Cars

Global Car Culture Since 2008

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 […]

The post 10-Year Throwback: For The Love Of Rotary appeared first on Speedhunters.

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 […]

The post Nifsta Classic Cars: Stockholm’s Summer Delight appeared first on Speedhunters.

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 […]

The post RWB Dreams: A 36-Hour Adventure In LA appeared first on Speedhunters.

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.

Latest BMW News, Reviews and New Models

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...

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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 Circuit, where he could explore the wilder side of M’s 717-horsepower hybrid beast. Until now, BMW UK had asked him not to turn the new M5 into a tire-smoking YouTube spectacle. But all that changed when they handed him not just the keys—but also a fresh set of Michelin Pilot Sport 5 S tires. You know where this is going. The video starts tame enough, with Harris attacking corners in 4WD mode, clearly impressed by how well this 2.5-ton luxury sedan handles serious speed and direction changes. But things take a hard turn—literally—when he engages 2WD mode and completely deactivates DSC. The result? Pure, unfiltered drift chaos. A Tail-Happy Beast Now pushing all 738 lb-ft (1,000 Nm of torque) to the rear wheels alone, the M5 transforms into a tail-happy beast. Harris expertly balances the car at the limit, showing that despite its heft, the G90 M5 is ridiculously controllable, even under serious duress. We’re talking fifth-gear drifts at 110 mph, at which point the active M differential starts waving the white flag due to overheating. Even then, Harris shrugs it off stating that he prefers the new G90 M5 to the AMG or Audi RS models. That’s high praise coming from someone who’s thrashed every performance sedan on the planet. His verdict? The G90 BMW M5 is by far the best hybrid sedan he’s ever driven—dynamic, planted, and genuinely fun. And perhaps most surprisingly, tire wear isn’t catastrophic even after 20 minutes of fast laps and a few more minutes of heavy drifting. Yes, there’s plenty of smoky drama, but the car doesn’t shred rubber like a track-only drift missile. 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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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 race wouldn’t come from the grid—or even from a motorcycle. Instead, it came from the official MotoGP safety car, a brand-new G90 BMW M5, which lost control and plowed into the barriers during the warm-up. It all started with Marc Márquez, who threw the pre-race routine into disarray when he suddenly ditched his wet-spec bike on the starting grid and sprinted back to the pits to grab his dry-spec Honda. Within seconds, nearly a third of the grid followed his lead. Race control had little choice but to throw a red flag and call for a full restart. Drifting Gone Wrong But more drama unfolded just moments later, this time courtesy of the support vehicle meant to ensure rider safety. As the new G90 M5 began its demonstration lap, things went sideways—literally—between Turns 14 and 15. According to footage captured by a fan trackside, the car began to oversteer aggressively, holding a slide that, for a brief moment, looked intentional… until it wasn’t. The drift carried into the braking zone for Turn 15, where the driver appeared to lose it completely. The M5 snapped straight and slammed head-on into the barriers. Trackside witnesses reported that the driver may have had the car in 2WD mode—designed for tail-happy fun—but with the surface still damp and the tires likely cold, it may have been a recipe for disaster. Despite the impact, the car managed to limp off under its own power and was later spotted parked near the marshal post at Turn 14. But based on the visible damage, many spectators suspect the car is a total loss. Déjà Vu for BMW? If this feels familiar, it’s because it isn’t the first time a BMW M5 has kissed a MotoGP barrier. In 2017, the previous-gen F90 M5 found itself in a similar incident at the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez—ironically, also under safety car duty. Since 1999, BMW has been the official car supplier for MotoGP, delivering everything from M2s to X5Ms, and even the stunning Z8 roadster used in 2002. This season, BMW brought out the big guns with the M5 Touring and the new hybrid M5 sedan. This week, only one of those cars remained intact. [Photo Credit: Cesar de Oliveira] First published by https://www.bmwblog.com

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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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 us the W-8, W-12, and W-16 engines. It birthed a V10 TDI Touareg and almost gave us a Bugatti with an eighteen-cylinder engine. And somewhere in that fever dream of innovation, Piëch quietly commissioned something even more unusual: a W10 engine, stuffed into none other than a BMW M5. The Myth Becomes Reality For years, the “W10 M5” was little more than internet folklore—an automotive Bigfoot. Some believed Volkswagen had built a ten-cylinder W engine. Fewer believed one had ever been installed in a car. But in 2023, The Drive tracked down what appeared to be the last surviving W10 engine. And then in 2025, DriveTribe finally confirmed what many had suspected: the elusive W10 M5 not only exists—it runs. And it rips. According to the dyno, the car makes 480 horsepower at the wheels, translating to roughly 530 hp at the crank. That’s more than the stock E39 M5’s S62 V8, which produced 394 hp, and even outguns the next-gen E60’s screaming S85 V10, rated at 500 hp. Not bad for an experimental motor cobbled together over two decades ago. So… Why? That’s the real question. Why did Volkswagen, of all companies, decide to build a W10 engine and put it in a rival’s car? At the time, VW didn’t have a true performance sedan. The Audi RS6 was still a niche project. The Porsche Panamera wouldn’t arrive until 2009. If they wanted to benchmark their wild new engine, they needed a car with the right balance of chassis dynamics, space, and subtlety. And the E39 BMW M5? That was the standard. It wasn’t just good—it was perfect. It had room under the hood. It handled brilliantly. It flew under the radar. And crucially, it came with a six-speed manual transmission, ideal for development. So VW bought one, dropped in their W10 prototype, and began what must have been the strangest case of corporate espionage-slash-engineering ever attempted. Built with Purpose This wasn’t some hackjob garage swap. Volkswagen reportedly spent €2 million developing the prototype. The W10 itself was essentially two VR5 engines fused together, but unlike traditional VR units, this one featured a lightweight aluminum block. VW even fabricated a bespoke carbon fiber airbox and ran the engine through a standalone ECU. Inside, it’s a different world. The car’s been stripped of driving aids—no ABS, no traction control, no stability system. It has auxiliary gauges and a race-inspired instrument cluster. It smells of fuel and raw exhaust. It’s as raw as any prototype comes. And rumor has it, Ferdinand Piëch drove it to work. Daily. Three Engines, One Car Volkswagen reportedly built three W10s. The one featured in the DriveTribe video lives inside the M5. The second engine, once thought to be lost, surfaced in Germany in 2023 with a VW mechanic who was told the others had been destroyed. The third? It’s now believed to sit in a private collection—still intact, still mysterious. This isn’t the first M5 with a crazy engine from another brand. One of Bavaria’s best-kept secrets is using an M5 E34 Touring as a test mule for the V12 that went into the McLaren F1. Sadly, the M division has refused to show the super wagon in public. Hopefully, BMW Classic will reveal the ultimate E34 one day, unless they’ve scrapped what would’ve been the one family car to rule them all. We like to believe it hides deep in BMW’s warehouse. For Sale—If You Dare The W10 M5 is now up for grabs. The asking price? Around $500,000, roughly the same as a Ferrari Purosangue. It’s an insane number, sure—but then again, when you’re buying a one-off prototype built by VW’s top engineers, handpicked by Piëch himself, you’re not just buying a car. You’re buying a story. [Source: Drivetribe] First published by https://www.bmwblog.com

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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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, so they’ll all feel the full force of the new tariffs. With a 25 percent tax coming at the ’em, they’ll be significantly more expensive for BMW to import than before. Sadly, it’s more than likely that consumers will bear the brunt of the cost increase. But how much, exactly, can we expect popular BMW EVs like the iX and i4 to rise in the coming weeks? The answer is still unknown but in this exercise, we will assume that some models will increase by 25 percent. BMW i4 Price Increase The current i4 lineup includes three variants: the i4 eDrive40, i4 xDrive40, and i4 M50. The least pricey is the eDrive40, starting at $57,900. Assuming a 5 percent markup from OEM to dealer, invoice is somewhere around $55,005. Hiking that up an additional 25 percent means the barrier to entry for a new i4 becomes $71,651, an increase of $13,751. For the record, that’s also about where the range-topping M50 models start before tariffs go into effect. At the other end of the spectrum, the i4 M50 sees an even more drastic price increase. Its current starting price of $70,700 could swell to somewhere around $87,490. BMW i5 Price Increase Like the i4, the BMW i5 comes in three different flavors. The i5 eDrive40 starts at $67,100, the i5 xDrive40 commands $70,100, and the i5 M60 caps the lineup and starts at $84,100. Assuming, again, the same 5 percent markup from OEM to dealer, the i5 eDrive40 balloons to $83,036. The i5 M60 breaks the six-figure mark with new tariffs in place, ending up with a new base price of $104,074. BMW i7 Price Increase The BMW i7 is already a pretty expensive car, but tariffs will do nothing to alleviate that. Today, you can choose from the $105,700 i7 eDrive50, $124,200 i7 xDrive60, and i7 M70, which commands $168,500. While margins typically grow slightly at this price point, will keep the same 5 percent markup in place for continuity’s sake. Frankly, it’s also only a couple percentage points of difference, which ultimately won’t make a huge mark on the already tremendous price increase. The i7 eDrive50’s new base price is $130,804, or about an entire Miata more expensive in a world before tariffs. The i7 M70 crests $200,000 with a new MSRP of $208,519. BMW iX Price Increase The new-for-2026 (ish) iX now has three trim levels, including a new entry level model, the iX xDrive45. The xDrive45 starts at $75,150 and the mid-level iX xDrive60 starts at $88,500. Let’s start at the top: the iX M70, today, starts at $111,500. After tariffs, the price could go as high as $137,981. The baseline for the iX now becomes two dollars shy of $93,000. While we don’t know exactly where prices will land as the dust has yet to settle, one things for sure: it’s going to get a lot pricier to buy a BMW, electric or otherwise. First published by https://www.bmwblog.com

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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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 no fewer than 49 special colors, including San Marino Blue and Frozen Black. These rarer hues are combined with the M Sport Package and stately 22-inch wheels. BMW throws in an illuminated kidney grille as standard equipment to sweeten the pot. You could argue that one can easily configure an X5, X6, or X7 to look precisely like this. That’s a valid point, but BMW says you’ll save money by opting for the Individual Edition. It can be had in xDrive40i, xDrive30d, xDrive40d, and xDrive50e flavors. Buyers can customize the interiors by choosing the upholstery, including fancier Individual leather. BMW doesn’t say how many vehicles it plans to make, but availability will be limited. The Individual Edition will be produced from April until November 2025. The special X5, X6, and X7 high-end SUVs are available in certain European countries, including Poland and Slovakia. If you’re inspired by the Individual Edition, you can customize one yourself after the special version is gone from the lineup. While BMW is still paying attention to the current-generation SUVs, work is underway on the next-gen models. Leading the pack will be the X5 G65, which was spotted testing a few days ago. The revamped posh family hauler is rumored to enter production in the second half of 2026. The second-generation X7 G67 should follow roughly a year later, with the new X6 G66 to hit the assembly line in the spring of 2028. All three are believed to get the electric treatment while keeping the CLAR platform. Additionally, the premium Bavarian trio will retain the V8 engine. However, it’s unclear whether the next X5, X6, and X7 will have the twin-turbo 4.4-liter powerhouse in Europe due to stricter emissions regulations. Photos: BMW Poland First published by https://www.bmwblog.com

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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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 i3 sedan will follow in 2026 at the historic plant in Munich. The first long-wheelbase models built in China for the local market are scheduled to arrive next year. From 2027, the San Luis Potosi site in Mexico will start Neue Klasse production. But what about other factories? Although at least six EVs will be made in Spartanburg, South Carolina, by 2030, BMW hasn’t confirmed these will be part of the Neue Klasse portfolio. Consequently, only the Regensburg site has been confirmed so far to build NK cars beyond the previously announced factories. Meanwhile, the city in eastern Bavaria hosted in 2024 the most prolific factory in the company’s European production network, with volume growing by 43.7% to 342,521 cars. It’s currently gearing up to accommodate the “next model generation.” It has already expanded the body shop to about 40,000 square meters to get there. Additional structural changes to the factory will be implemented this summer during a five-week downtime at the Regensburg factory. It’s part of a €550-million investment to future-proof the BMW plant. Since the first NK model is still a few years away, BMW isn’t willing to disclose its identity yet. However, perhaps we can make an educated guess, considering that 1,400 units of the X1 and X2 are built daily. With that in mind, perhaps the rumored “NB5” iX1 will be made there. Sources close to BMW claim the next-gen electric crossover is scheduled for production in November 2027. However, the combustion-engine X1 “U11” is unlikely to be retired so soon. After all, it’s only been around for three years and will get a Life Cycle Impulse later this decade. Logic tells us that only the current iX1 will be discontinued to make way for its Neue Klasse successor. While today’s iX1 can be had with front-wheel drive, this won’t be the case for its replacement. BMW has already announced that its NK electric models will be either rear- or all-wheel drive. This also means that future MINI EVs will employ an RWD layout. Assuming the future iX1 won’t be made in Regensburg, the only other model we can think of is the unconfirmed i1. However, our money is on the crossover rather than a small hatchback. Photos: BMW First published by https://www.bmwblog.com

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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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 in. Factors like battery temperature, state of charge, and route planning can make a major difference in charging performance—particularly in models like the BMW i4. And that’s even more important in cold weather. Here’s how to prepare your EV for fast charging to ensure you get the quickest, most efficient charge possible. 1. Use the Built-In Navigation System Before you arrive at a charging station, set it as your destination in your vehicle’s built-in navigation system (not via Apple CarPlay or Android Auto). This is critical because modern electric vehicles like the BMW i4, i5, iX and i7, among others, use this input to precondition the battery—essentially warming it up to the ideal temperature for fast charging. Preconditioning begins automatically when the car knows you’re heading to a high-powered charger. This makes a huge difference in charging speed, especially in colder weather or if the battery hasn’t been under heavy use. You will notice that sometimes it can take more than 30 minutes, during cold weather, for the charging speed to get up to the advertised capacity. 2. Enable Preconditioning Manually (If Available) If your BMW is a newer model with a dedicated preconditioning option in the charging menu, make sure to enable it before you arrive. This gives you more control and guarantees that the battery will be properly warmed up by the time you plug in. Warming up the battery usually takes around 20–25 minutes, so give your vehicle enough time to reach the right temperature en route. 3. Try the “Yo-Yo Method” If Preconditioning Isn’t Available Driving an older EV without built-in preconditioning? You can still prep the battery manually using a technique known among EV owners as the “yo-yo method.” Here’s how: Put the car in B mode (for stronger regenerative braking). On a freeway, accelerate briskly to a comfortable speed, then allow the car to coast and regenerate all the way back down to a lower speed. Repeat this cycle 10 times or more. This rapid acceleration and deceleration warms the battery through increased energy flow, mimicking the effect of a preconditioning system. 4. Understand the Role of State of Charge (SOC) Your battery’s State of Charge (SOC) dramatically affects how fast your car can charge. Here’s the general rule, but of course, it can vary from BMW to BMW, all based on their charging capacity and charging curve: Fastest charging (150 kW+) occurs between 10–30% SOC. Charging speed gradually slows as SOC increases. At 50% SOC or higher, charging rates begin to drop significantly. At 80% or more, charging slows down significantly to protect battery health. So if you’re planning a fast charge, try to arrive with 20% SOC or less for optimal speed. For example, our BMW i4 is getting 200 kW on a 350 kW charger at 20% SOC—an ideal scenario for rapid top-ups. 5. Plan Ahead for Efficiency and Time Savings Combining these techniques—using native navigation, enabling preconditioning, or warming the battery manually—can save you valuable minutes at the charger and extend your range more efficiently. On long trips, this can add up to major time savings and less downtime. First published by https://www.bmwblog.com

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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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 serious protection. The updated Protection VR6 debuted in 2023 with the styling tweaks from the G05’s mid-cycle facelift. New images from the Czech Republic showcase this luxury fortress on wheels, capable of literally taking a bullet for you. Beneath its familiar design, high-strength steel reinforcements fortify the doors, roof, side frame, and bulkhead. The X5 Protection VR6 also features a self-sealing fuel tank that prevents leaks after being struck by a bullet, while an aluminum splinter guard shields the underbody from explosive attacks. BMW has further enhanced security with an armored partition in the cargo area. Compared to a standard X5, this version also includes heated front sections of the side windows. All that extra protection adds weight, bringing the SUV’s curb weight to a hefty 3,275 kilograms (7,220 pounds). That’s about 930 kg (2,050 lbs) more than a standard X5 M60i. Despite the added mass, it still sprints from 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) in a respectable 5.9 seconds, only 1.6 seconds slower than the unarmored model. However, top speed is electronically limited to 130 mph (210 km/h), down from 155 mph (250 km/h). Fuel efficiency is surprisingly reasonable for such a heavily armored, V8-powered vehicle. BMW estimates city consumption to be 19 liters per 100 kilometers (12.3 miles per gallon). The 83-liter fuel tank remains unchanged from the standard X5 M60i. Inside, it’s a typical G05 affair, albeit with a built-in intercom and special controls ahead of the gear selector to access the unique security features. The Spartanburg-built X5 Protection VR6 isn’t BMW’s only armored offering. The latest 7 Series and electric i7 also come with Protection variants. BMW has a long history of “Security Vehicles,” dating back to the first armored E23 7 Series introduced in 1978. Photos: BMW Czech Republic First published by https://www.bmwblog.com

