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Spyker B6 Venator Spyder on the way

But much of that will probably depend on real buyers stumping up real money to get on the waiting list for a car we still don’t know a great deal about (in particular what underpins it) but which does look good and manages to encompass Spyker’s traditional styling cues whilst still conspiring to look very current. Now, buried amongst the latest financial report from Spyker – which shows no real turnover or profit, loans in to shares and an injection of cash from Youngman – comes the news that Victor is already getting a bit ahead of himself again with plans to reveal the B6 Venator Spyder later this year. That looks a bit of a ‘run before you can walk’ scenario for Spyker - especially as Victor says production of the C8 Aileron will gather pace this year and the D8 Peking-to-Paris SUV will be a priority – but if Spyker can produce a Venator Spyder that looks as good as the coupe it may be the right way forward.

Peugeot 2008 Crossover: UK price from £12,995

That meant the Urban Crossover Concept from Geneva in 2012 turning in to the new Peugeot 2008 at the start of 2013 – before heading to Geneva 2013 for its public debut – and with that other French car maker, Renault, going a similar route with the Clio-based Captur, it’s clear the French see the future of compact cars moving away from hatchbacks to something more rugged. But unlike the Captur – which was a bit of a disappointing looking Clio on stilts – the Peugeot 2008 does look a more convincing offering, even if it’s a more generic-looking compact SUV than the Nissan Juke and would, for our money, be the pick over the Captur. Peugeot are targeting 8,000 sales a year in the UK for the 2008, and with prices starting at £12,995 and heading up to around £19,000 it seems, if anything, a quite modest target, especially as Peugeot reckons 65 per cent of 2008 customers will be new to the brand.

Volkswagen & Suzuki – it’s handbags at dawn

Volkswagen Suzuki Partnership - things aren't exactly rosy Back in 2009 Volkswagen invested a rather large chunk of change (around €2 billion) in Suzuki in exchange for a 20% stake in the Japanese car maker, and there were big hopes for advantages for both parties. Volkswagen were looking for a quick-fix route to the burgeoning car market in India, where Suzuki were doing very well, with sales in India last year of 1.13 million cars – almost half its production – in comparison to VW’s paltry sales of just 53,000. In return, Suzuki were expecting to get a quick route to cutting-edge hybrid and electric tech for their range, and access to VW’s engines.