+++ Renault-owned ALPINE announced a major model offensive that will allow it to step into mainstream segments for the first time in its 68-year history. The sub-brand will release seven new cars by 2030, and it confirmed that some of these will be sold in the United States. Alpine’s range expansion will begin in 2024, though the new cars will initially be sold primarily in Europe; its foray into overseas markets won’t start until 2027. First, the company will launch its own variant of the upcoming Renault 5 called A290. Previewed by a concept earlier in 2023, the hot hatch will ride on the modular CMFB-EV platform and will be exclusively offered with an electric powertrain. Due out in 2025, a year after the A290, the first Alpine crossover will be positioned in Europe’s crowded C-segment to compete against the BMW X2 and the Mercedes-Benz GLA, among other models. The A110’s successor will make its debut by the end of 2026 with an electric drivetrain, and its modular platform will also under pin an A110-based convertible and a 4-seater coupe that will revive the A310 name. The plan’s final chapter will open in 2027 with 2 models positioned in the D and E segments, respectively. Alpine hasn’t revealed what either car will look like, but I’m guessing they’ll be crossovers; nothing suggests that a big sport sedan is in the pipeline. If I’m right, the D-segment model will be aimed at the Porsche Macan while the E-segment crossover will compete in the same ring as the Cayenne. These 2 yet-unnamed soft-roaders will play a significant role in helping Alpine gain a secure foothold in the American market. While electrification remains Alpine’s focus, largely due to European regulations that will ban the sale of new gasoline- and diesel-powered cars in 2035, the brand is open to exploring other powertrain technologies. It’s notably developing what it calls a “hydrogen internal combustion engine”, though details about it haven’t been released. Similarly, details about how Alpine will sell cars in the United States remain murky. All I know at this stage is that, as previously reported, it inked a distribution deal with Florida-based retailer AutoNation. +++
+++ ASTON MARTIN Lagonda Global Holdings is tying up with the Lucid Group on electric vehicle technology, uniting the storied British carmaker and relative automotive newcomer both backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. Aston Martin will pay $232 million in shares and cash to Lucid in exchange for battery-electric powertrain components, the companies said. The British manufacturer also extended a years-long cooperation with the Mercedes-Benz Group, though it will no longer issue more stock to the German carmaker that already owns a roughly 9% stake. The announcements sent Aston Martin shares soaring as much as 15%, their biggest intraday jump in over a month, while Lucid advanced as much as 9.1% in premarket US trading. “The proposed supply agreement with Lucid is a game changer for the future EV-led growth of Aston Martin”, chairman Lawrence Stroll said in a statement. Stroll, 63, is 3 years into an effort to turn around the 110-year-old British manufacturer with a long history of financial trouble. Aston Martin has needed several capital raises since he rescued the company in early 2020, the most recent of which made China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund major shareholders. The Public Investment Fund, or PIF, owns about 49% of Lucid and 18% of Aston Martin. Aston Martin’s longstanding financial woes have made it increasingly reliant on partners for technology that other automakers consider core to their products. Models including the DBX sport utility vehicle and DB12 sports car are powered by Mercedes engines. While Mercedes will continue to provide access to powertrains and electric architectures for current and future Aston Martin vehicles, Aston Martin will pay in cash rather than shares as previously planned. An Aston Martin spokesman said Lucid’s technology is available now, whereas Mercedes’s AMG electric platform isn’t accessible until late 2025. The deal with Lucid (which has been producing its lone EV, the Air sedan, since September 2021) will help Aston Martin toward its ambitious electrification targets. The British carmaker plans to launch its first plug-in hybrid supercar, the Valhalla, early next year and its first battery-electric vehicle in 2025. By the following year, all new product lines will have an electrified powertrain option. Aston Martin said it will make phased cash payments to Lucid totaling $132 million and has committed to spending at least $225 million on the EV maker’s powertrain components. Aston Martin also will pay another $10 million to Lucid for integrating its technology into its vehicles. +++