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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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 delivers gobs of power with relatively little drama. Not only does the electric powertrain make acceleration a cinch, it also makes the cabin of the BMW iX a nearly serene place to spend your time. As it turns out, the iX is one of the quietest vehicles on the road today. The BMW iX is Supremely Quiet, Matching Much Pricier Rivals Back in 2022 or thereabouts, Car and Driver tested out a 2022 BMW iX xDrive50. With their advanced instrumented testing, they uncovered that the iX registered just 63 dBA of sound while cruising at 70 mph. For reference, a normal conversation takes place around 60 dBA and a dishwasher will introduce you to around 70 dBA. But much more relevant is that the Bentley Bentayga only managed 61 dBA at cruising speed; the Rolls-Royce Cullinan registered 62 dBA. The Bentley costs around double what the iX does ($203,000 or so); the Rolls, roughly $400,000. But it gets even better than that, because we’ve tested the new and improved 2026 BMW iX from inside the cabin. Now, our instrumentation wasn’t as scientific as C&D’s, but we think the results are nonetheless remarkable. Using an iPhone app, we managed to measure the 2026 iX M70 we drove at just 57 dB. Of course, we were also driving the car a bit more slowly—70 km/h (43 mph) as opposed to 70 mph (112 kmh). Furthermore, frequencies will change and distort as the vehicle’s speed changes, and the road surface plays some role in how much noise gets into the cabin. Still, it illustrates just how quiet the cabin of the BMW iX is. Note that despite measuring our in-car noise in dB and C&D relying on dBA, there’s realistically only small differences in the figures as the majority of in-car frequencies occur surrounding 1-4 kHz. Other In-Vehicle dB Comparisons with the iX Being electric, the iX has a natural advantage over the aforementioned Bentley and Rolls-Royce. But it isn’t alone in achieving the 63 dBA number. The Audi e-tron Sportback recorded the same 63 dBA, as did Rolls’ first all-electric affair, the Spectre. Considering the Bentayga and Cullinan tested both utilized a gas engine—a twin-turbo V8 in the Bentley’s case, a twin-turbo 6.7-liter V12 in the Rolls-Royce’s—it really speaks to just how well-insulated these six-figure luxury cruisers have to be. Without trying to muddy the waters too much, as this is already a little bit of an apples-to-oranges comparison, we will point out that sources elsewhere have tested the new 7 Series and achieved a measurement of 51.7 dB while cruising at 55 mph (88 kmh). That definitely inches closer to the testing that Car and Driver performed, but surprisingly, the X7 and X5 appear to drive even more quietly. Similar testing reveals 49.2 db and 49.8 dB measurements, respectively. Additional sources: AcousticsToday First published by https://www.bmwblog.com

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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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 brand, BMW is now calling the shots and is looking to expand the 7 Series portfolio once again. Not today or tomorrow, but with the G70’s Life Cycle Impulse. While the facelifted BMW model is all set to enter production in July 2026, the ALPINA counterpart will follow a year later. Let’s talk power. As you may recall, the defunct B7 had 591 hp on tap, but we’re happy to report BMWBLOG has learned the ALPINA 7 Series revival will pack a monstrous 617 hp. It will be the most potent 7 with a gasoline engine in BMW’s flagship sedan history, surpassing the previous B7 and the M760i with its mighty V12. As to which engine it’ll get, all signs point to the S68, complete with a mild-hybrid setup. This time, BMW is doing things differently with the ALPINA-badged 7 Series. Instead of a single B7 model, it’s planning an additional inline-six 740 flavor. Its eight-cylinder sibling could bear the 760 moniker. Alongside the gas models, there could be two purely electric members: 80 and 100. We expect the latter to serve as the most potent 7er with as much as 671 hp on tap. Sources close to Munich claim BMW has assigned the ALPINA models a different codename. Rather than sharing the “G70” internal designation with Munich’s 7 Series, the cars from Buchloe are known as the “G72.” ALPINA will start pampering the facelifted 7 from July 2027. Elsewhere in the lineup, we’ve recently reported on the second-generation X7 getting the ALPINA treatment. We’re curious to find out which other BMWs will follow since the portfolio will likely include more than these two models. Chances are the focus will be on the higher-end cars, so don’t look for another B3. At the moment of writing, we haven’t heard anything about a dedicated ALPINA model separate from the BMW lineup. First published by https://www.bmwblog.com

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...

First published by https://www.bmwblog.com

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 Performance version. No longer called the M340i, the new M350 is predictably draped in camouflage. Mismatched wheels are not that uncommon on prototypes, but the alloys do seem quite large for a non-M3. We’re still adjusting to seeing quad exhaust tips on an M Performance model. BMW didn’t fit the M350 test vehicle with the M-specific mirrors, but that could change for the production version. The suspension seems to be bouncing more than expected on a sportier version of the 3 Series. But again, that’s pretty normal for a work-in-progress car, and we shouldn’t be reading too much into it. The engine’s soundtrack comes from an evolution of the B58. The turbocharged 3.0-liter will finally enter 400-horsepower territory. As BMWBLOG exclusively reported, the inline-six will produce a healthy 417 hp. If our sources are accurate, the forthcoming M350 will have a 31-hp advantage over the M340i sold in the United States. At the same time, it would be an extra 48 hp compared to the M340i available in Europe. It’s unclear whether the M350 will utilize the same iteration of the B58 worldwide. If not, BMW could once again detune the straight-six in the European Union to comply with the stricter emissions regulation. While xDrive is a given, the tail-happy rear-wheel-drive configuration could survive in some markets. The M350 will be one of several variants available at the launch of the eighth-generation 3 Series. The Dingolfing plant in Germany will assemble the “G50” from November 2026 until late 2034. You’ll have to wait some more for the spicy M3, as the “G84” starts production in July 2028. We’re hearing BMW is simplifying the lineup by going exclusively with xDrive and an automatic transmission. Video: statesidesupercars / YouTube First published by https://www.bmwblog.com

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...

First published by https://www.bmwblog.com

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 hike. In fact, arguably some of the most desirable vehicles in the BMW lineup will be impacted the most, including almost all M Series vehicles, electric vehicles, and the ubiquitous BMW 3 Series. With a whopping 25 percent tariff inbound, automakers like BMW are heavily incentivized to find workarounds. But what does it really mean for consumers, and where does BMW go from here? Clarifying Tariffs and the Impact on BMW A few items to clarify before we see how, exactly, BMW car prices might be impacted. The current administration has claimed that the 25 percent tariff is in addition to existing tariffs. Currently, auto imports have a 2.5 percent tariff in place, bringing the total tariff to 27.5 percent. Secondly, tariffs are applied at the time of import. So, they won’t be applied to the MSRP of the vehicle, because the dealer buys the vehicle from the automaker at one price and sells it to the public at another, higher one—in BMW’s case, it’s typically a gap of 5-7 percent. Assuming the tariffs actually happen this time, automakers have a few options. The first is raising prices on all of their vehicles, whether or not the tariff directly impacts the final import of the vehicle. This way, prices remain consistent—albeit consistently higher—and the brand doesn’t have awkward internal positioning. An example: the X3 has always been more expensive than the 3 Series. But, new tariffs will make the 3 Series significantly more expensive for BMW to ship to the US. Instead of only raising the price on the 3 Series—in the process making it more expensive than the X3 for consumers— both the X3 and the 3 Series will see a smaller price hike. While margins on the 3 Series will shrink, BMW’s bottom line doesn’t suffer. The added tax on the 3 Series is absorbed, and each model stays positioned as they are today. Alternate Routes BMW Could Take Around Tariffs The are three other alternative scenarios OEMs have. The first is that automakers eat the cost of additional tariffs while they can. This is almost guaranteed not to happen on a larger or long-term scale, though BMW has already shown some willingness by offering price protection on Mexico-built models. A second scenario involves only raising prices on models affected by the tariffs. This seems messy but could also help keep US-made models competitively priced. One final scenario is possible, depending on how (if?) the tariffs are defined as the policy gets closer to implementation. It’s the same loophole that automakers have used to get around the chicken tax—importing a vehicle in pieces for final assembly in the US. Importing components and gluing it all together Stateside—what’s called complete knock-down (CKD) assembly—could be a workaround, but we don’t yet know enough about how tariffs will be calculated to know if that’s a valid play. There’s a significant chance of this happening when you consider CKD is how some BMW vehicles are manufactured in countries like India to—you guessed it—work around taxes. Even US automakers like Dodge have used this in the past. But let’s also keep in mind that tariffs seem to also apply to parts NOT manufactured in America. While BMW hasn’t given any real details about what its next steps will lead it, it’s unlikely that significant production shifts will occur. Seeing as tariffs were already delayed once and even these new ones are seen by some in the industry as a potential bargaining chip, it simply isn’t realistic for automakers to make long-term adjustments to accommodate the US. In interviews, executives have said outright that new factories simply won’t happen, due to the cost and general instability. Solutions must come quickly but short of permanent—it’s a sticky situation with lots of possible outcomes. Additional sources: Reuters, CNN First published by https://www.bmwblog.com

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...

First published by https://www.bmwblog.com

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 there can only be one winner in a drag race. So which one is it? Let’s break it down first, starting with the Porsche. Under the rear deck, there’s a 3.6-liter turbocharged flat-six producing a meaty 541 horsepower and 610 Nm of torque. As always, power hits the road through all four wheels via Porsche’s slick 8-speed automatic gearbox. The key to the Porsche’s rapid launches? That iconic rear-engine setup. With the motor hanging out back, the 911 digs its rear tires into the tarmac for unbeatable traction off the line. It tips the scales at a relatively trim 1,645 kg—but at £139,100 new, it’s definitely the pricier option. Now, lining up next to it is BMW’s sharp-edged M4 CS. Sporting the S58 3-liter twin-turbocharged straight-six, the Bimmer edges slightly ahead in sheer power output, making 550 horsepower and 650 Nm of torque. Like the Porsche, the M4 sends all that power through an 8-speed auto gearbox to all four wheels, but it does have to contend with an extra 115 kg, weighing in at 1,760 kg. On the plus side, your bank balance takes less of a hit at around £117,100. So, it’s evenly matched: the BMW brings a bit more horsepower and torque to the table, but the lighter Porsche counters with better traction and a rear-engine layout made for rapid launches. Which car takes the victory? There’s only one real way to find out. First published by https://www.bmwblog.com

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

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 electric crossover stars in a new video shot at the Green Hell. The second-generation iX3 is undergoing final evaluations, as the world premiere is locked in for early September at the IAA Mobility show in Munich. It seems heavy as it tackles corners, but that’s how the cookie crumbles with electric SUVs. Due to the chunky disguise, it’s hard to identify which version BMW was testing. However, the large two-tone wheels suggest it had an M Sport Package at the very least. A high-performance M60 xDrive is in the works, but this prototype didn’t have the M-specific mirrors. It’s unclear whether the production version is getting two mirror designs. Separating the hotter derivative from the lesser flavors would make sense. Since the official debut is just five months away, BMW is testing the iX3 with the production body. The inaugural modern Neue Klasse model also has the final headlights and taillights peeking through the disguise. Look no further than the 2024 Vision Neue Klasse X concept to get an accurate idea of how the next iX3 looks. If you’re wondering about the vehicle’s size, it’ll be a smidge longer and wider than the outgoing CLAR-based iX3. The all-new successor will sit a tad lower to the ground and carry a marginally longer wheelbase. Spy footage shot at the ‘Ring gym shows the standard-wheelbase model BMW will sell in most countries. However, China is getting a stretched iX3 with extra legroom for rear passengers. It won’t be the first long-wheelbase SUV for the local market since the lineup already includes elongated X1, X3, and X5 versions. The global iX3 goes into production at the end of 2025 at the new Debrecen plant in Hungary. BMW has said Neue Klasse styling will rub off onto future models with combustion engines. These shared traits are already noticeable in the 3 Series and i3 prototypes. That won’t be the case for the X3 and iX3 since the former was penned before BMW changed its design language. Consequently, the gas and electric crossovers will look substantially different inside and out. The X3’s mid-cycle facelift, rumored to arrive in late 2028, could align the conventionally powered SUV with its EV cousin. Source: statesidesupercars / YouTube 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

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 changed since the statement made in 2021. Whatever the case, the latest member of the BMW Group must comply with emissions regulations, especially in Europe, where the legislation keeps getting stricter. Earlier this week, we discussed BMW’s plans to launch an ALPINA-badged electric 7 Series. Our sources near Munich have told us the sedan’s SUV sibling will also get the ALPINA+EV combo. We’ve heard through the grapevine that it will have a monstrous 660 kilowatts, which equals 885 horsepower. It will undoubtedly have xDrive, which will likely come from dual motors. The CLAR platform can’t accommodate the third and even fourth motor that some Neue Klasse-based models will have. ALPINA will have you covered if you’d rather skip the EV and stick to gas power. The second-generation X7 will continue to offer a brawny V8. As with today’s XB7, it’ll employ mild-hybrid technology. However, output could slightly decrease from 631 hp to 617 hp. Separately, BMW is cooking up another M Performance version, the X7 M60, with a twin-turbo 4.4-liter S68 under the hood. A BMW-badged iX M70 is in the offing, too. Codenamed G67, Bavaria’s new flagship SUV is expected to enter production in August 2027. The ALPINA-badged derivatives should hit the assembly line around the same time. It’ll be Buchloe’s second electric model since the 7 Series facelift arrives next year. Judging by a design trademarked with the German patent bureau a few years ago, the new wave of cars could carry a redesigned ALPINA logo. It’s a mystery which other models beyond the 7 Series and X7 will get the ALPINA treatment. We assume cars like the 3 Series, X3, and 4 Series Gran Coupe will not be renewed. On several occasions, BMW officials have hinted at promoting ALPINA into a higher echelon, likely to fight Bentley. That said, we certainly wouldn’t mind seeing another B5, although it’s just wishful thinking on our part. First published by https://www.bmwblog.com

“Prices are going to shoot up now,” one shopper said. But some dealers said that economic concerns might be keeping people away.

Carmakers are likely to face higher costs regardless of how they respond to President Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on cars and auto parts.

The scale of the damage depends on the circumstances of each company’s supply chain.

Fury at Elon Musk emerges as vandalism, protest and buyer’s remorse.

President Trump’s intervention came while Mr. Milton was appealing his conviction on securities and wire fraud charges.

Leaders in both countries warned that tariffs would fan inflation in the United States and upend global supply chains.

The measure, which is intended to bring car factories to the United States, could significantly raise prices for consumers.

The levies could hurt European automakers when the industry is already struggling, especially in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy.

As the billionaire and his allied groups pour more than $20 million into a race for the state’s top court, his car company is suing Wisconsin over a law restricting vehicle sales.

Japanese automakers, initially optimistic about some of President Trump’s policies, are reckoning with potentially devastating U.S. taxes on foreign-made cars.

The city-state, where it costs up to $84,000 just for the right to own a car, is one of the most expensive places to drive. That is by design.

More than 80 Teslas were damaged in Hamilton, Ontario, the police said, amid other acts of vandalism against the company owned by Elon Musk.

The recall of about 46,000 vehicles includes all models that were manufactured from November 2023, when the Cybertruck was first produced, through February.

The attorney general echoed remarks by President Trump, as protesters against Elon Musk and his efforts to shrink the government have defaced and destroyed Tesla vehicles.

President Trump’s approach to tariffs has unsettled many corporate leaders who believed he would use the levies as a negotiating tool. As it turns out, he sees them as an end in themselves.

He was know for modifying cars with innovative metal work and paint jobs, and for building vehicles like the Galileo shuttle for the original “Star Trek” series.

President Trump rallied support for Elon Musk’s car company, but there may not be enough conservatives willing to buy electric cars to make up for the Democrats who now shun Teslas.

None have ever won F1’s Australian Grand Prix. The Aussies Oscar Piastri of McLaren and Jack Doohan of Alpine hope to change that.

The Australian city hosted the first race of the year for most of the last three decades before the Covid-19 pandemic. Now it’s back.

Because Formula 1 teams try to hide their capabilities during preseason testing, the first race often shows who is fast and who is not.

Welcome to nirvana for car enthusiasts. You have just entered the online home of the world's oldest car magazine, and the only place on the internet where you can find Autocar's unique mix of up-to-the-minute news, red hot car reviews, conclusive road test verdicts, and a lot more besides.

Vauxhall Grandland Electric in Ultimate trim previously cost £40,495 – putting it over the ECS threshold

Average 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.

American firm's pioneering electric pick-up truck enters a second era to take the fight to the Tesla Cybertruck Large pick-up trucks dominate the American car sales charts, so it’s little surprise that plenty of firms are pushing to develop electric versions, despite the considerable challenges that come with powering already big, heavy machines with big, heavy batteries.Perhaps more surprising was that the first firm to launch a full-size pick-up in the US market was EV start-up Rivian. It launched the R1T in 2021, several months ahead of industry giant Ford’s F-150 Lightning and when the Tesla Cybertruck seemed more the stuff of Elon Musk’s dystopian fever dreams than an actual production vehicle. Given that it’s an American EV start-up, Rivian is often compared with Tesla. But you only need a cursory glimpse at their respective pick-ups to understand the vast differences between the two firms. While the Cybertruck is unapologetically brash and wilfully confrontational, the R1T is far more conventional and infused with genuine warmth and charm. That reflects their approach: while Musk’s firm delights in disrupting the car industry, Rivian had won plaudits from it. In fact, the Volkswagen Group recently made a major investment in the firm, worth up to £4.6 billion. Key to that deal was the formation of a new joint venture that will develop a new software architecture, based heavily on that used in this R1T, to underpin future Volkswagen Group and Rivian EVs – including the next Volkswagen Golf and the Rivian R2 and R3 crossovers.So what is it about Rivian’s software architecture that has prompted that massive investment from Volkswagen? And, more importantly, is the R1T any good? 

