Not so long ago, resto-mods were almost exclusively reserved for big dollar classics and vintage supercars. But exclusivity no more, just in the last couple of years we’ve seen the JDM space sprout a few of its own resto-mods; the Built By Legends GTR’s and TOM’s Supra just to name a few. That’s where the Prodrive P25 […]
The post Modernising a WRC Legend – The Prodrive P25 appeared first on Speedhunters.
And rightly so, there’s so much to see, visit, do and of course eat, oh and if you happen to be a car guy or gal, then you’re in luck as there’s never been a better time to actually see the car culture in all its glory. With famed parking areas like Daikoku and Umihotaru […]
The post 8 Cars In 1 Day: A Day With Drivers Lounge appeared first on Speedhunters.
That might sound like a lot, but it manages some 82 million vehicles in some of the world’s most densely populated cities daily. As a country, it should be at a perpetual standstill. Yet, ever since the 1950s, the Japanese have held a tiny little ace up their sleeves… Kei-jidõsha, or ‘kei car’ as it’s […]
The post Kei & Mighty: Exploring Japan’s WAZUKA Microcar Museum appeared first on Speedhunters.
But finally, after the stars recently aligned, I managed to get the cool guys at Car Shop Glow (CSG) to bring their time attacking Mazda to a quiet location away from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo’s daily chaos. I can remember the first time I laid eyes on this RX-7 – it was probably […]
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Corner balancing a car has been one of those things that seemed off-limits to the average automotive DIY enthusiast. You can find a wide range of electronic scales from a speed shop like Summit Racing; however, a ‘decent’ set will set you back at least $1,000, and a higher-quality set will cost double that. You […]
The post Project Rough: DIY Corner Balance Take 2 – With Physics! appeared first on Speedhunters.
Car meets are a rare occurrence in Scandinavia’s cold months, but with the arrival of spring and the clearing of salted roads, enthusiasts begin bringing out their cars. After a long, dark, and freezing winter, not one clear, warm day is wasted. While there are a few well-known spots for gatherings, on Thursday evenings over […]
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I could name a few, but one that stands out is a 21-second clip of a bright yellow MkIV Toyota Supra built by JUN, power-sliding at Tsukuba Circuit. I’m not sure where I first saw it online, but in 2001 – four years before YouTube was a thing – you can bet I risked the prospect […]
The post Who Remembers The JUN Akira Supra? appeared first on Speedhunters.
‘Give a man a body kit, and he’ll look cool for a day. Give him a sheet of raw carbon fibre, and he’ll look cool for a lifetime.’ Masato Nitta lives by this philosophy, and he’s built a one-piece carbon front cowl for his EK9 Honda Civic Type R to prove it. Of course, while this […]
The post From The Garage To The Loop: A Kanjo-Spec Civic Type R appeared first on Speedhunters.
Late last year, I took a whirlwind 36-hour trip from Vancouver, Canada to Los Angeles, USA with my friend Paul, driven by a single mission: to bring our friend Sid’s RWB Porsche 997 on a journey through some of LA’s most iconic roads and spots. It was one of those rare, fast-paced adventures that somehow […]
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None of us are born with these preferences; rather, they are developed and nurtured by our friends, family and social groups. If all your friends love Nissans and drifting, chances are that you’re going to follow a similar path. As your love and passion for one marque flourishes, your dissent for the ‘other side’ grows. Of […]
The post Throwback: A Ford Escort Built To Divide & Conquer appeared first on Speedhunters.
Chris Harris has officially declared war on rear tires—with BMW’s blessing this time. After nearly four months of living with the new BMW M5 (G90) as a daily driver, Harris was finally unleashed at Thruxton...
First published by https://www.bmwblog.com
The 2025 MotoGP round at the Circuit of the Americas was already shaping up to be a spectacle before a single lap was completed. But few could’ve predicted that the first headline-grabbing moment of the...
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Ferdinand Piëch, the relentless and brilliant patriarch of the Volkswagen Group, is known for putting out some legendary cars and engines. Under his rule, nothing was too ambitious, too complex, or too strange. That era gave...
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While most of BMW’s SUVs call Spartanburg, South Carolina home, that’s not the case for any of the electric vehicles. All of BMW’s electric vehicles are assembled in Germany before being imported to the US,...
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Years after launching the luxobarges, BMW still finds ways to spruce up its largest SUVs. The X5, X6, and X7 are now getting an Individual Edition in select European markets. Buyers get to pick from...
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BMW will get the ball rolling on Neue Klasse production near the end of the year with the second-generation iX3. The first EV will be assembled at the company’s new factory in Debrecen, Hungary. The...
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Fast charging is one of the biggest perks of driving an electric vehicle. But to truly unlock its potential, especially on road trips or during busy days, you need to do more than just plug...
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If it weren’t for the blue roof light, you might mistake this for a regular BMW X5 M60i. However, this unassuming SUV is a completely different beast, serving as an armored version designed to offer...
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The BMW iX does a lot of things really well. It’s luxurious, pretty quick, and offers the latest and greatest tech features. Perhaps the most important part of it, however, is its electric powertrain, which...
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When ALPINA retired the B7 in September 2022, there were no plans to bring it back. Well, not that we knew of at that point. However, management has since changed. After acquiring the niche luxury...
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Spy photographers caught the next-generation BMW 3 Series going all out at the Nürburgring this week. In addition to the spy shots we’ve shared, an intense video gives us a better look at the M...
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It’s in the news no matter where you look: tariffs are (again) officially coming to all vehicles made outside of the United States. Though BMW has plenty of production Stateside, it still means a price...
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It’s another day, another epic matchup. Today, Carwow’s Mat Watson strapped himself into the all-new Porsche 911 GTS, ready to take on one of Bavaria’s finest—the BMW M4 CS. Both cars pack serious firepower, but...
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BMW has been keeping busy this week at the Nürburgring. Not only has it been testing the next-gen 3 Series and electric i3 sedans, but also the iX3. Leading the way for the Neue Klasse’s rebirth, the...
First published by https://www.bmwblog.com
Hell must be freezing because ALPINA is working on an electric car. That’s despite CEO Andreas Bovensiepen saying a few years ago there was “no demand yet for battery-electric models.” It’s unclear whether that has...
First published by https://www.bmwblog.com
Vauxhall Grandland Electric in Ultimate trim previously cost £40,495 – putting it over the ECS thresholdAverage new EV exceeds the threshold triggering an extra £2125 in VED over first six years of its life
Vauxhall has cut the price of the range-topping Ultimate versions of its Astra Sports Tourer and Grandland electric cars to below £40,000.
The move means all of the brand's EVs, bar the van-based Vivaro Life Electric, swerve changes to vehicle excise duty (VED) that would have cost a driver an extra £2125 over the first six years of their car's life.
From 1 April 2025, EV owners will be charged Vehicle Excise Duty (VED, or 'road tax') for the first time, costing the same flat rate of £195 that combustion-engined cars built after 1 April 2025 are charged.
This also means owners of EVs with a list price of more than £40,000 – including the cost of optional extras such as paint – will be hit by the Expensive Car Supplement (ECS).
This is an annual charge of £425 per year for five years after the second year the car is registered, on top of the regular VED charge.
This brings a significant increase in cost over the first six years of an expensive car’s life: the owner of a car under £40,000 will pay £1170 in VED over that period, whereas the owner of one over that limit will pay £3295.
Therefore owners of cars costing more than £40,000 face paying an extra £2125 in tax over the first six years.
According to data from analyst Jato Dynamics, the £40,000 threshold – which was set in 2017 – is £8559 lower than the current average price of an EV.
Industry critics of the ECS argue that because the policy was designed so long ago and before the popularisation of EVs, it no longer reflects what is an ‘expensive car’ in the real world.
“The threshold for the ECS – dubbed the ‘luxury car tax’ when launched – has remained unchanged at £40,000 since it was set eight years ago, when the overall market was 30% larger than today and BEVs barely featured,” said Mike Hawes, chief of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
Eurig Druce, acting managing director of Vauxhall, said: “The threshold for the Expensive Car Supplement has remained at £40,000 since inception in 2017, despite subsequent high levels of inflation. If it were to have risen with inflation, it would now be around £52,000.
“With the average price of an EV in the UK at around £48,000, this new tax means that customers buying some of the more attainable electric cars on the market are now being penalised whilst at the same time we're trying to move as many British motorists to electric as quickly as possible.”
Druce added that “we’d urge the government to reconsider this new measure” to incentivise sales of EVs.
GKN's last UK automotive parts plant closed in 2021Headwinds including electrification and China are forcing a number of prominent suppliers to restructure
The once-in-a-generation upheaval currently sending shockwaves through Europe’s suppliers has multiple consequences, one of which has been to close the book on a key part of British automotive history.
Back in January, Dowlais, the parent company of driveshaft specialist GKN Automotive, was sold to American Axle. “This whole sector has been really challenged over the last 18-24 months,” Dowlais CEO Liam Butterworth told Autocar, and selling up will allow the company to “to navigate this structural shift in the industry".
GKN can trace its history back to 1759, when the Dowlais Ironworks Co was established in South Wales. What became Guest, Keen & Nettlefolds and then GKN has reinvented itself multiple times over the centuries, but this last move takes ownership out of British hands for the first time.
“The overall macro in the industry is changing,” Butterworth said on the company’s earnings call on 5 March. “There's a structural change taking place around tariffs, geopolitics, regionalisation, the different requirements from our customers and thus creating a strong headwind for a number of automotive suppliers.”
Last year, European automotive suppliers announced 54,000 job cuts – more than in the Covid years of 2020 and 2021 put together, according to data from the European Association of Automotive Suppliers (Clepa).
Among those numbers are 5550 at Germany’s Bosch, the largest automotive supplier, according to Automotive News's 2024 top 100 parts suppliers list.
Number two on that list, ZF Friedrichshafen, announced it would axe 12,000 jobs in Germany. Meanwhile, Continental is looking to lose 7150 jobs through global restructuring, while Schaeffler has said it wants to cut 4700 across Europe, 2800 of those in Germany.
Germany’s role as the region’s car-building heartland has meant many of the world’s global tier-one super-suppliers growing to vast sizes within its borders, so the country is being disproportionally affected as the pressures of electrification, China and a shrinking car market force restructuring.
Almost 19,000 automotive jobs (including at car companies) were lost last year within Germany, according to research from consultantcy EY. “The German automotive industry is in a massive and comprehensive crisis," EY automotive expert Constantin Gall said. “There has been a massive tightening of the cost screw".
In the UK, the sale of GKN is the biggest evidence of that upheaval to hit the supply industry, but there are job losses too. GKN’s last UK automotive parts plant shut in 2021 and Butterworth said in March that the company would also shut its electric powertrain research centre, established in 2017.
Meanwhile, new GKN owner American Axle shut its Albion Automotive facility in Glasgow in October and Schaeffler announced in November that it would shut its clutch factory in near Sheffield, citing a reduced demand for clutches globally.
The multi-billion pound parts industry was always going to vulnerable to an industry-wide forensic focus on costs, given their outsize contribution to the average cost of building a car.
“The total cost of an automobile is 85% parts, 10% the plant and 5% logistics,” former Stellantis CEO and rigorous bill-slasher Carlos Tavares said last year. “The double digits in sourcing reduction [costs] are going to come from the 85%. The guy that reaches that first will be the winner.”
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has in the past derided the legacy car business as “catalogue engineering” for its reliance on supplier giants like Bosch, Continental and others.
The shift to electrification has prompted car companies to promise root-and-branch changes to the way they engineer and build cars, to the detriment of the size of the pie given to suppliers.
For example, Renault under Luca de Meo has promised to slash the number of parts in future models like the Twingo EV from around 2500 per vehicle to 1100.
Car makers are keen to soften some of their own job-reduction requirements by bringing in-house parts that previously might have been outsourced to suppliers.
Electric drive units containing the motor, invertor and transmission are a good example – for example Ford in Halewood and JLR in Wolverhampton.
That cuts the available pool of customers for suppliers. “We've had a number of cases where we've walked away from some contracts because it just doesn't make commercial sense,” GKN’s Butterworth said. “If somebody else wants to pick up a contract that's loss-making, then good luck to them.”
When they do land a decent contract, suppliers are at risk from erroneous volume predictions, especially those made during the optimism of EV growth three or four years ago.
GKN said its 2024 revenue on the e-drive front was hit by volume decline in four specific model programmes, of which Butterworth singled out the Fiat 500e. “Basically the volumes fell off a cliff in Q1 last year when all of the incentives were stopped, specifically in Germany and Italy, and that dried up demand for that vehicle,” he said.
The sizeable bill to moving to electric is painful but has to be paid, given the gulf in production costs between Europe and China and the danger posed by competition from that direction. “The pressure is probably higher than it's been than I've seen it for quite some time,” Butterworth said.
Much of that burden is being passed onto suppliers, forcing them to make difficult decisions. “That can't come from just reducing prices; it needs to come from taking costs out of the system," said Butterworth. "From smarter material purchasing, lower cost manufacturing footprint and more VAVE [value analysis, value engineering] and looking at smarter cleverer ways of engineering and designing things."
Moving manufacturing to lower-cost eastern Europe or further afield is a favourite cost-cutting method. GKN, for example, moved its Birmingham driveshaft production to Poland. Schaeffler said passenger car clutches made in Sheffield would go to Hungary, while those for tractors will move to India.
Many suppliers are restructuring. For example, Continental will spin off its automotive division in September. “We are fully convinced that companies being focused and fast have a clear advantage in this tough industry environment,” CEO Nikolai Setzer said on a special call to investors in March. “The last years, and in particular right now, are as dynamic as they have ever been.”
Clepa is hoping the European Union will help by slowing down the timeline to move to electric and allow car makers to carry on building technologies with a higher part count. “The EU must embrace a diverse portfolio of sustainable technologies, including plug-in hybrids, range-extenders, hydrogen and renewable fuels,” the lobby group said in a statement that otherwise broadly welcomed the EU's recently proposed automotive Action Plan.
In a recent survey of Clepa members, 42% of respondents said they expected a loss or close to zero profit this year. As Peter Bryntesson, CEO of the Scandinavian automotive parts association FKG, told the Dagens Industri newspaper: "Spring 2025 looks pitch black."
Vehicle testing organisation Thatcham Research's new Vehicle Risk Rating represents the biggest change to the car insurance industry in decades.
This new rating system, which scores cars from 1-99 across five assessment bands, has been designed to deliver more accurate insurance premiums. It replaces the current Group Ratings that have been in place for more than 25 years, and takes into account performance, damageability, repairability, safety and security.
Ben Townsend, head of automotive at Thatcham Research, Victor Zhang, UK country director at Omoda and Jaecoo, Scott McCammon, head of motor repair at Admiral and Felix Page, deputy editor at Autocar will discuss what this change means for UK car insurance and the car industry as a whole.
Join our webinar ‘How a fresh approach to gauging risk will make modern cars insurable’ on 8 May at 11:00 to find out more about this industry-changing shift, how the new rating system works, how the vehicles are assessed, and how Thatcham Research can assist manufacturers with the process.
There are few cars as iconic as the original Mini. Its compact boxy proportions, beady round headlights, fantastically flared wheelarches and mightily minimalist interior made it a style superstar from the get go. And even today, more than 60 years on, it remains a cornerstone of British culture and an ode to simplicity.
But it wasn’t just its cheeky looks that made it such a smash hit. It was also raucously fun to drive, deceivingly practical, incredibly easy to live with and, above all else, a true expression of individuality in a time when the public mood around self expression was in the midst of a seismic shift.
Now, we already know that the new all-electric MINI Cooper does a superb job of channeling the essence of the original thanks to its zippy electric performance, go-kart handling, paired-back cockpit and modern-retro looks. But what about MINI’s latest creation, the new all-electric MINI Aceman? Can this spacious, angular, tech-packed family SUV really stake a claim to the MINI name? We certainly think so. Here are six reasons why:
Book your all-electric MINI Aceman test drive
#1 It’s mighty fun to driveMINI’s go-kart-like handling is so legendary that it borders on cliché. That fun factor, the ability to put a smile on your face, whether in the city or on a B-road, is something people have come to expect from MINI. So given the Aceman’s crossover proportions, you might be feeling a little concerned. But, fear not.
“The Aceman has SUV styling but drives more like a five-door version of the MINI hatchback. I found that it doesn’t feel like a big car at all,” says What Car?’s new cars editor, Lawrence Cheung.
Indeed, it feels wonderfully light and agile when compared with its fellow electric rivals. Aided by the low centre of gravity – courtesy of the battery pack – the carefully configured suspension and dampers do a fantastic job of minimising body roll – inspiring confidence through the bends. Flick the wheel, and the nose turns in keenly. It’s the direct, nimble, sharp response that you’d expect from a MINI, and it’s guaranteed to leave you grinning from ear to ear.
While the original Mini was nippy in its own way, the Aceman is operating on another level. With the 215bhp Aceman SE surging from 0-62mph in just 7.1sec, there’s plenty of straightline performance to complement that precise handling. But it’s the way that power is delivered that impresses. The instant torque from the electric motor means acceleration is remarkably responsive, and the car pulls strongly at any speed. Making it easy to nip out at a junction, and effortless to get up to motorway speed on a slip road.
#2 It’s perfect for parkingThe classic Mini was a doddle to park. How could it not be with its diminutive footprint? And while no modern car comes close to its dinky dimensions, the Aceman has a few tricks up its sleeve to make multi-storeys a breeze.
The Aceman has very short overhangs at the front and rear, which help keep its proportions typically MINI. Add to that a city-friendly, tight turning circle and you have a car that’s very easy to manoeuvre into – and out of – tight spots.
Better still, the MINI Aceman comes with front and rear parking sensors and a rear camera as standard, along with the very useful Parking Assistant. Parking not your bag? At the touch of a button, the Aceman can neatly slot itself into a space for you. And if you opt for the optional Parking Assistant Plus via the MINI Connected Store, you can even park the car using your smartphone. So next time someone parks uncomfortably close, rather than posting yourself through an impossible small door opening, you can simply drive the car out of the space using your phone, then get seated comfortably. Perfect.
