+++ BENTLEY has just recorded its second best quarterly financial results to date, driven by strong demand for customisations and an upshift in car production as supply shortages began to ease. Between January and April, the British luxury marque made £189 million in pre-tax profits, an increase of 27% on the same period last year (£149 million). Overall revenue rose 9% to £772 million. Much of this was due to a rise in global car sales, up 10% to 3.517 (led by a 39% rise in the Americas with 1.557 sales) and the continued demand for the Bentayga, which accounted for 42% of overall sales (1.477 units). Bentley says these strong figures will allow the firm to reinvest in its Beyond100 sustainable-future strategy. This includes a £2.6 billion investment to electrify its Crewe factory, as well as launching 5 new BEV models in just 5 years, starting in 2026. The 5-strong post-2026-model Bentleys will consist of the cars we know now (Flying Spur, Bentayga, Continental GT and GTC) plus another model. Boss Adrian Hallmark previously told that these future EVs will have “between 50% and 100% more power” than the current W12 models. “Strong interest” in model customisation, buyers opting for higher-specification Speed and Mulliner models and the fitting of higher-cost options were other key aspects noted for the record rise, as well as the sales of unique Mulliner Coachbuilt and Limited Edition models. “Despite a challenging global environment, we started 2023 where we left off in 2022, with another solid set of financial figures, driving growth in revenue, operating profit and return on sales”, said Hallmark. “Bentley’s record performance in the Americas is also especially notable, with one in three of our luxury cars now sold in the region. The introduction of the Bentayga EWB, plus the success of the Flying Spur sedan, have been key to this growth”. He added: “Looking ahead, although our well-balanced distribution model shows signs of encouragement that this success can be continued, we remain cautious about global challenges that remain in the markets”. The Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macau was the next biggest market for the firm, below the Americas (which accounted for 33% of total registrations), with 666 sales, although this was down 12% from the same period last year. Mainland Europe wasn’t far behind (645; down 9%) in third, followed by Asia Pacific (410; up 11%), the United Kingdom (361; down 2%) and the Middle East, which saw a huge 66% growth in the region with 278 cars sold. Bentley’s latest quarterly results were eclipsed only by its financial performance in the first 3 months of 2021. +++
+++ The next-generation BMW 5 Series saloon debuts later this month. A new teaser previews the electric i5, which will also break cover alongside its sibling, providing a peek at the new model’s front-end design. The exterior teaser only shows the i5’s silhouette and front-end lighting elements. The EV will feature sleek headlights high on the face, with an illuminated kidney grille. There’s still a lot we don’t know about the next-generation 5 Series, but I did take the opportunity to test drive a i5 prototype, learning some details about the EV. When it launches, BMW will offer the i5 in 2 configurations. The entry-level eDrive40 will have a single rear-mounted motor producing 340 hp. The hotter M60 xDrive will have a dual-motor setup making 600 hp. BMW hasn’t disclosed the i5’s range or battery capacity. However, it’s aiming for the i5 eDrive40 to offer 480 km. I expect the more potent M60 to offer less than that, but we won’t know for sure until the automaker confirms the numbers. BMW might even expand the lineup beyond the 2 launch variants. While BMW highlights the electric i5 ahead of the big reveal, the automaker will offer plug-in hybrid and electrified powertrains in the regular 5 Series saloon, including the potent M5 that will debut later. BMW hasn’t said when we could see it break cover. We expect the M5 to arrive with a plug-in hybrid powertrain that could make over 700 hp. We won’t have to wait long after the reveal, set for 24 May in Europe, for the new BMW to hit the streets. Next-generation 5 Series production begins this summer at the company’s Dingolfing, Germany, factory, with sales expected to start in October. We will have to wait for the 5 Series Touring, though, which our spy photographers have already captured out testing. The automaker hasn’t said when to expect the long-roof version to debut. +++
