+++ ASTON MARTIN still hasn’t decided whether to offer the brand-new Vantage with a V12 engine. “The V12 is a question we’ll consider but there has been no decision yet”, company CEO Andy Palmer told during a recent interview. He added the brand made the new Vantage sportier than before by reducing weight. Embedding 4 more cylinders into the front of the car could compromise dynamism by adding mass. “We have to consider the character of the new Vantage. This is our rebel, a really sporty car that stands out for its handling. The V12 has many great attributes, but the extra weight would bring some differences in character that we’d need to consider”, according to Palmer. The 12-cylinder in question is a twin-turbocharged 5.2-liter unit Aston recently developed in-house. It’s currently found under the DB11’s hood, and stuffing it between the fenders of the Vantage would be as straight-forward as dropping it in. “Technically, it is very possible”, Palmer commented. “The V12 would fit without the need for extensive modifications”. Aston Martin remains committed to offering a manual transmission, even if the take-up rate gets lower and lower every year, and the CEO announced the V8-powered Vantage will be offered with a stick in the not-too-distant future. He also confirmed, as we all speculated, that the line-up will soon grow with the addition of a roadster. +++
+++ Outgoing AUDI Sport boss Stephan Winkelmann has confirmed that Audi’s performance arm will introduce electrified vehicles from 2020 and would produce more fast models based on SUVs. Winkelmann, who will become president of Bugatti from January 2018, said at the RS4 launch that Audi Sport “will be less evolutionary and more into revolution”. Audi Sport, which was rebranded from Quattro last year, will see “from 2020 onwards, the start of the introduction of battery electric vehicles”, said Winkelmann: “This will start by the end of 2020, with the first car of Audi Sport, and then there will be more coming in the third decade of this millennium. We are also looking into cars which are, let’s say, in a growing segment or a body segment which is growing. These are the Qs. We will get more of them and we think that this is going to help us because every car we are building, and every car we are investing in, should have global visibility, so not just in Europe but in Asia and the Americas”. Such models wouldn’t replace Audi Sport’s traditional line-up, though, Winkelmann added: “In 2018/2019/2020, we will have a lot of turbo engines with new models. We are not forgetting our icons, so we will continue to build them. Even if we keep in mind that electrification is important for us, legislators permitting, our turbo engines will stay because we are very proud of these”. +++
+++ BMW Group sales continued their positive trend last month with a total of 220,649 vehicles delivered to customers, an increase of 5.2 percent and a new all-time high for the month of November. With its 3 premium brands, BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce, the BMW Group has sold a total of 2,229,497 vehicles so far this year, + 3.6 percent compared with the same period last year. “With our strong premium brands, BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce, the BMW Group covers all segments and is the world’s leading manufacturer of premium vehicles”, commented Ian Robertson, Member of the Board of Management of BMW and responsible for Sales. “Strong demand for our new 5 Series shows just how popular this new model is with customers around the globe. We also sold more electrified vehicles in November (11,710) than ever before in a single month. We are now looking forward to celebrating delivery of our 100,000th electrified vehicle before the end of the year”, Robertson added. The 63.7 percent increase in sales of electrified BMW i and BMW iPerformance models, with a total of 89,806 units delivered in the first 11 months, reflects dynamic customer demand for vehicles with alternative drive trains. For example, the plug-in hybrid version of the 5 Series already accounts for 22 percent of the sedans delivered in the US. In the UK, one in three BMW 3 Series sedans sold in November was a plug-in hybrid. More BMW i3s were delivered to customers worldwide in the year to the end of November (28,040 units) than in the whole of 2016 (25,528 vehicles). Global BMW brand sales increased by 3.7 percent in the first 11 months of 2017, with a total of 1,892,365 vehicles delivered to customers worldwide. A variety of different models across the portfolio contributed to the record number of 186,346 vehicles sold in November (+4.8 percent). The new 5 Series leads the way, following its successful model changeover, with November sales up 19.7 percent to 33,403 deliveries. As a result, the 5 Series sedan topped its segment for the third month in a row. Within the X family, the X1 (26,776 / +18.5 percent) and the X5 (17,631 / +16.4 percent) were strong growth drivers in November. +++
+++ New reports surfaced claiming FORD is planning to concentrate production of the next-generation Fusion (Mondeo) mid-size sedan in China. The current edition is produced at plants in Spain, Mexico and China. However, a couple of sources have told that production of the next-generation Fusion/Mondeo, due in 2020, will take place exclusively in China. The Spanish plant is safe as Ford in November said it will spend 887 million dollar at the site to produce the next-generation Kuga, Europe’s version of the Escape compact SUV. It’s not clear what Ford has in store for the Mexican plant, which also produces the Lincoln MKZ. This month we learned that Ford will produce its planned electric SUV in Mexico starting in 2020, though this model is expected to be produced at a separate Mexican plant to the Fusion and MKZ plant. When pushed for comment, Ford told that there are no plans to export a next-generation Fusion from China to either the United States