#3 It’s engineered for spaceThe classic Mini’s innovative transverse engine and front-wheel-drive layout endowed it with a remarkable amount of passenger space for such a small car. The Aceman – which slots neatly between Cooper and Countryman in terms of size – uses a similarly clever approach to packaging. Its dedicated, low-slung electric platform allowed designers to create a spacious, airy interior, while keeping its dimensions usefully compact.
Up front, there’s plenty of head and leg room – even for drivers and passengers that are six-feet tall. In the rear, there’s space for three adults. The 300-litre boot can be increased to 1005 litres when you fold the real seats, giving you some helpful load carrying flexibility. While the low centre console gives you plenty of handy storage space.
#4 Its clean, minimalist interiorStep inside the Aceman and the first thing you’ll notice is the striking showpiece circular OLED display. A nod to the original Mini’s centrally mounted speedometer, the 9.4in display’s unusual form-factor makes it a world first.
That cutting-edge screen acts as your instrument cluster and houses your infotainment. It also lets you control the majority of Aceman’s features. And in a pleasing dose of MINI nostalgia, there are also some good old tactile switches and buttons.
Underneath the touchscreen you’ll find the MINI toggle bar – home to important and useful controls such as the audio volume, parking brake, start/stop switch, the gear selector, and the MINI Experience Mode toggle. Having those features neatly housed in one place frees up the console to give a clean, uncluttered look and feel to the interior – much like the classic Mini.
The ambience is lifted by MINI’s interesting choice of materials. Innovative two-tone knitted textiles – made from recycled materials – give a soft, premium finish to large parts of the dashboard and doors.
The seats – and retro-cool two-spoke steering wheel – are clad with vescin. That’s MINI’s premium, synthetic vegan leather. It’s soft, supple and looks the part. MINI has used the shift to responsible, sustainable materials as an opportunity to elevate, and individualise, its interior design. And it shows. But it still retains that wonderful air of minimalist simplicity.
#5 Its stand-out exterior design‘Less complexity, more individuality.’ So says MINI’s head of design, Oliver Heilmer. You can see immediately that the new all-electric Aceman is unmistakably MINI in its design. While it retains the beautiful simplicity of its predecessors, it updates the look with contemporary touches.
Up front, there’s the attention-grabbing octagonal grille framed by the new angular LED headlights. Move around to the side and you’ll immediately notice the geometric wheel arches and the muscular silhouette of its crossover shape. And at the rear, the extended spoiler adds some sporting flair. You’ll spot some more functional design influences too, such as modern flush door handles and aerodynamically sculpted surfaces.
These design flourishes combine to give the Aceman its own distinct character, while still retaining those hallmark MINI design cues.
#6 It’s an expression of individualityThe classic Mini was in itself a statement. A fun-loving, spirited car that oozed individuality. With so many variations available, and many owners customising their car to impart their own style, the classic Mini was its own form of expression.
In much the same way, freedom of expression is also a key pillar of the MINI Aceman. Firstly, there are three styles to choose from – Classic, Exclusive and Sport. Each offers its own distinct styling and personality, with interior design tweaks to the seat upholstery, dashboard and steering wheel among other things. There are exterior styling options too, with a host of colour choices, alloy wheel options, and fun details such as the multitone roof and mirror caps, and even racing stripes.
Then there are the MINI Experience Modes. With a flick of the toggle switch, you can match your MINI to your mood with eight options such as Green, Timeless and Go-Kart. Each mode has its own colour scheme, lighting, style and different sounds.
There’s even a Personal Mode, where you can upload an image from your smartphone and set it as the display background. Rather cleverly, the Aceman then identifies the dominant colours in the pic, and projects them onto the dashboard and adjusts the ambient lighting to match. It’s a whole new level of personalisation.
So there you have it. That’s why we think the new all-electric MINI Aceman is very much a proper MINI. So why not go and experience it for yourself?
As prices rise and belts are tightened, our search for the best value used cars intensifies.
Of course, value is largely a subjective thing and we were reminded of that recently when a reader called with news of their new Tesla Model 3.
It cost £39,000, a figure that included 15,000 miles of free charging via the company’s Supercharger network, a benefit worth around £2000.
Although the reader understood the market is choked with used Model 3s and, as a result, his new car will depreciate heavily, he loved the prospect of being its first owner.
However, those numbers got us thinking about how you can get a year-old Model 3 with 5000 miles for £29,000 and how the £10,000 the reader would have saved could at, for example, 45p per kWh (about midway between domestic and rapid-charger prices) be sufficient to pay for 122,000 miles of power.
For balance, we accept this calculation ignores the fact that the reader’s Model 3 is the latest, more efficient and better-equipped version.
The two arguments represent different perspectives on value for money but, for this guide, we will go with ours. As we hope to show, used cars represent real value for money when bought well.
It’s our choice but we are willing to accept that the car you own – the one you chose to buy with your own money after long research and weighing up its pros and cons – offers the most value for money or else why buy it?
We think that the Ford Puma is one of the best value used cars thanks to its strong efficiency and rewarding drive across all specifications.
But are there any other enthusiast cars out there that are worthy of investment? Read on as we share the best value used cars you can buy today.
Nissan has confirmed that it will introduce a new small electric city car based on the Renault Twingo in 2026 – bolstering hopes that the two EVs will be produced in right-hand drive for the UK market.
The deal for the new model comes as part of a wider reorganisation of some of the key aspects of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance.
The Twingo is due to arrive in LHD markets next year, priced from less than €20,000 (£17,000).
It's based on Renault’s Ampr Small EV platform (referred to by Nissan as CMF-BEV), which is also used by the larger Renault 5.
Under the Alliance agreement, Renault is already set to produce a new electric Nissan Micra, based on the 5 and due in 2026, for the Japanese firm.
Nissan's Twingo sibling will sit underneath the Micra and larger Leaf and Juke EVs, both of which will be built at Sunderland, in the brand's future European electric line-up.
No further details of the city car have been released, although Nissan said that it would design the car and that it fitted its “roadmap for reducing development costs and time”.
Reducing the time taken to bring new vehicles to market is a key part of Nissan's revival plan, following its recent financial woes and failed merger with Honda.
Renault boss Luca de Meo has previously said that the prospects of the Twingo being converted for RHD markets could be dependent on a deal with Nissan to produce a sibling model, boosting the economies of scale.
Under the existing Alliance agreement, Renault has taken the lead on developing the Ampr Small/CMF-BEV platform while Nissan has headed development of the Ampr Medium/CMF-EV platform for larger models.
More broadly, the Renault Group and Nissan have agreed to a new Alliance Agreement, in which the "lock-up undertaking" of the cross-shareholding has been reduced from 15% to 10%.
Meanwhile, Nissan has been released from its commitment to invest in Ampere, the Renault Group’s EV development firm.
Furthermore, the Renault Group is set to acquire the 51% of the pair's Indian joint venture, Renault Nissan Automotive India Private Ltd, that's currently held by Nissan.
That move is part of Renault’s international growth plan to invest in expanding its operations in India and will help Nissan to cut costs as it looks to implement its revival plan.
A new agreement would ensure that ongoing projects between Renault and Nissan in India would continue and the two firms would continue to jointly own their technology and business centre in the country.
Go back a decade and hydrogen cars were deemed by many to be the next big thing. However, little progress has been made in bringing them to the mainstream market.
But there is still hope for the hydrogen car. Toyota, BMW and Hyundai are still investing heavily, meaning we could still see a resurgence in the future.
But what actually is a hydrogen car and how do they stack up to petrol, diesel and electric cars?
We have all you need to know right here, including the pros and cons of hydrogen cars, plus what the future looks like for the technology.
What is a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle?Hydrogen cars, or hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (often shortened to FCEV), are vehicles powered by liquid hydrogen.
This is stored in a tank at a pressure of 700 bar and then used to generate high-voltage electricity for a small buffer battery, which in turn provides transient power for acceleration.
While many people tout hydrogen as the fuel of the future, the truth is that hydrogen cars have been around for decades. In 1998, Mercedes-Benz produced the first road-legal FCEV with the A-Class-based Necar.
How do hydrogen fuel cell vehicles work?Hydrogen cars draw their power from a fuel cell stack, where oxygen and hydrogen react to generate electricity, sending energy to an electric motor. This means they drive just like an electric car.
Likewise they produce zero harmful emissions at the tailpipe, making them a much cleaner proposition petrol or diesel cars, at least from the driver’s point of view.
How do you fill up a hydrogen car?Hydrogen cars can be refuelled from hydrogen pumps at select filling stations. These look much like regular petrol and diesel pumps.
Refuelling a hydrogen car is a simple task: just open up the fuel filler cap and insert the pump. Typically, refuelling takes about five minutes.
The hardest part of refuelling a hydrogen car in the UK is finding a filling station. According to UK H2 Mobility, there are now just three available for public motorists in the UK.
They're based at Hatton Cross in London, Tullos in Aberdeen and the Advanced Manufacturing Park near Sheffield.
Many have been shut down in recent years and plans for new ones haven't come to fruition.
What's the latest on hydrogen cars?Progress in the world of hydrogen cars has slowed over the past few years. For an in-depth view of the current state of the hydrogen car industry, read more here.
Some countries are closing hydrogen fuel stations in rapid numbers: H2 Mobility has shut 22 fuel stations in Germany and Shell has reportedly shut 10 of its 11 hydrogen fuel stations in the US, despite originally having planned to open a further 48.
That hasn't stopped some car brands from investing hefty sums into the technology, though.
BMW will launch the first of a future hydrogen car line-up in 2028, with the first model based on the BMW X5. The car uses a powertrain co-developed with Toyota.
Hyundai recently revealed the Initium concept, which previews the next-generation Nexo hydrogen car with a modern design.
It takes a single electric motor with 201bhp – 40bhp more than the existing Nexo – and Hyundai is aiming for a range of 404 miles between top-ups.
The Initium previews a production model that’s due to be unveiled by next summer, but it's unclear if it will ever come to the UK, considering that just 50 Nexos have been sold since the model was launched five years ago.
Toyota is also continuing its investment into a new-generation Mirai saloon, despite not having sold a single new example in the UK in 2024.
Hydrogen cars available in the UKTwo hydrogen cars were until relatively recently available as new cars in the UK today and some car makers have hydrogen in their plans for production in the future.
Toyota MiraiThe Toyota Mirai first appeared in 2015 and achieved 10,000 global sales before entering its second generation in 2021.
The latest Mirai is equipped with a fuel stack capable of storing 5.6kg of hydrogen and has a WLTP range of up to 400 miles.
Despite being heavier and larger than the first-generation car, it takes just 8.7sec to travel from 0-62mph and 25.5sec to hit 100mph. That’s thanks to a powertrain that produces 180bhp and 221lb ft of torque.
However, the Mirai wasn’t cheap when it was launched in 2021. It commanded a price of £64,995 and you can’t currently order one from Toyota.
Read our Toyota Mirai review
Hyundai NexoHyundai has been developing fuel cell technology since the 1990s, and the Nexo is the firm’s first production hydrogen car.
Priced similarly to the Mirai at £65,995, the Nexo’s powertrain produces 161bhp and 291lb ft. Meanwhile, 0-62mph is completed in 9.6sec.
The Nexo can store up to 6.33kg of hydrogen, which supplies power to a 1.56kWh battery. It offers a range of around 380 miles, and we were impressed by its solid driving dynamics and rolling refinement.
There are fewer than 30 Nexos on UK roads today and, like the Mirai, it’s no longer available to order.
Read our Hyundai Nexo review
BMW iX5 HydrogenBMW formed a partnership with Toyota based around hydrogen technology and it plans to bring the iX5 Hydrogen to market in some form by 2030.
With a 396bhp powertrain and 524lb ft of torque, it packs significantly more punch than the Toyota or Hyundai, backed up by its sub-6.0sec sprint from 0-62mph.
Range stands at around 313 miles and our drive of the car revealed it to be comfortable, capable and almost ready for the road. It certainly paves the way for BMW's entry into the world of hydrogen.
Read our BMW iX5 Hydrogen review
Pros of hydrogen carsOne of the biggest benefits of driving a hydrogen car is that it produces zero harmful emissions from the tailpipe, just small amounts of water.
That means it's a lot more environmentally friendly to drive than a petrol or diesel car and would be welcome in the ever-increasing number of clean air zones popping up around the UK.
Hydrogen cars are also significantly faster to fill up than electric cars.
Hydrogen is the most abundant element on the planet, too.
Some consider hydrogen cars to be more efficient than other powertrains, as hydrogen power uses between 40-60% of its fuel’s energy with a 50% reduction in fuel consumption. It’s not uncommon to see around 400 miles of travel on a single tank when using hydrogen.
And unlike with an EV, the range of a hydrogen car isn't impacted by outside temperatures.
Cons of hydrogen carsWhile hydrogen cars can be more efficient and environmentally friendly for the driver, there are some drawbacks.
Emissions from the tailpipe may be zero, but there are significant environmental challenges with producing hydrogen on an industrial scale.
Producing hydrogen at this level uses a significant amount of fossil fuel. According to tyre giant Pirelli, as much as 10kg of CO2 is produced for every kilogram of hydrogen.
There are methods of producing hydrogen that use renewable energies, but these are currently far more expensive. For example, Denmark produces hydrogen from wind while Iceland uses geothermal energy to produce it.
Hydrogen cars are also quite expensive to buy due to their complexity, and the small number of refuelling stations is a significant black mark against this technology.
The future of hydrogen vehiclesCurrently, hydrogen cars aren’t quite viable for the broader public. There are simply too few filling stations and the hydrogen itself isn’t yet commercially or environmentally viable to produce en masse.
But with investment from the UK government aiming to accelerate the implementation of hydrogen vehicles, we could see more car makers turn their efforts to this technology in the coming years.
One such company hoping to drive the production of hydrogen vehicles is engineering firm WAE, which revealed a platform for them in 2023.
It says the platform features a “cutting-edge" H2 fuel cell system and a liquid-cooled battery pack with up to 576bhp available.
Elsewhere, Alpine has hinted that its radical hydrogen supercar concept, the Alpenglow, could make production. This injects hydrogen into the cylinders of a V6 combustion engine to reduce emissions.
For the general public, though, it looks like the future of cars in the UK will remain electric unless and until hydrogen refuelling infrastructure and production methods become more viable.
Volvo boss Jim Rowan has stepped down from the firm with immediate effect, following three years at the helm of the Swedish car firm.
During his time with Volvo, the former Dyson executive oversaw the launch of the EX30, EX90 and ES90, and has been a key proponent in the company's push towards software-defined vehicles.
He will be replaced by his predecessor, Håkan Samuelsson, who previously led Volvo from 2012 until 2022.
In this interview with Autocar – his final before exiting the firm – he says car makers face a "Darwinian event", and lays out his plan for Volvo to come out on top.
“It’s not win-win. Somebody’s gonna lose”“If you’re looking for mental stimulation and sleepless nights, then come and join the industry,” says Volvo Cars CEO Jim Rowan, who did just that three years ago this month when he moved to the automotive world from the tech sector.
Compared with other car company CEOs, he speaks in a way that makes him still seem like an outsider – or perhaps an outlier – because the way Volvo talks so openly and extensively about software stacks, computer chips and processing power remains unique among legacy car manufacturers.
Yet Rowan believes this is where the game is now at for the automotive industry and he cannot comprehend how far behind rivals seem to be in the way they present themselves and talk about electric cars as if they’re a new thing, especially when their companies’ very survival is at stake.
“I’m not an automotive guy. I come from the tech sector and I’m absolutely flabbergasted by the amount of people that still talk about electrification, as if that’s the big thing,” he says. “We know about batteries. We know about embedding the modules. We know about even silicon carbide, which was a big story all of a sudden, but that’s not a new technology. We know about power electronics and so on.”
Instead, says Rowan, the four key things for the automotive industry now are “software, silicon, connectivity and data” – and Volvo is advanced in its development of all of them. But far from this being an attempt by Volvo to reposition itself as a tech company, this tech push is at its core about doubling down on safety and ensuring its cars continue to get ever safer and more lives are saved.
“When I say software, I mean full-stack software,” he says. “You need to be able to write from layer one of the silicon all the way up to the application layer of the car in order to control it properly. There are three companies in the world that have managed to do that: Tesla, Rivian and Volvo. There’s a lot of good car companies but none of them have figured it out. It’s a big deal – and freaking hard to get this done. But we’ve stuck at it.”
This ‘Superset’ tech stack is on the Volvo EX90 and ES90 and it will be adopted by all future Volvos. Moving all of the car’s major hardware and software control functions onto a central system rather than individual ECUs (the archetypal software-defined vehicles we’re increasingly hearing more about) enables more meaningful, consistent and stable over-the-air updates, particularly in the context of active safety technology and how vehicle data from accidents or near misses can be used to help cars avoid these situations in the future.
To handle the data, Volvo has been developing its own cloud architecture, which “most people are not”, says Rowan. This approach allows Volvo to retain control of all its data and make its cars safer remotely. “That’s the big story,” says Rowan, and it’s in contrast to buying an off-the-shelf cloud, “when you get nothing”. Volvo now has the second-biggest data centre in Sweden.
He says: “We run our algorithms inside the cloud architecture and then we push that back into the vehicle so that it makes the vehicle better and stronger and strengthens the algorithms.”
So why is Volvo pushing the tech story so hard? Do customers respond, or need to know?
Rowan says part of it is to drive the value of the company due to this level of advanced, proprietary technology and control of Volvo’s own destiny, but he notes “the stock is not showing that valuation” yet.
For customers, Volvo having remote control “of every node in the car” will enable more features to be added to the car. “People are still figuring out all the different use cases that we can get from that,” says Rowan, but he gives the examples of a dashcam being created out of the sensors and cameras, or an app that lets you check your car and where it’s parked remotely, as code that could be “written in an afternoon”.