GKN's last UK automotive parts plant closed in 2021

Headwinds 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."

Dual-motor MG 4 shows just what a Chinese-built EV can offer an old-fashioned petrolhead: enormous power for a limited budget Having been sidelined as a concept for some time, the hot hatchback is making something of a comeback.While tightening emissions rules have made petrol-powered hot hatchbacks less and less commercially viable, all-electric alternatives are now emerging. Many - the likes of the Alpine A290, and the recently previewed Peugeot e-208 GTI - are from practiced performance brands, and come with high expectations. Some of these fast electric cars, however, have come right out of the long grass and taken us all by surprise.Which is just what the MG 4 XPower did when it arrived in the UK in the summer of 2023. Back then, the idea of a high-performing, twin-motor, compact electric car wasn’t entirely novel; but one that combined fairly classic hot hatchback proportions with lots of power and speed, and an eyebrow-raisingly affordable price, certainly got our attention.SAIC, the MG brand’s Chinese owners, revived an old MG-Rover name for this dual-motor version of the MG 4 electric hatchback. XPower was used on the regrettably doomed MG XPower SV sports car created just before the financial demise of the UK-operated MG Rover. Interestingly, however, that brand is not used on domestic-market versions of this car, which are rather more enticingly called the MG Mulan Triumph Edition (the commercial rights to the defunct Triumph car brand are actually retained by BMW, after its period of ownership of The Rover Group in the 1990s; which might explain why the car was rebranded for export sales).

Sign up to learn about the huge changes to UK car insurance and how they will affect you

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. 

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From its iconic design to its playful handling, we explain why this all-electric crossover is every bit a proper MINI

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 drive

MINI’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 parking

The 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 space

The 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 interior

Step 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 individuality

The 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?

Book your all-electric MINI Aceman test drive

Stellantis' premium supermini crossover gets styling and cabin revisions to try to cling on to its premium market positioning It’s now been a decade since the emancipation papers for DS’s breakaway from parent company Citroën were signed but, with the ink well and truly dried, the still relatively unknown French premium brand continues to strive to establish itself as a proper car brand in its own right.A reason many might still see the firm - which, between the DS 4 hatchback, DS 7 mid-sized SUV and DS 9 saloon, now has a fairly fresh four-model line-up - as a wing of its Stellantis stablemate Citroen is that the original DS 3, which sold particularly strongly, came with Citroen badges when it was launched in 2010.Yet a regular supermini is not quite what the DS 3 of today resembles. Instead, at 4118mm long and 1800mm wide, it’s become a fashion-conscious compact crossover fighting with the likes of the Audi Q2, Mini Aceman and Fiat 600 – a break that, its maker no doubt hopes, will help distance it a little from its strategically inconvenient past.The car can be had as an ICE petrol model or as a full EV. This review deals with the former model, while the electric model is dealt with here.

We bring you 10 of the most sensible, well-priced and genuinely fun used cars on the market today

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. 

Ford’s popular pick-up truck gets a Baja rally-style performance overhaul – and this time there's a petrol V6 You only need to cast a cursory glance at the Ford Ranger Raptor to know that this isn’t your common or garden pick-up truck. It’s a far different beast to that of the Ranger Wildtrak that has dominated pick-up sales charts in the UK and Europe in recent years. The Raptor is a performance-focused, dune-bashing double-cab vehicle that has the capability of a cross-country rally prerunner (what drivers use for a recce of a course instead of their race truck). This time around, the Raptor has been dialled up a notch and now makes a whole range of noises that are variously louder and distinctively richer than those of its diesel-only predecessor. Indeed, the Raptor package isn’t totally unfamiliar: the enormous F-150 Raptor has been sold in the US for some time and Ford rolled out the first Ranger Raptor in 2019, with the performance off-roader embellished by BG Goodrich tyres, chassis modifications and much more – but it was only available with the 2.0-litre diesel four.Now it makes a more welcoming warble from a new turbo petrol V6, which gives the utilitarian pick-up a totally new and sporting personality that allows it to go very, very fast just about anywhere. So is Ford’s now petrol-powered Raptor a sports car slayer, and where does it fit in the performance truck firmament? Let’s find out. 

New model will help Japanese firm grow its small EV line-up; part of wider restructure between Alliance partners

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.

Are hydrogen cars viable? We run through all you need to know about this alternative fuel

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 UK

Two 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 Mirai

The 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 Nexo

Hyundai 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 Hydrogen

BMW 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 cars

One 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 cars

While 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 vehicles

Currently, 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.

Rowan has stepped down as CEO; in his final major interview he explains the "Darwinian event" facing car makers

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.

EVs that can break the 300-mile barrier are growing in number – as are number of those that can crack 400 miles

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.

Can the Czech brand’s re-jigged large SUV remain as one of our favourites? The new Skoda Enyaq is proof that some manufacturers stay true to their core focus, even in the age of the rebrand.Kia and Hyundai have taken the 'reinvention' baton and run a country mile, Mercedes is going to launch 21 new models in just two years, and Jaguar's new look needs no introduction. But Skoda and its cars have always stayed true to their intentions; they're easy to live with, easy on the eye and easy to use.When the previous Enyaq made its first appearance in 2020, it quickly became a car we liked because of its inherent ‘Skoda-ness’. It was affordable, energy-efficient, had decent performance and a cleverly thought-out, good-quality cabin. No surprises, then, that it was one of Europe's best-selling cars in 2024.Many of its competitors like the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, Tesla Model Y and Volkswagen ID 4 have all been updated since, and now Skoda has given the Enyaq some new styling in line with its current design language, an upgrade to the infotainment system and a small boost in range.In light of this, then, let’s find out how it stacks up.The Skoda Enyaq range at a glanceAs before, you can have the Enyaq in regular SUV or coupé guise. Both come with the choice of two battery sizes and three powertrain options. At the entry-level is the Enyaq 60, which comes with a 63kWh lithium ion battery (59kWh usable) good for up to 277 miles of range. The next levels up, the 85 and 85x, use an 82kWh battery (77kWh usable), with electric ranges up to 370 miles and 346 miles respectively.The 85 was originally called the 80, but in 2024 Skoda upgraded the rear motor of it, the 80x and vRS for more power and better efficiency and renamed the first two to 85 and 85x.The entry-level 50, meanwhile, has been discontinued for this generation, owing to a lack of demand.In lieu of trim levels, Skoda offers interior design themes (Loft, Lounge, Lodge, Suite Cognac, Suite Black and Sportline) and a selection of other option packages. UK buyers will not be able to get the 60s in Sportline trim.

The ZR-V is a vertically stretched Civic for the fiercely contested, hybrid-powered family SUV class The Honda ZR-V may not be the best-known Honda model, but it’s made a telling difference to its corporate fortunes.It became one of Honda UK's top three best-selling models in its first full calendar year on sale, 2024, returning the company to the right side of 30,000 annual units for the first time this decade.That’s mostly because it fills a gap in a popular market segment for compact SUVs. And yet it doesn’t do so conventionally, which may be why the Honda badge on its nose seems like such a good fit.The car presents a slightly lower-slung, ‘all-road estate’ type of alternative to the likes of the Hyundai Tucson, Volkswagen Tiguan and Peugeot 3008, then. It’s a little less boxy-looking, for those who remain on the fence about SUV aesthetics but like their convenience and practicality, and its dynamic priorities are all about comfort, efficiency and ease of use.

Long-running motor show played host to a number of wild concepts like these example from Rinspeed

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 one

Italy’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 together

Another 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 hats

While 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 town

The 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 engineering

Encouragingly, 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: Interior

The 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 road

The 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: Verdict

Appointing 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 alternatives

The 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.

Rolls-Royce CEO, Chris Brownridge, joins Autocar's editor-at-large, Matt Prior

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.

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.

Last Luton-built Vivaro was built at 12:18pm on Friday 28 March 2025

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.

Sixth-generation executive saloon and estate ramp up the luxury and tech The new car market is changing faster than ever, but that doesn't mean some things can't say the same - and the Mercedes-Benz E-Class is a case in point. Despite years of progress, the big German's underlying receipe of quality, comfort, space and refinement remains largely untouched. This 'W214' E-Class is the latest iteration of one of the oldest model lines from one of the oldest car manufacturers. By Mercedes' own count, it's the 10th generation of a largely unbroken lineage going back to 1947.Despite being very keen to refer to its heritage (and why wouldn’t it be?), Mercedes isn’t a particularly nostalgic company. It has come up with radical designs, such as the original A-Class and Smart City Coupé, while its electric cars are really exploiting the aerodynamics and design possibilities that an EV offers. Unlike with the BMW i5 and 5 Series, Mercedes is choosing to keep the electric EQE and combustion-engined E-Class apart. According to the literature, the new E-Class needs to balance tradition with modernity and ‘build a bridge’ between traditional executive saloons and the tech-filled EVs of the future. Plenty of buyers are not ready for their car to be a smartphone on wheels, so that mission could well strike a chord. To find out whether the E-Class might succeed, so far we've tested an E220d and E300e saloon, and both the E220d and E450d estates.The E-Class Estate is of course here to reddress the decline in popularity of the executive wagon, which has been made an endangered species as SUVs have prospered. In the next few years, the breed may even disappear for good, and this is particularly true for versions with torque-rich six-cylinder engines, like the E-Class.We’re already in a last-car-standing scenario, because BMW has, at least in the UK, shunned diesel entirely for the latest raft of 3 and 5 Series models, including the big-booted Touring variants. Aside from the quirky Audi S6 Avant (get it while it’s still here), Audi is also down to only four-piston offerings for TDI derivatives of the A4 and A6 Avant – erstwhile stalwarts of the big-capacity diesel scene.All of which should make the range-topping E-Class diesel, the E450d, appealing to those who want maximum autonomy and effortless pace and opulence. Alongside it on the petrol side of the spectrum, there's the AMG E53: a six-cylinder PHEV. In other regions, there's an E450 petrol as well, but that isn't offered in the UK for the time being - and is unlikely to make an appearance over here any time soon.Apart from the top-rung Exclusive Edition, all trim levels are all AMG Line of some sort, with Advanced, Premium and Premium Plus packs tacked on for the more expensive versions.

Bright paint and more aggressive styling will mark the hot Elroq out

Skoda'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.

Lamborghini and Ferrari build cars that exceed 200mph. These can go significantly quicker than that…

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.

Uprated engine and fettled chassis for facelifted junior performance car – and there's still a manual gearbox When the second-generation BMW M2 was launched, it couldn’t escape comparison with the preceding M2 Competition and 1 Series M Coupé, and sure enough, it wasn’t quite as compact, thuggish or lovable.Only two years on, it’s getting a model-year update to bring it in line with the rest of the lower half of BMW’s range. Munich is on a big renewal spree: Series 1 through 4 and the X3 have all been updated in the past year. Some are quite substantial, as with the 2 Series Gran Coupé, but you would be forgiven for not noticing the changes to the 2 Series Coupé, on which the M2 is based.As a reminder, despite sharing most of their model name, those two coupés are mechanically very different. While the four-door is front-wheel drive, the two-door is effectively a shortened 4 Series, making it rear-wheel drive (or four-wheel drive in the case of the M240i xDrive), making a proper M version possible.The exterior changes are minor in the extreme, but there are bigger tweaks to the interior, the engine has gained 20bhp and there have been some more nebulous suspension changes. Can the M2 step out the shadows of its predecessors?The range at a glanceModelsPowerFromM2 Coupé M Steptronic auto473bhp£68,705M2 Coupé manual473bhp£70,630As before, the M2 has an eight-speed automatic gearbox as standard, and you have to pay extra to get the six-speed manual.For 2025, BMW has significantly expanded the number of available paint colours. There used to be just six, now there are 10. It has also added the option of silver wheels. There are a number of separate options and one big option pack, the M Race Track Pack, which adds the carbonfibre roof and front seats, carbonfibre interior trim and a higher top speed

BMW uses Toyota fuel cells in its fleet of hydrogen iX5 demonstrators

Rough 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.

Porsche is synonymous with performance and quality, but which is the best from each model group?

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.”

The least traditional Jeep gets a hybrid off-roader option that impresses on the rough stuff The Jeep Avenger has to us always felt slightly oxymoronic in its conception as a diddy urban crossover from a brand so intrinsically associated with go-anywhere mud-plugging.The Avenger Electric, mildly electrified eHybrid and pure-petrol variants are competent and charming family runarounds but have little of the off-roading ability of the likes of the larger Wrangler and Grand Cherokee.But now the Avenger can follow its forebears and rangemates at least some way off the beaten track with the addition of this new 4xe range-topper, which adds an off-road-flavoured makeover to the eHybrid, along with an electric motor on the rear axle for four-wheel drive. It is, you might say, the Jeepiest version of the least Jeepy Jeep. This is actually the smallest 4x4 Jeep has offered in about three decades, and while it's far removed from the old CJs and Wranglers that went before, there’s a certain whiff of the WW2 original in the Avenger 4xe’s compact footprint and Scrappy-Doo character. “Lemme at 'em!” it yelps, brandishing its beefier bumpers, roof bars, tow hooks and underbody cladding - the telltale cues to its rugged, range-topping billing and the chief differentiators from the standard eHybrid.It's on sale now in the UK in three trim levels, with prices starting from £30,999, ahead of deliveries beginning in May. But is it the new gem of an expansive Avenger line-up? Read on to find out.  

What do you get when you make a Duster bigger? A silly name and a real worry for the likes of Ford and Hyundai So massive is the gravitational pull of the C-SUV – of which the new Dacia Bigster is the latest exponent – that it’s now quicker to list the car makers that don’t compete in the segment it than those that do.You will know the biggest of the mainstream hitters: Ford Kuga, Skoda Kodiaq, Nissan Qashqai, Kia Sportage, VW Tiguan, Hyundai Tucson.Automotive household names. Some of these cars are propping up the company that makes them, so insatiable is the appetite for Goldilocks crossovers that aren’t awkwardly big but still offer plenty of space and don’t cost a lot more than £30,000 when you’re sensible with trim.It’s doubtful that any CEOs of the C-SUV incumbents will have been overjoyed to learn that Dacia is now entering the fray with the Bigster. It’s a bit of a silly name, but the decision to make this car was anything but. In terms of design, pricing and drivability, the Renault-owned Romanian brand currently finds itself in a formidable vein of form.The cars are great value but also, thanks to the dash of Germano-Scandi design injected during the brand’s 2021 revamp, quietly desirable too. Last year, the Sandero hatchback was – and was by a country mile – the best-selling car in Europe, with the Duster, its crossover kin, also making the top 10. The Bigster now opens up another potentially successful front for Dacia, and of course it doesn’t deviate from the recipe. Even in the top-spec form tested here, it costs less than £30,000.

President claims new levy on all cars and car parts shipped into US will create "tremendous growth"

“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 Sandero

New 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. 

No other motorsport gets you as close to the action, trackside or in the paddock

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.

New Stellantis UK chief – and interim Vauxhall boss – asks why the brand couldn't be sold outside the UK

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-R

In 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 Micra

New 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 year

Nissan 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 aerodynamics

Third-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 concept

Nissan'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.”

Upgrading to the hot model of a particular car used to mean extra character too – but no longer

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.

Cropley travels to Goodwood to drive a shedload of great value cars, while Prior drives a Rolls-Royce Spectre

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.

Electric cars may already be cheaper than you think – and they're set to get even cheaper. Here's the best of the crop

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 like

Brand'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 move

New 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 Thames

New 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.

Wallbox or smart charger? And how do you install it? We answer common questions about home EV charging

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.

Plug-in powertrain pairs 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine with electric motor for 295bhp combined output

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 market

Current 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.

Follow-up to the MG 4 is an electric crossover to take on the Kia EV3 and Skoda Elroq Sometimes reviewing cars can feel like shouting at clouds. But in the case of the new MG S5 EV, the product presentation felt a bit like having our MG 4 EV road test read back to me. It’s clear that for its latest car, MG looked at feedback from customers and media and set about addressing the main criticisms.Annoying ADAS? Here’s a button to turn them off. Crap interior quality? Here’s some more fabrics and soft-touch materials. Not enough buttons? Here’s a couple of well-chosen knobs and switches.So in short, the S5 is a 4 that’s bigger and better in almost every way, and for not much more money. We like the 4, so slam dunk, case closed, right?Well, there’s a bit more to it than that. Read on to find out how it compares with its fiercely competitive set of rivals that includes the Kia EV3 and Skoda Elroq.

Josep Maria Recasens takes the helm of Ampere, replacing Luca de Meo

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.”

The world's most exciting custom motorcycles, from cafe racers to bobbers to scramblers and street trackers.