+++ FORD boss Jim Farley has confirmed that the company will make a 7-seat electric SUV as it tries to differentiate itself in an EV market that is reaching “overcapacity”. Ford posted losses of $700 million for its Model E electric division in the first quarter of this year amid slowing sales for the Mustang Mach-E. The company broke out EV profitability for the first time as it restructures to better tackle the transition to electric. The losses are greater than the $400 million recorded for the same period last year. “We could see the overcapacity in the 2-row electric utility segment years ago”, Farley told analysts on the company’s first-quarter earning results, referring to the 5-seat electric SUV market, which is dominated by the Tesla Model Y. Ford predicts there will be 45 electric 5-seat SUVs in the compact and mid-sized segments on sale in 2025. “In contrast to 2-row crossovers that we believe will be a very saturated market, we believe Model E can be highly differentiated in markets where we know the customer well, like the three-row utility space”, Farley said, in reference to 7-seat SUVs. Ford wants to bring new customers on board in the same way it has with the Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning electric pick-up. “A lot of new customers bought a Lightning that never owned a pick-up truck before. And we intend to do that with a 3-row crossover and with a bunch of EV Pro vehicles”, he said, referring to the 7-seater as well as new electric commercials. Ford will reveal more at the end of the month at a special investor day focusing on product, Farley said. Ford on Wednesday cut the US price of the Mach-E, a direct rival to the Tesla Model Y, by up to $3.700 as part of the roll-out of lower-cost lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries. Mach-Es with an LFP option will be coming to Europe later this year, a Fords spokesperson told, without giving an exact date. Sales of Ford EVs, including Mach-Es, fell to just 12.000 units in the first three months of the year, Ford figures show. The company attributed the fall to the company’s recent overhaul of the Cuautitlan, Mexico, factory in which Mach-Es are made, intended to increase production of the car. Farley said Ford will remove $5.000 from the bill of materials for the Mach-E by the end of the year. The company has been assessing which features are least used by owners via software in a bid to make savings. “If they’re not using something that we have on the vehicle, we can design that out”, chief financial officer John Lawler said on the call. The strategy echoes that of Tesla, which said in its recent Investor Day that it cancelled opening sunroofs on its products after using the same digital feedback. Ford’s losses in the Model E division were offset by profits in the Ford Blue combustion-engine car division and the Ford Pro commercial division. Overall, Ford posted a $1.8 billion profit for the first 3 months of the year, translating to a margin of 8.1%. Ford projects it will lose $3 billion on EVs this year as it invests in a second generation of vehicles. Ford has drawn comparisons for Model E with Silicon Valley tech companies and their huge capital requirements during early-stage development in expectation of returns later. Ford has said its EVs will hit 8% profit margin by 2026 as the second-generation vehicles deliver better cost structure. “We’ve redone all of our platforms, completely changed the engineering”, Farley told investors in March, in reference large, Tesla-style castings to reduce parts, among other changes. “What you will see is a vehicle with half the labour content but radical simplicity”. Farley said Ford plans for its first-generation electric vehicles to be profitable by the end of 2024. +++
+++ The London Electric Vehicle Company ( LEVC ) says it “is transforming from a high-end taxi manufacturer to a leading provider of pure electric global mobility solutions”. The Geely-owned firm, which has roots in the century-old London Taxi Company, has detailed an all-new flexible electric platform called SOA, or Space Oriented Architecture, for this purpose. LEVC has already begun to expand operations beyond its core product, the TX hackney carriage, to the VN5 van which uses the same platform, itself used as the basis for a campervan concept which didn’t reach production. SOA will allow the company to offer a much more diverse range of vehicles. Co-developed with Geely in China, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Germany over the last 2,5 years, SOA is designed for larger vehicles from 4.860 mm in length all the way up to 5.995 mm, with wheelbases ranging from 3.000 mm to 3.800 mm. 73kWh, 102kWh and 120kWh battery packs can