“But the biggest thing is going to be around the safety aspects,” he says. “Because we get all that data, we’ll be able to look at the algorithms of all crashes. We’ll really see the crash. We’ll get the tape recording from the car that happened in Wiltshire on a wet Sunday afternoon and see what exactly happened. We’ll interrogate that and say: if we had deployed the airbag in a condition where the light is low and it’s a little bit slippery or whatever three nanoseconds earlier, that saves lives. That becomes meaningful to us as a safety brand. We need to be able to bring all of that alive to customers.”
Originally a mechanical engineering apprentice at Tate & Lyle in his native Scotland, Rowan soon switched into tech and held chief operating officer roles at both BlackBerry and Dyson and was CEO of Dyson from 2017 to 2020.
He succeeded the retiring Håkan Samuelsson, who in his decade in charge successfully lifted Volvo out of the mainstream and into the premium arena, where it could compete with the likes of Audi and Mercedes-Benz. That positioning is unchanged, and Rowan says that while he will continue to burnish Volvo’s traditional mechanical credentials, the job is now one of pushing Volvo’s tech prowess.
“That’s where the industry is going,” he says. “Quite frankly, if you don’t understand that and are not investing in that technology right now, you’re going to be left behind. The Chinese understand this really well.
“That’s why I’m flabbergasted sometimes by a lot of our competitors who still want to push for internal combustion engines. That’s great. They make a lot of money out of it, but they’re missing the point.
“I come from the smartphone industry. I was a BlackBerry guy. There were Nokia guys, Ericsson guys. There were Siemens guys. Philips used to build phones, Alcatel. None of them exist any more because we all thought it was about the RF circuit: how good is your connection?
“It was actually about software. It was about building an ecosystem that made the phone much more than a phone – and they missed it. The two guys who figured that out, Apple and Google, are trillion-dollar companies and the rest of them don’t exist.”
Investing in software is not at the expense of hardware, insists Rowan. “If we can enable that more with software and augment that, we can give a better experience. Look at Apple: I love the hardware. I love the brightness of the screen.
I love the way [an iPhone] works, the way it feels, how they build it. I love the software but, more importantly, I love the whole way the thing comes together. If we can emulate that within the vehicle itself, I think that’s the winning combination.”
Rowan says that the strength of brands means something quite different in the premium market compared with the mainstream, where the decision will nearly always come down to price. Yet “the premiumness of cars in the electric age is still being defined” and old brand values for premium car makers won’t necessarily carry over from the combustion era.
“With internal combustion engines, ‘premium’ is derived by [the likes of] ride quality,” he says. “If that was your brand attribute, you spent a ton of money because you put a big, heavy engine in the front of the car. You want to throw that car through the corners at 120kph [75mph]. You’d spend a lot of money on making a really smooth engine, on a really nice chassis, on suspension.
“Then, bang, all of a sudden there’s a new technology. You take a flat skateboard design and you get a nice low centre of gravity. Now you don’t have to offset this big, heavy engine in the front of the car, so suspension and, to some extent, chassis design becomes far less important. With battery technology, it’s not about the explosiveness and the smoothness of your engine, because you get torque for free. So now, what’s your brand attribute?
“What we’re seeing in China is people are saying: ‘Why would I buy this car when I can get the same acceleration, the same ride and handling for half the price?’”
Rowan says that Volvo’s brand attributes of safety and Scandinavian design won’t change in the electric era, but being a leader in technology allows customers “to come to us for different reasons”.
“That’s one of the big, profound changes that’s happening in the industry,” he says. “If we can augment that [traditional positioning] with better software, then the younger demographic will come to your brand and see a pretty cool car.
“We used to sell cars to accountants, doctors, dentists and lawyers. Now we’re selling a lot of cars to young software engineers, young marketeers, because the brand attributes are reasonably understated, reasonably humble, and especially when they have children, then they care about safety more than anything else.”
A question about the future of estates (according to Rowan, SUVs have taken their place essentially and Volvo cannot and will not enter every market niche as a relatively small company. A range of around eight cars will be enough) prompts a wider response from Rowan about how the industry is in a “Darwinian event” around survival, and who can successfully transition into software-defined vehicles.
“The guys figure this out quicker are going to come out strong, the guys who stick to the knitting,” he says. “There will be people who don’t come out of this and there will be fatalities. The guys with 10-15 brands, that’s going to be super-tough. They’re going to need to pare that back quickly.”
Rowan expects a significant change in around 18 months as brands start to disappear, from legacy car makers and from Chinese upstarts.
“They’re just not all gonna survive,” he says. “There’s not enough business for everybody. A lot of them are not making money already. They’re selling cars at a loss just to keep cash coming in. Eventually, that plays itself out and you’re going to see a thinning out of the multi-brand car companies that are going to need to say: ‘I can’t keep all these brands alive, so I’m going to need to shrink.’
“I don’t think you’re going to see car companies buying car companies. There’s just not enough business for everybody. So those guys will die out. The ones that are left will be much stronger because there’s less competition, and we’re going to be forced to be pretty lean to get through this.
“Everybody’s cutting costs. I don’t think it’s a bad thing for the industry. It’s super-interesting. It’s super-competitive right now. It’s freaking hard. But at the end of the day, if you want to win in the long term, you need to go through this. The only way to take market share in a flat market is to take it from your competitor. So unfortunately, we’re not in a win-win situation. Somebody’s gonna lose.
For many new car buyers, electric cars are often judged by a single factor: their driving range.
That's because, back when electric cars first entered the mainstream, they really couldn't go far until you'd need to recharge the batteries - and finding a charger was a near-impossible task.
Cast your mind back to 2010: the Nissan Leaf, widely regarded as the world’s first mass-market EV, offered just 100 miles of range and took eight hours to charge from a home socket.
But EVs have come a long way in a short space of time, and in 2025, things have improved massively. Even some of the cheapest electric cars currently on sale will easily deliver double the range of the original Leaf, and with much faster charging options to boot.
Thanks to a decade and a half of battery and motor development, some of the longest-range models can now match some petrol cars for how far they will go on a ‘tank’.
This list ranks the top ten longest-range EVs, quoting officially supplied figures from manufacturers. In real-world use, it’s unlikely that many of these EVs will hit these promised figures consistently – although you might get close if you’re feather-footed, a keen hypermiler or driving in summer.
The undisputed range champion - that’s the EV with the longest range available in the UK today - is the Mercedes-Benz EQS, which is capable of 481 miles. Which other models make the top 10? Read on to find out.
Traditionally at this time of year, the automotive industry congregates in Geneva for the world’s most important motor show – but to our great sadness, last year’s event was the last there will ever be.
A sad corollary of this is that we won’t get to enjoy our semi-regular laughs at concepts unveiled by Swiss design houses – or should we say mad houses? – Sbarro and Rinspeed.
Italian-born Franco Sbarro began his career as a mechanic, then set up his eponymous firm in 1968 – with zero interest in conventionality.
Sbarro first caught our attention at Geneva in 1973 with the SV1, an attractive sports coupé composed of NSU, Porsche and Volkswagen components – most prominently, two Ro80 rotary engines mounted side by side behind the rear seats!
In 1978, it combined a Fiat four-wheel drive system with a BMW engine in the shell of an “avant-garde cross-country vehicle” – then two years later took this format to a wild extreme, matching a G-Wagen chassis with the 450SE’s V8 engine and adding a third axle.
The Wind Hawk was, unsurprisingly, destined for the Middle East – just like the AMG G63 6x6 that Mercedes itself would produce 35 years later.
That 1980 show also introduced Autocar to Frank Rinderknecht’s Rinspeed, starting fairly sensibly with a small car for disabled drivers featuring a mechanism that hoisted one’s wheelchair out, up and into a roof-mounted box.
Perhaps the coolest thing at the 1982 show was Sbarro’s Super Twelve, a straight-12 hot hatch. Yes, really: the engine was two Kawasaki motorcycle sixes conjoined, making 240bhp. With a tubular chassis and a fibreglass body, it weighed 800kg – resulting in a better power-to-weight ratio than Lamborghini’s Countach.
Two years later, it produced an evolution, the Super Eight, with a Ferrari 308 GTB chassis and V8. This one-off came up for auction in 2024 but fell short of its reserve at $160k.
Enjoy full access to the complete Autocar archive at the magazineshop.com
Sbarro’s next show-stealer was the 1985 Challenge, a supercar of truly bizarre proportions with four-wheel drive, a centrally mounted 5.0-litre Mercedes V8, a retractable windscreen and… inflatable seats.
We actually sampled one of six road-registered examples a decade later. It had lost a pair of cylinders but none of the visual impact, and naturally it was “a disappointment to drive, failing to meet your expectations even in a straight line”.
The 1987 Monster 4x4 was in a similar vein but had an even bigger Mercedes V8 – 6.9 litres – rotating the enormous wheels of a Boeing 747. Rolling resistance be damned.
Rinspeed spent the 1980s mostly creating sensible (well, relatively, that is) tuned versions of Porsches and whatnot, but in 1997 it decided to join in Sbarro’s game, giving us something that “looked like a 1960s front-engined Indycar on acid”.
That engine was a V8 from, er, Hyundai, a supercharger taking its output to a hefty 410bhp, and all while the Mono Ego weighed no more than a tonne.
It produced something similar for the 1998 show, called the Rocket, again using that Korean V8 but with styling more akin to a pre-war Auto Union grand prix racer – although “we won’t go too near the stand, because these cars often disappoint when you get close”.
If they had been unconventional in the 1990s, Sbarro and Rinspeed both really let loose in the 2000s, as exemplified by the latter firm’s millennium duo: a retro hot-rod pick-up truck with an integrated crane, called the Tatooo.com (huh?), and “an odd underwater scooter that looks like it’s from a B-grade Hollywood sci-fi movie”, called the Breathing Observation Bubble.
Aquatic machinery became a bit of a theme for Rinspeed, as shown by 2004’s Splash. Creating “a tidal wave of interest” (ahem), this was a chunky roadster that could hydraulically transform into not merely a boat but a hydrofoil, elevating it 60cm above the water. And fuelled by compressed natural gas for good measure.
Having made “Dick Dastardly’s next car” in 2003 (“good old Franco is still taking the drugs, it seems”, we joked), Sbarro in 2007 created a six-wheeled pick-up truck by adding an electrically driven third axle to the… Citroën C-Crosser. Obviously.
In 2009, Rinspeed presented the iChange (everything new had to be ‘i’ back then, didn’t it?), which could alter its shape depending on how many people were inside – although funnily enough it was “cunningly perched on an elevated stand to keep its shape-shifting qualities hidden from the general public”.
We gave up reporting on this dynamic duo after that, so irrelevant were their creations to the road, but their presence still always raised a smile.
Ssangyong designer Ken Greenley perhaps put it best when he told us in 1999: “I don’t like any of the cars here, but Geneva wouldn’t be Geneva without Sbarro. I’ll give its stand a four out of 10 for being interesting and thought-provoking.”
AGTZ invokes an old car without actually being based on oneItaly’s famous coachbuilders aren’t worried about new technology and changing tastes
"It could be the revival of coachbuilding.” Andrea Zagato, CEO of the company bearing his surname, founded in 1919 by his grandfather, is confident.
Confident that his specialist industry is fit and ready to not only survive the new automotive era but thrive in it: “The art of coachbuilding is 500 years old, while automotive is around 150.
"We’ve already survived all possible technological shifts. I joined the company in the middle of the crisis of the early ’90s, when other coachbuilders were lost. We survived all of this. So why not a change of technology?”
While the romance of automotive coachbuilding was perhaps strongest in its early decades, it stands to win over new audiences a century later, due to two diverging strands: the move to EVs with vastly shared platforms (just look at Ford and Volkswagen buddying up) and the nostalgic response of restomods and their ilk.
Whether on fully digitised or wantonly analogue bases, the need for individual designs and finely crafted bodies may be more crucial than ever.
“We are case designers,” continues Zagato, “so we concentrate on what you see, what you touch. Whatever technology you provide us beneath, it’s not a big change for us.
"There are several converging trends in the automotive industry, and one is the growing demand for exclusivity. There’s also a standardisation of the components, even in internal combustion cars.
"Stellantis is a prime example: for me, the new Lancia Ypsilon is better-looking than the Peugeot 208, but they’re almost the same underneath. The styling might be the deciding factor for buyers.”
Zagato insists that his firm will embrace new technology, rather than fear it. He cites artificial intelligence and 3D stamping as beneficial for its small-scale projects, explaining: “You don’t have to invest thousands of euros in moulds or tooling, because you can quickly build the parts to create one-off and few-off cars. We’re already building many one-offs with 3D stamping.”
“We’re living through a technological challenge created by the war between EVs and ICE cars,” he continues. “If electric motors win, the standardisation in the industry will be maximised. I can see a time when you won’t be keen to own a mass-production car; you will rent, use, share. Design may become the main element of differentiation.
“People are looking for uniqueness and personal expression. This is bringing us to the point that coachbuilding could be truly back soon. I believe restomods are an intermediate step.”
This brings us to the £550,000-plus AGTZ Twin Tail (a collaboration between Zagato and La Squadra, a Polish dealer of collector’s cars), which clothes today’s Alpine A110 in a dramatic skin paying homage to the A220 endurance racer of the ’60s. Two bodystyles are replicated by one car, thanks to an innovatively removable longtail.
Its modern core means it doesn’t fit the true description of a restomod, says Zagato: “It’s a typical coachbuilding job, using inspiration from the past and telling the iconic story of the A220.
"This is a modernisation of the concept. We have airbags and contemporary safety systems on board. We’ve integrated modern technology with timeless design. This is the difference between us and a restomod.”
Old and new togetherAnother Italian coachbuilder is making a successful business case for true restomods, though.
Last summer, Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera unveiled its Veloce12, which takes an old Ferrari 550 Maranello and endows it with freshened engine, chassis and brake components beneath a reimagined body.
“We believe the market for high-end classic cars has seen a shift in buyers to a new generation of product,” says CEO Markus Tellenbach. “Cars from the ’50s or ’60s struggle a bit with younger buyers, which is where cars from the ’90s come into focus.”
Many of the £600,000-plus Veloce12s have been sold to American buyers. Its status as a restomod is crucial there, as cars not originally approved for US sale can’t legally be imported for unrestricted road use until they’re 25 years old.
“Our concept fits the story of the ’90s analogue car and using a donor means we don’t have to do our own homologation,” confirms Tellenbach.
The 30 buyers are split 50/50 between those supplying their own 550 Maranello donor car and those buying the car purely on sight at Monterey Car Week in California.
“Our youngest customers are in their late thirties – younger than Touring’s historic age,” reveals Tellenbach. “Making a classic design contemporary and fresh resonates with a new audience.”
It seems Touring has tapped into an elusive market frequently chased by mainstream car makers, often in vain.
“We aren’t burdened by the rucksack of being consistent with brand values like an OEM,” says Tellenbach. “For a big, established name, it’s tougher to respect all your usual rules and establish brand recognition while also appealing to younger buyers.”
Yet the Veloce12 isn’t Touring operating at its purest, he adds: “Making 30 cars in two years is quite an efficient programme for us, all thanks to carbonfibre. With hand-built aluminium, you can’t do that.
We love making one-offs or few-offs where the panel-beaters create the car: that’s where our true heart lies. It’s what I want to revive and keep active as a true coachbuilding discipline. Something which fully reflects the craftsmanship that a collector appreciates.
“It’s more likely that we will find another way to reinterpret classic beauty than push the envelope on new construction materials. We aren’t scientists; we’re coachbuilders. If I find a friendly OEM with a 12-cylinder, front-engined car who will shake hands with us, you might see a brand-new Touring [rather than a restomod].
"Maybe today that’s wishful thinking, but tomorrow, who knows? It’s only possible to have access to a brand-new platform when you’re working directly with the company in question.”
One such company is Alfa Romeo, whose historical relationship with Touring helped secure the coachbuilder its contract to build the limited-run 33 Stradale supercar.
“It has to be done in a co-operative way,” says Tellenbach. “We need a friendly relationship, similar to AMG with Mercedes or Alpina with BMW. That direction surely has a great future.”
The companies previously paired up for the gorgeous Disco Volante, a proper coachbuilt ‘case’ atop the 8C Competizione’s platform.
“That was designed by Touring and Alfa Romeo liked it so much they asked us to put their badge on it,” says Tellenbach. “Which is great if you like the story between the two brands, these neighbours in Milan, although it’s probably not typical.
"But we’re building the 33 Stradale with a team split almost 50/50 between the two brands. Our old friendship is revived.”
And what of the relationship between Touring and another of its famous neighbours, Pininfarina, the Veloce12 essentially being the former’s resketching of the latter’s work?
“Some online comments insisted that the original lines shouldn’t be touched,” admits Tellenbach, “but there is no animosity. We have a professional respect for each other’s work."
Their question over dinner at Monterey was: ‘Does it sell?’”
Tailoring and top hatsWhile Automobili Pininfarina is a branch away from the coachbuilding culture of old (as a sibling company of the original Pininfarina design house), its cars are still subject to the same fastidious buyers, as evidenced by the Battista Targamerica, which was also revealed at Monterey, then handed over to “one of our most important clients” by CEO Paolo Dellachà.
“It’s not what most of our customers want but a few of them,” he says. “They’re asking us if we can develop them something that isn’t just the usual colours, materials and finishing [CMF] bespoke process – they want to go a step further.
"To realise the first open-roof Battista, for instance. The Battista operates in a sphere where the residual value of the car is more bound to its level of exclusivity than its technology.”
Does this represent a chance to return to the coachbuilding roots of Pininfarina that date back to 1930? “I will always be happy to create one-offs and few-offs spun from any of our main models,” answers Dellachà.
“Pininfarina has been doing this very extensively in the past. Of course you have to do it in proportion, in the right measure, to avoid becoming specialised only in that. You need to have a solid platform first. Once you have that, there’s more freedom in terms of creating even more outstanding design.”