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.…

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. “I quickly realized why not many people want to customize this bike!” laughs Woolie. “There are just a lot of electronics under there. And not a whole lot in terms of raw beauty beneath the plastics. It all had to be addressed.” To find inspiration, Woolie looked to the clean racing lines of the successful AMA Butler & Smith superbikes of his youth. The 999cc, 160hp four cylinder (nick-named “4CYL”) was certainly a challenge. To lighten its appearance, Woolie decided that rather than cover up its modern pedigree, he’d use what he could as functional art –for example, by exposing the Febur radiator out in front. He added new functional architecture in the board-track bars, which cover and secure the tank. Those two simple ideas give you a functional design motif that feels more raw and exposed. Other details included a custom rear sub-frame, custom electrical box, a one-off seat wrapped in black Kushitani waterproof leather with double-diamond-tuck stitching, a round headlight, and a carbon fiber front fender – all giving the bike more classic than factory looks. The stock gauge cluster was retained to manage the electronics, tucked behind the hand-shaped aluminum fairing sitting above the headlight. Artist Ornamental Conifer brought the face of the analog counter to life. Finally, Gilles Tooling machined a custom top clamp and rear sets to apply the finishing touches to this reimagined superbike. “BMW’s ride is phenomenally safe. It holds the road,” said Orlando. “We asked: If a modern (super bike) classic was built, what would it look like? I said, let me take this bike and work with my friends. All roads converged and the timing was right. It was a match made in heaven. This was ballsy in a way for BMW to take this one on.” Spend any time with Orlando and you’ll quickly learn he’s a motorcyclist, appreciating a wide range of bikes in any garage, including his own. The S 1000 R isn’t the first BMW that Woolie has put his touches on for his personal friend. (He had previously restored a 1964 BMW R60 to original condition some years ago as their friendship was developing.) Everyone considers the BMW brand elite. Beyond historical design and performance, the Bavarian brand is now making us care more. “We’ve always been very good at a functional, rational level,” mentions Ola, “but now we’re getting into really emotional bikes.” This article first appeared in issue 20 of Iron & Air Magazine, and is reproduced here under license Words by Brett Houle | Images by Hermann Köpf | deuscustoms.com | bmwmotorcycles.com

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.…

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. So he got together with his friend to brainstorm potential replacements. “She wanted an old school-looking café racer and a reliable everyday bike. Because she didn’t have a garage in her hometown, Berlin, and didn’t have the knowledge to get a carburetor bike ready for riding season, it had to be a newer fuel-injected bike.” Triumph’s modern classics quickly rose to the top of the list—until Chris spotted a Royal Enfield Continental GT 650 on eBay. “The RE shape is so clean, and building on it is simply fun. Everything is simple and reliable, and the aftermarket is better than I thought.” “She set the color scheme on day one—as much black as possible. But a ‘lil Motocrew design should be worked into it too, of course.” Chris started up front, where he replaced the Continental GT 650’s headlight with an ultra-modern LED unit from Koso. It’s mounted on a custom-made bracket that bolts to the bottom yoke. Flanking the headlight are neat fork shrouds that Chris 3D-printed to buff up the front end, visually. Since the Royal Enfield Continental GT 650 comes with clip-on bars out of the box, its top yoke is already devoid of riser mounts. That made Chris’ job easier. With new, more aggressive clip-ons in place, he simply shaved the original ignition barrel mount to accommodate a Motogadget speedo, which came from Crooked Motorcycles as part of a plug-and-play kit. Rather than relocate the ignition, Chris binned it in favor of a keyless setup. The NFC ignition, plus the bar-end turn signals and glassless mirrors, all came from Motogadget. Moving to the bodywork, Chris opted to retain the Continental GT 650’s OEM fuel tank—which isn’t surprising, considering how good it looks. The gas cap was swapped out for a flush-mounted pop-up item. Despite sporting a solo seat and tail bump in stock form, the Enfield didn’t quite have the compact proportions that Chris envisioned. So he removed the original parts, cut and looped the subframe, and fabricated a new rear cowl. A pair of Motogadget LEDs, perched on 3D-printed carbon mounts, act as taillights and turn signals, while the license plate sits lower down. One of the hallmarks of a Motocrew café racer is its stance—and this one’s as purposeful as it gets. Chris lowered the front end by around 20 mm, before swapping the shocks out for custom-built YSS items that are 20 mm longer than stock. He also re-laced the front hub to a second 18” rear rim, so that he could fit tires with matching widths. The Enfield now rolls on 3.5×18” Shinko E270 tires, with a handful of judicious braking upgrades offering improved performance. The chunky vibe of the wheels and slammed forks is echoed in the burly exhausts custom units from Mass that include dB killers and retain the bike’s catalytic convertor. “The most important thing,” Chris adds, “is that it’s all street-legal in Germany!” Finished off in a mix of matte and gloss black (which extends to the engine covers), this Royal Enfield Continental GT 650 café racer continues the Motocrew’s fine tradition of building razor-sharp machines that ooze style. We’ve no doubt that it will help its owner get over the loss of her CX650. Motocrew Instagram | Images by kylefx Editor’s note Regular Speed Read programming will return next week.

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.…

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. The previous generation R nineT series included the R nineT Urban G/S—a mostly street-focused bike with aesthetics inspired by the iconic BMW R80G/S. The new BMW R 12 G/S uses the same basic formula, but every aspect of it has been ramped up. Visually, the new R 12 G/S is leaps and bounds ahead of its predecessor—which says a lot, because the Urban G/S was rather attractive itself. We’ve spoken before about how the newer R 12’s chassis creates a tidier silhouette than the older nineT’s, and BMW has used this to full effect to transform the base model R 12 into a stylish retro adventure bike. The R 12 G/S hits all the right notes. Its sculpted fuel tank recalls the banana-shaped unit on the R80G/S, flowing neatly into a skinny bench seat. A high fender sits up front, along with a headlight shroud that takes cues from the fairing on the legendary R80G/S Paris Dakar model. The balance of modern and classic design touches is refreshing. Although the bodywork draws on BMW’s history, every part has a contemporary edge to it, as if it was borrowed from a modern enduro bike. There’s LED lighting all around too—from the 5.75” LED headlight with its X-shaped daytime running light, to the taillight tucked into the sleek rear fender. The BMW R 12 G/S hits the mark as a modern interpretation of one of BMW Motorrad’s most historic bikes—but this time, it’s more than just a styling exercise. BMW has subtly tweaked the standard R 12’s steering neck geometry, propped the bike up on longer suspension, and kitted it with a dirt-friendly 21” front wheel. In standard trim, that 21” front wheel is matched to a 17” rear wheel—a popular combination for BMW adventure bikes. Both wheels use BMW’s cross-spoked tubeless design, and the front wheel sports a pair of Brembo calipers with stainless steel hoses. The 45 mm upside-down front forks, and the rear shock and Paralever swingarm, offer up 210 mm and 200 mm of travel respectively. Both ends are adjustable for preload, rebound, and compression. All told the R 12 G/S has a seat height of 860 mm with close to 240 mm [about 9.4”] of ground clearance. It also weighs a slightly porky 228.6 kilos [504 pounds], wet. But it’s when you compare the R 12 G/S to BMW’s flagship adventure bike, the R 1300 GS, that things get interesting. The R 12 G/S is 3.6 percent lighter with a bigger front wheel, a seat that sits 10 mm higher, and only 20 mm less suspension travel. Riders have been clamoring for a retro boxer-powered scrambler with proper off-road chops for years, and the BMW R 12 G/S might just be it. For those that want an even more radical build, BMW offers an optional ‘Enduro’ package [above] too. It swaps the 17” rear wheel for an 18” hoop, and adds beefier foot pegs, higher handlebars, and a taller fairing. In Enduro trim, the R 12 G/S seat sits at 875 mm tall—but with three different seat options, including one that has better passenger accommodations, that number can go up or down. Other optional extras include an adaptive headlight, an ‘Enduro Pro’ riding mode that joins the three settings that come pre-installed, a quick-shifter, and a small digital dash that replaces the classic round unit. ABS, traction control, engine drag torque control, a keyless ignition, and a 12V power socket are all installed out of the box. Like its stablemates, the BMW R 12 G/S is powered by a 1,170 cc air- and oil-cooled boxer motor, good for 109 hp at 7,000 rpm and 115 Nm at 6,500 rpm. Gasses exit via one of the tidiest OEM mufflers that BMW has in their arsenal, with an optional Akrapovič can on offer. Available in three colorways (including a classic white R 80 G/S scheme), the new BMW R 12 G/S base model’s pricing starts at $16,395, with BMW North America’s website reporting an extra $325 for the white version and an extra $845 for the Enduro package. If a desert sand livery with a smorgasbord of parts from BMW’s swanky Option 719 catalog is more your thing, be prepared to shell out a whole lot more. That’s a good chunk of change more than the bike’s only competition—the immensely popular Triumph Scrambler 1200 XE. The BMW R 12 G/S looks like it’ll give the burly Scrambler 1200 a run for its money, but we won’t know until we ride it… and BMW’s marketing material hardly inspires confidence. The bike’s launch video is devoid of any clear riding footage, and almost all of the images we’ve seen are captioned with the dubious inscription “Enhanced with AI.” The writers over at Ride Apart noted the same and reached out to BMW Motorrad, who confirmed that, “In this case, the riding R 12 G/S photos were created using AI tools.” It’s disappointing when you consider that the motorcycle scene isn’t short on talented riders and photographers. But it also means that we won’t know how capable the BMW R 12 G/S truly is until we swing a leg over it ourselves. Source: BMW Motorrad

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.…

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. The client’s long list of requests included a few standout items. He wanted a scrambler-style build with good handling, and it had to stop like a modern motorcycle. But Bolt was still given the necessary wiggle room to create something unique in their signature style. To cover the handling requirements, a set of fully adjustable Marzocchi forks were bolted to the BMW chassis with CNC-machined yokes, while YSS shocks were fitted to the rear. Brembo supplied the brake discs and calipers, pumping fluids through Goodridge stainless steel braided lines. A short front fender was fabricated, and a custom license plate bracket was slung over the back wheel to tidy up the rear. The factory BMW wheels were simply powder-coated black and wrapped with Shinko Trail Master E705 tires. The rider cockpit is completely new. Neken risers hold a set of Renthal bars in place, which are adorned with a Domino throttle, Biltwell Inc. Kung Fu grips, LED-backlit switches, Nissin levers, and Highsider mirrors. A Motogadget Motoscope Pro sits front and center, powered by a Motogadget mo.unit, which also runs the mo.blaze disc bar end indicators and the tiny LED tail light. A Husqvarna 701 Enduro headlight sits out front, fitted to a handmade flat track-style number board and augmented with an additional LED strip. The stock BMW R100 tank is one of our favorites, so we’re glad to see it was left alone. That said, the outlandish custom paint job splashed onto it is to die for, and we’re amazed the tank still stands out next to the gorgeous candy-red frame. An engraved BMW gas cap adds another touch of modernity to the 43-year-old tank. Moving further rearwards, a suede seat (upholstered by a friend, Llop) sits on top of a custom subframe. The 3D-printed rear cowl can be cleverly removed to make way for a passenger. A set of Tarozzi rear sets and passenger pegs were fitted to improve the riding position. The engine, transmission, and final drive were all stripped and rebuilt from the ground up. The stock Bing carbs remain, but they breathe through new intakes and have been re-jetted to suit the high-flow Turbo Kit exhaust. An oil cooler was fitted at the front of the engine and the ignition was relocated down low on the left-hand side of the frame. The battery sits under the transmission in a custom-made box. Finally, the bike was rewired from scratch to guarantee another 50 years of BMW reliability. Bolt’s custom BMW R100 has all the charms of an old airhead boxer, but it runs, handles, and stops better than ever—just as the client requested. It also looks incredible, and will be turning more than a few heads every time it rolls down the street. Bolt Motor Co. | Facebook | Instagram

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.…

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. At first, the plan was to turn the Dax into a tiny flat tracker—but then Kunimoto chimed in with an idea. “He’s a big fan of air suspension systems,” says Jie, “so he wanted to incorporate that feature. We retained the tracker-inspired appearance, while giving the bike a low and aggressive stance.” Kunimoto’s idea involved upgrading the Dax’s running gear with new air suspension components from RacingBros. A CNC-machined Over Racing swingarm was installed out back, while the wheels were switched for 12” disc items, fitted with Brembo brake calipers and Triforce carbon ceramic discs. The Dax is notably low to the ground when parked, until a remote control activates the air suspension, raising it to a reasonable ride height. It might seem like an unnecessary feature on a bike with a 777 mm seat height—but it’s a cool trick nonetheless. Most of the Dax’s charm comes from the fact that its chassis is effectively also its bodywork. So Jie and Kunimoto focused on tweaking the bike’s fuselage cleverly, rather than modifying it outright. For starters, all of the bits and pieces that make the air suspension work are now packaged inside the body. To get that right, Jie had to figure out where each individual part would fit—and then link them all together. Cutouts near the front of the chassis offer a view of the suspension reservoirs. Jie also fabricated a titanium exhaust system that flows around the engine, into a custom inlet on the right-hand side of the body, through the chassis, and out the back. A handmade aluminum end cap adds a stylish flourish to the tail end of the Dax. The aluminum flat track-style seat is also Jie’s handiwork, but the tasteful leather upholstery was handled by Qi Rui. The whole unit is mounted on a hinge, offering access to the neatly packaged components that hide underneath it. Here you’ll find a custom-built aluminum fuel tank, complete with a pop-up filler cap, and the rest of the exhaust header. A slim LED taillight is embedded in the back of the seat pan, while discreet LED turn signals are mounted to the sides of the bodywork, just forward of where the exhaust exits. The opposite end of the bike wears a one-off aluminum headlight plate, designed with an integrated housing for a punchy Baja Designs LED headlight. LED turn signals flank the new nacelle. The Honda Dax’s cockpit hasn’t gone untouched either. CNC-machined yokes from GTR Manufacturing take center stage, while sporty clip-ons replace the Dax’s mini-ape bars. They’re fitted with Domino grips and aftermarket brake and clutch levers, with CNC-machined switches integrated into the lever clamps. The bike’s new digital dashboard is an aRacer iMode 5 unit, loaded with a custom JZO x Nemoto startup graphic. Elsewhere, Nemoto fitted fork guards, rear-sets, and a rear sprocket character from their catalog. You might be wondering why the Dax sports a clutch lever and shifter peg when its transmission is automatic. That’s because the guys swapped the Dax’s engine (and transmission) for the mill from a new Honda Grom. The engines are the same size—but the Grom unit uses a five-speed manual ‘box. A smattering of dress-up parts—like a CNC-machined dipstick from Mitomo and a clear crankcase cover—add an extra dose of style. But the Dax’s most striking feature is arguably its livery. Expertly executed by OneWay, the paint job uses swathes of grey and blue to complement the polished aluminum sections. Giant Honda wings take up as much space as they can on the back half of the body, with subtle ghost graphics on the tail section where it overlaps the design. Even though there’s a lot going on with the JZO Crafts x Nemoto Honda Dax, it doesn’t feel overly fussy. Instead, it’s low, sleek, and cohesive, offering a fresh take on traditional custom motorcycle genres. That podium finish (and the other awards it raked in at the show) was well deserved. JZO Crafts | Nemoto | Images by Kin Lin

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.…

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. Despite the namesake, Three Wood doesn’t seem to have any real connection to Dexter besides common roots in Cincinnati. Boneheads like myself may initially mistake it for a fairway reference, but the name Three Wood refers to the three woods used to finish the bourbon — Maple, Cherry and 200-year-old Oak. And they’re used to delightful effect. Nose After a proper pop from the wood cork, you’ll find that Cherry makes a quick appearance, followed by butterscotch, orange, cinnamon and a hint of walnut. A deep breath in your glass will be met with a hint of octane, remember this 100.6 proof. Taste Enjoyed neat, the first thing you’ll pick up on is vanilla followed by lingering Cherry wood. Cherry pairs so well with traditional bourbon flavors, and we’re only aware of certain Makers Mark and Woodford Reserve varieties that utilize it to such strong effect. Butterscotch and honey make a brief appearance midway through, followed by cinnamon and a lengthy outro of wood spice with an endearing burn. At just over 52% ABV and aided by the late-profile flavors, the burn is right on the money. It’s just enough to keep you coming back for more, but strong enough to make you savor the pour. Put simply, save the sodas and garnish for a different spirit, but I do question if the Cherry would benefit from a slight chill. Value Always a blend of price and preference, Dexter Three Wood delivers good value for money at $49. It’s pricier than some of its contemporaries, but the ever-shifting flavor profile and novelty of the Cherry wood merit the extra investment. To sum it up, Three Wood is definitely a worthwhile purchase, and worth keeping around for bourbon brainiacs and relative newcomers as well. Cheers!

