Snippets:
- BMW recalls a handful of 2020 Supra for a bad weld job. You read that right.
- Mahindra and Ford join forces on new joint venture in India.
- It’s official, the Bentley Bentayga Hybrid exists. Electric. Expensive.
- 2020 Toyota C-HR gets a midlife crisis. I mean upgrade. Midlife upgrade.
- Mercedes makes it P1 and P2 at Russia F1 GP
- Leclerc ends relationship with his girlfriend. Is this even news? We let out an audible sigh.
- The rumour mill suggests the next Jaguar F-Type will use BMW power.
R.I.P. the Subaru 2.0 flat four
We have bad news, the EJ20 has been culled. Is this the end of an era? Probably.
Cue the limited edition Imprezas – especially the WRX STI EJ20 Final Edition. But before we all fall apart, let’s celebrate the fact that this engine has been around since the 80s, and managed to find its way into several special edition sports saloons and race cars.
Another Koenigsegg, another speed record
Regera. It means ‘to reign’. And now it does.
The Koenigsegg Regera with its frankly mental 1120kW output has just blitzed the 400kph mark and then back to zero in 31.49 seconds. It only took 22.87 seconds of that to hit 400kph. Which I think is about the time it takes a Fiat Panda to hit 100kph. I could be wrong.
It’s also worth noting that the driver, Sonny Persson, managed this feat on a somewhat bumpy Råda Military Airfield in Sweden.
Volvo goes fully electric with latest XC40
We know, they have only just released the XC40 plug-in hybrid and here they are again, with a fully electrified version of our favourite stylish compact crossover.
“Regardless of what drives a car forward, be it an electric machine or combustion engine, a Volvo must be safe;” says Mann Ekholm. Well, he would say this – he is the head of safety at Volvo Cars after all. “The fully electric XC40 will be one of the safest cars we have ever built.”
We believe it too; Volvo has long been on the forefront of vehicle safety and the fundamentals for this car are as for any other Volvo. “People are inside, and the car needs to be designed to be safe for them,” adds Mann Ekholm.
STOP THE PRESS
Volvo’s first pre-production autonomous XC90 has just rolled off the production line in Sweden. It’s been co-developed with Uber, so that’s a thing.
Aston Martin does an SUV
Render courtesy kolesa.ru
Put down your pitchforks, I bring good tidings. Tidings of eight cylinders bent in a V, with a pair of turbos blowing goodwill to the tune of 404kW and 700Nm.
It’s the DBX and if these renders (sans hideous camo) can be believed, it’s a thing of stilted beauty. The AMG-sourced engine will eventually be paired with Aston’s own 5.2-liter V12 also equipped with a pair of turbos – so you get to pick your flavour too. And if your flavour of choice just happens to be electric, Aston insist you watch this space.
The V8 model has reportedly enjoyed sub-8-minute Nürburgring laps so, who knows – the DBX could become our new favourite Aston. Or 007’s most useful.
Here's the 2020 Hyundai Creta before we're meant to see it
The current generation Creta was a plain old thing compared to its more stylish sibling, the Kona. No more, not if these pics, captured in India, are to be believed.
The new car features a clean but futuristic styling treatment with yet more brave headlamp choices. Fun fact, it will share its platform with the upcoming Kia Seltos.
Say hello to the Nissan IMK Concept car
And in 2019, you’d almost expect cars to say hi, right back – don’t you?
The IMK certainly looks like it could, a small urban SUV that favours electrification as its means of mobility. "As a small EV for a new era, the Nissan IMk is designed to be at home in sophisticated cityscapes as much as in traditional Japanese towns," said Satoru Tai, executive design director at Nissan. It fuses a modern, clean look – is clearly Japanese and if the accompanying specs are to believed features cutting-edge EV technology.
They’re going to just lap this small luxury EV up in the Nippon.
What the hell is a Canoo?
In short, an EV car manufacturer that wants to be the Netflix of motor vehicles. In fact, here's one now, a van that has a bum indistinguishable from its face. Let’s just see how this one pans out, shall we?