One-offs aren’t necessarily the big profit-booster they can be for more mainstream manufacturers’ special vehicle divisions, however, says Dellachà: “They may cost more to the customer, but these unique cars require additional design, engineering and tooling.
"There’s always a homologation process, even for the Targamerica. It’s not just a show-and-display car [a way to bypass the US’s 25-year rule].” Dellachà joined Automobili Pininfarina in 2023, following lengthy stints at Ferrari and Maserati.
“Mostly at those brands, our custom products concerned CMF rather than ‘top hat’ [ie body and interior] modifications,” he says. “Top hat is more of the Pininfarina tradition.
“Such coachbuilding is not limited by the technology of the powertrain. You can do it on ICE, hybrid or electric [bases], and the transformation can go from zero to 100 according to the level of bespoke a customer wants to achieve – and the level of money they wish to invest in the process.
“With a lot of patience and creativity, we can really thrill our buyer with something that’s exciting at all possible levels – and that’s purely working on design, without touching any of the performance.”
Small batteries and austere power outputs mean the Spring and T03 are best suited to townThe Spring is widely regarded as the value champion but China's Leapmotor is here to fight it – which is better?
Electric cars, and new cars in general, are expensive. You know it, we know it, and even though they prefer to draw your attention to attractive-looking finance deals and the potential savings of electric driving, car makers know it.
Yes, they do appear to be trying to improve things (while protecting their bottom line, of course) but the various innovative ‘mobility solutions’ have proved to be deeply inadequate for most people and cheap ‘cars’ like the Citroën Ami are a case of being careful what you wish for. We want cheap cars, but not like that.
Affordable petrol cars are bad for car makers’ CO2 quotas and, in spite of the demand from customers, are increasingly difficult to make a profit on. Of the five sub-£15,000 cars we gathered together for a group test in 2023, only Dacia’s Sandero remains below that mark today.
The situation might be changing, though. The relentless march of progress means that the platforms aimed at developing markets may now be perceived as more acceptable over here. Meanwhile, battery costs are (slowly) coming down. So if you package a modest number of cheaper cells in one of those cheaper platforms, you might actually end up with a very decent yet affordable electric car.
That recipe has been used for both the Dacia Spring Electric and the Leapmotor T03. Both are available for well under £20,000, can seat four people, are capable of motorway speeds and exceed 140 miles on the combined cycle. On the face of it, Mini and Honda were asking over £30,000 for the same sort of thing not so long ago.
Sounds good, but there is the danger that we’re dealing with the Temu version of the Honda E and Mini Electric here: attractive on paper but horribly compromised in functionality.
Dacia Spring vs Leapmotor T03: Design and engineeringEncouragingly, both manufacturers are reputable enough to dispel such concerns. Dacia’s reputation speaks for itself by now. The Duster, Sandero and Jogger are brilliant examples of all the car you need, nothing you don’t. It’s not that Dacia reduces a car to its bare essentials but, more significantly, it does the essentials so, so well.
The Spring is slightly different. It’s based on the Renault Kwid, which was launched in India in 2015 and gained early infamy for its disastrous crash test results. Since then, it has been updated with better crash structures, airbags, a couple of facelifts and latterly a pack of batteries under the floor. The electric version, which is built in China, is sold as a Renault elsewhere but came to mainland Europe a few years ago as the Dacia Spring.
Last year, it had a major facelift to Dacify it further and turn it into a more cohesive product for the European market – including the UK this time.
If you compare the Spring we have here with the old one, it might as well be an entirely different car. The Y-shaped light signature and cityscape pattern on the lower grille have really turned budget transport into a cool little city car, even if there is still something awkward-looking about its small-wheeled tippy-toe stance. If you peer through the rear wheel arch, you can actually see the torsion beam for the suspension.
We know what a Dacia is, even if it’s actually a Chinese-Indian Renault, but what the hell is a Leapmotor?
Fast-moving start-up, China, high-tech electric mobility, yadda, yadda. You’ve heard that sort of thing before, but what makes us all take notice is that Stellantis has a 21% stake in the company and owns 51% of Leapmotor International, a joint venture set up to increase Leapmotor sales outside of China.
Not only that, but it has started building left-hand-drive T03s in the Fiat plant in Tychy, Poland. In other words, our Franco-Romanian car is made in China, whereas our Chinese car could have been built in Poland, although right-hand-drive ones continue to come out of China.
So Stellantis gives credibility to Leapmotor in the form of brand recognition and a dealer network, but that’s about where the Stellantis involvement ends.
The T03 isn’t a cut-down Vauxhall Corsa: it’s a pure Leapmotor development. There’s a battery under the floor, a motor in the front and, like many Chinese cars, a design that is inoffensive but very derivative. If the front has shades of cross-eyed Smart Forfour, from the back it could be absolutely anything.
Instead, it draws you in by being apparently overspecced in almost every way, at least on paper. At the UK launch, Leapmotor’s PR team weren’t shy about making comparisons with the Dacia Spring and even brought a static Spring to show just how much better equipped the T03 is for the same price. Indeed, in a game of austerity Top Trumps, the Leapmotor wins easily.
It comes in just one spec, and for your £15,995, Leapmotor gives you a 37.3kWh battery, 94bhp and loads of equipment: a fully fledged infotainment system with navigation, adaptive cruise control, blindspot monitoring, a panoramic sunroof and 48kW DC charging.
Meanwhile, at Dacia, the same money will buy you a Spring with the upgraded motor (still only 64bhp), a battery of only 26.8kWh, no fast charging, no centre screen and none of that fancy-pants tech. Our test car is in Extreme trim, which adds an infotainment screen, cruise control and 30kW fast charging but is £1000 more.
In practice, though, these philosophies are emblematic of the different ways that the Chinese and European manufacturers develop their cars. What’s there in the Dacia works well, whereas you’re in for a bit more of a fight with the Leapmotor’s apparent luxury features.
Dacia Spring vs Leapmotor T03: InteriorThe interior is a case in point. Inside, the T03 is clearly intended to feel like a ‘proper’ car, with its restrained styling and standard infotainment screen.
It’s unmistakably quite a small space, though, so it can’t help but feel slightly incongruous. There’s none of the sense of fun that small cars, including the Spring, are traditionally quite good at.
Although the Leapmotor’s touchscreen works passably well, it’s not great. It has no Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, so you’re reliant on the radio and Bluetooth for media and the built-in system for navigation, which is quite fiddly to programme.
The climate controls are also on the screen, and although they’re permanently displayed in a bar at the bottom, the ‘buttons’ are quite small. Neither of these cars has automatic climate control, so you end up fiddling with the heater and fan speed a lot.
That process is so much easier with the Dacia’s physical knobs and switches. Our test car has the optional touchscreen with phone mirroring, and while the more basic version doesn’t have a centre screen at all, it has an integrated holder for your phone, which does media and navigation pretty well anyway.
Neither of the two has heated seats. That’s frustrating because it can’t be very expensive to fit heating elements to the seats. Given these cars are used primarily for short hops, you end up losing quite a lot of range to the heater when you just want your back to be kept warm.
With all that said, the T03 is far more accommodating than the Spring. Its doors feel much less tinny, the seats have more padding and the driving position is far superior to the Dacia’s.
The Spring makes you feel more like a circus bear in a comedy car. The pedals are too close for comfort and you sit quite high in relation to the controls and the top of the windscreen.
Both are small cars, so rear carrying space is inevitably limited. Surprisingly enough, at 6ft2in I can just about sit behind my own driving position in both, albeit slightly easier in the Leapmotor. That’s despite it being a little shorter in length than the Dacia. The T03 partly has its architecture to thank for that, because it doesn’t need to be able to house a petrol engine in the front for other variants, unlike the Spring. At the same time, it also sacrifices some boot space. Its 210-litre boot is notably tighter than the Dacia’s (308 litres) and has a much narrower opening.
Dacia Spring vs Leapmotor T03: On the roadThe Spring makes more of its limited means on the road too. It’s easy to become jaded when it comes to power outputs in electric cars, but when you’re talking double figures, every pony counts. And in this case, the Leapmotor has almost 1.5 times as many of them as the Dacia.
If this were true for the Mercedes-AMG C63 and the BMW M3, the Mercedes would have 768bhp.
According to the official figures, however, the Spring is only a second slower to 62mph, and subjectively you would struggle to tell the difference. Neither car is quick, but in both cases they have enough performance to keep up with traffic on A- and B-roads. Sure, you’re to the boards quite a lot, but while that’s tiring in a Kia Picanto screaming its little head off, it makes very little difference in an EV whether you use half or all the power.
Where you do feel the lack of go – in both cars – is on the motorway. Make no mistake: these are not quadricycles; they’ll cruise at 70mph if they have to and that makes them all the more versatile. But you can sense they’re not entirely happy doing it. Driving at 60-70mph requires a bit of planning, crosswinds affect them in a way that we’re no longer used to and you feel vulnerable between HGVs or when overtaking the SUVs trundling in the middle lane.
You might expect the Leapmotor to have another trump card here in the form of its adaptive cruise control. But it’s so poorly tuned that you might as well not have it. The way it seems to want to be either accelerating or braking, and struggles to maintain a speed, is just not comfortable. Although you can set it to standard cruise control, you have to be stopped and in Park to do so, which is not very practical on a motorway.
If you plan to do anything more than occasional motorway driving, neither of these cars is going to provide you with much joy, also because their range and charging speeds feel like a throwback to EVs from seven years ago. Still, both will do more than 100 miles on a charge, in winter, which is a good deal more than most people cover on a daily basis.
Again, the Dacia closes the on-paper gap. It may have a 10kWh-smaller battery, but it’s also considerably more efficient. On the same cold day, we achieved 4.2mpkWh from the Spring and just 3.4mpkWh from the T03. The Leapmotor has the longer range, but not by much.
City streets are where these two feel most at home. At only about 1.6m wide and with a turning circle of less than 10m (the Dacia has a manual handbrake if you need it to be tighter still, though maybe not in town), you can thread them through narrow gaps without a care in the world. The Dacia is perhaps marginally easier to place because you can see the edges of the bonnet, but if this is how you’ll use them, there’s very little in it.
Bigger differences, of quality and character, surface on a country road. Some might see these as city cars, which they are, I suppose. Equally, they would be eminently useful for nipping into town if you live in a rural village with patchy public transport and no cycling infrastructure. You rarely appreciate a narrow car as much as when you’re dodging an oncoming truck on a narrow country lane.
Any sortie in the Leapmotor necessarily starts by turning off about seven different ‘safety’ systems, to save you being driven to distraction by the lane keeping assistance tugging at the steering or the driver monitoring berating you for yawning. It’s impossible to turn them off while driving, too. I find it hard to imagine an engineer or exec driving this car and deciding this is a pleasant enough way to travel. In the Dacia, everything works better in the first place and turning it off is done with a single button.
The Leapmotor unequivocally feels like the more mature car on the open road, though. It’s more planted, more stable, and you can be con dent that it will grip, whereas the Dacia feels flighty because of its loose body control, plastic Linglong EcoMaster tyres and rudimentary damping. The Spring’s rear axle seems to have next to no rebound damping and just slams down into the road a er sharp ridges and sleeping policemen. Both cars possess very light, disconnected steering, though the Dacia has a slightly keener front end, which actually makes it more fun if you’re prepared for the abundance of body roll and lack of grip.
A quick look online shows that acceptably grippy tyres for the Dacia wouldn’t cost very much. Those might swing the balance the other way, but if you had to give one of these cars to an unenthusiastic driver, you would pick the T03 because it has just that fraction more of a safety margin. It used to be a French national sport to coax a clapped-out Citroën 2CV or Renault 4 up a mountain pass at lightning speed, but let’s be honest: not everyone is into that.
To a greater or lesser extent, that is what these two cars feel like: the small cars of yesteryear. They’re quite tinny and not especially luxurious or capable, but they provide basic transport and there is something entertaining about driving them quickly down a country road and catching up all the dawdlers in their much faster cars. And while neither car will top any group tests for safety, you can bet your kneecaps that they’ll protect you better in a crash than a Citroën AX.
Dacia Spring vs Leapmotor T03: VerdictAppointing a winner is tricky, because the Spring has gradually whittled away the T03’s on-paper advantage. The Dacia unapologetically feels like a small, cheap car. It does it well and with a sense of fun. The Leapmotor tries to be a more serious, big car and succeeds to a point but it also feels more like an appliance and frustrates with some of the underdeveloped ‘luxury’ features. There’s a place for both, but in the absence of outright competence, a small car is better with a sense of humour and the Dacia Spring is the more likeable product.
Winner: Dacia Spring
Cheery and fun. There’s not much to it, but what little there is works well, except for the tyres.
Second: Leapmotor T03
More of everything, even if not everything is quite up to snuff. The more competent car, but at the cost of charm.
Nearly-new alternativesThe step down in capability from a Renault 5 to a Spring is more of a tumble than the step down from a Megane to a 5. The same is true in the Stellantis family: the step down from an electric Astra to a Corsa is far smaller than from a Corsa to a Leapmotor T03. That automatically leads you to wonder: well, what about a Corsa?
If you really want a newish electric car on a budget, there are lots of facelifted Vauxhall Corsa Electrics for sale online with delivery mileage for the same money as the Spring or the T03. The Renault Zoe has been out of production for almost a year, so you’ll have to accept a higher mileage, but very fresh ones can be had for even less than the Corsa. Or how about an MG 4? Delivery-mileage standard-range cars can be bought for well under £20,000.
Comparing new and used is fraught when you have to take into account older cars and expired warranties, but this is not the case here and becomes more of an existential question.
In this bonus podcast, Autocar's Editor-at-large, Matt Prior, meets the Rolls-Royce CEO, Chris Brownridge. Speaking at the launch of the Spectre Black Badge, Brownridge tells us about Black Badge Rolls-Royces, how many cars Rolls should sell, what it's like working in the luxury sector, and more, including private islands.
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Vauxhall Luton has built its final vehicle, a Vivaro van, bringing to an end 120 years of production at the plant.
The decision to close the historic commercial vehicle factory was announced by Vauxhall owner Stellantis in November 2024. All of the company's UK van production will be moved its site in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire.
Former Stellantis chief Carlos Tavares announced the decision just a few months after he had threatened closures as part of a battle with the UK government over its zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate.
Tavares said the ZEV mandate was “hurting significantly our business model”, because car makers were being forced to sell more EVs yet no incentives were being offered to buyers and the industry was grappling with a downturn in EV interest.
He said that moving all operations to one base would “consolidate” Stellantis's UK manufacturing footprint. He added that this decision would “potentially contribute to greater production efficiency” – something the firm said would also allow it to meet increasingly stringent ZEV mandate targets, which rise to 26% this year.
All of Luton’s machinery will be moved to Ellesmere Port, where more than £50 million will then be spent to upgrade it to take on the extra workload.
The decision to close Luton put 1100 jobs at risk and just a few hundred roles were guaranteed to be moved to Ellesmere Port, Stellantis said. A consultation was launched for affected workers, with those unable to make the move being offered retraining or potentially jobs at neighbouring businesses.
Following November’s announcement, union bosses called on Stellantis to reverse its decision, given that it was made just days before Tavares’s shock resignation.
Unite called the closure decision “one final example of Tavares’s failed strategy” and said it “must be halted as the company embarks on the hunt for a new CEO and a new direction”.
In response, Stellantis committed to “the continuity of the ongoing projects that have been already communicated” under the guidance of chairman John Elkann and an interim executive committee.
Unite argued that until Tavares's successor is appointed (due in the first half of 2025), all previous major decisions should be halted.
Bright paint and more aggressive styling will mark the hot Elroq outSkoda's second sporty electric car could pack a 322bhp punch to outpace the Abarth 600e
Skoda will reveal the new Elroq vRS next week as the second electric car from its sporting sub-brand - and it's set to be one of the company's most powerful cars yet.
To be unwrapped next Thursday morning (3 April) before a public debut at the Milan Deign Week a few days later, the Skoda Elroq vRS will be the latest entrant into a growing class of sporting electric crossovers, going up against the likes of the Mini Aceman JCW, Alfa Romeo Junior Elettrica Veloce and Abarth 600e.
The Czech firm has released a preview image that confirms the "most dynamic Elroq model" will be available in the vRS sub-brand's trademark Hyper Green paint and said it will be further marked out from the standard car by a raft of contrasting black trim elements.
No technical details have been given yet, but the Elroq is closely related to the Volkswagen ID 3 and Cupra Born, so the vRS version is likely to use the same powertrain components as the hot versions of those cars.
The Cupra Born VZ and Volkswagen ID 3 GTX are both equipped with the Volkswagen Group's new 'AP550' motor on the rear axle, providing up to 322bhp. That figure would make the Elroq vRS only very slightly less powerful than the dual-motor, 335bhp Skoda Enyaq vRS.
The rear-driven Born and ID 3 range-toppers can hit 62mph from rest in as little as 5.6sec, and while the slightly taller and longer Elroq is unlikely to quite match that, it could still come in at under 6.0sec to outpace the ICE Skoda Octavia vRS.
The fastest Elroq will be the fourth vRS model in Skoda's line-up, joining similarly conceived range-toppers for the Octavia, Enyaq and Kodiaq.
Skoda hasn't shared any official plans for more fast models beyond the Elroq, but CEO Klaus Zellmer recently told Autocar that vRS will remain an important part of its business.
"This is something that is our DNA," he said of the 24-year-old sub-brand. "We will keep it and you can't neglect that. You cannot get rid of that."
Another possible addition to the portfolio is a warmed-up version of the upcoming Skoda Epiq electric supermini, which would no doubt share its innards with the planned Volkswagen ID 2 GTI.
Back in the late 1800s, during the dawn of the motorised carriage, the fastest cars in the world - such as Karl Benz's Patent Motorwagen - could achieve a heady 10mph.
On a good day. With a lightweight driver and a favourable wind. Today, nearly 140 years of development has pushed the very fastest cars past the 300mph mark.