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.…

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. Fo’s latest build takes all that goodness and repackages it as a Frisco-style chopper. “The design also incorporates the owner’s favorite element—lightning,” he adds. Step one was to readjust the Low Rider’s stance. Fo stripped the bike’s upside-down forks, and then extended them by four inches. Then he stripped the paint off the yokes and fork uppers to give them a polished finish instead. The stock wheels were swapped out for a set of stylish forged aluminum hoops from Lyndall, bumping the front wheel up to 21” while retaining the 16” rear wheel size. The wheels sport new Lyndall Gemini brake rotors, plus a pair of Brembo-made front calipers from Harley’s exclusive CVO series. The tires are Bridgestone Battlecruise H50s. There’s a lot more going on with the Low Rider’s front end than just a set of stretched forks. Fo took the OEM front fender, hacked the front half off, and fabricated a finned replacement piece that’s part decoration and part fork brace. Further up, he crafted an elegant aluminum headlight housing that sits flush with the yokes. The actual headlight is an LED unit from Moons MC in Japan, but it’s hidden behind a vintage headlight lens. Kraus Motor risers stand tall behind the headlight, supporting a set of handmade handlebars. The bars wear MX-style grips and Flo Motorsports levers, with discreet LED turn signals mounted below the lever perches. The stock Harley speedo has been relocated to atop the bars via a custom bracket. The Low Rider’s speedo traditionally lives in a large housing on top of the fuel tank, but Fo binned it—along with the tank itself. A slim 17-liter [4.5-gallon] unit was handcrafted to replace it. The new tank, and the generously scooped saddle that follows it, contribute to this chopper’s remarkably compact appearance. But it’s the details that crank the overall design up to eleven. The lightning bolt motif on the tank isn’t just pain—it’s a 3D effect that Fo created by welding metal ridges to the tank, before refining them. Layered over Fo’s sculpting work is a mind-bending blue and purple paint scheme that shifts as light bounces off it. Finer pin-striping details on the fenders tie the design together. Aptly, Fo has nicknamed the bike ‘Purple Haze.’ The pattern on the saddle is equally playful, traversing the upholstery with blue, purple, and white stitching. Out back you’ll find the OEM fender, modified to include a molded housing for a Moons MC taillight. Tiny LED turn signals from Kodlin are mounted to the ends of the fender struts. Other details include color-matched plug leads, and foot pegs and controls from Flo Motorsports. The Harley’s frame is still intact, as is its original belt drive and belt drive cover (Taiwan’s modification laws are rather strict). Fo hasn’t messed with the Harley’s engine either—at least, not too much. It’s been treated to a factory ‘Stage 1’ kit, plus an ECU tune to optimize its performance. The delightfully chunky air cleaner is a one-off, as are the two-into-one exhaust headers, which terminate in a Supertrapp muffler. There’s a lot going on with this Harley-Davidson Low Rider S chopper, yet it still feels remarkably cohesive. Thanks to Fo’s obsessive attention to detail, his sharp eye, and his deft hands, this neo-retro performance chopper is in a class of its own. NamiXII Design Instagram | Images by Weeber Photography (studio) and Raku (details)

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.…

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. As I spent more time there, I finally convinced them to let me take her out. I wanted to shoot some impromptu lifestyle photos, and Alex was kind enough to ride the Ducati for the photos you see here. But the images begged more questions than answers. I sent a few comps out to magazines and blogs curious to see if anyone had any info. No one had seen it before or knew any builders familiar with it. Without any details, publications were also hesitant to do anything with the bike. I was at a dead end. I knew I had something exquisite, but I couldn’t understand it. It was like wandering through the woods and happening upon an Andy Goldsworthy sculpture. How did this thing end up in Brooklyn? No less than three months later, a young kid came into the shop for a cup of coffee and found himself drawn to the mystery Ducati as I was, but for a completely different reason. “My dad built that bike!” Alex called me immediately with the kid’s contact information. After reaching out several times to get a lead on where it came from, I received no response. My encouragement dissipated to disappointment and frustration. Another month passed until the kid came in again for coffee. Alex obtained his email once more and realized the address was off by one letter. I finally reached Henry – the builder’s son – and he gave me the email address for his father’s wife Laura. She then connected me with her husband, and within a few days, he emailed me back confirming that he was indeed the builder of the bike in the photos. His name was Jon Aesoph. His nickname was “Einstein.” When we were finally able to talk, Einstein was matter-of-fact, though he never came off as pretentious. Instead, he was almost aloof to his own abilities. I came to appreciate that he was just a tinkerer in the woods making weird stuff. Motorcycles just happened to be one of them. “I am an artist, who works mainly in drawing and painting. I love machines and try to get them to love me. As much as I appreciate what the manufacturers offer us, I really need to make it my own. I don’t consider myself to be a ‘builder,’ but have always re-imagined any bike I’ve owned, and tried to make it unique for myself.” The mystery Ducati was a SportClassic “S” that Einstein purchased new in the fall of 2009 from Skagit Motor Sports in Mount Vernon, Washington. The “S” meant it came with the front fairing, unlike others in the SportClassic line. Einstein, a retired art teacher living on Whidbey Island off the coast of Washington state, says he only rode it stock for a few months. “I like to get to know a bike pretty well on a daily basis; it helps me choose a direction. I wanted something a bit different, as is my usual modus operandi, and decided to change the tail to a ‘Don Vesco Big Butt’ from Airtech Bodywork. This immediately took the bike back in time. The ‘Big Butt’ suggested a race bike from the ‘50s or ‘60s. The new bodywork was painted the dark Ducati Green, and the stock white racing stripes were continued over the top of it. During this time, I did all the sexy motor things that I could afford, such as open Desmodromic belts, gold anodized grips and clutch/brake controls. “Though the overall seat and tail combination came from Airtech, I needed to re-fabricate portions of it to fit. I lengthened it almost three inches and molded it to fit the tank shape at the forward end. All this consequently required my moving the taillight, which was a quite acceptable round piece, and I put in flexible LED turn signals, which were molded into the sides of the tail. It looked pretty cool to me, and I rode it in that guise for quite a while. “Some months later I was sitting in the shop staring at it (this is an activity that provides endless mirth and confusion for my lovely wife). I decided the large open space at the rear would look better if I moved the exhaust pipes from low on the side to up under the seat, culminating by appearing from out of the box seat. That proved to be a good move; she looked like a piece of history but with an attitude.” In 2011, Einstein’s eyes shifted towards another bike – the BMW S1000RR – prompting the need to move the Ducati from his shop to make room. In order to sell the bike, he needed to make some changes that would appeal to more buyers. “We’ve all seen the stir that café racers have made on our contemporary motorcycling scene, even to the point of manufacturers producing them, lifeless as they are. I decided to again change the tail/seating area on the bike, and chose a Ducati race seat intended for the Ducati MH900e. While I was at it, I decided to do the Italian flag colors on her, with silver being the main accent. Again, pining for the past, I sat down and in one session drew my spraying plan, not following any vintage bike in particular, but desiring a result that would make people want to hug her. There’s something that happens when you decide to spray a separate color around the headlamp. Don’t ask me why, but to me, it makes the bike more accessible, more human. While I was prepping for the spray, and had all the bodywork off, I decided to lengthen the pipes out the rear a full three inches. That move really brought on that badly serious attitude she began to take on.” “I have always loved Ducati’s propensity for drilling holes wherever they can fit them in. They call this ‘lightening,’ but let’s admit it: this is also another great design tactic. I drilled the hell out of everything. Where I could add a hole, I did. Another design tactic I have is to use Caterpillar Yellow a lot. I was on a UH1B in Vietnam, and I loved the markings that usually designated danger in that same yellow. Once I was finished, I put her up for sale, and it sold in two days, to a gentleman in Texas. That was the last I saw of her until my son let me know she had shown up in Brooklyn. Amazing…” Despite a missing block of time in the lifespan of this Ducati, the mystery of its birth was solved. While all of this could live on a spec sheet about upgrades, performance stats, and mechanical specifications, it is really about a photographer, two shop owners, a son, a patient wife, an eccentric builder, and finally, a publisher willing to tell the story. The tale of this single machine – chased from NYC to Whidbey Island through a tangled and intertwined circle – is unraveled, and finally complete. This article first appeared in issue 20 of Iron & Air Magazine, and is reproduced here under license | Words and Images by Stan Evans | stanevansphoto.com | janemotorcycles.com

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.…

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. Inspiration for the bike’s neo-punk vibe came from Loek’s travels—specifically his time in Tokyo, where he spent many a rainy night sampling food and beer with locals. One of the leading lights of the Portuguese custom scene, Unik Edition, was called in to handle the custom work. Loek picked the XSR700 because it’s fairly uncomplicated for a modern bike, and because it’s a hoot to ride. The idea was to retain its rideability—but nip and tuck it visually. Unik edition fabricated new tank covers for the bike, moving the visual weight forward and creating a more aggressive silhouette. The paint simple paint job is an exact match to a quick drawing that Loek whipped up on his iPad, which was only ever meant to be a rough guide. “First I was mad,” he tells us, “but then they said that they really tried a lot, but my drawing still came out on top!” Several parts from JVB-Moto complement the custom tank. These include the seat and rear fender, head- and taillights, front fork covers, radiator guard, and a bunch of smaller bits that help tidy the bike up. LSL bars adorn the cockpit, fitted with Puig levers, BikeMaster grips, a Yamaha R6 quick-throttle, and Motogadet mo.view mirrors. The full list of parts is exhaustive, but highlights include a K-Tech rear shock, Pirelli Scorpion STR Rally tires, and a titanium exhaust system from Akrapovič. There are no dB killers inside the twin mufflers, but there are electronically operated valves (from Druijff Racing) that help Loek keep his neighbors happy. A Hordpower intake and a Dynojet Power Commander tuner helped Unik eke more performance out of the already peppy XSR700. Loek specced the bike with an ABS on-off switch for off-road shenanigans, along with enduro-style footpegs from JVB-Moto. The sump guard, crash bars, and beefy side stand are SW-Motech parts. “I spent way more than the value I purchased the bike for—like, way more,” Loek admits. “Do I care? No. Do I enjoy the bike? Hell yes.” [Unik Edition | Images by Tiago Almeida] Honda CB750 by Big Dream Motorcycles Boasting the title of ‘The World’s First Superbike,’ the Honda CB750 has enthralled motorcyclists since it hit the scene in 1968. We’ve seen scores of CB750s on these pages—from extreme customs to thoughtful restomods. This 1978 Honda CB750K restomod is the work of Matt Wieckowski at Big Dream Motorcycles in Ontario. Dressed in a well-judged mix of modern and classic parts, it tips its hat to all the CBs that went before it. The CB750 wears the front end from a 1999 Yamaha R6, matched to 17” Excel rims laced to Cognito Moto hubs. Between the forks, brakes, upgraded rear shocks, and sportbike tires, the CB750 now handles a lot better than it did in 78. Matt rebuilt the Honda’s stonking four-cylinder engine with high-compression pistons, and upgraded the ignition to a newer Dyna unit. K&N pod filters replace the air box, while gasses exit via Ripple Rock Racers headers and a Hindle muffler, all made from stainless steel. Matt’s client is a big fan of vintage bikes, so Matt swapped the 1978-model CB750’s fuel tank out for a 1975 item. Older side covers were fitted too, and the bike retains its chunky seat, big fenders, and generous lighting. Matt finished the bike in an elegant white and red scheme, color-matching parts like the headlight ears as a throwback to the days when that was the norm on production Hondas. A smattering of red-anodized hardware ties it all together. [Source] Ducati Panigale V4 Tricolore Italia The practice of dressing an existing motorcycle from your catalog in new paint and selling it as a special edition is hardly new. But Ducati does it with more panache than most marques. Case in point; the new Ducati Panigale V4 Tricolore Italia looks spectacular. Limited to 163 units, the Ducati Panigale V4 Tricolore Italia is essentially a Panigale V4 S with a predominantly blue paint job and a handful of hop-up parts. MotoGP fans will recognize the livery—it’s the same one that Ducati Factory Racing employed at the 2024 Italian Grand Prix in Mugello, where two-time MotoGP world champion, Pecco Bagnaia, and his teammate, Enea Bastianini, finished first and second. The Ducati Panigale V4 Tricolore Italia recreates the livery, which was inspired by Italy’s national sports teams, faithfully. Italy’s official ‘Azzurro’ blue dominates the design, complemented by sections of white and traditional Tricolore details. As befitting a race replica, the fairing is splashed with sponsor logos. Underneath the graphics is a mostly ‘regular’ Ducati V4 S—a 216 hp superbike with electronically-adjusted Öhlins suspension and a dry weight of 188 kg [414.5 lbs]. It’s 3 kilos lighter than stock, thanks to the stunning carbon fiber wheels that replace the usual forged hoops. The Panigale V4 Tricolore Italia also gets a monstrous braking upgrade in the form of Brembo’s brand-spanking new Pro+ package. A first for production bikes, it uses two finned 338.5 mm Brembo T-Drive discs, a pair of GP4 Sport Production racing calipers with cooling fins, and carbon fiber air ducts. Other upgrades include a dry clutch, adjustable billet aluminum foot pegs, and Alcantara trim on the seat. Ducati has a host of track-only accessories for the bike too—including a matching kangaroo leather suit that’s exclusively available to Panigale V4 Tricolore Italia owners. Each Ducati Panigale V4 Tricolore Italia’s top yoke is adorned with its series number, a silhouette of the Mugello circuit, and Bagnaia’s lap record there. The tank sports the two-time champ’s signature, and each bike is shipped in a personalized wooden crate. If you’re wondering what it costs, don’t bother—all 163 units are already spoken for. [Ducati] 1991 Bimota TESI 1D 904 SR Produced in extremely limited numbers, the 1991 Bimota TESI 1D 904 SR is arguably the bike that put the boutique Italian motorcycle manufacturer on the map. Its fairings and livery were quintessential early-90s Italian design. And when you stripped them off, you’d find a 904 cc Ducati Desmodromic engine wedged between a pair of machined alloy chassis plates, with Bimota’s signature hub-centered steering system poking out the front. Bimota equipped the TESI 1D 904 SR with Marzocchi suspension, Marchesini wheels, and Brembo brakes. The Ducati mill also came with a six-speed transmission and Marelli fuel injection. With clip-ons linked to the hub-center steering system, a bold digital dashboard, and a solo seat with minimal padding, the TESI 1D 904 SR was a true show-stopper. (It was as if Bimota had built the bike that Ducati was too conservative to.) 34 years on, the TESI 1D 904 SR hasn’t lost an ounce of its charm. But owning one is a rare privilege—particularly one as clean as this example. Showing just 1 kilometer on the clock, this particular 1991 Bimota TESI 1D 904 SR has just been sold on Bring a Trailer by Moto Borgotaro—sparking a last-minute bidding war that pushed the final price to a staggering $78,000. [Source]