or Europe, where the car is labeled a Mondeo, and that information on the next-generation Fusion/Mondeo will be announced at a later date. If the reports are accurate, it may mean Ford plans to exit the mid-size sedan segment in North America and Europa or replace the Fusion/Mondeo with a new model. Sales of the current car are down 22 percent in the United States through November, highlighting the general decline in the market for passenger car sales. Ford in a new strategy outlined in October said there will be fewer nameplates in the future, though the automaker didn’t say which current nameplates would be axed. The move is part of the automaker’s reaction to the consumer shift to SUVs, pickup trucks and electric cars, which the automaker sees as permanent. Production locations remains a thorny issue for Ford which last year was criticized by President Donald Trump for proposing to move production of the Focus compact from Michigan to Mexico. The hubbub led to Ford confirming production of a new Ranger and Bronco in Michigan to fill the void of the Focus. The automaker has since confirmed that production of the Focus will take place in China instead of Mexico, and that the Chinese-made cars will be exported to the U.S. Stay tuned for an update. +++
+++ A mule for a possible MAZDA RX-9 has been spied outside the Nurburgring in Germany. At first glance, the mule appears to be a standard RX-8, but closer inspection reveals the vehicle has an assortment of temporary pipes hiding behind the front grille. There’s also extra bracing around the front windscreen, as well as telemetry gear and other measurement equipment throughout the cabin. Given the nearly stock body, this mule doesn’t reveal much about how a possible RX-9 will look. It does seem to indicate the RX-9, or whatever is being developed here, will ride on a front-engine, rear-wheel drive platform. The mule could be a precursor to a production vehicle, or it could be an engineering special to enable on-going development of rotary-based technologies. If Mazda is working towards a production rotary engine-powered car in the near future, it’s styling will likely be influenced by the 2015 RX-Vision concept and the 2017 Vision Coupe concept. At the Los Angeles motor show, Masahiro Moro, president and CEO of Mazda’s North America operations, confirmed the company is still working on rotary engine development with a team of “dedicated engineers”, but there’s no product “on the official roadmap”. Earlier this year, a US patent filing for a hybrid drivetrain was discovered featuring an electric motor across the rear axle, and a rotary engine up front. Such a layout was used underneath the Mazda 2 RE Range Extender prototype, and could be used in a future rotary-powered vehicle. +++
+++ The MINI brand reported growth of 7.6 percent, with the delivery of 33,993 vehicles to customers in November. This also had a positive impact on Year-To-Date sales, which rose 3.0 percent to 334,205 deliveries. With a 25.1 percent increase in global sales and 73,686 deliveries in the year to the end of November, the Countryman made a significant contribution to this positive trend. More than 1 in 10 Countryman models delivered in November was a plug-in hybrid. +++
+++ RENAULT has purchased a 40 per cent stake in Challenges Group, a publisher with 5 magazines in its stable. It’s an interesting acquisition for the French manufacturer, motivated by the looming onset of autonomy. According to the company, European commuters spend 2 hours in the car every day. As the burden of driving is gradually handed over to computers, that time will need to be filled with other activities. By taking a stake in Challenges Group, Renault says it has created a “lab for testing innovation” in both editorial content and autonomous technology. The French manufacturer says 5.000 newspaper kiosks go out of business every year in France, and pitches the purchase as a way to give drivers and their passengers “free” access to editorial content from Challenges, Sciences & L’Avenir, La Recherche, L’Histoire and Historia. Of course, it’s also a chance to show advertisements to a new, captive audience, but that’s not what they’d have you focus on. “This project is totally in line with Groupe Renault’s strategy, which aims to offer new, high-quality connected services and to improve the customer experience”, said Carlos Ghosn, Renault chairman and CEO. “We are delighted to welcome Groupe Renault on board”, added Claude Perdriel, CEO of Challenges Group. “This process corresponds to our strategy: to develop our activities not only in the press, but also in the digital and events sectors. With Groupe Renault, we will be able to innovate to a greater extent so as to offer top quality services and content to all our readers”. Money from Renault will be used to fund development in digital and “events-driven” media for Challenges. +++
+++ TOYOTA has been rated the ‘world’s greenest carmaker‘ in a global study from Newsweek. Having topped the automotive rankings, the company ranked 16th among the 500 largest publicly traded companies in the world. L’Oreal topped the global charts, while Cisco Wireless was the ‘greenest’ company in the USA. Companies are rated against their industry rivals on a number of criteria, including energy consumption, water usage and waste levels. Daimler was the second-rated automotive group, coming in at 45th place overall, while Hyundai rounded out the motoring podium in 68th place. According to Toyota, the rating reflects its “track record of environmental sustainability, and its eco-sensitive hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles”. “Globally, Toyota has demonstrated its leadership in sustainable mobility through its commitment to developing and improving existing and alternative vehicle technologies that reduce the impact on the environment”, said Sean Hanley, senior divisional manager for sales and marketing, said. +++