The Benz’s brave driver could cover just 4.4 metres per second; while in 2019, with Andy Wallace behind the wheel, the Bugatti Chiron covered 136 metres per second.
It’s a fearsome prospect, and there are only a handful of places on Earth where cars of this calibre can reach their V-max, yet there’s no shortage of car manufacturers vying for top honours.
These include Bugatti, SSC, Hennessey and Koenigsegg, all of which hail from different countries around the world and are looking to become the successors to the current record holder. As a result, many of these cars are also the world's fastest-accelerating cars.
With that in mind, here are the fastest production road cars by the numbers, judged against manufacturer figures when they were tested on an airfield or a dedicated test track.
BMW uses Toyota fuel cells in its fleet of hydrogen iX5 demonstratorsRough start to the year has brought filling station closures and collapse of commercial vehicle businesses
This year has started very badly for the prospects of hydrogen as a potential future fuel for cars.
In Germany, hydrogen company H2 Mobility announced at the start of March that it was shutting 22 fuel stations focusing mainly on cars, citing a strategic shift towards goods vehicles.
In California, meanwhile, Shell is reportedly set to shut 10 of its 11 hydrogen fuel stations, after initially announcing it would open 48.
The move will compound the woes of US Toyota Mirai owners, who have seen filling stations close across the country and hefy prices for the fuel at those that remain open.
Such were the issues that California-based owners last year sued Toyota because of the difficulty in getting hold of the hydrogen needed to run their fuel cell cars.
Elsewhere, in February, Renault's and Plug Power’s hydrogen van joint venture, Hyvia, when into liquidation, citing the “too-slow evolution of hydrogen mobility ecosystems in Europe and the very significant development costs required for H2 innovation”.
Also exiting the stage in February was controversial hydrogen lorry developer Nikola, which filed for bankruptcy in the US after running out of cash.
In China, sales of hydrogen fuel cell cars cratered. Advocates of the technology as an alternative to battery-powered cars have long pinned hopes on Chinese development but last year just 25 fuel cell cars were sold in the country, down from 469 the year before, according to data from Jato Dynamics.
In Europe last year, sales of the €73,000 Toyota Mirai – the only viable fuel cell car from a mainstream maker available to buy - seemed to have held up, at 717. But closer inspection showed that of that total, 528 were sold in France, which almost directly correlates to the 500 that Toyota said it would make available as shuttles for the Paris Olympics. Zero were sold in the UK.
Those scanning the horizon ahead can’t find much use for hydrogen. Even the promise of HGVs is looking iffy, according to government climate advisers the Climate Change Committee. “We see no role for hydrogen in heating buildings and only a very niche, if any, role in surface transport,” it said in its long-term-vision Seventh Carbon Budget.
The case for investment among automotive suppliers, who right now are focused on cost-cutting across board, is looking very poor indeed. “We see a significant slowdown in terms of investing in hydrogen technology,” Liam Butterworth, CEO of GKN Automotive owner Dowlais, told Autocar. “The industry has moved towards battery-electric vehicles and hydrogen will be unlikely.”
Dowlais last year sold off its hydrogen storage business, GKN Hydrogen, for a “nominal consideration” after losing too much money, company filings show.
Many have held out hope that hydrogen fuel cell vehicles would solve the need to cut emissions while retaining the driving range and refill speed of petrol and diesel cars.
But the high cost, low power outputs and a refuelling infrastructure that’s been patchy at best have given battery-electric vehicles an almost unassailable lead. “Hydrogen simply does not offer sufficient improvements over batteries, which have far higher power density and capacity,” Bill Russo, CEO of consultant Automobility, wrote in a paper for electric motor specialist Monumo.
Russo cited “the significant levels of investment” that have already gone into battery technology as well as the advantages of having a distributed network of EVs to feed back into the grid.
The potential of hydrogen as an EV alternative still motivates some OEMs, especially in the Far East, with Hyundai, Honda and Toyota promising to continue to work on extending the usability of fuel cell technology.
Toyota also has a partnership with BMW, which has said it will launch its first hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle in 2028. BMW CEO Oliver Zipse said in October that hydrogen “will play an increasingly important role in decarbonisation”.
Toyota continues to experiment with hydrogen for motorsport, while Extreme E spin-off Extreme H is persisting with its dedicated hydrogen-powered off-road race series, which is due to start this year.
Stellantis, meanwhile, has said it will continue to offer hydrogen vans for sale, including the Vauxhall Movano Hydrogen in the UK, despite the exit of rival Renault’s H2 van venture.
However, the mainstream prognosis is not good. Unlike battery power, hydrogen vehicles are utterly reliant on a dedicated network of refuelling stations that owners need to be convinced will stay open. But without a pipeline of cars or light vans coming onto the market, investors are unwilling to risk their money on a long-shot bet. Currently, there are just four hydrogen fuelling stations for light vehicles in the UK, according to UK H2 Mobility.
Development of hydrogen planes has also stalled, with Airbus now pushing back the expected viability date for fuel cell aircraft to “later than 2035”, CEO Guillaume Faury said on the company’s 2024 earnings call. “Scaling up the hydrogen ecosystem is challenging and is unfortunately progressing at a slower pace than we had previously anticipated,” he said. Brazil’s Embraer gave a similar timeline.
Hydrogen has had at least as long a development run-up as electric, but the difficulties have proven too tough to overcome. As a fuel for future mass-market cars, hydrogen feels as if it is as good as dead.
Owning a Porsche is quite a boast. But with so many models on sale, how do you choose the best for your driveway?
Ever since Ferdinand Porsche released the 356 in 1948, the Porsche brand has become synonymous with performance and quality.
Whether you’re looking for a car to run around a race track, a daily driver or an SUV for school pick-ups, there’s a Porsche that’s tailored to your needs.
We know the Porsche 911 S/T is an incredible five-star car and the Porsche 911 GT3 RS is the ideal track-day toy, but these are our favourites and the best Porsches on sale from each model group.
BMW builds SUVs in Spartanburg, South Carolina, but actual local content is reported to be only around 30%All cars and light commercial vehicles imported into the US will be hit with a 25% tariff from 2 April
Car makers in the UK and Europe are bracing for what for many will be the biggest financial shock since Covid when the newly announced 25% tariff on cars imported into the US are applied on 2 April.
The tariffs apply to all cars and light commercials imported into the US that aren't covered by the Mexico-US-Canada automotive tariff agreement, significantly raising the cost of doing business in the US.
Firms including Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW and JLR were relying on healthy sales in the US to balance out crashing demand in China and a weaker European market.
“It's a perfect storm for the European auto industry,” said David Bailey, professor of business economics at the Birmingham Business School. “UK auto already has a low-volume crisis, with plants operating well below capacity.”
The US is UK’s second largest car export market after the EU, with 101,100 cars shipped in 2024, according to data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. The lobbying body called the tariff hike "disappointing".
JLR was by far the largest British automotive exporter to the US, with sales up by 29% to 116,294 cars last year, of which around two thirds were built in the UK.
Ultra-luxury brands including Aston Martin, Bentley, McLaren and Rolls-Royce accounted for around 9000 car imports there last year.
JLR chose not to comment on the tariffs except to say it was awaiting further information. The share value of JLR owner Tata Motors dropped 5.6% after the news.
Ineos Automotive stated: "We are outraged that the tariff situation with the US has been neglected by the EU.
"[US] president [Donald] Trump has been very clear on his intention to implement tariffs on the auto industry. He has been asking for fairness and reciprocity and yet European leaders have not come to the table to negotiate a better solution."
The 25% tariff comes on top of the 2.5% duty already paid by car makers importing into the US and is paid on the ‘landing’ price of the car, minus the dealer margin. The tariff will in effect add 15% to the recommended retail price of the car, estimated the bank Bernstein in a note to investors.
Car makers will have to choose whether to pass on the cost to customers or absorb it and take the hit on margins. Given the size of the tariff compared with the 10% that most analysts had been expecting earlier in the year, most will have no choice but to increase prices.
“We are assessing different scenarios on how to handle it, but it will be finally passed on to the consumer,” Bentley CEO Frank-Steffen Walliser said earlier in March after the tariffs had been announced but before the percentage had been revealed. “At the end of the day, the consumer will have to pay it, and this would have an impact on the business, very clearly”.
Trump said the tariffs “addressed a critical threat to US security” and would bring vehicle manufacturing back to the country, creating 2.8 million jobs and growing the economy by $728 billion.
Some car companies have already said they will increase their US manufacturing footprint. Hyundai announced it would invest $21bn (£16.3bn) to increase its vehicle production in the country and develop new technology there, including autonomous driving capability. Audi has said it's in discussion over which models can be localised in the US.
However, JLR is unlikely to build in the US to mitigate the tariffs, according to Ian Henry, head of consultancy AutoAnalysis. “You can’t just do that overnight. They don’t have the supply chain in place and a CKD [completely knocked-down kit] plant would face tariffs on components anyway,” he said.
Car makers also face the problem of not knowing how long the tariffs will remain in place amid a chaotic decision-making process at the White House.
“They could be a negotiating tactic and therefore very short-lived or they might not,” Henry said. “Car makers can ride out temporary turbulence, but if they last for four years, that’s a much more serious issue.”
Even those car makers with plants in the US will face higher costs on the components they import. Trump claimed that of the eight million cars built in the US last year, US-built content amounted to only half the total amount. “Therefore, of the 16 million cars bought by Americans, only 25% of the vehicle content can be categorized as Made in America,” a White House fact sheet published in support of the tariffs stated.
The local content of BMW SUVs made in Spartanburg, South Carolina, is below 30%, according to documentation seen by Henry. BMW imports engines from Europe for fitment into cars assembled in the US facility, which in theory will now be subject to tariffs from 2 April.
The impact on car makers including BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo exporting from the US into Europe could be amplified by potential retaliatory tariffs from the EU.
“We will now assess this announcement, together with other measures the US is envisaging in the next days,” European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement. “Tariffs are taxes – bad for businesses, worse for consumers equally in the US and the European Union.”
Bernstein said in a note: “This would impact the SUVs that BMW and Mercedes produce in the US for global markets, like the BMW X5 and X7 and the Mercedes GLE and GLS."
The UK has less room to retaliate and will instead seek to negotiate a carve-out, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has suggested.
“We're not at the moment at a position where we want to do anything to escalate these trade wars,” Rachel Reeves told Sky News. “Trade wars are no good for anyone.”
The financial impact of the tariffs if extended to the end of the year would hit Stellantis worst, knocking back its profit margin by 5.1 percentage points, according to Bernstein analysis.
BMW is set to drop by 2.0 points, Mercedes by 2.2 points and the Volkswagen Group by 1.5 pts.
All financial predications are pure guesswork, however, given that Trump could backtrack at any moment. As one industry watcher said: “Basically, it’s a mess.”
“Intense negotiations” are taking place between the UK and the US after president Donald Trump last night announced a new 25% tariff on all cars and car parts imported into the country.
The new levy will come into effect from 2 April and will apply to both finished cars shipped into the country and car parts imported for vehicles assembled there.
Speaking from the Oval Office late on Wednesday, Trump said "this is very exciting", adding: “What we’re going to be doing is a 25% tariff for all cars that are not made in the United States.”
On Thursday morning, UK chancellor Rachel Reeves told Sky News that the tariff risks hitting the UK economy by pushing up inflation. “Trade wars are no good for anyone,” she added.
"We are looking to secure a better trading relationship with the United States," said Reeves. "I recognise that the week ahead is important. There are further talks going on today so let's see where we get to in the next few days.”
The effect on the UK could stunt its economic growth, Office for Budget Responsibility chair Richard Hughes told the BBC. He added that it could hit government spending plans and fuel inflation if prices rose.
While the tariffs are bad news for companies that export foreign-built vehicles to the US, Trump claimed the move would lead to "tremendous growth" for the US automotive industry, adding that it would create more investment for US-based car makers and therefore more jobs.
Around eight million cars were imported into the US last year, around half the total sold in the market. Mexico will be the country hit hardest by the new levy. Car makers with production facilities in Mexico include BMW, Ford, Nissan, Volkswagen and Toyota. The US's other top importers are Canada, Germany, Japan and South Korea.
Trump confirmed that the new laws were "permanent", quashing any notion that they would be reversed. But he stated that "if you build your car in the United States, there is no tariff".
The likes of BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen already have plants in the US, building key models for both the US and other global markets. BMW's Spartanburg plant in South Carolina, for example, builds the X3, X4, X5, X6, X7 and XM. It will be affected, though, because it builds and imports the 3 Series from Mexico for the US market.
Some car firms have announced investment to expand or open new US facilities in recent months in an effort to spread production globally and avoid tariffs. The Hyundai Motor Group, for example, has invested more than £16 billion to increase its vehicle production in the country, including a new steel manufacturing plant.
The news will come as a big blow to the likes of JLR, for which the US is its biggest market with firm recording big increases in Range Rover and Defender sales in recent years. Mini, too, will be hit, given its models are made in the UK and China.
Other car makers targeting the US that don't have factories across the Atlantic include Cupra – although its models could be manufactured at other Volkswagen Group facilities in the US – and Lotus.
However, the move could also affect domestic US car makers and firms that currently manufacture vehicles there. GM, for example, manufactures a number of vehicles and car parts in Canada, China and Mexico that it then imports into the US, and those vehicles and parts would be hit by the tariffs.
The announcement has been dubbed "disappointing" by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
Mike Hawes, the trade body's CEO, called for UK and US representatives to "come together immediately and strike a deal that works for all".
He said: "The UK and US auto industries have a long-standing and productive relationship, with US consumers enjoying vehicles built in Britain by some iconic brands, while thousands of UK motorists buy cars made in America.
"Rather than imposing additional tariffs, we should explore ways in which opportunities for both British and American manufacturers can be created as part of a mutually beneficial relationship, benefiting consumers and creating jobs and growth across the Atlantic."
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc will study the latest announcement. It itself launched heavy import tariffs on Chinese-made electric cars last year.
She said: "I deeply regret the US decision to impose tariffs on European automotive exports.
"As I have said before, tariffs are taxes - bad for businesses, worse for consumers equally in the US and the European Union.
"The automotive industry is a driver of innovation, competitiveness and high-quality jobs, through deeply integrated supply chains on both sides of the Atlantic.
"The EU will continue to seek negotiated solutions, while safeguarding its economic interests."
This new tariff is the latest in a wave of levies introduced by Trump since he took office for the second time. He said he wants to protect businesses and manufacturers in the US.
Bigster follows the design language introduced with Duster and SanderoNew Bigster SUV is described as closing the first chapter of the brand's regeneration
The second phase of Dacia’s strategy road map will be revealed in November, four years after the company revitalised its brand identity, according to CEO Denis Le Vot.
Le Vot describes the new Bigster SUV as the car that “closes the first chapter” of Dacia’s modern reinvention. That chapter began in 2021 with the third-generation Sandero – the first recipient of Dacia’s new design language – and in time the Jogger seven-seater and the latest Duster were spun off the same platform.
Dacia will elaborate on this new phase after the summer, when “there will be a lot about electricity” as part of parent Renault Group’s new Futurama company strategy.
Within the next two years, Dacia's line-up will be bolstered by a pair of C-segment models and an €18,000 (£15,000) Renault Twingo-twinned city car as part of a significant broadening of the Romanian marque's portfolio.
Development of that electric city car is already well under way and should arrive in the middle of next year, given its rapid, 16-month (69-week) gestation process. Dacia is targeting a 100-week development window for all new cars.
Asked whether Dacia might end up cannibalising Renault’s sales in the C-SUV segment, Le Vot said he was confident that, given the three million such cars sold in Europe every year, there was plenty of space for both brands.
I guess it helps that the very first motorsport event I attended in this country upon emigrating was a hillclimb – a short-course speed event for more than 100 disparate cars, all of which were given several chances to set their fastest time of the day.
It struck me immediately as the perfect form of amateur motorsport, since it took entries from new cars and old, road cars and racers, brilliantly skilled drivers and beginners. Everyone had the same chance.
At the time, over 40 years ago, I couldn’t afford a suitable car, but I still quickly discovered an advantage of this sport that endures: as a spectator, you can get close enough to the cars to peer into their engines and cockpits and chat with their drivers – usually their owners.
I acquired my first hillclimbable car, a yellow Caterham Seven Supersprint, in the late 1990s, when my rising competitive urge aligned neatly with another desire: to keep a 17-year-old son, just learning to drive, out of the ditch.
We did our first event together at Prescott, near Cheltenham, enjoying another of hillclimbing’s advantages by double-driving the same car. Since then we’ve had five or six different cars, and most years we’ve done something together.
That first event also taught me that although you may feel exposed to the pitiless scrutiny of experts, nobody judges you.
You will invariably find the person you’ve parked next to is friendly, even if he or she is miles out of your league.
I once parked my £12,000 Lotus Elise S1 next to a bloke with an Indianapolis Lotus single-seater, and he was the most down-to-earth person going.
The venues are nearly always beautiful. I like the short, sharp competition, not being much good at long bouts of concentration.
I also like the pressure to make a perfect run: one slow gearchange off the start and you’ve had it.
What else? Well, hillclimbing is pretty easy on your car: you drive it absolutely flat but not for long, so you don’t get home with ruined tyres and brakes.
Any accident is your own, not the result of some Herbert appearing out of nowhere to knock a corner off your car. And there are loads of road car classes, so trailers aren’t essential.
Just lately, I’ve developed an interest in electric motorsport. Short-course competition is ideal for battery cars, so EV racing is coming – and as much fun as my other kind. Time to embrace it.
Brand snobbery follows Vauxhall around, perhaps best articulated by the suggestion of: ‘Why don’t they just make them Opels?’
It’s true that this badge-swapping relationship is problematic when Opel-Vauxhall is trying to market one brand as German and another as British. I’ve watched a CEO flounder in handling the ‘what about Vauxhall, then?’ follow-up question after waxing lyrical about Opel’s ‘Germanness’.
Yet to suggest Vauxhall should give up 122 years of history is folly. It has its problems, but trying to solve them will be a darn sight simpler than trying to build Opel as a brand in the UK.