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.…

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. Builders were judged by their peers too—a carry-over from the AMD Championship. Although a total of 36 awards were given out on the day, the main competition was split over three classes—Modified Harley, Freestyle, and Performance. We’ve rounded up the top three finishers in the Modified Harley and Performance classes, and the top five in the Freestyle class. Modified Harley, 3rd: Harley-Davidson Dyna Super Glide by AX Studio Third place in the Modified Harley class went to AX Studio for this brilliantly old-school Harley-Davidson Dyna Super Glide. The AX Studio team set out to pair romantic classical details with bobber style, and we think they’ve nailed it. A Sportster tank was mounted on custom brackets to the Dyna frame, with a handcrafted leather seat made by Hoffman. The rear fender is custom and bobbed to suit, with plenty of clearance to cruise with the Bitubo rear shocks. The springer front end is bejeweled with a cast aluminum headlight, Performance Machine calipers, and custom caliper mounts. Kustom Tech levers were bolted to both sides of the bars, which sit proudly in front of the Motogadget motoscope mini embedded in the tank. A custom internal throttle system keeps the bars super clean. The forward controls were made by hand and feature an ingeniously hidden pair of Motogadget mo.blaze indicators. The air filter and the stainless steel exhaust are custom, as is the paint which was laid down by Goblin Paint. It’s a curious mish-mash of styles, but AX Studio has somehow made it work—and we dig it. Modified Harley, 2nd: Harley-Davidson Softail Breakout by Fangster And now for something you don’t often see on Bike EXIF—a raked-out custom Harley-Davidson Softail Breakout, modified by Fangster and exclusively featuring bolt-on components. Starting with a 2016 Softail Breakout, Fangster started by bolting on front fork covers, to which they mounted Highsider turn signals. An LED headlight peeks out from beneath a small cowl, which matches the large muscular tank. An Alcantara seat with blue contrast stitching matches the paint, which extends down the swingarm. The huge rear tire is covered with a rear fender with a fit so tight we don’t even think a credit card could slip in there. The bike wears a short, slash-cut exhaust (it is a Harley Breakout, after all). Modified Harley, 1st: Harley-Davidson Sportster XR1200 by SMF Custom As with most motorcycle shows, the modified Harley-Davidson category is vast and fierce. The Speed and Crafts show is no different, with this stunning Harley Sportster XR1200 by SMF Custom occupying the top step of the podium. Inspired by Pikes Peak hill climb and flat track race bikes, SMF Custom injected some racing style into this street-legal motorcycle. Upside-down forks and a rear shock from Gears Racing, plus alloy Ducati Scrambler wheels, set the stance. The bike wears a custom front numberplate and low-rise bars, while the motoscope pro dash and push buttons come from Motogadget. The aluminum tank, belly pan, and seat were all crafted by hand. The frame escaped serious modification, but a reinforced swingarm and custom five-spoke belt pulley were fitted out back. The footpegs are custom, as are the huge 360 mm front brake discs, squeezed tight by Brembo calipers. The fuel-injected Sporty was treated to a handmade titanium exhaust to unleash a few more ponies. All that was needed in the way of paint was a simple handpainted white stripe on the alloy tank and seat—the perfect finishing touch. Freestyle, 5th: BMW R80 by SMF Custom The BMW R80 is still a popular choice among custom builders—and SMF Custom shows us why. Their minimalist R80 café racer made the top five in Speed and Crafts’ Freestyle class, leaving the shop with two awards from the show. The bulky stock rear end is gone, with a custom cantilevered subframe and seat in its place. The stock wheels were painted gloss black and contrast cut, with the rear wheel converted from drum to disc brake. The perfectly proportioned front and rear fenders are custom. The front end was donated by a Ducati Monster, then lowered. Custom CNC yokes hold the forks in place, while a simple round LED headlight is nestled betwixt them. Clip-on bars are adorned with Motogadget bar end turn signals and grips, and Brembo levers. Other Motogadget parts include a mo.unit brain and a motoscope mini speedometer. The stock tank has been massaged into a more aggressive position and the black paint has been broken up with beautiful gold pin-striping. Rear-sets and a custom stainless steel exhaust round out this classic, tasteful build from SMF Custom. Freestyle, 4th: Suzuki BS125 by ZeroVector Fourth place in the Freestyle Class was awarded to ZeroVector for this custom Suzuki BS125. There isn’t a whole lot of the original BS125 left though, save for its engine—which has been rebuilt, and repackaged in a custom frame. A bespoke swingarm sits out back, with a matching set of 17” Unison wheels wrapped in Dunlop Sportmax Q-Lite tires. The bodywork, which was fabricated in a joint effort with Hide Work, was inspired by the wings and body of a manta ray. Kymco forks do duty up front, with a custom cowl that houses the headlight. The seat is integrated into the tank section, and finished with Alcantara upholstery by ChiRui Leather Custom. Modern handlebars are equipped with Rizoma turn signals, Motogadget switches, and ZeroVector’s own grips and risers. The brake discs are custom parts, while the calipers come from Hartford. The rear-set foot pegs and twin exhausts are, again, from ZeroVector’s catalog. The final result is a surprisingly delicate custom that lends a sense of speed, even while standing still. Freestyle, 3rd: Yamaha Ténéré 700 by Faber Studio x Rough Crafts Third place in the Freestyle Class was awarded to Faber Studio and Rough Crafts for a bike that is missing from the Yamaha factory lineup—a Ténéré 700 flat tracker. Yamaha’s CP2 engine is a real peach, and the crew wanted to showcase this in a lighter, more flickable package. The roller was fitted with a pair of 19” wheels from Roland Sands Design, a set of Öhlins forks, and an Öhlins rear shock, all of which lowered the bike. The bodywork is mostly adapted Yamaha YZ450 stuff, with a handmade fuel tank sitting front and center. Everything is low and skinny, allowing plenty of movement front and back. The Tenere 700 electronics and ignition remain, with everything hidden under the new bodywork. A set of Renthal Fatbars and Beringer controls are mounted on CNC-machined fork clamps, with the lighting supplied by a pair of LED projectors hidden neatly under the radiator. The guys couldn’t decide whether to mount the exhaust high like a dirt bike or low like a flat tracker, so they chose both. The big-bore custom stainless steel headers are capped with Rough Crafts-branded mufflers, which must sound incredible at full tilt. Faber Studio and Rough Crafts’ Yamaha Ténéré 700 flat tracker is long, low, and oh-so mean. (If you like to find out more about it, we featured it previously here.) Freestyle, 2nd: Honda DAX125 by Nemoto and JZO Crafts This pint-sized work of art was built as a collaboration between Nemoto’s Kunimoto Hidetoshi and JZO Crafts. The team took a Honda DAX125 and turned it up to eleven—and then took home second place in the Freestyle Class. Sat atop the Dax’s fuselage is a custom aluminum seat unit, topped with leather upholstery from Qi Rui. It lifts up to reveal an aluminum fuel tank. A titanium exhaust snakes its way through the DAX bodywork, exiting out the back through a handmade ducktail muffler. An Over Racing swingarm is suspended by a custom multi-link suspension system. The bike uses Racing Bros air suspension at both ends—so it sits lower when parked than it does when riding. The Nemoto CNC machine got a workout, as it pumped out the rear-set foot pegs, front fork covers, front fork lower brackets, and the rear sprocket holder. A custom front fairing houses a single Baja LED headlight. Hidden behind it are CNC fork clamps from GTR and a digital instrument panel. The custom paint was laid down by OneWay; another detail that makes this diminutive custom larger than life. (If you’d like to see more, we’ll have a full work-up on this Honda Dax in the coming week.) Freestyle, 1st: Harley-Davidson Sportster by GD Custom This incredible Harley-Davidson Sportster was built by GD Custom—and even if it’s not something you’d typically go for, the skill and craftsmanship required to build such a machine are otherworldly. We could stare at this wild creation for hours. The team at GD Custom wanted to blend brass, leather, cast alloys, and timber details, as a throwback to vintage industrial styles where form followed function. The hardtail Sporty rides on a classic set of spoked wheels with a 21” wheel up front, bouncing away inside the custom girder fork. Cast housings were made for the twin headlights, which sit in front of the custom handlebars. The fuel tank, rear fender, and myriad brackets all appear to be some sort of cast alloy and are expertly made. The Sportster engine sits proudly inside the frame, with neat brass details like the pushrod tubes and air intake. The custom leather seat features an interesting split design where the inside section is sprung but the outside is fixed to the rigid frame—a detail you don’t see too often. The oil tank is ingeniously integrated into the front of the frame, with copper lines running rearward to feed the engine. Every detail on the GD Custom Sportster appears handmade and well-considered. The amount of time and effort that went into the build must be astronomical, so it’s easy to see why it took home the gold. Performance, 3rd: BMW RnineT by Kuo CNC Design Kuo CNC Design took home the bronze trophy in the Performance class with this wild custom BMW R nineT. As their name suggests, they specialize in CNC design—and they’re clearly bloody good at it. Designed around the concept of ‘mechanical soul,’ the Kuo CNC Design R nineT combines mechanical aesthetics with elements of steampunk and anime. Clip-on handlebars, a set of custom fork clamps, and a slew of Motogadget and Magura parts make up the new cockpit area. The bike rolls on a gorgeous set of custom alloy wheels, which look so good you’d think they were genuine BMW accessories. Rear set pegs and a shortened subframe push the rider into an aggressive position, but a new Öhlins rear shock keeps it comfortable. The intake features a pair of forward-facing pod filters, with the engine sucking air through custom titanium intakes and ejecting it via a titanium exhaust with Akrapovič muffler. The rocker covers feature custom engraving, inspired by the crew’s love of anime. The bodywork was painted by hand and is the standout feature of the bike. It’s loud, but it still ties into the other black and red components of the bike in a subtle way. We bet it looks even better riding down a sunny country lane. Performance, 2nd: Ducati Monster 937 by Chun Hsiung Motorbike The runner-up of the Performance class at Speed and Crafts was this Ducati Monster 937, modified by Chun Hsiung Motorbike. The inspiration behind the modifications was the 2022 Lamborghini Huracan STO, a VW Group stablemate of Ducati. The Huracan’s baby blue paint was splashed over the Monster—but Chun chose Ducati red instead of orange for the highlights. A tiny bikini fairing with a Puig windscreen was bolted on above a new set of Öhlins FGRT301 front forks. A set of magnesium M10RS Corse wheels from Marchesini were fitted, while a single-sided swingarm was magically bolted onto the back end, to show off the rear Marchesini hoop in all its glory. Low bars were added, along with some top-shelf Brembo goodies. Chun installed a Spark titanium exhaust too, which ties into the blue bodywork quite well. A dry slipper clutch from STM was also fitted, because it is a Ducati, after all. The upholstery matches the hexagonal pattern found in the Huracan, with a small belly pan fitted down low to tie things together. With all the top-shelf parts and high-performance Ducati vibe (note the sneaky winglets hanging off the bodywork), Chun has injected a healthy dose of Panigale style into the Monster. Performance, 1st: Triumph Speed Triple 1200RR by Eric The winner of the Performance Class category was a talented gentleman named Eric, who modified his personal Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RR for the show. Eric wanted to retain a fully compliant road license for his Speed Triple, so he chose evolution over revolution. The key focus was removing the front fairing to make the bike appear visually lighter, with a single round LED headlight mounted in its place. The headlight sits on a custom bracket and is adorned with a Triumph headlight protector. A pair of Kineo tubeless spoked wheels were fitted, and Eric retained the tasteful smattering of Triumph carbon fiber pieces. Almost hidden from view is the gorgeous custom exhaust system. The pie-cut titanium headers snake their way under the bike and terminate in a single Zard muffler. The exhaust runs low, so the passenger pegs were deleted. The rear end was simplified with a tail tidy and the seat was upholstered to Eric’s exemplary taste (kudos for the flash of houndstooth fabric). The bike was then finished in a Triumph Bobber TFC paint scheme, which suits the Speed Triple 1200 RR quite nicely. Sometimes it’s the simple modifications that make the biggest difference. Speed and Crafts | Images by Kazuo Matsumoto (venue) and Weeber Photography (individual bikes)

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Customers can choose from one of two inspired collections or go straight for a bespoke creation with options for a one-of-one model.

Nissan announced a new electric SUV that will go into production in 2027, and the boxy shape suggests this model may be an indirect successor to the Xterra.

We tested the top leather cleaners on the market to find the best choice to revive your leather seats.

What We Know So Far

These EVs aren't for sale yet but are in various stages from concept to production—and perhaps a few may never see the light of day.

2025 Mercedes-Benz G550 exterior photos.

Car Design Resources, News and Tutorials

The Chery New Journeo Concept is a futuristic multi-purpose vehicle developed at the Chery Advanced Design Center Europe in Raunheim, Germany and presented at the 2024 Guangzhou Motor Show.

MG Motor UK has confirmed the MGS5 EV, an all-electric SUV debuting this Spring. Built on the modular scalable platform (MSP), it will focus on performance, efficiency, and interior space.

BMW has unveiled the iX, an all-electric Sports Activity Vehicle (SAV) featuring a redesigned kidney grille, slim LED headlights, and a seamless aerodynamic profile. It is equipped with the latest eDrive technology, and achieves a WLTP range of up to 701 km (435 miles).

The EV4 is designed to broaden the brand’s EV lineup, offering a fresh take on the compact electric segment with a strong focus on design and aerodynamics. The EV4 follows Kia’s Opposites United design philosophy, characterized by sharp lines, bold technical details, and a balance of contrasting elements. Both models feature a distinctive EV Tiger […]

The new training course by CGMasters explains advanced SubD (subdivision surfaces) modeling techniques for creating car 3D models in Blender with high quality surfaces.

Stellantis has launched the new edition of its Drive for Design Contest for US high school students. The deadline is April 12, 2024 and the top prize is an internship at Ram Truck design studio.

Polestar has launched its 2024 Design Contest in collaboration with Hot Wheels tasking designers to take inspiration from the imagination of their youth.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the iconic GTO, Ferrari has announced a series of events in the Italian Dolomites in early October 2024.

Sketch Renders and photos from the design development process of the Rolls-Royce Arcadia Droptail one-off. Check the article here.

For their newly formed academic partnership, IAAD. and ArtCenter College of Design have launched “9649 Design Talks”. The first event - open to the public - is a talk by Pininfarina Chief Design Office Davide Amantea. The talk takes place Wednesday 6 March in Turin.

Breaking Car News, Scoops & Reviews

The chief pleaded guilty to damaging the rare Nissan, and now he’ll have to fight to avoid paying half a million over it

A fire chief vandalized a rare Nismo 270R, pleaded guilty, and paid some restitution. Now, the owner is suing the vandal for $500,000, claiming a pending car sale fell through. It’s unclear whether the owner has legal grounds to demand such high-value damages. Rare Japanese sports cars tend to attract attention, whether it’s from collectors, fans, or, apparently, disgruntled fire chiefs with a grudge. And the Nissan 270R Nismo is one of the rarest cars on earth. Based on the S14 Silvia, only 30 were ever made, and none were officially sold in the USA. That makes the one owned by Mark Bahna in Piscataway, NJ, just that much more valuable. Unfortunately, it’s a bit less desirable after the local fire chief, threw buckets of rocks on the sports car. Now, Bahna is suing for a cool $500,000. The incident happened on May 4, 2024. Upset about how rainwater drained between the firehouse and Bahna’s property, fire chief Josh Scolnick decided the best solution was to gather up rocks and dump multiple buckets on Bahna’s parked Nissan. According to reports, Scolnick later pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and was ordered to pay $7,973 in restitution. More: Who Wants To Be The First To Pop This 590-Mile Nissan 240SX’s Oversteer Cherry? Of course, what he didn’t know was that Bahna was allegedly in the midst of selling the car. In fact, he was going to let it go for $500,000 according to MyCentralJersey. After the rock-dumping incident, the deal fell through, and Bahna is still trying to offload the car. He says that to bring it back to its value, it needs a complete restoration, so he’s suing for half a million. Is It Really Worth Half a Million? It’s worth noting here that $500,000 is a ton of money for one of these. Yes, they’re very rare, but examples of it going for anywhere near that much are basically non-existent. In fact, the most recent public sale we could find happened back in July of 2024. That car had aftermarket modifications and a little over 82,000 miles (131966 km) on it. It sold for HK$785,000, which works out to around US$107,000 at current exchange rates. Another one reportedly sold years ago in Australia for AU$84,000, or about US$52,690 at the time. Of course, importing and registering a 270R in the US isn’t exactly simple, so a stateside example like Bahna’s could fetch more—assuming it’s in pristine condition. Hopefully, the owner is made whole after all.

The injured man drove himself to a hospital and was treated and released

A Trump supporter was attacked at a Tesla protest in Idaho over the weekend. A 70-year-old man allegedly hit a 49-year-old with his car, after making an “obscene gesture.” The elderly man was arrested and is now facing charges of aggravated battery. Last weekend’s Tesla Takedown was the largest yet with over 200 scheduled events taking place across the country as well as internationally in Australia, France, Germany, Norway, and the United Kingdom. While many of these protests appear to have been peaceful, things took an ugly turn in Meridian, Idaho. According to NBC News, approximately 30 protesters and 200 supporters converged at a Tesla dealership in the city on Saturday. While specifics are hazy, a 49-year-old reportedly arrived on the scene in a truck decked out in “pro-Trump flags.” More: Trump Supporter Pulls Taser At Tesla Protesters, But Grandma Isn’t Having It The unnamed man then parked and left his vehicle. Shortly thereafter, 70-year-old Christopher Talbot allegedly made an “obscene gesture” and struck the man with his car. This appears to have happened at low speeds as the victim was able to drive himself to a nearby hospital, where he was treated and released. Talbot was arrested and reportedly charged with aggravated battery. According to the Schofield and Young law firm, aggravated battery is a felony that is punishable by up to 15 years of imprisonment as well as a $50,000 (£38,708 / €46,216) fine. The department asked witnesses to come forward and reminded people to “respect everyone’s right to protest and express their 1st Amendment Rights without resorting to violence.” Earlier this month, there was a similar, but less severe incident, where a Florida man reportedly drove his Nissan onto a sidewalk and into a crowd of protestors at slow speed. No one was injured in that incident, but it resulted in charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent. Stopped by the #TeslaTakedown rally/protest outside #Tesla #HenriettaNY. It was peaceful, with a few Tesla owners & #Trump supporters driving by voicing their opinions. Love #FreeSpeech! #ROC #RochesterNY #America #FLX #WNY pic.twitter.com/p5zZpHiiJh — Hank Kula (@Hkula1191) March 28, 2025

This super SUV was likely stolen, and without a VIN, it can't return to normal life.

Urus Performante declared a total loss after thieves removed its windshield VIN plate. Salvage title issued despite no mechanical damage and just 52 miles on the odometer. Auction listing includes keys and no reported issues but legal registration is complicated. If you’ve ever wanted to own a Lamborghini Urus but weren’t too picky about paperwork (or legality) there’s one up for grabs that might check most of the right boxes, minus a few small details like a vehicle identification number. More: First Crashed Dodge Charger Daytona EV Surfaces The Urus is, somewhat ironically, the brand’s most popular model. It’s a towering, 657hp wedge of luxury SUV excess—and thieves seem to like it just as much as buyers do. One such yellow example was snatched not long after it rolled off the lot. Somewhere along the way, someone decided to remove the VIN plate from the dash, and just like that, the car went from showroom star to insurance write-off. Now it’s headed to a salvage auction, where a lucky bidder will get a Lamborghini that looks like a million bucks (well, closer to $250,000 new) but comes with a title that screams “complicated project.” Not Your Average Salvage Case Such auction typically consist of cars that have significant damage. Think of things like caved-in C-pillars, front clips mangled beyond recognition, or an EV with a really big scratch perhaps. This particular Urus might be the best-looking salvage car I’ve ever seen, and I don’t just mean superficially. This isn’t a flood-damaged car, nobody blew up the engine, and the cabin isn’t torn to shreds by a jealous lover. Instead, it’s got that title because it doesn’t have a VIN number. As a result, it can’t be legally registered in most places. In states where it’s possible to do so, the new owner would have to get a new VIN tag, a VIN verification, and then still deal with the “salvage” branding on the title. Notably, it’s likely that the car has VIN numbers in other places, like under the hood, in the body-shell stamping, and on the undercarriage. Nevertheless, most government agencies want to see it under the windshield before issuing a registration. More: Never Mind The LM002 – This Urus Could Be The Ultimate Lamborghini Off-Roader Of course, for those willing to jump through some hoops, this car might be worth whatever it goes for. After all, it has just 52 miles on the odometer, comes with the key, and has no mechanical issues listed by the auction house. The winner will at the very least end up with an incredibly fun track toy. The Urus won’t cut up like a proper supercar, but it’s no slouch either. This Performante version has the same 657 horsepower ( kW) we enjoyed when testing the Urus S last year. It also went on a diet compared to the rest of the lineup and gets a lower ride height and more aero bits. Whether it’s worth the bureaucratic headache is up to the bidder. But if you can live with the red tape, you might just walk away with the best deal in Lamborghini’s lineup—VIN or not. Check out the listing here. Photos IAAI

Pennsylvania town uses squiggly road markings to slow speeding drivers in residential shortcut