be fitted, giving a potential range figure of up to 700 km. Multiple motor configurations are possible, too, meaning SOA-underpinned vehicles can be either front, rear or all-wheel drive. As implied by the first bit of the SOA acronym, interior space is a high priority for the SOA. A 4-row configuration is possible, with a foldable 4th row plus the 2 middle benches mounted on 1.9-metre-long rails to give flexible seating positions. Geely’s vehicle architecture boss Kent Bovellan has confirmed that while there are some shared parts between the company’s SEA (Sustainable Experience Architecture) platform, which is set to be used for the Polestar 4, the 2 are largely unrelated. Interestingly, SOA isn’t to be used at other Geely-owned brands: LEVC managing director Chris Allen referred to it as “specific to LEVC’s activities”. The platform will be used for larger ‘F+’ class vehicles: think MPVs, big SUVs and commercial vehicles like pick-up trucks, although an image in LEVC’s presentation featured five sheet-covered cars all with similar, van-like silhouettes. The vehicles were named Leisure Space, Business Space, Utility Space, Delivery Space and are collectively referred to as the ‘Xspace family’. Inside there’s a completely flat floor adding to the utility of the space. Cleverly packaging various elements that might normally be at the front of the car (like the low-voltage battery, which is instead under the driver’s seat) also makes for a short front overhang. LEVC is claiming a ‘cabin space utilisation’ figure 8 percent better than competitors on average. For the chassis, there’s a MacPherson strut arrangement at the front with a double lower control arm and a multilink setup at the rear. Adaptive suspension with air springs will feature. LEVC is remaining tight-lipped about exactly what vehicles it intends to make using SOA, and when it’ll make them. Speaking during a roundtable interview at the platform reveal event, Chris Allen said the announcement was “about demonstrating a new foundation that is layering on top of our existing products to enable us to start moving into those sectors”. He added: “It’s very much more today about the platform and giving us the freedom to start thinking towards new models rather than the specifics of what we going to do. That’s the next exciting phase for us”. I’m similarly in the dark about where SOA-underpinned cars will be made. Allen did, at least, note that it would be possible to build them at LEVC’s existing facility in Coventry. As it stands, the factory has the capacity to produce up to 20.000 cars a year if extra shifts were added (currently around 3.000 vehicles, mostly TXs, are built there annually), a figure which could be expanded. “The adaptability of this facility is one of its strengths”, Allen said, adding “We can grow the capacity, we can extend the footprint, and we’ve got complete modular approaches”. He concluded: “The purpose of launching this platform today here in the United Kingdom, the home of the Black Cab, is very much to demonstrate that new capability coming into this business”. +++
+++ SKODA is pushing ahead with bringing its RS performance sub-brand into its expanding range of electric cars, and that could well mean a hot version of the first addition to the line-up, the Elroq. Designed as an electric alternative to the Karoq (the name is a portmanteau of Electric and Karoq) the Elroq is a 4.5-metre-long family SUV. It will lead Skoda’s EV expansion in European showrooms in the second half of 2024, with a range of battery sizes and a choice of single and dual-motor variants. Skoda has not detailed plans for any further performance models since the arrival last year of its first all-electric RS vehicles, the Enyaq and Enyaq Coupé. But CEO Klaus Zellmer said that reaction to those cars has “legitimised” the idea of faster zero-emissions technology carrying a badge and brand built on hot hatchbacks. “RS is absolutely part of our future”, Zellmer told. “If you look at what we’ve done with Enyaq, it’s a fabulous top-of-the-line vehicle; arguably the most aspirational car in our line-up, with 4-wheeldrive and around 300 hp. The price is higher, but it’s still a value proposition in terms of performance for the money. People are more proud of their cars than ever these days, and yes, they’re willing to spend more”, Zellmer added. “Which means a good profit margin, from our perspective. So I think we have to continue along the RS path as we move towards an electrified future”. Zellmer stopped short of confirming an Elroq vRS, but given that the model in general will share many key components