Eurig Druce was still in his honeymoon period of leading Stellantis in the UK when Vauxhall’s managing director upped sticks. He has taken temporary charge.
An impressive leader and executive, Druce doesn’t pull punches when saying that Vauxhall must do better, yet in dealing with the ‘Opel question’, he turns it on its head with a suggestion I’ve never heard before: “Why couldn’t Vauxhall be sold elsewhere? There’s no reason for it not to be. There are markets where a British brand would do better than a German one. It’s not the official plan, but why not?”
The short-term goal for all Stellantis UK brands is to beat their 2024 market share (5.83% for Vauxhall). But Vauxhall is a special case, says Druce: “As a home brand, it needs to be the strongest in all areas: profitability, market share. It’s a British brand that manufactures in the UK.”
Druce will also work to “put the belief back into the team” that Vauxhall can be a strong brand – something he believes will be simple, as the brand is being given “the armoury” in a series of new models, such as the Frontera and Grandland.
The belief needs to extend “not just to the Vauxhall team but the [dealers] as well”, but Druce reckons “reengaging with the network won’t be particularly hard” and it’s a case of “putting volume through them”.
Even though there has been a drop in the number of Vauxhall dealers from a peak of 349 in 2013 to about 190 now, area coverage has been largely unaffected. And given that Vauxhall’s market share was 14% at its peak in 2008, there’s obvious room to grow.
When asked if he believes there is some sneering towards the brand from certain areas, Druce says that is “probably true” as they are “honest cars”.
But so what? Druce plans to build on its strengths in the regions and sweat the deep, long-standing relationships that buyers have had with their dealers.
“I’m a rural boy. You buy in your own town: I understand this concept,” says Druce. “There’s loyalty to the brand but loyalty to the dealer too. Dealers have probably interacted with customers numerous times.
“But the new products can also attract new customers. They’re priced attractively and simply, with the EVs the same as the ICE models. That alone makes them stand out.”
Hyper Force concept shown in 2023 hinted at the next iteration of the GT-RIn fresh hint at the GT-R's return, new CEO vows to keep models 'that really represent what Nissan is about'
Incoming Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa has vowed that “driving excitement will always be at the heart” of the firm, hinting that halo cars such as the Z and GT-R will remain a key part of the brand’s future – and be offered worldwide.
The current R35-generation GT-R will finally be discontinued shortly, having been in production since 2007. However, it hasn't been offered in Europe for several years, due to emission regulations. Nor has the Z.
Asked about the importance of performance cars to Nissan, Espinosa said: “Driving excitement will always be at the heart of Nissan. This is what we do.
"There are many, many ways of explaining and showing to the world what this means, starting from the Z, which is affordable and fun to drive, to the GT-R, or even the Patrol [SUV].
“These will remain, for sure. I want to have four or five cars at the top of our portfolio that are really brand-oriented, cars that really represent what Nissan is about and show what the heartbeat of Nissan is. And these cars should go everywhere in the world.
"We keep the dream alive of what driving excitement is for. We will invest in signature Nissan models to deliver strong nameplates. Vehicles are the heartbeat of Nissan – and that includes sports cars, where we have very exciting plans.”
In 2023, Nissan revealed the Hyper Force concept, which previewed an electric GT-R successor, but Espinosa previously told Autocar that such a car had to wait until electric car technology was ready.
Asked if the firm has made any progress on that, Espinosa said the current electrification transition makes things “difficult” but “in a couple years, as the regulations start converging into more electrified powertrains, it might be easier to do this. This is what I will dream of doing.”
New Micra is twinned with the Renault 5 but references the early-2000s K12 MicraNew electric supermini was designed in London and will be built in France, alongside Renault 5
The Nissan Micra will return this year as an electric car twinned with the Renault 5, developed with a focus on the European market.
The fifth generation of the supermini will be one of three new EVs that Nissan will launch in Europe by the end of 2026, along with the new Leaf and an electric Juke.
The first official images of the production version of the Micra show that it retains many of the design cues seen on the motorsport-themed 20-23 concept shown in 2023.
While the design of the car was led at Nissan’s European design centre in London, the car will be manufactured by Alliance partner Renault in Douai, France, and will share its CMF-BEV platform and technical underpinnings with the 5.
It contains design cues to the K12-generation Micra of 2002, particularly through its round front and rear lights.
Nissan's global design chief, Alfonso Albaisa, said the new Micra was developed alongside the 5 from the start, claiming it represented the closest he has worked with the French firm on a design project.
His London studio had been working on concepts for a small car, and when the deal was agreed with Renault, “it just happened to work out, because we already had studies playing with round headlamps”.
“The beauty was that we were looking at something much cuter, with round, puppy-dog headlights, but the Renault car is a bit of a bulldog," continued Albaisa.
"So what I love about the Micra is that it has some cute things but the body, shoulders and tyres are huge. The bonnet of the Micra is bigger.
"The Renault has a little more angle, because the original 5 had a bonnet that went down. The previous Micra wan’t that type of wedge car, so the engineers were spectacular, because the front of the car is a minefield to rework, because of all the safety features.”
Nissan has confirmed the Micra will be offered with 40kWh and 52kWh batteries, with the latter giving a claimed maximum range of more than 248 miles.
The Japanese firm hasn't confirmed power outputs, but the standard versions of the 5 currently offer 118bhp and 148bhp.
François Bailly, Nissan’s European product boss (and soon to take on that role at a global level), said its new EV offers “mobility but also emotion, because Micra is a really strong name in Europe”.
He declined to comment on a target price for the new Micra – the 5 is priced from £22,995 – but told Autocar it will be “our car at the entry point”.
He added: “What’s limiting EV take-up right now is affordability. Transaction price versus household incoming is going in the wrong direction. We need to go back to people being able to afford those cars, and that’s where the Micra comes in.”
Sunderland plant currently builds Qashqai and Juke; new Leaf EV is coming this yearNissan will soon start building new Leaf and Juke EVs in Sunderland but Qashqai EV delayed due to market uncertainty
Nissan remains committed to the long-term future of its Sunderland factory, with the UK site a key element in its European electrification plans, according to its European planning boss, François Bailly.
The Japanese firm has pumped around £2 billion worth of investment into Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK (NMUK) to build the next-generation Leaf, Juke and Qashqai EVs, but there had been questions over its future when Nissan recently announced plans to close three factories by the end of 2026 as part of a major cost-cutting initiative.
Asked by Autocar whether the Sunderland plant’s future was safe, Bailly – who will shortly take over from new CEO Ivan Espinonsa as Nissan’s global product boss – said: “Yes, very safe. It’s the jewel of Europe, it’s where so many executives from Japanese manufacturing come, it’s the best-practice plant for us.
“At the same time, the ZEV [zero-emission vehicle] mandate is making life very difficult for us. It’s not a Nissan question, it’s more a UK question: where is ZEV going? Where is the UK market going? That’s for the UK government to answer. But the future of NMUK is core to everything we do.”
Nissan has just revealed the first image of the third-generation Leaf, which will go into production at Sunderland and other global locations later this year.
The Juke EV will arrive next year, with a new teaser image (below) confirming that it will retain the radical styling of the bold Hyper Punk concept shown at the Tokyo motor show in 2023.
But while Nissan is committed to Sunderland eventually producing three electric models, the firm has hinted that the timeline and plans could be changed, due to the slowing growth in demand for EVs among European customers.
“In Europe, the end game is still written [in the regulations] to be carbon zero by 2035,” said Guillaume Cartier, Nissan’s performance officer. “Now the curve, which was linear, is now curving at a rate that is less pronounced than it used to be.
"We still have 10 years, so we need what we call two legs or a dual strategy: what are the cars that we can extend, and what are the technologies that we want to invest in.”
Cartier confirmed that the life of the current ICE Juke would be extended and it would continue to be manufactured at Sunderland alongside the new electric model.
The current Qashqai will soon be upgraded with a new version of Nissan’s e-Power hybrid powertrain that offers greater claimed efficiency and range, but the introduction date of its electric successor – tipped to be around 2028 – has been pushed back.
“We have chosen to delay the Qashqai EV until the time when the market will restart and we see that a bit later,” said Bailly. “It’s a mix of the customer appetite, the regulations and also the technology. What is the best technology for the next Qashqai? That is the TBC.”
New Leaf borrows design cues from the larger Ariya; has been developed with focus on aerodynamicsThird-generation EV is shown in production form, confirming it to be a high-riding family hatchback
The third-generation Nissan Leaf has been shown in production form for the first time ahead of a full launch later this year, confirming its transformation into a crossover.
The Leaf was launched in 2010 as one of the first mass-market electric cars and in its first two generations took a conventional hatchback form, but it has now undergone a major shift to cash in on the trend for higher-riding cars.
It sits on the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance's CMF-EV platform, which is currently used by the larger Nissan Ariya, and will be closely twinned with the forthcoming Nissan Juke EV.
European versions of the Leaf and the Europe-only Juke EV will be produced at Nissan’s Sunderland factory, which is currently undergoing a major expansion.
The new Leaf is marginally shorter than the previous model but has a larger presence, due to its higher stance. It borrows styling cues from the Ariya and has been developed with a focus on aerodynamics – it has a 0.25 drag coefficient – to boost efficiency and range.
While Nissan has yet to give any technical details, European product boss François Bailly said the Leaf would have a range of more than 372 miles, hinting the focus is on “real-world range.”
He added: “How long you can drive on a highway is key for us, which is why you see the beautiful shape with the aerodynamics. For us, it’s about practicality: how long will it take to drive 800km [497 miles], including the time to charge?”
Nissan's global design boss, Alfonso Albaisa, said the new Leaf is “about democratising technology. It’s very modern, simple and nice. We wanted something tailored, handsome, well-proportioned, with a super-tech interior that feels open and cool.”
Bailly added that the Leaf will get Nissan’s latest in-car systems, enabled by its updated Car and Connected Service (CCS) platform, which features a Google-based infotainment system and advanced driver assistance systems.
He said: “It’s all the things that make your life easier.
“We are confident we have something that is unique, and we’re really happy with this car.”
Preview shows how new electric Juke will evolve from radical Hyper Punk conceptNissan's rival to the Ford Puma Gen-E and Kia EV3 will enter production in the UK next year
The next-generation, electric Nissan Juke has been previewed as the firm ramps up to beginning production at its Sunderland factory next year.
Partly shown behind the freshly unwrapped Mk3 Leaf and new electric Micra (below), the new Juke will be closely linked to the current ICE Juke – alongside which it will be built – but take some influence from last year's radical Hyper Punk concept.
It will follow the Leaf down Nissan's UK production line from next year, and a next-generation, electric Qashqai is due to join them in the coming years - although the firm has delayed that car in light of uncertainties about global EV uptake.
Nissan has previously said it's aiming for the Juke EV to cost around the same as the current ICE Juke, which starts at around £21,000, although it has admitted that's a challenge.
The company has yet to give a precise launch timeline but has confirmed that the lifecycle of the current ICE Juke will be extended and it will be produced alongside the Juke EV.
Nissan has yet to reveal firm details about the Juke EV, although all three future cars for Sunderland are set to use the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance's CMF-EV platform, which is designed for C- and D-segment EVs.
That suggests the Juke could potentially grow in size slightly: the current ICE Juke uses the CMF-B platform, which is designed for smaller, B-segment cars.
While no details of the Juke EV's performance have been given, the new Leaf, to which it's closely related, is set to offer a maximum range in excess of 372 miles.
Despite the Juke, Qashqai and Leaf all sharing a platform and being developed and built alongside each other, Nissan Europe's R&D chief, David Moss, previously said they would retain distinct characters, noting that they would feature different wheelbases.
He added: “As the size of the car grows, you change its ride and handling characteristics, or if it sits in a different segment, you might change the suspension.
“The beauty of developing three EVs [simultaneously] is the first thing you can look at is 'where do we want to commonise and where don’t we?'. It’s all based around customer expectations and values.”
Flick through some of our recent road test results and you will notice that we’ve just given 4.5 stars to a sensible electric supermini, the Renault 5, but awarded the supposedly exciting Porsche Macan Turbo Electric and Maserati Granturismo Folgore only 3.5 stars.
Has Autocar lost its sense of fun in old age? Or are all electric cars just boring?
Well, neither, I hope. What it demonstrates is that car makers need to fundamentally rethink the way they approach designing their range-topping performance models.
Things used to be more straightforward: faster equals better. Consider a 1990s BMW 3 Series. The one you want is the full-fat 328i or, if you can afford it, the M3, isn’t it?
The four-cylinder versions are a bit rattly, the lower-rung sixes are still not exactly quick and the M3’s engine has that extra bit of motorsport zing.
With a typical fast EV, you get an extra motor for four-wheel drive and a boatload more power.
But I don’t think those things are especially desirable. Four-wheel drive is great if you need to get up a snowy mountain or need to tow a horsebox out of a field, but with modern traction and stability control systems, it’s not that useful on the road. If your car is so powerful that it needs four-wheel drive on the road, you might simply have too much power.
Speaking of which, our ’90s M3’s engine had a fundamentally different character to the common-or-garden 320i’s, whereas in your 600bhp EV there’s just more of the same.
And it’s not like cheaper models are short of grunt: the basic Macan Electric still has 356bhp, does 0-62mph in 5.7sec and generally has more performance than you can use on the road.
The Macan Turbo Electric in particular just felt like a worse version of the lower-order models. You accept that an M3 is less economical than a 316i, because it has a straight six that revs to 7200rpm and makes a great noise.
Getting less range and higher running costs from the more expensive version of an EV is harder to swallow when you don’t get anything in return.
The solution is that we need to wean ourselves off the cocaine of horsepower and find our fun elsewhere. Renault has the right idea: the Alpine A290 is a bit quicker than the 5, but because a lot of work went into differentiating its chassis, it’s actually more fun, more playful, more engaging.
Same with the Ioniq 5 N: Hyundai turned the comfy, loungy Ioniq 5 into a proper driver’s car. This is partly because its chassis feels completely different and partly because Hyundai dared to think outside the box.
When an electric motor makes no discernible noise of its own, well, you make it sound however you like. And when there’s no physical connection between the two driven axles, the torque split can be almost infinitely variable.
The Ioniq 5 N makes use of the possibilities of electric drive to feel completely like its own thing.
Another development is that EVs are making rear-wheel drive more common again. As it stands, most manufacturers seem too scared by the oversteery, tank-slapping mayhem this could potentially cause to capitalise on the potential for better steering feel and sweeter chassis balance.
The best modern traction control is so sophisticated and able to so precisely administer power from an electric motor that I think there’s a whole world of chassis balance yet to be explored if engineers can resist smothering it with an additional motor.
More artificial and less visceral than little explosions? Perhaps, but if regulation continues on its current path, we’ve got another five years to enjoy new combustion engines.
Let’s savour it – but also use that time to figure out that there’s life beyond power.
On this week's My Week In Cars podcast Steve Cropley and Matt Prior have a busy week trying a plethora of new metal, including a Mini Cooper, Ford Explorer, Subaru Solterra, Suzuki Swift, Rolls-Royce Spectre Black Badge and more.
Make sure you never miss an Autocar podcast. Subscribe to our podcasts via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts or via your preferred podcast platform. And if you subscribe, rate and review the pod, we'd really appreciate that too.
Accessibility has never been associated with small electric cars, especially when they first filtered into the mainstream market more than a decade ago.
This was particularly true of smaller electric cars, which were pricey, short on range and too heavy to offer anything for the keen driver. For the everyman, finding an electric supermini or hatchback that offered the same value for money as an ICE one was a challenge.
Fast-forward to 2025 and the small electric car market is far more promising, with a plethora of affordable and efficient EVs that are packed with usable technology and offer a decent range – and, crucially, ensure you’re getting plenty of bang for your buck.
Battery technology has come a long way, too, with more energy-dense packs enabling car makers to strap smaller units to the underside of an EV without compromising on range and efficiency.
Where early electric superminis could barely manage 150 miles in the real world, there are plenty on sale today that will cover much longer distances – up to 250 miles in some cases.
The breadth of choice is also varied at the lower end of the EV market, with brands like Vauxhall, Peugeot and Citroën competing with upcoming rivals from China, the latter of which typically offered with a lower list price than their European counterparts.
And while most diminutive EVs are built to maximise range and comfort, there are a few that are tipped towards the keen drivers among us.
Our top pick is the Mini Cooper E, which offers a decent range, fun driving experience and a decent interior.
But which other small electric cars should you buy? We’ve tested each and every one and here is our rundown of the very best.
Autocar render shows what a new e-208 GTI might look likeBrand's new management revives performance line in effort to "nurture driving sensations" in its cars
Peugeot will launch a GTi variant of the e-208, new boss Alain Favey has confirmed, with the hot hatch set to spearhead an effort to “nurture the reputation of the brand for driving sensations”.
It will be the first GTi model since the previous-generation Peugeot 308 went off sale in 2021 and Peugeot's first sporty electric car.
Speaking to media today, Favey said: “I’m in a position to confirm that we will reintroduce the GTi on the e-208 as soon as possible. We’ve made the decision that Peugeot GTi will be reintroduced.”
He added that it is a “signal” about “what it means to reconnect to our past, our history” and that it would link the French brand’s road cars to its involvement in motorsport (in the World Endurance Championship).
“We want to continue to nurture the reputation of the brand for driving sensations and the fact that our cars produce particular driving sensations, either as a driver or as someone that is being driven in the car,” Favey said.
As for a broader GTi line-up or a sporting model with a combustion engine, Favey suggested it will depend on customer feedback.
He said: “We will start with the 208 and [are] definitely listening to your inputs, or what our customers will say as well.
"We don't exclude that there might be other executions of the 208 GTi under the GTi badge, but for today there's absolutely nothing planned in that sense."
Confirmation of the GTi badge’s return comes after Favey last month said that he would consider it as one of his first jobs since taking over as Peugeot CEO.
The new e-208 GTi is most likely to use the same powertrain as the new Abarth 600e, which is based on the same e-CMP platform as the e-208.