+++ Culling data from more than 4.6 million automobile insurance applications, researchers at the Insurify insurance comparison marketplace picked a winner (or more to the point, a loser) in its determination of the car model with the most accidents so far in 2023: the AUDI S4 . Why does the sporty, luxury-class German sedan rank so high (or so low)? The organization found that S4 drivers, piloting a car with about 350 horsepower, are among those who collect the most speeding tickets, and that they get into accidents at a rate 54 percent higher than the national average. If the S4 isn’t a surprise with an at-fault accident rate of 11.7 percent, consider the “family friendly” brand that appears 3 times on the Insurity list: Subaru. It is represented by 3 models, including the turbocharged WRX and XV, and at the better-performing bottom of the list, the Impreza, with an accident rate of 10.3 percent. In 2023, 7.6 percent of U.S. drivers were involved in at least one at-fault accident in the prior seven years. For drivers of cars on this list, the average at-fault accident rate was 10.5 percent, meaning these drivers are 1.4 times as likely to have an at-fault accident on record. According to its statement, the Insurity data science team explored key safety features, driver behavior, and Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) evaluations to pinpoint possible reasons behind these cars’ high accident rates. Following is the list, counting down to the models with most reported accidents: 10. Subaru Impreza (percentage of drivers with a prior at-fault accident on record: 10.3 percent), 9. Kia Niro (10.4 percent), 8. Chevrolet Silverado LD (10.4 percent), 7. Subaru XV (10.5 percent), 6. Subaru WRX (10.7 percent), 5. Toyota GR86 (10.8 percent), 4. Hyundai Veloster N (10.9 percent), 3. Chevrolet Volt (11.0 percent), 2. Scion iA (11..5 percent), 1. Audi S4 (11.7 percent). +++
+++ We know there are big things on the way for the M2, namely, the M2 CS that should debut for the 2025 model year after the M4 CS departs. BMW has a few more hi-po surprises in the chamber according to a regular insider. In another tweak to the running series of future model updates, the standard M2 will be bumped to 475 horsepower for the 2025 model year. This isn’t a Competition trim. Instead, it appears this would be the regular M2 taking the de facto spot of a Competition trim. Running the twin-turbo 3.0-liter inline-six in the current car up to 475 hp would mark a 22-hp jump above the current M2. Unless BMW makes a similar change to the entry-level M3 and M4 trims, the M2 would shade those larger siblings by 2 ponies. The disparities could be even more stark with another note among the rank indicating the M4 xDrive will rise to 530 hp from the present 510 hp. There was no mention of any boost for the current M2’s 520 Nm of torque. Early predictions put the M2 CS output between 518 hp and 522 hp. If all of this comes to pass, a slimmer curb weight for the M2 CS, plus more hardcore components, would exaggerate the effect of the 40 or so hp differential between it and the M2. A bonus bit of flash might make its way outside as well, as 4 new colors for the M2 color palette. The colors are: Mineral Red, Portimao Blue, and Sao Paulo Yellow, Skyscraper Gray. The M2 configurator offers just 5 colors at the moment before needing to hit the BMW Individual menu with matte hues Frozen Pure Grey and Frozen Portimao Blue. I’m not sure if the rumored new colors would join the offerings or replace what’s there now. Elsewhere in the 2 Series universe, the claims are that the standard coupe will be gifted nicer interior materials and switchgear for 2024, and that the M240i will get a carbon roof on its options sheet. +++
+++ For FIAT aficionados around the world, it’s the dawn of a new dolce vita: The Italians will no longer build gray-colored cars. It’s a rather bold move, but one you may expect from “the brand of joy, colors and optimism”, declared Olivier Francois, Fiat chief executive officer and global chief marketing officer at Stellantis.“We broke the rules: We decided to stop the production of Fiat gray cars. Fiat wants to inspire people to live with optimism and positivity, and this will also be one of the missions of the new 600e, the electric for families and friends”. The first Fiat model to delete gray from its palette is the new 600e electric cross-over, which is about to debut. But there remains a colorful antipasto of choices, inspired by “the New Dolce Vita values and the Italian DNA embodied by the Brand.” The current Fiat range(500e, 500 Hybrid, 500X, Panda and Tipo) will be rendered in Gelato white, Sicilia orange, Paprika orange, Passione red, Blu Dipinto di Blu, Italia blue, Venezia blue, Rugiada green, Foresta green, Rose gold and Cinema black. “All with an evocative name that reminds of Italian beautiful landscapes and dolce vita mood”, says Francois. Gray has historically been a popular shade. Fiat says it’s the most popular color for new cars in a lot of European countries. It represents more than 1 in 4 new cars sold in 2022, the company says. +++