with the 2 Enyaqs (including its MEB platform with the same wheelbase as the Enyaq, as well as the motors, batteries and even some body panels) it seems inevitable that it will be offered in higher-performance form. The shared underpinnings mean similar specs for the Elroq RS, too, not least because the car will arrive before the VW Group’s planned update of the platform, called MEB+, which is expected in 2026. As such, we should expect an Elroq RS to have a 77 kWh battery and two motors producing a combined 299 hp and 460 Nm. It should be capable of 0-100 kph in about 6 seconds and given the Elroq’s smaller dimensions, it ought to beat the Enyaq’s official range of 309 miles. That more compact footprint may also give Skoda’s engineers a chance to correct one criticism of the Enyaq RS by improving the Elroq’s agility and driver involvement. The adaptation of proven systems should speed up development of the Elroq RS, making a debut feasible within a year of the regular model’s arrival. That would give it a 2026 debut, with a price of around €55.000 in the Netherlands; €10,.00 up on the entry point for a smaller-battery, rear-wheel-drive Elroq. +++
+++ Electric vehicle sales continue to rise around the world and the TESLA Model Y became the third bestselling passenger car in the world in 2022, left behind by the market-leading Toyota RAV4 and Toyota Corolla Sedan. The latest analysis of the automotive industry by JATO Dynamics estimates that 79.4 million new vehicles were registered globally in 2022. This represents a 2% decrease from the 80.7 million units sold last year primarily due to supply chain disruptions and semiconductor shortages in North America and Europe. Of all the new vehicles sold last year, some 7.37 million of them were battery-electric vehicles. Sales of BEVs surged by 66% over 2021, an increase of 2.9 million units. Increased demand and deliveries of BEVs mean they accounted for 9.3% of the total new car market across the globe and proved particularly popular in China and Europe, securing 15.6% and 12.2% market share respectively. Tesla continues to dominate the EV market and its sales figures jumped so much that it now sells 2 of the world’s top 10 bestselling vehicles. Coming in third place was the Tesla Model Y with an estimated 747.000 examples being delivered to customers. It trailed the Toyota Corolla with 992.000 units sold and the Toyota RAV4 with 1.016 million units being sold. The Model Y’s sales success saw it beat out the likes of the Honda CR-V with 733.000 sales, the Toyota Camry with 674.000 sales, the Toyota Hilux with 632.000 sales and the Nissan Sentra with 566.000 sales. In 10th was the Tesla Model 3 with 482.000 sales. Importantly, these figures are not precise and use sales data from 53 countries analyzed by JATO as well as a further 95 markets where JATO made estimations in. The analysis also returned some other intriguing figures. For example, the number of cars sold by Chinese brands in overseas markets jumped 48% to almost 1.5 million vehicles. JATO also found that the global share of SUVs rose from 39.7% in 2021 to 41.3% in 2022, translating to a record 32.8 million SUV sales. +++
+++ VOLKSWAGEN has previewed a new special edition of the Golf R, which will be fully revealed on 31 May. Through the R-devoted YouTube channel, the German firm has revealed the name of the hot hatch: the Volkswagen Golf R 333 Limited Edition. It has also given drivers a hint of what to expect, revealing an Akrapovic exhaust, a set of cross-drilled brakes, 19 inch black Estoril alloy wheels, ‘333’ badging and bright yellow exterior paint; a colour that isn’t currently available on the Golf R. The Golf R 333 shares some stark similarities to a model presented in 2017; a performance package for the Mk7 .5 Golf R that included an Akrapovic exhaust plus suspension alterations. The package also upped the hot hatch’s top speed from an electronically limited 250 kph to 270 kph and added drilled disc brakes and shock-absorber adjustment, plus bright yellow paint. Back then, Volkswagen described the car as “even rawer, even less compromising and even more strong-willed”. Volkswagen even presented the performance-package model at the Geneva motor show, shod with Pirelli Trofeo R tyres, which were used on the Lamborghini Huracán Performante. The Golf R 333 will likely replace the Golf R 20 Years (Volkswagen’s most powerful production Golf to date) which gets 333 hp from the turbocharged 2.0-litre 4-cylinder ‘EA888’ engine. That’s more than the standard Golf R, which offers an output of 320 hp and a 0-100 kph sprint of 4.7 seconds. +++