A town in Pennsylvania has opted to use squiggly lines and delineators to slow drivers down. Motorists appear to be using the neighborhood street as a shortcut between two main roads. Residents wanted officials to act as they claimed Grays Lane had become a “speedway.” The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says speeding is involved in approximately one-third of all motor vehicle fatalities and speeding killed 12,151 people in 2022. Given the dangers, governments and law enforcement have come up with a number of methods to deter the practice. However, few raise as many eyebrows as what Montgomery Township did. The small Pennsylvania community of around 25,000 people decided to paint one local road with squiggly lines. The end result makes Grays Lane look like a sad surrealist painting. More: Australia Could Soon Have Glow In The Dark Road Markings While drivers can currently ignore the lines and continue driving straight, that won’t be the case for much longer. The township noted delineators will be going up soon and this suggests the road will be lined by plastic columns, which will force drivers to slow down and follow the winding path. Of course, that’s the point as the township wants drivers to slow down in the residential neighborhood. Residents are seemingly onboard with this as officials reportedly received multiple complaints about people speeding down the road. Officials didn’t elaborate, but a map of the area shows that Grays Lane can be used as a shortcut between two main roads. If you don’t cut across there, you could have to travel up to 1.5 miles (2.4 km), depending on which way you’re traveling. Thanks to the changes, Grays Lane will likely become a far less appealing shortcut. Furthermore, drivers that do take that route will now likely be traveling slower. H/T to NBC

You could buy a new Corvette Stingray for the price of this Tourbillon’s upgraded instrument cluster

Bugatti Tourbillon buyer adds nearly $1 million in extras to base hypercar price. The $360,000 carbon finish alone exceeds the price of many luxury sports cars. First deliveries of the hybrid V16-powered hypercar will officially begin next year. It’s no secret that Bugatti doesn’t do “subtle,” but even by the brand’s usual standards, the Tourbillon is shaping up to be a masterclass in excess. The company plans to build just 250 examples of its new 16-cylinder hybrid hypercar, and now that customers are starting to spec their orders, we’re getting a better look at just how high the price tag can climb. In fact, one recently leaked order sheet reveals it’s entirely possible to stack nearly $1 million in options onto the already staggering base price—bringing the grand total to an eye-watering $5.56 million. Read: Bugatti Tourbillon’s New EPS Package Takes Exhausts To A Whole New Extreme That spec sheet briefly surfaced on Instagram before being swiftly deleted, likely because Bugatti wasn’t too keen on the world seeing just how deep the upcharge rabbit hole goes. But the internet being what it is, nothing ever really vanishes. TheSupercarBlog managed to preserve a copy, and the details make for a fascinating read. The Tourbillon in question was configured with the new Equipe Pur Sang package, a $240,000 upgrade that includes eight—yes, eight—exhaust pipes and updated aerodynamic bodywork. And somehow, that’s not even the most expensive line item. A Paint Option That Costs More Than A Supercar The priciest single add-on for this Tourbillon? The Matt Vermillion Carbon and Matt Red exterior finish, which bumps the total up by $360,000. Yes, that’s just for the paint. And if you’re thinking, “Well, maybe that includes some other things,” it doesn’t. For context, that’s more than the base price of a new Ferrari 296 that starts at around $347,000! There’s also the Sky View glass roof panels, an option familiar from the Chiron, which now cost $75,000, or $10,000 more than before. The buyer also selected the ‘Performance Noir’ mesh grille inserts for $25,000 and chose a black exhaust coating for an extra $15,000. Other options include $20,000 duo-tone wheels, a $15,000 logo on the rear wing, $15,000 for an interior carbon fiber package, and $65,000 worth of upgrades for a highly configured instrument cluster with rose gold accents. Having an Elephant logo stitched into the headrests adds $10,000, and a luggage set has also been ordered, for $36,000. At this level, spending $10,000 or $20,000 on a Bugatti probably feels like rounding up. However, let’s not forget that you can buy a brand new Nissan Versa for under $18,000 in the US, less than the wheels of this Bugatti. Heck, you could buy a Chevy Corvette Stingray for the same amount this customer is spending on a customized instrument cluster. Photos TheSupercarblog / bugattitourbillon.registry

The Zagato special wears Scorching Black paint over a black and tan leather interior

Just 99 Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Shooting Brakes were built for select customers. Only 11 examples of this rare $877,000 Shooting Brake made it to the United States. This low-mileage example is painted in black and driven just 3,500 miles since new. Designing a truly balanced car—one that looks as striking from the rearview as it does head-on—is a challenge many automakers politely sidestep. Zagato, however, leaned into that challenge and nailed it when it partnered with Aston Martin on four special editions of the Vanquish. Among them, the Shooting Brake stands out as arguably the most beautiful of the bunch. Only 99 examples of this stunning creation were ever built, and just 11 made it to American shores. The one currently up for auction on Bring a Trailer is painted in a menacing shade of Scorching Black and has just 3,500 miles (5,632 km) on the clock. When new, it carried a sticker price of $877,916—a staggering figure, especially considering it shares most of its mechanicals with a standard Vanquish. Read: This Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Shooting Brake Is A $900k Rolling Piece Of Art Despite the car’s rarity and its price tag, these have not yet turned into collector’s cars as many would have expected. In 2024, this very same Zagato was sold on Bring a Trailer for $468,000. At the start of this year, it was sold by Barrett-Jackson, fetching $440,000 at its Scottsdale auction. Zagato Style, With a Practical Twist Photos BaT To turn the Vanquish coupe into a Shooting Brake, Zagato used some of the rear structure from a Rapide, allowing it to extend the car’s wheelbase and give it the gorgeous shape. The front has been revised with a new grille, splitter, and daytime running lights, while on the sides are new skirts and 20-inch five-spoke alloy wheels. Zagato’s special touches continue in the cabin with heated and ventilated seats clad in Pure Black and Sahara Tan Bridge of Weir leather. There’s also Z-pattern stitching on the seat backs, lower bolsters, and door panels. The Aston Martin also rocks a Bang & Olufsen BeoSound audio system and a carpeted rear cargo area. Under the hood, the Shooting Brake is powered by a 5.9-liter naturally aspirated V12 producing 580 hp and 465 lb-ft (630 Nm) of torque. It’s paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission and a limited-slip differential, sending power exclusively to the rear wheels. No hybrid gimmicks, no electric assistance—just a big, naturally aspirated engine doing what it was born to do. For anyone in the market for something a little more special than your average Aston, the listing that you can check out for yourself over here is worth a look. Photos BaT

The US President believes price increases will drive people to buy more American products

President Trump said he “couldn’t care less” if automakers increase prices in response to his tariffs. He believes a price increase on imported models will get people to buy American-made cars. The tariffs are slated to go into effect on April 2 and popular vehicles could cost thousands more. On inauguration day, the second Trump administration proclaimed President Biden’s “destructive policies inflicted an historic inflation crisis on the American people.” Fast forward two months and Trump’s tariffs could cause prices on popular vehicles to climb by more than $16,000. That’s a staggering amount and Trump “couldn’t care less.” Speaking to NBC News, the President said “I hope they raise their prices, because if they do, people are gonna buy American-made cars. We have plenty.” More: These Popular Cars Could See Prices Skyrocket By Up To $16,000 After Tariffs Trump went on to say his message to automakers is “Congratulations, if you make your car in the United States, you’re going to make a lot of money. If you don’t, you’re going to have to probably come to the United States, because if you make your car in the United States, there is no tariff.” Of course, vehicles made in the United States use foreign parts and these are slated to get hit by a 25% tariff as well. This means prices will likely rise across the board, regardless of whether or not vehicles are produced domestically or internationally. The impact remains to be seen, but tariffs are paid by companies and not foreign governments as the administration has claimed. These firms typically pass on the added cost to consumers, although they might absorb some of the impact to salvage sales. Trump also implied this won’t be a temporary move as he said the tariffs will be permanent. He went on to claim, “The world has been ripping off the United States for the last 40 years and more. And all we’re doing is being fair, and frankly, I’m being very generous.” Lead image White House / YouTube

Named the Mazda EZ-60 in China, it will likely arrive in Europe as the CX-6e

Mazda just dropped a new teaser focused on its upcoming electric EZ-60 crossover. The EZ-60 closely resembles the Arata concept shown at last year’s Beijing Auto Show. It’s expected to be offered in Europe as the CX-6e in pure electric and range-extender forms. Concept cars are all fun and games, but the percentage that make it to market in original form is very low. That figure ticked up just a touch today, though, as it appears like Mazda is going to bring the Arata concept to production almost unchanged. The production version will be called the EZ-60, at least in China, though it will wear a different badge in other markets. Mazda is hoping this one lands better than the underwhelming MX-30. You might recall we recently reported that the European version of this electric SUV might end up being called the CX-6e. That tracks, because Mazda just pulled a similar move with the Chinese-market EZ-6 sedan, a car co-developed with its Chinese partner Changan, that’s being rebranded as the 6e in Europe. Since it’s built in China, it won’t be sold in North America. More: Everything We Know About The Mazda CX-6e Electric SUV Mazda released a short teaser to hype the EZ-60. The video shows the SUV’s silhouette rendered in digital wind tunnel graphics. In short, this crossover looks identical in profile to the Arata concept from the 2024 Beijing Auto Show. That car was aimed at the Chinese market and more specifically, the Tesla Model Y. Mazda called its design theme “soulful + futuristic x modern.” In its post about the teaser video, Mazda stated, “Control the wind to shape the invisible, drive the electricity to the future.” No doubt, any EV benefits from good aerodynamic design and minimal drag. Clearly, Mazda is emphasizing that with the EZ-60. A closer look at the teaser shows a long, teardrop-style rear section that should help cut through the air more efficiently. It’s noticeably more stretched out than current Mazda SUVs like the CX-50, CX-70, or CX-90. Inside, the EZ-60 will likely borrow heavily from the EZ-6 sedan’s cabin layout, which could mean a clean, minimalist setup with a few upscale touches to give it some premium feel. Shared DNA with Deepal At this point, Mazda hasn’t released drivetrain specs, but we have a decent idea of what to expect when details do land. Like the EZ-6 / 6e sedan, the EZ-60 will ride on Changan’s EPA1 platform, the same architecture underpinning the Deepal (a.k.a. Shenlan) SL03 sedan and the S7 SUV. That likely means the EZ-60 will share more than just a few bolts with the Deepal S7. Expect similar powertrain options and tech, including both all-electric and range-extender variants. Related: New Mazda EZ-6 Is China’s Electric Mazda6 Sedan Assuming it follows the EZ-6 / 6e’s formula, the EZ-60 / CX-6e may come in a standard E-Skyactiv EV setup with 254 horsepower and a 68.8 kWh battery, good for an estimated 300 miles (480 km) of range. There could also be a long-range version offering 241 hp and an 80 kWh battery, stretching the range to about 342 miles (550 km). For buyers not ready to go full electric, a range-extender version is also likely, using a 1.5-liter gasoline engine paired with a smaller battery pack to provide backup power when needed. That’s the general roadmap for now. As soon as Mazda reveals more concrete details, we’ll keep you posted.

Renault is coming to Nissan's aid with a series of moves aimed to help their alliance partner

Renault and Nissan have struck a deal, which aims to help the troubled Japanese automaker. Nissan can back out of their $649 million Ampere investment and sell some Renault stock. The company will also be getting a restyled version of the Renault Twingo in 2026. The Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance has been put through the wringer and things appeared to be on shaky ground. However, Renault and Nissan have now announced a series of “strategic projects.” Starting with the fun stuff, Nissan will be getting a version of the upcoming Renault Twingo. It’s slated to arrive in 2026 and will feature unique styling created by the Japanese automaker. More: Renault’s Updated Twingo Concept Hints At Next Year’s €20,000 EV Little else is known about the model at this point, but the Twingo will be launched next year and cost less than €20,000 ($21,639). The EV is also expected to feature a 7-inch digital instrument cluster and a 10.1-inch infotainment system. Outside of Europe, Renault plans to take over Renault Nissan Automotive India Private Ltd by acquiring the 51% stake currently held by Nissan. This transaction is expected to be completed later this year and Renault sees the move as a “key opportunity” to expand its international business. Speaking of which, four new models are expected to be built at the Chennai plant. While Renault is taking over, Nissan will continue to have a presence in India. As such, the Chennai plant will continue building models such as the Nissan Magnite. Five-seat Nissan C-SUV that will be built at Chennai plant On the corporate side of things, Renault and Nissan have amended their alliance agreement to allow for greater flexibility of cross-shareholdings. In particular, the minimum shareholding threshold will be lowered from 15% to 10%. The change could allow Nissan to sell part of their Renault stake to raise funds for their restructuring. While it remains to be seen if Nissan will do this, “any sale of shares would have to be made within a coordinated and orderly process with the other company, in which such other company or a designated third-party benefits from a right of first offer.” Speaking of giving Nissan flexibility, the company is being released from its commitment to invest in Ampere. The investment was announced in July of 2023 and would have seen Nissan fork over as much as €600 ($649 / £502) million. The amendments and termination of the Ampere investment are subject to certain conditions being fulfilled, but these are expected to occur by the end of May. When this happens, Nissan should be in better shape for the future. Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo remarked, “As a long-time partner of Nissan within the Alliance and as its main shareholder, Renault Group has a strong interest in seeing Nissan turnaround its performance as quickly as possible. Pragmatism and business-oriented mindset were at the core of our discussions to identify the most effective ways of supporting their recovery plan while developing value-creating business opportunities for Renault Group.”

Canada previously rejected BYD investments but Trump’s tariffs now put auto industry jobs at risk

The country has been cautious of Chinese companies for national security reasons. BYD could bring its affordable electric vehicles to Canada, but there are no guarantees. After being rejected by Canada, BYD has looked elsewhere for its investments. As Canada braces for the impact of steep 25% tariffs on vehicles it exports to the United States, a missed opportunity is coming back into focus. Chinese automaker BYD reportedly expressed interest in investing in Canadian manufacturing but backed off after encountering significant pushback. With Trump’s new tariffs set to take effect on April 2, some are now wondering if Canada might need BYD more than it realized. More: Canada Freezes Musk’s $43M Tesla EV Rebate Claim After Rapid-Fire Sales, Bans Future Subsidies China’s ambassador to Canada, Wang Di, said moves made by the Canadian government have “seriously dampened” the confidence of Chinese companies to invest locally. For example, three Chinese mineral firms have been ordered to divest their assets, TikTok’s Canadian branch has been closed, and AI firm DeepSeek has been banned, all in the name of national security. Why Canada Shut the Door on BYD This hardline approach toward Chinese firms—including BYD—has been framed as a move to protect domestic industry, ensure national security, and align with US concerns. American officials, including former President Biden, had warned that Chinese automakers might try to use Canada as a backdoor into the US market. But with President Trump reimposing tariffs, the rationale for walling off Chinese investment may be shifting. A recent report by The Logic suggests that if US-Canada trade alignment is no longer a priority, Canada might do well to reconsider its position. Letting BYD invest could bring clear benefits, especially with Canadian auto jobs now potentially at risk. “BYD had carefully thought about coming to Canada to make investment. But they met huge difficulties, restrictions and obstruction, and they had to give up the idea of investing in Canada. And I heard that they have moved to other countries, and they have been very successful there,” Wang Di told The Globe and Mail. Read: Chinese-Owned EV Brands Gain Momentum In Europe, Collectively Outsell Tesla “If BYD was successful in investing in Canada, then I think the result would be the Canadian consumers would have been able to enjoy the EVs with the latest technology, with very good quality and with a cheaper price. Isn’t that a good thing?,” he added. Too Little, Too Late? If Trump’s tariffs force car manufacturers to shift more of their production to the United States, countless jobs could be lost throughout Canada’s auto manufacturing sector. Now, it’s Canada that may need BYD more than the Chinese automaker needs it. However, that ship might have already sailed. According to BYD spokesperson Frank Girardot, BYD does not have any plans for manufacturing in Canada and will simply continue to service the company’s buses that some transit operators in the country use.