+++ After introducing the first hybrid to the brand this year in the Revuelto, LAMBORGHINI ’s transformation takes 2 more big steps next year. Toward the end of 2024, the Urus will switch to a PHEV-only powertrain. I’ve known for a while there was an electrical cord headed to the Urus’ flanks, but I didn’t expect Lamborghini would give up the pure ICE variant. Brand honcho Stephan Winkelmann confirmed the engine will be a twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8, but didn’t give output figures. The engine in question is coming from Porsche and would produce about 700 hp and 870 Nm. The horse count would rise with help from a 170 hp electric motor in the transmission. However, the gearbox’s internals wouldn’t allow any more than 870 Nm. That’s still a perfectly fine number; the 6.5-liter V12 and 3 electric motors in the new Revuelto “only” throw a combined 1.100 Nm. Today’s Urus romps with a twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 making 666 hp and 857 Nm in both S and track-focused Performante trims. Theoretically, the Urus PHEV could crank that to about 850 hp and 870 Nm. The additional power would be partially offset by additional weight, as much as 250 kilos. This SUV would carry on until 2029, when an all-electric version ushers in a second generation. The Lamborghini Huracan successor is expected to debut before the PHEV Urus but go on sale about the same time as the Urus. Since that successor will use an adapted version of the engine headed to the Urus mated to the transmission in the Revuelto, we expect the release of vital details to begin as soon as the new baby coupe makes its introduction, thought to be around next spring. To hear Winkelmann talk, we’re ruminating now on the last hurrah of old-school, visceral, ICE-powered Lamborghinis. The brand has a high-riding battery-electric 2+2 GT penned in to debut in 2028 with about 480 km of range. That will be the next big sign of things to come. He told: “You go with the most difficult legislation, which is the US, and is really California. Other states adopt California’s rules, typically big cities and that’s where we sell cars. Even if legislation is not banning them, taxation will be a killing factor. Then mega-cities are talking of abolishing non-EVs before 2035 regardless”. And despite the work of sister brand and collaborator Porsche, Winkelmann’s not sold on synthetic fuels yet. For him, they’re “more about keeping alive the current car parc” and he is not creating new ICE-powered models using that fuel. +++
+++ LORDSTOWN MOTORS shares plummeted after the electric-vehicle maker once hailed by former United States president Donald Trump for saving automaking jobs filed for bankruptcy. The move to seek Chapter 11 protection from creditors follows a protracted dispute with iPhone maker Foxconn Technology Group over a deal to make pickup trucks for Lordstown at an assembly plant in Ohio. The Taiwanese manufacturer had said it was prepared to pull out of their production partnership, prompting the EV startup to warn it could fail if it was unable to resolve the conflict. Lordstown shares declined as much as 67% in US premarket trading after closing Monday at $2.77, valuing the company at just $44 million. The stock traded at more than $400 as recently as early 2021. The company’s demise caps several torrid years for EV startups that reached sky-high valuations following reverse mergers, only to fall victim to brutal corrections. In its filing, Lordstown listed as much as $500 million of both assets and liabilities. It doesn’t have any debt. Foxconn agreed in November to invest as much as $170 million in Lordstown and take 2 board seats. The deal gave the EV maker much-needed capital while offering the Taiwanese manufacturer a firmer foothold in automotive production. As part of the deal, Foxconn bought the former General Motors factory in Lordstown, Ohio, from the startup, and planned to make the startup’s Endurance pickup under a contract agreement. The arrangement began to unravel in January, when Lordstown asked Foxconn to suspend production because the cost of making the truck exceeded its targeted sale price of $65,000, and said it would need another partner to share costs. Foxconn has suspended talks with Lordstown, it said Tuesday, labeling comments by the US company false and malicious. The Apple supplier said it had tried to help Lordstown with its financial difficulties but ultimately the carmaker hadn’t fulfilled its part of their investment agreement. The bankruptcy filing follows Lordstown going through several crises, including