The Italian hot crossover gets a 237bhp motor mounted up front with a Torsen limited-slip differential. It weighs 1625kg and delivers a 0-62mph sprint time of 6.2sec.
It’s possible that a lighter and lower-set e-208 equipped with the same powertrain could cut that to below 6.0sec.
The Abarth is also offered with a punchier 278bhp motor in limited-run Scorpionissima form, leaving room for a special edition in the vein of the previous 208 GTi by Peugeot Sport.
Green-lighting the e-208 GTi for production is also likely to result in a hot version of the Vauxhall Corsa Electric, given that the two models are twinned.
Roof folds out of sight in 14sec and can be shut in 16sec while on the moveNew drop-top version of thunderous GT brings similar performance; 95kg heavier than coupé
Aston Martin has revealed the drop-top version of its 824bhp V12-powered Vanquish flagship.
Taking the Volante name, it is technically identical to its coupé sibling, which arrived in September 2024 to revive the Vanquish nameplate as one of the few V12 cars on the market.
In drop-top form, this is one of only two new GTs – alongside the Ferrari 12Cilindri Spider – to offer open-top driving with a 12-cylinder soundtrack.
The fabric roof is operated by a K-fold mechanism, similar to the arrangement in the new Vantage Roadster. The roof can be opened in 14 seconds and closed in 16 seconds.
Underbody bracing is fitted to recover some of the rigidity lost during the transition from coupé to roadster and, as a result, the Vanquish Volante is 75% stiffer laterally than the previous DBS Volante.
However, it is also 95kg heavier than the Vanquish coupé, at 1930kg, which is due mainly to that extra bracing and the roof mechanism.
With the same outputs of 824bhp and 738lb ft from its twin-turbocharged 5.2-litre V12, this extra heft means the Volante is 0.1sec slower than the coupé in the 0-62mph sprint, at 3.4sec. Its claimed top speed is the same 214mph as the coupé.
The Volante otherwise shares its hardware with the coupé, including Bilstein DTX adaptive dampers, a ZF-supplied eight-speed automatic gearbox and an electronic limited-slip differential.
Inside, it gets a 10.25in digital instrument panel and an infotainment screen of the same size running Aston Martin’s own operating software. A 15-speaker Bowers & Wilkins sound system is fitted as standard and extensive interior customisation will be offered through the company’s Q by Aston Martin division.
Prices have yet to be confirmed, but the Vanquish Volante is expected to carry a relatively small premium over the £334,000 coupé. For reference, the DB12 Volante costs £13,500 (7%) more than the DB12 coupé, at £204,500.
Production of both variants of the Vanquish will be capped at fewer than 1000 cars per year. Deliveries will start between July and September.
The arrival of the Vanquish Volante completes Aston Martin’s core line-up, which also consists of the Vantage, DBX 707, DB12 and mid-engined Valhalla.
Lower Thames Crossing will use a 2.6-mile tunnel running under the River ThamesNew road connecting Kent and Essex, including 2.6-mile tunnel beneath river, gets green light from the government
The government has approved the construction of the Lower Thames Crossing, a new road between Kent and Essex that's intended to ease the burden on the Dartford Crossing.
Measuring around 14.5 miles long, it will be a three-lane, 70mph road connecting the A2/M2 junction with the M25 motorway.
This will be done using a pair of tunnels built under the River Thames and measuring 2.6 miles long, making them the longest of their kind in the UK.
According to National Highways, the agency in charge of building and maintaining the UK’s strategically important roads, the Lower Thames Crossing could take some 13 million cars off the Dartford Crossing annually.
This would improve journey times by 30% at Dartford and 46% between Tilbury (Essex) and Medway (Kent), it claims.
National Highways added that the new crossing is needed because the one at Dartford, opened 60 years ago, ”cannot keep up with unprecedented demand”.
“Designed to handle 135,000 vehicles a day, it now averages 150,000 a day and requires a dedicated team to manage it around the clock,” said National Highways.
It expects usage to rise to an average of 180,000 vehicles per day – the current peak – within 17 years.
It said that the demand means the Dartford Crossing is “one of the country’s most unreliable roads”, with 19 out of 20 northbound journeys delayed during the evening rush hour.
Such congestion costs the UK £200 million per year in time lost, according to National Highways.
Planning of the Lower Thames Crossing began in 2009 and it has cost some £1.2 billion in public spending so far.
Construction of the road is earmarked to start next year.
Despite the ever-increasing number of electric car chargers installed across the UK, there’s no greater convenience than owning your own at home.
Home charging is easy and convenient, so it's no wonder that, according to the Energy Saving Trust, 80% of EV charging takes place at drivers' homes.
Another appeal of home charging is that it's cheaper than charging anywhere else. Depending on your energy supplier, it may get even cheaper at night, when you don't need your car. You wake up each day effectively with a ‘full tank’ and so are less likely to require a streetside charger on your way to work.
It all sounds straightforward, but there are many things to consider when it comes to charging at home, from picking the right type of charger to making sure you're benefiting from the financial incentives available.
Of course, not everyone can charge from home. Around 60% of drivers in the UK have access to a driveway, a figure that drops to 40% for residents of urban areas. There’s still much work to be done to make home charging accessible for all, particularly those in rented accommodation or flats and apartments.
If you can charge from home or are hoping to in the near future, you might have some questions. We’ve compiled an in-depth guide for home charging right here, so you can move forward with your electric car journey as soon as possible.
How can I charge my car at home?There are a few common methods that let you charge your electric car at home. For most people, a wallbox is the best solution.
Available from several manufacturers, wallboxes are attached to your house (or a nearby outbuilding) and supply power directly to your car.
They offer charging speeds that are more than three times as fast as a domestic three-pin socket and provide the convenience of mounting the box directly onto the wall of your house or garage.
Cables also don’t need to be run into the house through open doors or windows.
Some do plug their car directly into a three-pin socket, but this solution is very slow, with many car manufacturers limiting the current drawn directly from a socket to just 2.3kW.
This means a car with a typical 64kWh battery, such as the Kia Niro EV, can take more than 24 hours to fully charge. Bigger lithium ion batteries used in models such as the Tesla Model S or Mercedes-Benz EQS can take days.
For these reasons, it's unsurprising that this method is called trickle charging.
What is a wallbox charger?A wallbox charger is a standalone unit wired directly into your domestic electricity supply. It’s mounted to an external wall of your property and allows you to quickly and easily plug your car in to charge.
You can buy fast-charging units that will reduce the time it takes to replenish the battery, as well as ‘smart’ units that you can programme remotely to charge only at certain times (such as when your electricity tariff is cheapest) and that can condition the battery to increase its lifespan. Other chargers can be linked to solar panels, helping to reduce your bills and carbon footprint.
Most wallboxes deliver 7kW fast charging, which reduces the charging time by about half compared with 3kW units. Almost all electric cars will be able to charge at this rate, which is ideal for home use when most charging is done overnight.
There are also 11kW and 22kW options, but these require a three-phase power supply, which is rare in domestic applications but often found in industrial or business premises.
You can have your home upgraded, but it’s unlikely that the extra cost would justify the quicker charging times. However, if there are multiple EVs in your household, a 22kW charger will be ideal for sharing.
The biggest caveat for home charging is that you need access to a driveway, garage or some other form of off-street parking close to your house, because you musn't stretch a charging cable across roads or footpaths.
Chargers can be either tethered or untethered. A tethered unit features a permanently attached cable with either a Type 1 or Type 2 connector. It's the perfect choice if you have just one EV, because it makes for simple charging: just park up and plug in.
With untethered units, you use the charging cable provided with the car and it plugs into the charger at one end and the EV at the other. This is a more flexible solution, because it allows you to quickly swap between Chademo and CCS cables if, say, you run two different EV models with different connectors, such as a Nissan Leaf and a Peugeot e-208.
How much do home chargers cost?Prices for home chargers depend on the desired charging speed plus any ‘smart’ features you might be after.
Basic 3kW slow chargers start at around £100, whereas you will need around £300 for a faster, 7kW unit. Smart units that feature wireless control via a smartphone app cost between £450 and £1000.
In general, the cost of fitting is included in the price, but there may be an extra charge if significant changes need to be made to your household wiring.
Keep an eye out for special deals from major car manufacturers. Some offer a free wallbox and fitting when you purchase one of their EVs.
What is a smart charger?A smart charger is a wallbox that uses wi-fi to connect with various apps on your smartphone. In doing so, it allows you to remotely tailor your car’s charging schedule, giving you the ability to select when charging happens and how much electricity to put into the battery.
As a result, you can make sure you’re only charging when electricity is cheapest or limit the amount of energy in the battery to 80% to avoid overheating the cells, improving their longevity.
Smart chargers cost more to buy than standard units, but bear in mind that the government's OZEV subsidy applies only to this kind of equipment, meaning that if you meet the criteria, they actually work out cheaper to buy.
As to whether you need a smart charger, that’s up to your budget and needs. However, there’s no denying that having one will allow you to make the most of your energy tariff and ensure that your car is always charged and ready when you need it. It costs more to buy, but it shouldn’t take long for you to reap the rewards.
What is the wallbox grant?To encourage drivers to switch to EVs, the government is offering financial incentives through its Office of Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) department.
If you buy a new EV, you will qualify for a grant that pays for 75% of the price and installation cost of a wallbox, up to a maximum of £350. Currently, you can apply for a grant for each EV you own, although this is limited to just two vehicles.
However, as of April 2022, the government changed the eligibility criteria, meaning most homeowners with off-street parking are no longer able to apply for the grant.
Instead, the incentive is now limited to homeowners living in a flat or apartment (provided they also have off-street parking), tenants of rented properties (with the landlord’s permission) and small business owners.
What is vehicle-to-grid (V2G)?Currently only available to businesses and select retail customers, vehicle-to-grid (V2G) charging effectively integrates an EV with the national grid.
When a number of electric vehicles are connected for long periods at dedicated V2G chargers (such as when parked during the day while their owners are at work or overnight), energy providers can use the combined capacity of the batteries for energy storage or access their electricity for extra power during peak periods. For EV owners and users, there are financial benefits, with the energy provider paying for the electricity it uses.
The next steps are vehicle-to-home (V2H) and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) charging, with your car becoming part of the energy supply to your home or the wider grid.
V2H could prove particularly useful with renewable energy, allowing you to store electricity generated by solar or wind power that would otherwise go to waste, such as during the day, when there’s less need for heating and lighting.
The benefits of V2X are even more far-reaching, albeit some way off yet. Essentially, it would allow you to ‘trade’ energy wherever you park up and plug in. So, for example, you could leave your car at the airport parking and receive a discount on parking if the site uses some of the energy in your car’s battery to balance the grid supply at peak times.
The only downside is that currently only vehicles fitted with the Chademo charging connector are capable of this two-way flow of energy. That effectively means only models from Nissan, such as the Leaf and e-NV200 van.
However, various firms are close to being able to deliver similar technology for the more popular CCS charging system, with British company Indra a leader in this area.
The new Audi A5 will gain a plug-in hybrid variant in June, one of ten new PHEVs to be launched by the German brand across its line-up in 2025.
The A5 arrived last November, initially with petrol and diesel power, replacing the A4 in Audi's now-dropped naming strategy that assigned even numbers to electric cars and odd numbers to ICE cars.
The PHEV powertrain is centered around the 2.0-litre variant of Volkswagen Group’s ubiquitous EA888 turbo petrol four, which combines with a 140bhp electric motor inside the seven-speed automatic gearbox to deliver 295bhp. It's exclusively sold in the UK in four-wheel-drive Quattro guise.
A new 20.7kWh (usable) battery offers an electric-only range of 67 miles. It can be charged via a maximum AC current of 11kW. It can also be recharged via regenerative braking, with levels selected via paddles behind the steering wheel.
As with other A5 variants, the PHEV is offered in five-door saloon and Avant estate bodystyles.
Prices start at £48,950 for the saloon in Technik trim and max out at £60,520 for the estate in Edition 1 trim. Deliveries are pencilled for the middle of June.
The A5 will be joined by the A3, A6, Q5 and next-generation Q3 in receiving a PHEV system this year. The new Q7 and the larger Q9 (as it's currently known) will also gain PHEV power when they're launched in the coming years.
This is part of a renewed push from Audi in extending the lifespan of its ICE range beyond 2032 given the differing speeds of EV adoption worldwide.
Speaking to Autocar last week, CEO Gernot Döllner said the transition to EV powertrains is "going to be longer than we had originally planned for", adding: “For all global regions, we are going to take a look at the life of combustion engines. 2032 was the date we had communicated, but we have to reassess those dates and deadlines."
As such, Audi has undertaken a substantial investment in new-generation hybrid technology in a bid to extend combustion powertrains for as long as possible.
"On balance, an extension of combustion engines will have a positive impact on our business model," Döllner concluded.
Second-generation MG 4 (inset) won't replace current 4 (main) on UK marketCurrent 4 EV will get a fresh interior and updated technology to mirror the new S5 EV crossover
The MG 4 EV will be updated for the UK market in the coming months, but there are no immediate plans for it to get the same wide-ranging redesign that was recently revealed in China.
This was confirmed to Autocar by MG Motor UK product boss David Allison, who said the electric car will instead get an extensive interior refresh to mirror that of the new and technically related S5 EV crossover.
This includes higher-quality materials, bigger and clearer screens and a new array of console-mounted buttons that make minor operations quicker and easier.
Allison also said the 4 will receive that car’s new level-two ADAS.
Given the car is made in China alongside its home market stablemate, it will likely eventually adopt the changes introduced by that second-generation model last week. However when that will be is yet to be determined; a spokesperson said: "Whether the UK will take this particular vehicle and on what timeframe is something MG Motor UK is still considering."
Last week, the second-generation 4 EV was launched, growing in size to bridge the gap between the existing 4 and the S5.
It's 4.4m long, compared with 4.3m long for the first-generation model, and the wheelbase has grown by 45mm to 2.75m.
The new 4’s styling draws heavily on that of the Cyberster convertible, the smaller MG 3 hatchback, and S5 EV, with thin headlights up front and arrow-shaped brake lights at the rear end.
Filings with Chinese authorities state it has a single electric motor with 161bhp (down from 168bhp) and weighs in at 1485kg – a marked reduction from the current 49kWh car’s 1620kg.
Power is drawn from a lithium-iron-phosphate battery of undisclosed capacity, likely giving a range comparable with the 218 miles offered by the existing entry-level 4.
Welcome to Movers and Shakers, a new Autocar Business feature covering the latest job moves from across the automotive industry.
This page will be updated regularly with all the biggest transfers, promotions and departures in the sector, covering everything you need to know.
Name: Josep Maria Recasens
Company: Ampere
Role: CEO
Josep Maria Recasens has replaced Renault Group chief Luca de Meo as the CEO of its electric car development arm, Ampere.
Previously Ampere's chief operating officer, he takes the helm as Ampere gears up for the launch of the Twingo city car, due next year.
He will also be responsible for launching a new range of C-segment models in 2028, previewed by the Emblème concept shown earlier this year.
"I know that with Josep Maria at the helm, Ampere will continue and successfully accelerate its role as a spearhead for the Group and the European industry." said de Meo.
Alongside Recasens, Ampere named Marie Ollier its new vice-president of human resources, Sandra Gomez its head of strategy, and Vittorio d’Arienzo its product chief.
Name: Ed Jones
Company: Nissan GB
Role: Sales director
Nissan GB has named Ed Jones its new sales director from 16 June.
Among his key responsibilities will be preparing the company for the launch of the next-generation Leaf EV, as well as ensuring the continued success of the Qashqai and Juke crossovers.
Jones returns to Nissan after seven years with Audi, where he was most recently sales operations manager.
“I’m delighted to be returning at such an exciting time,” he said. “Nissan was the only brand with two models in the top five best-sellers in 2024 and, with increased market share and double-digit sales growth, it’s a brand with real momentum in 2025.”
He replaces Michael Auilar, who held the position for the past two years.
Names: Steve Hicks, Sanka De Silva
Company: Kia UK
Roles: Marketing director, sales director
Kia UK has appointed Steve Hicks (left) as its new marketing director and Sanka De Silva as sales director - both effectively swapping roles.
Hicks, previously sales director for Kia UK, joined the business in 2017, leading all sales channels across retail and fleet, for new and used cars. De Silva also joined in 2017, progressing to the lead the wider UK marketing team.
Both men maintain equal position on the executive board of directors for Kia UK and continue to report to commercial director Simon Hetherington.
Hicks said: “Kia is at a pivotal moment right now as we enhance our position as a leader in electrification and build on our range of customer-centric electrified vehicles. I am honoured to have the opportunity to lead Kia’s product positioning and marketing communications to enhance how UK consumers approach and engage with the brand.”
De Silva said: “I am thrilled to be taking on this new position at such an exciting and evolving time for Kia. With such a strong product line-up in view, an engaged and committed dealer network and sales momentum at a promising rate, we’re in a positive position and I am eager to get started and lead our sales function to new heights.”
Name: Peter Rawlinson
Company: Lucid Motors
Role: CEO
Lucid chief Peter Rawlinson has stepped down after six years in charge of the electric car manufacturer.
He will now take on a new role as strategic technical advisor to chairman Turqi Alnowaiser.
Meanwhile, chief operating officer Marc Winterhoff will take on the role of interim CEO.
Rawlinson first joined Lucid as its chief technical officer in 2013, having previously led the development of the Tesla Model S – the saloon widely credited with having popularised electric cars in the mainstream.
Lucid launched its first model, the Air saloon, in 2021. Its headline-grabbing 549-mile range – according to European WLTP testing – soon found the firm favour as a technological leader. It has, however, yet to make a profit.
Indeed, Lucid made a net loss of $2.7 billion (£2.1bn) last year against revenues of $807.8 million (£638m).
The firm has pinned its hopes of success on the new Gravity, a luxury SUV based on the same underpinnings as the Air.
