreen wipers obsolete Much of the ‘clunkiness’ in cars – stuff like wind-up windows and a cranking handle – have been made obsolete in cars as technology arrived to make things work better, but one thing that remains on modern cars from the dawn of the motoring age is the windscreen wiper. Invented by Mary Anderson in 1903 after she realised drivers of the first motor cars were having to lean out of the window in rainy conditions to see where they were going, it became a standard fitting on all cars within a few years. Windscreen wipers have certainly improved over the years as technology has developed, but they’re still basically a strip of rubber moving across the windscreen to clear rain.