fighting off short-seller claims and a Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry about inflated vehicle pre-orders. The Ohio plant also became the scene of a political standoff after GM’s decision in 2018 to cease production there. The move was a blow to then-president Trump, who a year earlier discouraged rally-goers from selling their homes in the area because of all the jobs he said he would bring back. Democrats seized on the development as a symbol of unfulfilled promises made to voters in a key battleground state. While Lordstown’s bankruptcy may mean Foxconn loses one customer, the company still owns the manufacturing facility that will help with its ambition to offer EV manufacturing services in North America. Foxconn has targeted a 5% share of the global EV market by 2025. +++
+++ LOTUS revealed the Eletre in full last year, and while details were plentiful back then, the British sports car company has a lot more for us today in the realm of specs and pricing of the European-market model. 3 different versions will hit the market at launch: Eletre, Eletre S and Eletre R. Performance is the same between the Eletre and Eletre S (the S simply adds more luxury equipment), but the R is a unique, high-performance variant. For starters, the base model and S will have an electric motor on the front and rear axles good for a combined 610 hp and 700 Nm. Lotus says that will be enough for a 4.5-second 0-100 kph time and a 260 kph top speed. Driving range on the WLTP cycle is estimated to be 600 km for these versions. The Eletre R notches performance up by a wide margin. Its pair of electric motors produce a combined 920 hp and 970 Nm, but there’s a little more than just more powerful motors going on here. Unlike the single-speed transmission the base models use, the Eletre R uses a two-speed transmission for the rear electric motor and a single-speed transmission on the front axle. Lotus says this allows them to optimize the car for ideal launch performance and to improve range at higher speeds. The shifts themselves are automatic. Lotus says the R is capable of doing the 0-100 kph sprint in just 2.95 seconds, and it has a slightly higher top speed of 270 kph. Despite the two-speed transmission, range still takes a sizable hit down to just 485 km on the optimistic WLTP cycle. I also learned today that the Eletre will house a 112 kWh lithium-ion battery pack in all versions of the SUV. Lotus says it features a maximum charge speed of 350 kW on a capable DC fast charger, which is quick enough to bring you from 10-80% in just 20 minutes. AC charging maxes out at 22 kW, which would allow you to go from 0-100% on your home charger in just 6 hours. The last big spec Lotus shared today is curb weight. If you opt for the base model with no options, the Eletre can weigh as little as 2.475 kilos. And yeah, that’s obviously a wild amount of weight for anything with a Lotus badge on it, but the Eletre R is even heavier at 2.625 kilos. EVs are inherently heavy, but don’t forget that the Eletre is essentially a luxury performance SUV with a similar intent as something like the Porsche Cayenne or Aston Martin DBX. Lotus says the Eletre is available to order now in Europe with deliveries starting in late summer. Availability for other markets is expected to be announced at a later date. +++
+++ A key U.S. automotive industry organization says it will set performance standards for TESLA ’s electric vehicle charging cords in another move toward using the Tesla plug on all EVs. The move Tuesday by SAE International, formerly the Society of Automotive Engineers, comes just weeks after Ford, General Motors and Rivian said they would join Tesla’s large Supercharger network and adopt its North American Charging Standard connector in new versions of their electric vehicles. But a rival connector called CCS is still in thousands of current EVs and will stay in use. SAE said that it’s already working on the standards and hopes to finish them within 6 months. The standards would govern how the plugs connect with charging stations, cybersecurity measures, charging speeds and reliability requirements, said Frank Menchaca, president of sustainable mobility solutions for the innovation arm of SAE’s nonprofit parent company. The move likely spells the end of CCS, which was developed to standards set by SAE, said Guidehouse Research e-Mobility analyst Sam Abuelsamid. “It’s only a matter of time before no one is building new EVs with CCS connectors on them”, he said. CCS, he said, is much harder to maneuver and plug into vehicles than Tesla’s NACS connector, he said. Most consumers who have used both would choose Tesla’s connector, Abuelsamid said. But he said charging stations will have to accommodate both plugs for many years because so many vehicles are equipped with the CCS connectors. Menchaca