It expects the new model to increase the firm's production from just over 10,000 cars last year to around 20,000 by the end of 2025.
The Gravity will be followed by a new ‘mid-size’ SUV, due next year and pitched as a rival for the Tesla Model Y. This will spawn a saloon (to battle the Tesla Model 3) and a third model.
"Now that we have successfully launched the Lucid Gravity, I have decided it is finally the right time for me to step aside from my roles at Lucid," Rawlinson said in a statement.
Winterhoff added: "Lucid's technology leadership is now well established and our roadmap well defined.
"I am honoured to step into this role as we enter the next stage in our transformational journey, and I look forward to capitalising on the tremendous opportunity this presents.
"Our team remains focused on further ramping production of the Lucid Gravity, preparing for the launch of our three mid-size platform vehicles, and continuing development of our low-cost Atlas drive unit while we aggressively reduce our costs."
Name: James Taylor
Company: Vauxhall
Role: Managing director
James Taylor has left the role of Vauxhall managing director, ending his 25-year run working for the British brand.
He first joined Vauxhall on a student placement scheme in 1997 and returned to the firm as a commercial vehicle forecast specialist in 2000.
By 2005, he was a national business manager for Vauxhall's then-owner, General Motors, and in 2011 he took over the brand's crucial fleet sales channel.
He was named Vauxhall's managing director at the end of 2022 and has been faced with one of the trickiest periods in its history since, negotiating a shift upmarket under new owner Stellantis and the introduction of several electric models while facing government mandates forcing their sale.
His departure comes as Stellantis prepares to shut the historic Vauxhall plant in Luton and after the brand recorded a 21.43% decline in annual sales compared with 2023 – a significant drop but also slightly less than that felt by arch-rival Ford in the UK.
In the interim, Taylor will be replaced by Stellantis UK boss Eurig Druce. His long-term successor will be announced "in due course", according to a company statement.
“I’d like to sincerely thank James for more than a quarter of a century of loyalty and dedication to Vauxhall,” said Druce. “James leaves Vauxhall ready for the UK’s transition to an electric future, and on behalf of his many colleagues and friends, I wish him personally all the best for the future.”
Taylor said: “I’d like to thank all my colleagues, past and present, for both their amazing contributions to what has been achieved – especially in recent years, transforming Vauxhall through design, technology and marketing into an electric-first brand – and I wish them every success in the future.”
Name: Michelle Mortiboys
Company: Aston Martin
Role: Chief product engineer
Michelle Mortiboys, a nominee in the 2024 Autocar Great Women awards, has announced that she is the new chief product engineer for Aston Martin.
Mortiboys joins Aston Martin from supplier Aptiv, where she was responsible for managing its European programmes and its UK site.
Prior to that, she was the head of automotive for Dyson and took charge of manufacturing at the Land Rover Defender factory in Nitra, Slovakia.
During her time at JLR, she also headed the firm's Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) division.
Name: Alex Smith
Company: Lookers
Role: Chairman
Alex Smith, the former managing director of Volkswagen Group UK, has been named the new chairman of dealer group Lookers.
The company has more than 150 showrooms across the UK, with 38 brands and more than 7000 cars across its new and used arms at any one time.
Smith has also been appointed to the executive committee of Lookers owner Global Auto Holdings Limited (GAHL), taking responsibility for the firm's European operations.
"We are extremely pleased to add someone of Alex’s calibre to the Lookers leadership team," GAHL said in a statement. "We believe his deep automotive expertise, track record of industry leading results and overall strategic capabilities will greatly benefit both Lookers as well as GAHL’s European operations as we continue to pursue operational excellence and growth."
Name: Frank Marotte
Company: Dacia
Role: Vice-president for marketing, sales and operations
Dacia has named Frank Marotte its new vice-president for marketing, sales and operations.
Marotte was previously the president and managing director of Toyota France, overseeing both the Toyota and Lexus brands. He started his career in automotive with Peugeot in 1993.
He replaces Xavier Martinet, who left Dacia last year to lead Hyundai's European operations.
Marotte will begin his new job on 1 February.
Names: Giuseppe Cava, Damien Dally, Nicola Dobson, Tom Ray, Nick Richards
Company: Stellantis UK
Roles: Managing director for Fiat, Fiat Professional and Abarth (Cava), brand director for Leapmotor (Dally), managing director for Peugeot (Dobson), B2B director (Ray) and pre-owned vehicles director (Richards)
Stellantis has revised its UK management team, appointing new managing directors for the Abarth, Fiat and Peugeot brands.
Giuseppe Cava, who was most recently the UK marketing director for Fiat and Abarth, replaces Damien Dally as the sibling brands' managing director.
Dally moves into the role of brand director for Chinese debutant Leapmotor.
Nicola Dobson, previously the director of pre-owned vehicles, replaces Eurig Druce as Peugeot managing director following his promotion to managing director of Stellantis UK.
Nick Richards takes on Dobson's former role.
Tom Ray, who joined Stellantis in 2004, has been appointed B2B operations director for the UK.
All will report to Druce.
Name: David Beattie
Company: Mini UK and Ireland
Role: Director
David Beattie has been named the new director for Mini UK and Ireland, replacing Federico Izzo, who has been promoted to lead the brand's European operations.
Beattie has worked for the BMW Group UK since 2005 and most recently led its used car sales operation.
Names: Sjoerd Knipping, Pablo Martinez Masip
Company: Kia Europe
Roles: Chief operating officer (Knipping), vice-president of product and marketing (Martinez Masip)
Kia Europe has appointed a new chief operating officer and vice-president of product and marketing.
Sjoerd Knipping (above, left), the new COO, has been promoted from his previous role as vice-president of product and marketing.
He has spent more than 25 years working in the European automotive industry, having held several senior roles at Kia and Ford.
Replacing Knipping as the vice-president of product and marketing is Pablo Martinez Masip (above, right), who has been Kia's global VP for customer experience since 2021.
"Going forward, our strong team supported by these executives will continue to move our bold transformation process to be a sustainable mobility solutions provider with a focus on our people and our customers," said Marc Hedrich, president and CEO of Kia Europe.
Name: Christian Meunier
Company: Nissan
Role: Chairperson of the management committee for the Americas
Former CEO of Jeep Christian Meunier has been named the new chairman of Nissan's management committee in the Americas.
He will report directly to Nissan's new chief performance officer, Guillaume Cartier, who was appointed to right the ship after the firm's operating profits dropped by 90% during the first half of its 2024 financial year.
Challenges facing Meunier include the threat of a 25% tariff on its cars exported into the US from Mexico, as well as a profitability slide that was in part caused by liberal discounting in the region.
He spent 17 years with Nissan (between 2002 and 2019) before taking the top job at Jeep. He left the American manufacturer in October 2023 to "take a long break to focus on personal interests", according to an official Stellantis statement.
Name: Damien O'Sullivan
Company: VW Group UK
Role: Managing director
Volkswagen Group UK has named Damien O'Sullivan as its new managing director, with Alex Smith leaving after six years at the helm.
O'Sullivan will take the top job in Milton Keynes on 1 December, having run Audi in Ireland for the past three years. Prior to that, he spent time in various positions within the VW Group in China and Taiwan, having joined the company's sales division in 2009.
Smith, who has been with the VW Group UK for nearly 15 years, is leaving the company "at his own request", according to an official statement.
His tenure as VW Group UK MD has coincided with one of the most turbulent and disruptive periods in automotive history, but he leaves the company in a strong position ahead of a transformative few years in which each of its brands are planning to launch crucial new models to the UK market.
"I’m very proud of everything the team and the networks have achieved in a period which has included Brexit, a pandemic, a supply crisis and the introduction of mass-market electromobility," said Smith.
"With Volkswagen the UK’s number one passenger car brand, Audi at number two and both Skoda and Seat/Cupra achieving record market shares so far this year, as well as Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles in number two position in the van market, it feels like the right time to hand over to Damien to continue building on Volkswagen Group’s market leading performance in the UK."
Name: Xavier Martinet
Company: Hyundai Europe
Role: President and CEO
Dacia marketing chief Xavier Martinet will become the next president and CEO of Hyundai Europe.
Martinet replaces Michael Cole, who is retiring at the end of this year after four years in the top job.
Cole, who has been with the Hyundai Motor Group since 2009, said: “After more than 40 years in the automotive industry, it is now time to return to the UK to be with my family and to enjoy life beyond work.
“I have been incredibly fortunate to enjoy a career in such a dynamic industry and over the last 15 years to work at Hyundai Motor Group, the best and most progressive automotive organisation in the world.
“I am proud to have worked with a great team in Europe, who l know will ensure that Hyundai continues its exciting growth trajectory.”
Name: Christophe Georges
Company: Bentley
Role: Board member for sales and marketing
Bentley has promoted sales and marketing director Christophe Georges to a seat on its executive board.
Georges joined Bentley in 1998 and has held several key positions since, including two stints as its president and CEO for the Americas region.
“I am relishing the prospect of continuing to work closely with my colleagues to provide fresh momentum and direction as we grow our brand, our audience base and our entire sales and marketing operations,” said Georges.
Bentley CEO Frank-Steffen Walliser added that Georges is “perfectly placed to realise our brand and sales ambitions”.
Name: James Crichton
Company: Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
Role: Regional director for the Middle East and Africa
James Crichton has been named Rolls-Royce’s next regional director for the “hugely important” Middle East and Africa region.
Crichton has held a number of senior positions at the luxury car maker since 2010 and has worked as the general manager of its global sales operations for the past six years.
Julian Jenkins, Rolls-Royce’s director of sales and brand, said: “I am delighted to welcome James Crichton to his new role as regional director Middle East and Africa.
“James has more than 14 years of experience with Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and has held several leading positions in the company during this time.
“This latest move to Dubai reunites him with the regional office he was asked to establish in 2011.
“Middle East and Africa is a hugely important region for our business, and I wish James continued success in his role leading the excellent team which serves the region.”
Name: Maria Grazia Davino
Company: BYD
Role: Regional managing director for Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Austria and the Czech Republic
Maria Grazia Davino has been announced as the new regional managing director for BYD in Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Austria and the Czech Republic.
The news comes days after she stepped down as managing director of Stellantis UK – a position she held since July 2023.
Stella Li, executive vice-president of BYD, said: “We are thrilled to welcome Maria Grazia to our team. Her extensive experience and visionary leadership will be pivotal as we continue to grow and innovate in the European automotive landscape.”
Name: Eurig Druce
Company: Stellantis UK
Role: Managing director
Eurig Druce has been named the next managing director of Stellantis UK, replacing Maria Grazia Davino.
Druce has worked in what is now Stellantis since 2001, having started as an apprentice with Peugeot UK in 2001.
He spent three years heading Citroën’s British arm between 2020 and 2023 before serving as sales chief for Stellantis UK. He was named Peugeot UK boss in July 2024 and will continue in that role until his replacement is found.
Jean-Philippe Imparato, who was recently named Stellantis’s new chief operating officer for the Enlarged Europe region, said: “I am delighted to be able to appoint Eurig Druce to this position. His proven track record in the country will provide continuity of our strategy in this important market.”
I flew to L.A. this past spring to talk about a new project between actor Orlando Bloom, Deus Ex Machina’s Michael “Woolie” Woolaway, and BMW Motorrad. I’m not much for Hollywood, but I was wide-eyed about their idea. They’d take an already naked S 1000 R (a bike I’ve spent a summer on and for which I have an affinity) and make it more naked: a high-performance inline-four turned cooler, lighter, and more nimble.
Talks on the new project began when Deus founder Dare Jennings, Woolie, and Orlando met with BMW Motorrad designer Ola Stenegärd and the design crew at the Munich factory in Germany last year. While the rest of the world had caught fire to the stripped-down lines of the R nineT as a starting point, Woolie drew upon his racing background and desire to do something different with the race-inspired S 1000 R.…
Firefighter-turned-custom bike builder Chris Scholtka has a knack for building slick, and somewhat hot-rodded, café racers. This Royal Enfield Continental GT 650 café racer epitomizes his style well—but it was almost built using a very different donor bike.
“It started two years ago when an old friend called me,” Chris tells us. “She had received a big birthday gift from her family—a Honda CX650—and wanted to have it customized by me. We had a plan, but sadly the bike was stolen and we had to start from zero.”
Chris operates under the moniker Motocrew from his workshop in Cottbus, Germany. And considering the slick custom bikes he typically creates, he was secretly relieved that the CX650 and its gawky frame were no longer part of the project.…
Given that the motorcycle industry has been on the ropes the last few years, one of the bravest moves a major marque can make right now is release a niche motorcycle. But that’s exactly what BMW Motorrad has just done… and we’re here for it.
The brand new BMW R 12 G/S—the latest model built on BMW’s updated neo-retro R12 boxer platform—combines vintage aesthetics with a decent measure of off-road capability. It speaks to customers who sit in the middle of a very unique Venn diagram; those who want a classically styled bike, those who like going off-piste, and those willing to spend a premium for the privilege.
This isn’t the first modern classic boxer to bear the G/S moniker.…
Bolt Motor Company specializes in lithe custom creations with sharp lines and crisp finishes. Their ethos likely has to do with the fact that they share a workshop with their sister company—the Spanish Formula 3 racing team, Campos Racing.
Of all the marques that pass through Bolt’s doors, we can tell they love tinkering with BMWs the most. Since opening their doors, they’ve peppered us with a steady stream of custom BMWs ranging from mild to wild. This custom BMW R100 sits squarely in the latter camp.
The donor bike, a 1982 R100RT, was first wheeled into Bolt Motor Co.’s workshop with very high mileage and looking more than a little worse for wear. Bolt loves nothing more than restoring rough wrecks into fantastic forms of fantasy, so they happily tore into it.…
Earlier this week, we presented the motorcycles that dominated the competition at the burgeoning Taiwanese custom bike show, Speed and Crafts. One machine in particular stood out—a plucky Honda Dax that took on bikes twice its size while snagging a silver medal in the hotly contested Freestyle class.
The bite-sized Dax needs no introduction. First released in the 70s, before being brought back three years ago as part of Honda’s modern-classic mini-bike range, its pressed steel T-frame is iconic. It’s also a prime candidate for customization.
This show-stopping Honda Dax is the product of a collaboration between JZO Crafts and Kunimoto Hidetoshi. JZO (‘Jie’ to his friends) is the man that Rough Crafts turns to for its fabrication needs. Kunimoto is the founder of Nemoto—a shop specializing in mini-bike parts.…
The shelves are crowded, and every bottle vyes for your dollar with flashy labels, rustic imagery and a contrived origin story. For that reason, I always seek out the understated ones; bottles that look like they could have been in circulation when your grandpa was still on the sauce. Maybe you’ll find one of his old favorites.
A project of the 2020 lockdowns, Brain Brew’s Dexter Three Wood straight bourbon is far from that, but its simple label exudes quiet confidence, and Edmund Dexter’s face on the bottle looks fit for a dollar bill. It also came highly recommended by the local liquor store owner, so color me sold.
What’s in a Name The personality behind the spirit is Edmund Dexter, apparently a prolific 1800s bourbon blender who entertained the likes of author Charles Dickens and the future King Edward at his home in Cincinnati — or so the bottle says.…
Fo Huang has an enviable skill—the ability to take whatever he imagines and turn it into a physical object. Working as NamiXII Design from Kaohsiung City in southern Taiwan, he creates everything from furniture and sculptures to trophies. More importantly, he also builds radical 70s-style choppers.
The last time we checked in with Fo, he wowed us with a wildly chopped Yamaha SR400. This time he’s back with an equally bodacious chopper on a very different foundation—a 2022-model Harley-Davidson Low Rider S.
Dyna cultists must have felt cheated when The Motor Co. re-released the Low Rider S on their newer Softail platform. But the truth is, the contemporary Low Rider S is a total hoot to ride. Its 117 ci Milwaukee-Eight engine is a peach, and its chassis is vastly better than that of its predecessor.…
As a photographer, I’m always looking for strange and obscure things to shoot. I’d heard about this place in Brooklyn called Jane – a shop that had custom motorcycles, specialty coffee, and apparel – and as a moto enthusiast, I had to check it out. What I found inside was one of the most interesting incarnations of a Ducati I’d ever seen.
It looked like a WWII-era P-51 Mustang fighter plane on two wheels. Bright blocks of colored paint made up the bodywork while it was adorned with intricate details of gold. It was bold, brash, and sexy.
Adam and Alex, the owners of Jane, didn’t have much information beyond the fact that the bike was on consignment for the current owner, who wanted to remain anonymous.…
We’ve cast our net wide this week to bring you four very different motorcycles from four different countries. Portugal offers up a Yamaha XSR700 street scrambler, Canada sends us a tasty Honda CB750 restomod, and Italy shows off the new Ducati Panigale V4 Tricolore Italia. Finally, we ogle an as-new 1991 Bimota TESI 1D 904 SR from New York, USA.
Yamaha XSR700 by Unik Edition Deeply embedded in Lisbon’s buzzing custom motorcycle scene, Loek Janssen has a bike for every occasion—including a KTM 450 EXC-F in supermoto trim and a 1981 BMW R100 street scrambler. He’s just added this Yamaha XSR700 to his stable, to make sure all his bases are covered.
Loek’s vision for the XSR was to have a bike he could scoot around the city with daily, and point down the occasional fire road whenever the craving hits.…
The brainchild of Rough Crafts frontman Winston Yeh, the Speed and Crafts custom bike show ran for the second time earlier this month. Showcasing the best that Taiwan has to offer, the event brought together a slew of local and international judges to preside over the 47 custom motorcycles present.
Supported by Shoei, Alpinestars, Harley-Davidson, Breitling Taiwan, SYM, and Madness, Speed and Crafts is as much a custom motorcycle championship as it is a bike show. As one of the leading lights of the Taiwanese custom scene, the man has a passion for elevating the culture and spurring his peers on.
While roughly 5,000 visitors crammed through the doors of the SongShan Cultural and Creative Park in Taipei’s Xinyi District, Winston and his team of judges had the arduous task of picking the best bikes.…
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