Soon to welcome the Mustang to our own shop, check out our Ford range to invest in cars with a difference.

The New Mondeo

With a sleek design and new levels of premium-level interior craftsmanship, the new, global Ford Mondeo was debuted at the company's 'Go Further' brand event. It will be the first car in its segment to be equipped with a 1.0-litre powertrain - the 2012 "International Engine of the Year", the 1.0-litre EcoBoost petrol engine. It is hoped that this will be able to deliver 'best-in-class' fuel economy.

"This is the most premium Ford Mondeo we've ever built and the most premium vehicle Ford's loyal European customers have ever been offered," explained Ford of Europe's Vice President of Product Development, Barb Samardzich.



"It raises the bar in its segment in terms of style, technology and quality."

The new global design language of the Mondeo is refined, elegant and sporty, while a low roofline enhances the sports coupe profile without compromising the spacious and practical interior.

Additional features that we'll get to see on the new Mondeo - expected to be released in the final quarter of this year - include LED high-beam  and low-beam headlamps as well as signal lighting, and SYNC with MyFord Touch which is designed to allow the driver to control the radio, CD player, climate control and other connected devices using voice commands.

Renewed Focus

The Ford Focus is the world's best selling nameplate, and this latest model features a bolder, more emotive exterior alongside an intuitive interior which includes a whole suite of new tech, not to mention significant improvements in fuel economy.  

This new model was unveiled at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show after a debut at the 2014 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and we are incredibly taken with its new sporty character and the horizontal front grille.



"We weren't satisfied with being No. 1; we wanted to blow people away with a stunning new version of the Focus," said Stephen Odell, Ford of Europe, Middle East and Africa President.

"New Focus marries modern design, advanced technology and leading fuel efficiency with the fun-to-drive DNA for which Focus is rightly acclaimed."

The new design brings the Focus in line with the One Ford global design language which can also be seen in the new Fiesta and Mondeo. The car's lower and wider stance, coupled with a new sculpted bonnet, delivers a whole new dynamic and proud aesthetic that runs through the whole chassis. Special features include a sophisticated touch screen control system with SYNC 2 and advanced driving technologies.

We can't wait to get our hands on the brand new Ford's here at Leden, but in the meantime why not check out what we currently have on offer for car leasing?

Here are our highlights.

There's a new demographic - and they're ultra rich

What are the kinds of people typically targeted by car manufacturers? Families, city-goers, business people? Well It seems there's a new market the luxury car brands are going after, and they're the ultra-rich.

Both BMW and Bugatti were showcasing their wares with the aim of attracting some of China's wealthiest motorists: BMW with a luxury concept sedan dubbed "Vision Future Luxury" and Bugatti with the Veyron Black Bess Legends Series.

Nissan invent a new category of car

You'd have thought with so many classifications of vehicle available that Nissan would be able to fit their new Q30 concept into one of them, but apparently the Japanese manufacturer isn't happy with defining it as a coupe, hatchback or a crossover - but a fusion of the three.

The only question is what should we call this new category? A coutchover? A Croupatch? We'll leave that up to you, Nissan.

Sometimes the cars look boring already...

The glitz, the glamour, the shiny lights. You could probably make a wheel barrow look stylish when given the auto show treatment, and yet the latest addition of the Chevrolet Cruze, unveiled at this year's Beijing Auto Show, looked really pretty boring.

It's popular over in the States (though this is a slight aesthetic departure from its Western cousin) but still, c'mon Chevvy, this is a car show!

Brands are looking to tackle high emissions

The problem of pollution in China is well documented, so perhaps its unsurprising that some of the biggest car brands are looking to do something about it...

Nice to see they're taking it seriously then.

The 2014 range consists of three models: the Giulette hatchback, the Mito hatchback and the 4C Coupe, but how does each one stack up against rivals in its class?

Giulietta Hatchback

The problem with a lot of hatchbacks and city cars is that they don't always look that appealing aesthetically beyond the luxury hot hatches such as the Audi A1 or BMW 1-Series. The Giulietta bucks this trend significantly however, with a sporty exterior and luxury interior that looks fantastic.

Of course when buying a hatchback it is often value for money that is at the forefront of your thinking, and the Giulietta's CO2 emissions are competitive across the entire range, while it performed well during What Car's 'TrueMPG' test.