said Tesla and industry engineers are working on the standards in partnership. He said automakers and consumers won’t have to pay royalties to Tesla, but EV owners will need to pay Tesla to charge on its network. The organization, he said, is not picking which connector will be used and said the industry still wants to support CCS. Menchaca said SAE is setting standards for NACS because Ford, General Motors and Rivian have adopted it and it “looks like it’s poised to become really widely used. So in talking to all of the stakeholders we decided it needs to be standardized”. The standards, he said, will provide more choice and convenience and access to a bigger charging network. “Who knows if others come on board, it could be the dominant way that people charge”, he said. Other automakers such as Stellantis and Hyundai are considering switching to Tesla’s connector. At present, nearly all automakers other than Tesla use CCS. Tesla’s Superchargers are coveted by other automakers because it has more direct current fast-charging plugs in the U.S. than any other network, and its stations are in prime locations along freeway travel corridors. General Motors, Ford, Rivian and Volvo owners will get access to more than 12.000 Tesla Supercharger plugs. In the U.S., Tesla has 1.797 Supercharger stations and more than 19.000 plugs, according to the Department of Energy. Since the stations are direct current fast-chargers, they can charge EVs relatively quickly as people travel. ChargePoint has the biggest charging network in the U.S. with more than 32.000 stations and 55.000 plugs, but most of them are Level 2 chargers that can take up to eight hours to get a battery up to a full charge. The Energy Department says there are about 54.000 public charging stations nationwide with more than 136.000 plugs. While most are slower Level 2 chargers, the network of DC fast chargers is growing. Still, industry analysts say there is growing momentum to switch to Tesla’s connector to become the standard in the U.S., although vehicles likely will need to be able to use both connectors for a while. General Motors and Ford say they’re not paying Tesla anything for access to the network. +++
+++ While investors welcomed VOLKSWAGEN ’s decision to audit its jointly-owned plant in Xinjiang, China, some are questioning how it will be run and whether it is enough to eliminate the risk of forced labor in the supply chain. Deka, Union Investment and the Dachverband Kritische Aktionaere (Umbrella Organization for Critical Shareholders) were among those to call on VW at its annual general meeting last month to commission an audit of the plant in Urumqi, Xinjiang, where it assembles cars for sale in the region. The United Nations and rights groups estimate that more than 1 million people, mainly Uighurs and other Muslim minorities, have been detained in recent years in a vast system of camps in Xinjiang and used for low-paid and coercive labor. China denies any human rights abuses in the western region. Volkswagen’s China chief visited the plant earlier this year and said he saw no signs of forced labor, but some investors demanded an external audit, with Union Investment warning Volkswagen in May that it would be removed from its sustainability funds if it did not do so within a month. Chief Executive Oliver Blume has committed to arranging an independent audit this year, but it is not yet known who will run it, how wide-ranging it will be and how the results will be shared. Volkswagen has said previously its joint-venture partner at the plant SAIC would have to agree to the audit. Blume said the 2 companies were in a “fruitful exchange”. A Volkswagen spokesperson declined to say whether SAIC had demanded conditions on the audit. “This audit must be carried out promptly for Volkswagen to remain investable”, Janne Werning of Union Investment said, adding it must also be done by a reputable firm and the results shared publicly in full. Ingo Speich, head of sustainability and corporate governance at Volkswagen top-20 shareholder Deka, commended the decision to move ahead with the audit as a “clear signal towards creating transparency”, but said a recognized firm must run the audit. Still, a sweeping crackdown on consultancy and due diligence firms in China, some of which refuse to audit in Xinjiang because of heightened difficulty of ascertaining reliable reports there, raises questions on how reliable the outcome will be, the Umbrella Organisation for Critical Shareholders said. “Germany’s export control office urgently needs to clarify whether it considers measures such as external audits to be appropriate and effective in authoritarian states”, co-director Tilman Massa said. That office oversees and enforces German law introduced this year which requires larger companies to establish due diligence procedures to prevent human rights and environmental abuses within their global supply chains. The audit will not dampen a legal case brought against the carmaker by Berlin-based rights group ECCHR, which demands more evidence on how Volkswagen tracks the risk of forced labor not only at its plant but at any suppliers or sub-suppliers with links to Xinjiang. “No worker can speak freely without putting himself and his family in danger”, a spokesperson for human rights group World Uyghur Congress said. “We have serious doubts about how Volkswagen intends to conduct an independent review”. +++
