Auto Express

Radical new Citroen C4 Picasso successor will be boxy, practical and futuristic 🔮😎👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

The iconic and hugely popular Citroen C4 Picasso is set to be reinvented as a spacious, design-led MPV based on the ELO concept, marking the start of a new era of practical family cars for the brand.

Citroen’s CEO, Xavier Chardon, told us that he and his team are “working on the future of the MPV”, and that the ELO concept, which debuted at the Brussels Motor Show this year, is “a good inspiration” for what’s to come. Our exclusive image shows how the new model could look.

Changes will be necessary to productionise the innovative, future-gazing MPV – including a more mainstream five or seven-seat layout. The concept featured a McLaren F1-style central driving position, with an offset seat on either side. This will be swapped for a traditional dashboard arrangement.

Citroen has been experimenting with colours, materials and textures in its recent models, so expect some bright flashes and innovative design flourishes for the production car. But the ELO’s slim infotainment system that runs the entire width of the cabin – not dissimilar to the BMW iX3’s Panoramic Vision iDrive display – will probably make way for a conventional central screen, possibly with a head-up display to complement the digital instrument cluster.

The best new cars to own in 2026, voted for by the people who do... 🗳✅😍🥰

Welcome to the 2026 Driver Power New Car Survey, the latest instalment of Auto Express’s annual deep dive into real-world car ownership from the people who know best: you!

The Tesla Model 3 has been voted the best car to own in the 2026 Driver Power customer satisfaction survey. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the first publication of the UK’s most comprehensive car ownership survey, with the 2026 edition compiling opinions from over 100,000 drivers across the country on the cars they drive.

Elon Musk’s electric saloon dominated this year’s survey, topping three of the 10 main categories – Engine and Gearbox, Safety Features, and Quality and Reliability – and performing well in almost all others. Vice President of Content and Publishing at Auto Express, Sarah Perks, pointed out how: “Owners love almost everything about their Model 3s, especially now quality has improved. The electric saloon is the only car to be rated 100 per cent in a category, with owners giving a perfect score for the drivetrain smoothness.”

Join the Q as Audi's new SUV flagship goes big on luxury, but keeps its diesel ⛽🧐😍🇩🇪

Behold the all-new Audi Q7, the third evolution of the German brand’s large SUV, which is more spacious, feels more luxurious and features more innovations than ever before in the hope of trouncing the next-generation BMW X5, which is just around the corner.

The Q7 has been one of Audi’s core models since the seven-seater arrived back in 2005, and the launch of the third generation marks the latest step in the rejuvenation of the brand’s SUV line-up.

New iterations of the smaller Q3 and Q5 have already landed, the electric Q4 e-tron has just been heavily updated and very soon we’ll be introduced to the Q9 – an even bigger beast that’s designed to go after the mighty Range Rover and will become the brand’s luxury flagship.

Built to show the Audi RS 3 who's boss, the M2 goes xDrive... 🛞🛞🛞🛞🇩🇪

The Bavarian brute still features a 473bhp straight-six engine, but can now sprint from 0-62mph in 3.7 seconds

For the past five years, the BMW M2 has been the only member of the M car family to send all its power exclusively to the rear wheels. But not anymore, because an all-wheel-drive version of Munich's menacing mini muscle car has arrived to challenge the Audi RS 3.

The new BMW M2 xDrive features a rear-biased, fully variable all-wheel drive system that in normal driving conditions sends the entire 473bhp this car delivers to the back wheels. Only when those can’t put any more power to the road does the electronically controlled multi-plate clutch in the transfer case get the front wheels in on the action.

Thanks to the extra traction that comes with all-wheel drive, BMW says the new M2 xDrive offers additional assurance in conditions with fluctuating levels of grip – on ice and snow, for example – or driving on the track. Plus it’s helped boost performance, with 0-62mph now taking just 3.7 seconds.

That’s 0.3 seconds quicker than the rear-drive version with an automatic transmission and 0.1 seconds quicker than the BMW’s chief rival from Audi, which features Quattro all-wheel drive as standard. Meanwhile, the M2 xDrive can do 0-124mph in only 12.8 seconds and, flat out, will hit 177mph if customers specify the optional M Driver’s Package.

The M xDrive system also includes an Active M Differential that splits the torque across the rear axle, helps maximise traction, and includes specifically tuned traction control and stability control settings.