Alfa Romeo's flagship hatchback also compares favourably to other cars in its class in terms of engine performance. The entire range is turbocharged, ensuring that even the least powerful models pack plenty of punch out on the road.

Our car leasing deals for the Alfa Romeo Giulietta start from £209.99 + VAT, but if you'd like to find out more about leasing one of these fantastic how hatches, give us a call or browse the range today.

Mito Hatchback

The Mito is the second hatchback in the Alfa Romeo range, and although it is the cheaper alternative to the Giulietta, it still looks stunning when compared to its rivals.

Like with its high-end cousin, the Mito also performs remarkably well, with the 133bhp turbocharged multi-air engine doing particularly well. Again, this doesn't come at the expense of fuel economy, emitting as little as 90g/km of CO2 and enjoying an average MPG of up to 80.7.

You can find out more detailed information on the Alfa Romeo Mito in this excellent blog post on the Auto Motor Blog, alternatively give us a call on 0845 643 9311.

4C Coupe

The Alfa Romeo 4C Coupe looks like a supercar, drives like a supercar and handles like a dream - but at £45,000 it certainly doesn't feel like a supercar in your wallet.

There is only one engine option available with the 4C - a 1.75-litre four-cylinder turbo - but it performs incredibly. It can even out-accelerate a Porsche Cayman S despite producing just 237bhp, significantly less than the German car. This is all down to the lightweight design, which goes towards offering up a superb ride, and the 4C handles brilliantly as well.

One typical drawback of sports cars is of course running costs as saving fuel is not typically part of their remit, however with an average fuel economy of more than 40mpg the Alfa Romeo 4C is far from expensive to run, while lower than typical emissions will also help with that car tax bill.

Unfortunately we don't have the 4C available for car leasing here at Leden currently - you can read about the trouble US drivers will have trying to get hold of one here - however we'll keep you posted should that change.

The car industry saw the highest number of new car registrations for a decade in March - marking 25 consecutive months of growth.

In fact the number of new cars registered last month - 464,824 - has only been bettered once since the registrations began changing twice a year back in 1999. That was in March 2004 when 466,954 new cars were registered.

Continuing their dominance of the UK market, it was Ford that once again topped the chart for the country's best-selling cars, with the Fiesta in top spot and the Focus in second. The rise in growth of 17.7% has taken the industry by surprise, and reflects improved consumer confidence, improved vehicle technology and competitive finance deals.

"There has never been a better time to buy a new car thanks to attractive finance deals and advanced technologies that often make new cars cheaper to run," said Mike Hawes, chief executive of the SMMT.

"We expect the market to continue to perform positively for the rest of the year, albeit at a more modest rate."

There was also a significant increase in sales of alternatively fuelled vehicles with 8,713 cars registered. This represents annual growth of 63.8%.

To find out more about the vehicles we have on offer here at The Leden Group give us a call on 0845 643 9311, or browse our website today.

The 10 Best Selling Cars for March

1. Ford Fiesta
2. Ford Focus
3. Vauxhall Corsa
4. Volkswagen Golf
5. Vauxhall Astra
6. Nissan Qashqai
7. Volkswagen Polo
8. Fiat 500
9. BMW 3 Series
10. Toyota Yaris

Here are our highlights...

The Nissan Juke has had a facelift.

Okay, so the latest edition of the Nissan Juke compact crossover might not have been what everyone else was talking about in Geneva, but here at the Leden Group we are all about the ordinary men and women in the street, and for them this is the sort of news that will actually be relevant to them.

Changes include additions to the powertrain range - notably a downsized 1.2-litre turbocharged engine and a revised 1.6-litre DIG-T engine - an improved four wheel drive system, as well as advanced equipment like the latest version of Nissan's driver interface - NissanConnect.

It's been 10 years since the launch of the Gallardo? Really?

Time sure does fly, and it flies none quicker than when you're in a Lamborghini.

It has been a decade since the Italian firm launched the Gallardo, and they have decided that now is the time to replace it - and what a replacement it is.

The Lamborghini Huracan, whose name is inspired by a Spanish fighting bull, is slated for a spring release and will only set you back about £180,000 for the cheapest model. A bargain, then.

Still, you get a lot of bang for your buck, with the 5.2-litre V10 engine tuned for 610 PS and offering a top speed of over 200mph.

Renault do something interesting... finally.

Back to planet Earth then, and the new Renault Twingo looks like it could be an awful lot of fun to drive indeed.