+++ Mothballed for the third time at the end of 2019, the VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE is dead for good. Vague rumors claimed that the nameplate would return on an electric 4-door model with a retro-inspired design, but the company’s top executive confirmed that it’s not coming back. “I don’t think so, because there are certain vehicles that have had their day. It wouldn’t make sense to bring the Beetle back”, company CEO Thomas Schäfer told. “I wouldn’t say with 100% certainty, but, from where I stand right now, I wouldn’t consider it”. As it stands, the ID.Buzz is set to remain the only torchbearer of Volkswagen’s visual heritage in the 2020s lineup. It’s on sale in Europe, where it’s offered in passenger- and cargo-carrying configurations, and a long-wheelbase model is due out in the United States for 2025. Schäfer suggested that, broadly speaking, dusting off historic nameplates isn’t part of Volkswagen’s product plan. “It’s the same as Scirocco: it had its day, then there was a new model based on a reinterpretation. To do that again? I don’t think so. And going forward with balancing all of these technologies and the cost that is associated with it, you’ve got to invest money in the best possible place”. Bringing back a nameplate and bringing back a car aren’t the same things. Ford once again sells a Puma in Europe, but it shares nothing more than a name with its predecessor; it’s a crossover, while the original Puma sold from 1997 to 2002 took the form of a small, front-wheel-drive coupe designed by Ian Callum. Volkswagen won’t build, say, a Scirocco-badged crossover just to bring the name back. “There are examples in the auto industry at the moment where someone has taken a classic name and then put it on a car that’s not at all what it is … but I’m not mentioning names”, he said. Opel’s born-again Manta, which is due out in 2025 as a crossover, is another example. Although the Beetle and the Scirocco aren’t coming back, some of the other popular nameplates in the brand’s portfolio are sticking around. “We’ve decided we’re not going to throw away the traditional, successful names that have carried us for so long, that we’ve invested in for so long, like Golf and Tiguan. Why would you let them go?” Schäfer concluded. Volkswagen has previously confirmed that the ninth-generation Golf will switch to an electric drivetrain, meaning the current, 8th generation model is the last version powered by a piston engine. +++
+++ VOLVO is the next automaker to announce that it’s signed an agreement with Tesla with will allow its current and future electric vehicles use of the Supercharger network. Plus, just like Ford and General Motors, Volvo says its new EVs from 2025 on will be equipped with the North American Charging Standard (NACS) port instead of the Combined Charging System (CCS) port. This agreement makes Volvo the first European automaker to adopt Tesla’s charge port and gain access to the 12.000-plus Superchargers across the U.S. Volvo says that owners of its EVs will be able to access Superchargers as early as the first half of 2024 with an adapter. For Volvo EVs built with the NACS port, Volvo says those vehicles will still be capable of charging on CCS chargers with an adapter provided by Volvo. Volvo didn’t explicitly say that the Supercharger network would be integrated into its cars’ native navigation system (which is just Google Maps these days), but it did say that folks will be able to use the Volvo app to do so. Via the app, you’ll be able to locate chargers, get real-time availability info and pay for charging sessions. “As part of our journey to becoming fully electric by 2030, we want to make life with an electric car as easy as possible”, said Jim Rowan, Volvo CEO. “One major inhibitor to more people making the shift to electric driving (a key step in making transportation more sustainable) is access to easy and convenient charging infrastructure. Today, with this agreement, we’re taking a major step to remove this threshold for Volvo drivers in the United States, Canada and Mexico”. Stay tuned, as it’s only a matter of time until more and more automakers make a similar decision as Ford, General Motors and Volvo just made. +++