Legal experts question whether Musk-related messages qualify as protected political speech

Tesla vehicles in D.C. were vandalized with Elon Musk and anti-government graffiti. Messages included sarcastic pro-Musk slogans caught clearly by Sentry Mode cams. Washington police may pursue hate crime charges tied to political bias against Teslas. It’s no secret that Tesla has become something of a cultural lightning rod, whether for its tech, its CEO, or the political baggage that now seems welded to its aluminum panels. And in the current climate, even scratching a Tesla could apparently land you in serious legal territory, at least in Washington, D.C., where the politics are as tangled as the city’s traffic circles. Read: Trump Vows To Buy A Tesla After ‘Radical Left Lunatics’ Boycott Brand Elon Musk and Tesla have grown so closely associated with the Trump-era political ecosystem that some officials in the nation’s capital are reportedly considering whether vandalism against the brand could be prosecuted as a hate crime. D.C. has long been a Democratic stronghold, but Mayor Muriel Bowser appears to be making moves in response to mounting pressure from the Trump administration, particularly after Trump’s recent threat to assert control over the District. Last week, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police issued a press release announcing they are searching for two suspects who allegedly defaced Tesla vehicles in the district. According to the authorities, they “wrote political hate speech on to the victims’ Tesla vehicles then fled the scene.” The exterior cameras of the cars caught clear images of both suspects, although they were wearing sunglasses. Vandalism, But Make It Political Unlike some incidents elsewhere in the country, the Teslas weren’t torched, overturned, or otherwise wrecked. The damage was cosmetic, limited to what amounts to political graffiti. What’s perhaps the strangest thing about the whole situation is that much of the “hate speech” graffiti on the cars wasn’t even that dramatic. According to Politico, which reviewed police reports, several sarcastic messages were left on the Teslas. These included statements like “Let’s do away with the administrative state! Buy a tesla!” while another said, “Go Doge I support Musk killing the dept of education.” Photo Thanos Pappas / Carscoops Another read, “I like what Musk is doing,” while one stated, “I Love Musk and hate the Fed Gov.t.” Possibly the most provocative was: “Ask me about my support of Nazis.” It’s a grab bag of chaotic energy, part satire, part performance art, part political Rorschach test. Washington D.C. is one of just a few jurisdictions that describe “political affiliation,” with race, sex, and religion as categories of bias, meaning locals cannot discriminate against someone for being a Democrat or Republican. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t shun someone for their opinion. “I would have a hard time seeing how anti-Elon Musk graffiti would constitute political affiliation discrimination,” Arizona State University law professor Michael Selmi said. “The real issue is there’s very little case law interpreting political affiliation in D.C. or in the few other jurisdictions that include it.” Anyone who scrawls a swastika on a Tesla has obviously committed a hate crime https://t.co/EJFkYxDHrV — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 31, 2025

Manual coupe with a freshly built 5.6-liter V12 and a Supersprint exhaust to let the music flow sells for surprisingly sensible money

A 1995 BMW 850CSI just sold on Bring a Trailer for a surprisingly low $61,000. The 6-speed manual coupe had a newly-built V12 installed less than six months ago. Even allowing for a 1990s accident on its record, this CSI looked like a great buy. BMW’s original 850i had a lot going for it on paper, including a design that referenced the old M1 supercar and V12 power the M1 was too early to enjoy. But it wasn’t until the more powerful, more driver-focused 850CSI rocked up in mid-1994 that the 8-series lived up to its promise. Which is why most CSis cost big bucks, this auction bargain being a rare exception. A 1995 car with 81,000 miles (130,000 km) on its digital odometer, the black-on-black coupe sold for an incredibly reasonable $61,000 on Bring a Trailer, the online auction platform where people can often end up paying top money, and sometimes too much money, for cars. Related: BMW 858 CSL Is A V10 Restomod Where Past And Future Collide According to Hagerty’s valuation data, a condition #2 (excellent) example of the 850CSi would be worth $162,000 and a #3 (good), $108,000, with #4 (fair) cars netting $54,100. Sure, close inspection reveals a few very minor aesthetic defects on this one, but the overall condition of the paint and leather interior, plus the fact that it received a freshly built 5.6-liter V12 less than six months ago surely points towards a six-figure valuation. So why was it so cheap? If you were nitpicking, you might complain that the V12 block used in the rebuild isn’t the original (though the original is included in the sale). And more problematic for some collectors, the history does contain evidence of an accident back in 1995 before the car was even delivered to its first owner. To give the CSi the bite reviewers moaned the regular 850i lacked, BMW engineers opened up the V12’s capacity, bumped the compression ratio, and fitted new cams, new exhausts, and a new ECU, among other things. The sole transmission option was a six-speed manual. The original 850i made 296 hp (300 PS) from a 5.0 V12, but the CSi pushed out 372 hp (377PS) in the US, dropping the zero to 60 mph (97 kmh) time from 6.3 seconds to just 5.3 seconds, according to Car and Driver. You even got the word ‘Motorsport’ embossed in the door handles to tell you which BMW department was responsible for the uprated engine and tweaked chassis, and to remind you this was no ordinary 8-series: only around 225 cars were sold in America in a two-year run. Do you think this CSi’s new owner got a bargain? Leave a comment and let us know. The auction has finished, but you can still see the listing here.

On the other hand, Lucid recorded the industry’s steepest losses, despite continued backing from international investment sources

There are some other EV brands getting close to profits, including Xpeng and Leapmotor. Tesla posted a 7.2 percent margin in 2024, narrowly ahead of BYD’s improving 6.4 percent. Lucid reported a staggering -374 percent margin, leading the industry in unsustainable losses. Electric vehicles might be the future, but profitability? That’s still a rare luxury in the EV world. An interesting study has revealed that just four EV-only brands are currently operating at a profit, while many others continue to bleed money at impressive rates. It probably won’t shock anyone that Tesla and BYD are leading the charge, but some of the other top-performing names are a bit less expected. Read: Only 1 In 7 Of Today’s Chinese EV Brands Will Be Profitable By 2030, Analysts Claim The study examined the operating income ratios of major EV brands and found that in 2024, Tesla reported an operating margin of 7.2%, putting it just ahead of BYD at 6.4%. However, while Tesla’s margin has declined since 2023, BYD’s has been climbing. If that trajectory holds, as many analysts expect, BYD could soon surpass Tesla in operating profitability. Vertical Integration Pays Off Key to the growth of both of these brands is that they are vertically integrated, helping them to scale and reach profitability sooner. The only other two brands analyzed by the study to have reached profitability are China’s Li Auto and the Series Group, which includes the Seres, Aito, and Landian brands. While none of the other EV brands analyzed turned a profit in 2024, a few are edging closer. Zeekr, part of the Geely group, reported an operating margin of -8.5% last year. But with sales on the rise, it may soon begin delivering profits for its parent company. Xpeng and Leapmotor are also moving in the right direction, having more than halved their losses between 2023 and 2024. Nio is another important player in China’s EV market, but not a profitable one. Its 2024 operating margin came in at over -30%, suggesting it still has a long climb ahead before it sees black ink on its balance sheet. Tesla Stands Alone Outside China Tesla remains the only non-Chinese EV brand to hit profitability. Polestar hasn’t crossed that threshold yet, though it did manage to reduce its losses in 2024. Similarly, Rivian also remains in the red, though like Polestar, it continues to receive substantial external funding. At the other end of the spectrum, Lucid holds the dubious honor of running the steepest losses in the EV sector. According to data from Rho Motion, its 2024 operating margin was -374%. That’s an improvement from over -500% the year before, but still, not exactly a sign of financial health. Heavy backing from Saudi Arabia is helping Lucid stay afloat despite the massive shortfalls.

We hope you like forged carbon everywhere because this is what this Conti GT got from Mansory

Mansory gave Bentley’s new Continental GT forged carbon parts from hood to diffuser. Massive 22-inch gloss black wheels are the most tasteful exterior upgrade by Mansory. Interior updates include tan leather, forged accents, custom seatbelts, and a reshaped wheel. Mansory has never been one to let a new luxury car debut without immediately asking: “How can we make this louder, shinier, and more controversial?” So, naturally, it didn’t take long for the tuner to get its hands on the latest Bentley Continental GT. While the modifications aren’t quite as outrageous as some of Mansory’s recent work, they still push the boundaries of what Bentley purists would consider acceptable—or forgivable. The German tuner has had quite an affinity for forged carbon fiber parts in recent years, and, for better or worse, the Continental GT is now chock-full of them. The most prominent piece is the hood, which sets the tone for a front end that also includes a forged carbon grille, splitter, and air intake shrouds. Read: Mansory Did It Again With The Rolls-Royce Cullinan Series II The forged carbon galore continues along the sides, with the door mirrors, side skirts, and trimmings on the doors. Found at the rear are a subtle lip spoiler at the top of the window, a decklid spoiler, a new diffuser, and aftermarket tailpipes. Mansory has also fitted gloss black 22-inch wheels, which are perhaps the only nice addition to the exterior of the luxury GT. As we’ve come to expect from Mansory over the years, it’s made plenty of changes to the Bentley’s interior. However, it’s all quite restrained this time, and, dare we say it, it actually looks pretty good. The seats and door panels are finished in light-tan leather, with forged carbon accents running across the door panels and dashboard. Mansory has also added its own seatbelts and new floor mats. It also tweaked the shape of the steering wheel. As standard, the new Continental GT delivers 771 hp and 738 lb-ft (1,000 Nm) through its plug-in hybrid V8 powertrain, but Mansory could try to bump up that horsepower figure into the 800s or the 900s. The latest Continental GT comes standard with a plug-in hybrid V8 pushing 771 horsepower and 738 lb-ft (1,000 Nm) of torque. That’s already more than enough to make a car this size feel unnervingly quick. But this is Mansory we’re talking about, and it’s likely only a matter of time before the power gets nudged (or shoved) into the 800s or even 900s. Because if there’s one thing Mansory loves more than forged carbon, it’s numbers that start with an 8.

The wannabe 18-year-old street racer landed himself in hot water and now faces multiple charges

Victoria Police broke up an illegal street race in Melbourne’s southeastern suburb. A VW Golf R was caught doing 200 km/h (124 mph), in an 80 km/h (50 mph) zone. Officers found that the 18-year-old driver had a learner’s permit and was unaccompanied. Getting a driver’s license is a milestone, equal parts freedom, responsibility, and, if you’re under 18 and unsupervised in a tuned Golf R, apparently an opportunity to test your Fast & Furious audition tape on public roads. One young man in Australia took that thrill a bit too far. He was recently caught street racing while still on his learner’s permit. More: Aussie High-School Student Spotted Driving A Lamborghini Aventador SV With L-Plates According to Victoria Police, officers from the Casey Highway Patrol spotted two cars racing through the southeastern suburb of Cranbourne North in the early hours of Sunday, March 30. Clocked at 200 km/h with the headlights off A police report states that a blue Volkswagen Golf R was seen traveling at 200 km/h (124 mph) in an 80 km/h (50 mph) zone. The driver then allegedly switched off the headlights and attempted to flee the scene. Officers later found the car parked on a nearby street as the driver was exiting the vehicle. As if speeding and fleeing weren’t enough, the 18-year-old was also driving alone, another violation for someone on a learner’s permit. In the state of Victoria, learner permits can be issued to individuals aged 16 or older. However, learner drivers must be supervised at all times by an individual with a full and current driver’s license. Obviously, this wasn’t the case with the wannabe street racer who got himself into big trouble. The VW Golf R MK7, which police say appears to have aftermarket modifications,, was promptly impounded for 30 days. That alone will cost the young driver AU$1,138.10 (around US$717). But that’s just the beginning. He’s now facing multiple charges, including excessive speeding, taking part in an illegal street race, driving unaccompanied on a learner’s permit, and operating a vehicle at night without headlights. Legal to learn in, not to keep As noted by CarExpert, learner drivers in Victoria are legally permitted to drive high-performance vehicles like the Golf R, so long as they’re supervised. Once they graduate to a probationary license, however, vehicles in that category are off-limits for four years. So even if this driver had been following the rules, he’d still have had to part ways with the hot hatch soon enough. Police say investigations are ongoing to identify the second driver involved in the street race. Photos: Victoria Police

Pair of prototypes spied in Sweden has very different lower bumper designs and one SUV has wider arch flares

Porsche is testing a pair of Cayenne Electric SUVs in Sweden. One of them has active aero flaps like the 911 GTS T-Hybrid. Cayenne Electric debuts later in 2025, but ICE model continues. Porsche already has one electric SUV in its lineup – the Macan Electric – but it’s about to give it a big brother in the form of the 2026 Cayenne Electric, which debuts late this year. Our spy photographers have captured a pair of prototypes testing, but far from being identical twins, they feature some important differences. Both models are still wearing the fairly heavy camouflage we’ve seen on previous prototypes over the past 12 months. The disguise covers parts of the front and rear bumpers and the lower sections of the doors. But it doesn’t prevent us noticing that only one of the SUVs has what appears to be active aero flaps in the lower bumper, just like the ones seen on the new 911 GTS T-Hybrid. It also has a splitter attached to the lowest point of the bumper, suggesting it’s a performance version, perhaps a GTS. Related: 2027 Porsche Cayenne Coupe Goes Electric In New Spy Shots The other Cayenne doesn’t have the lower lip spoiler or the same active aero slats (though it’s possible they could still move). Instead it has a less macho bumper with horizontal bars and the ADAS sensor stands proud of the bumper surface, rather than being recessed, as on the other SUV. This less performance-focused bumper appears to provide a better approach angle, so we could be looking at an off-road-themed Cayenne. That idea is backed up by the slightly flared rear arch lips on this Cayenne, which aren’t present on the one with the GTS aero flaps. Further confusing matters, only the non-flap SUV has boxy vents below its taillights. When the full bumper disguise comes off we’re expecting to see a split headlight arrangement, just like the one on the Macan Electric and Audi’s Q6 e-tron and A6 e-tron. Those three are based around the same VW Group PPE platform that will also be used for the Cayenne EV in both standard and Coupe forms. Entry-level Cayennes will probably also share their powertrains with mid- or high-spec Macans, which feature a 509 hp (516 PS / 380 kW) bi-motor setup in 4S trim and 630 hp (639 PS / 470 kW) in Turbo guise. And given the Taycan Turbo and Turbo S serve up 872 hp (884 PS / 650 kW) and 939 hp (700 kW / 952 PS), we imagine the hot Cayennes will be similarly potent. The Cayenne Electric isn’t the only EV Porsche is working on. All-new, all-electric 718 Boxster and Cayman sports cars are on the way, and were set to debut this year, but that launch could be pushed back to 2026 as Porsche grapples with a performance EV market that hasn’t matured the way it hoped when it began planning these models more than five years ago. Images: SHProshots

The Teslas that were destroyed in the fire were reportedly being prepared for delivery to customers

A new fire in Rome is the latest in a series of incidents targeting Tesla around the world. High temperatures from the blaze damaged 17 EVs, and the surrounding structure. No injuries were reported, and local authorities are currently investigating the cause of the fire. A suspicious fire that tore through a Tesla dealership in Rome early Monday morning has left behind a scorched mess of metal and plenty of questions. At least 17 fully electric vehicles were destroyed in the blaze, marking the latest in a string of troubling incidents involving Tesla facilities around the globe. The incident arrives amid growing backlash against Elon Musk, raising suspicions that this wasn’t just some random electrical mishap. While the exact cause remains under investigation, authorities have not ruled out arson. Fortunately, no one was injured, as the dealership was closed at the time of the fire. Still, the loss is significant, not just in property, but in what it might signal. More: Man Tries To Torch Tesla Superchargers But Ends Up Torching Himself According to local media, emergency services were alerted around 4 a.m. on Monday, March 31. Police have since questioned the dealership’s owners and are combing through CCTV footage, Reuters reports. The fire broke out at the Tesla store located at 48 Via Serracapriola in Rome. Drone footage shared by the YouTube channel Local Team shows the parking lot littered with charred vehicle shells. At least 16 Teslas appear to have suffered irreparable damage. These cars were reportedly prepped and ready for delivery to customers. Furthermore, the shed covering them was also damaged by the intense heat, though the Tesla dealership’s main building seems to have escaped the worst of it. A Brand Under Fire—Literally The timing is hard to ignore. Just two days before the fire, the so-called “Tesla Takedown” movement organized protests outside more than 200 Tesla dealerships across Europe and North America. Most gatherings remained peaceful, but a handful of them escalated into vandalism—and now, possibly worse. Earlier this month, suspicious fires destroyed multiple Tesla EVs across the USA, as well as in Italy, Germany, and France. In Ontario, Canada, more than 80 vehicles were vandalized at a single Tesla dealership—another flashpoint in what’s quickly becoming a global anti-Musk movement. If there’s no connection between these incidents, it would be one hell of a coincidence. #Vigilidelfuoco di #Savona in azione stanotte per l'#incendio di 17 automobili nel deposito vetture del porto cittadino. Utilizzata dalle squadre schiuma antincendio per abbattere le fiamme#30marzo pic.twitter.com/KJgVbvL8vw — Vigili del Fuoco (@vigilidelfuoco) March 30, 2025 Lead image Google Maps

The 2.8-liter twin-turbocharged V6 pumps out 670 hp paired to a gated six-speed manual transmission

Totem Automobili will only build 40 examples of the carbon-bodied GT Super restomod. This Jarama tribute draws inspiration from Alfa’s 1972 European Touring Car victory. A 670 hp twin-turbo V6 with six throttle bodies powers the rear wheels exclusively. There are restomods, and then there are the kinds of builds that make you reconsider what a vintage car can be. Totem Automobili falls squarely into the latter category. You may not be familiar with the small Italian outfit, but it builds one of the most stunning Alfa Romeo-based restomods on the planet. It’s called the GT Super, and the latest version to roll out of their workshop is this one, nicknamed ‘Jarama.’ This particular build takes its name from the historic Jarama circuit, where a GTA Junior 1300 clinched victory in a grueling 4-hour race during the 1972 European Touring Car Championship. Like every GT Super, the Jarama is a head-turner, but it sets itself apart with several bespoke touches not found on the other 40 examples Totem plans to produce. Read: Meet The $1.2M Classic Alfa Romeo Reborn By Totem Automobili The GT Super Jarama features Totem’s own carbon fiber bodywork, finished in a deep Blu Cervino paint that leans more classic than flashy. Totem adds to the exclusivity with CNC-machined side badges that combine Alfa Romeo’s Cloverleaf emblem with ‘Jarama’ script. Found inside is Connolly Cognac leather on the seats, headliner, and side panels. The Italian firm has also added two vintage Tag Heuer chronographs on the passenger side as a tribute to “the golden-era of racing when even timekeeping was a manual, analog operation.” The rest of the cabin is finished in expertly crafted aluminum and carbon fiber. A gorgeous gated shifter with an exposed linkage mechanism is also featured. Powering the GT Super is a 2.8-liter twin-turbocharged V6 developed by Italtecnica. This engine has six individual throttle bodies, direct and port fuel injection, four valves per cylinder, and it makes 591 hp (441 kW) at 7,200 rpm and 516 lb-ft (700 Nm). The Italian company also offers a more powerful version of this engine with 739 hp (551 kW) and 627 lb-ft (850 Nm), although a plaque in the cabin of this GT Super reveals it has 670 hp. The gated six-speed manual is the only transmission option, sending power through the rear wheels via a limited-slip differential. Totem hasn’t put a price tag on this specific build, but if you must know, the GT Super starts at €539,000 (about $584,000 at current exchange rates) in its most basic form. Of course, that’s before you start adding options and personal touches—which can easily send the final bill north of $700,000. At that point, it’s less of a car and more of a carbon-fiber flex with a gear shifter.

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