With a rear-drive layout and bright colour schemes the new vehicles makes the Clio look positively frumpy, while it also promises to be cheaper than its sister car.

The Koenigsegg One:1 stole the show. Obviously.

Taking its name from the fact that it delivers a power-to-weight ratio of 1 PS per 1kg, the Koenigsegg One:1 delivers a power output equivalent to one megawatt, leading to the Swedish manufacturer describing this vehicle as the world's first 'megacar'.

With a top speed of 273mph the One:1 is the unofficial fastest car in the world, however we hope you don't have a burning desire to own one of these incredible machines, because Koenigsegg only plan to make 6 (in addition to the one presented in Geneva) and they have all already been sold.

The Audi TT Quattro Sport Concept isn't for hairdressers.

The original Audi TT's picked up a reputation, somewhat unfairly, as being a bit of a 'hairdresser's car', but the TT Quattro Sport Concept unveiled at Geneva looked anything but.

Offering up an awesome 420 hp and 331 lb-ft of torque, the TT Quattro Sport Concept delivers 207 hp per litre. Hopefully this is the sort of performance will see in the next-gen Audi TT RS!

There are sure to be a whole host of exciting announcements in Switzerland this year, but what is piquing our interest the most?

Vauxhall's 1.0-litre Ecoboost Engine

Big news for fleet operations managers who are looking for fuel efficiency above all else, the new 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine from Vauxhall that will debut in the Adam at the Geneva Motor Show could be the future of your business transport.

Developed at Vauxhall/Opel's International Technical Development Centre, the new engine will come in two different power outputs, producing 90hp and 115hp respectively.

The various features of the engine combine to provide a fuel consumption of 65mpg, while CO2 emissions are just 99g/km according to preliminary testing.

Mercedes Benz S-Class Coupé

We previewed the Mercedes Benz S-Class Coupé earlier this week, and the Concept version was on show at last September's Frankfurt Motor Show and NAIAS in January, but the production version will debut at Geneva.

With bold lines and an exceptionally sleek profile we can't wait to see the new S-Class in the flesh (or rather, metal).

BMW 4-Series Gran Coupé

This four-door version of the 4-series is expected to rival the Audi A5 when it goes on sale in June of this year, and is aimed at more of a family market than the original 4-series Coupé, however that doesn't mean that it wouldn't make for a perfect business vehicle, with sophisticated styling that simply oozes professionalism.

Koenigsegg One:1

Okay, so there is probably a fairly slim chance that we're going to be offering the latest Koenigsegg supercar - the One:1 - for car leasing here at The Leden Group, but that doesn't mean that we aren't incredibly excited by the prospect of seeing it for the first time.

It is the aim of the Swedish manufacturer to beat the current world's fastest top speed of 258mph, currently held by the Bugatti Veyron, and we certainly wouldn't bet against them pulling it off.

Keep an eye out for our review of the Geneva Motor Show in a few weeks.

We first saw many of the ideas behind the new Mercedes-Benz S-Class Coupe when we saw the concept version at the recent North American International Auto Show, one of the standout moments of the Detroit event, and the first look at the real thing doesn't look as though it is going to disappoint.

Boasting an exceptionally sleek aesthetic as well as a very powerful 4663 cc V8 bi-turbo engine, it is the exhaust system that really punctuates the sporty driving experience, with deeper sound components that provide a fuller tone.

However, like its sister car the S-Class Saloon, the S-Class Coupe is also packed with great features and innovative technology.

Added to the touch-pad controls and heads-up display of the Saloon, the Coupe also has the option of "expressive" headlamps - rather ostentatiously featuring dozens of Swarovski crystals - and the first 'suspension with eyes', Magic Body Control. This incorporates a curve tilting functionality which helps the car lean into bends in much the same way as a motorcyclist, thus reducing the lateral acceleration that can act on the occupants and improving ride comfort

The goal of the designers was to attain a 'sensual purity' according to Mercedes-Benz, and it appears that they are set to achieve that inside and out, with clear contours and a smooth body as well as an interior that - Mercedes claim at least - is the highest level of modern luxury.

The Mercedes-Benz S-Class Coupe looks as though it is going to be a fantastic choice for personal or business leasing, and here at the Leden Group we can't wait to get our hands on it. To find out more about the other Mercedes cars we can offer for contract hire give us a call on 0845 643 9311.