+++ AUDI has reached a special production milestone in Hungaria. Since the start of series production of the Q3 in 2011, over 2 million vehicles have been sold worldwide, 1 million of which were manufactured at the Hungarian plant in Győr. The model’s success story continues with the new Q3 making its debut in summer 2025. Since its establishment in 1993, Audi Hungaria has produced more than 45 million engines and 2 million vehicles in Győr. Production of the second-generation Q3 and Q3 Sportback began at the automobile factory in 2018. “1 million vehicles produced in Győr impressively demonstrates how popular the Q3 is with our customers worldwide”, says Gerd Walker, chairman of the Supervisory Board of Audi Hungaria and Member of the Board of Management for Production and Logistics at Audi. “The Győr plant has played a significant part in the success of the model and has stood for consistent production quality for more than 25 years. Audi Hungaria also has a unique portfolio of products and services that play an important role not only for the Hungarian industry, but also for the Audi brand. This success story will continue with the new generation of the Q3, which will celebrate its world premiere in the summer”. In 2024, the seventh year of production of the successful compact SUV, Audi Hungaria employees manufactured 99.288 units. A total of 63.759 units of the Sportback version rolled off the production line that year as well. +++
+++ The BOVENSIEPEN family, founders of legendary German BMW tuning house Alpina, have launched their own coachbuilding business with the unveiling of a new 600 hp super-GT at the Villa d’Este Concorso d’Eleganza. With Alpina now owned by BMW itself, the family is shifting its focus to become “a manufacturer of outstanding automobiles that embody the ambition of fine driving”. The first project from the new outfit (named simply Bovensiepen) is an imposing, BMW M4-based grand tourer called the Zagato, in reference to the famous Italian design house responsible for its styling. Zagato has previously collaborated with Aston Martin, Ferrari, Bentley, Maserati and Alfa Romeo, and its first effort for Bovensiepen is described as “a harmonious composition of individual design” that “features and bears the unmistakable signature of the traditional Milanese design studio”. It’s said to take more than 250 hours to build the Zagato, of which production will be “strictly limited”, although no precise figure has been given. Pricing and availability will be given at the end of this year, ahead of deliveries beginning in summer 2026. Each car can be, Bovensiepen promises, “as unique as its owner”, with extensive personalisation options available for the interior and exterior. It’s extensively differentiated from the BMW on which it’s based by a totally bespoke treatment at the front and rear, a reshaped bonnet, a revised side profile and Zagato’s trademark double-bubble roof. The Zagato features a 3.0-litre straight-6 engine that produces 610 hp and 700 Nm for a 0-100 kph time of just 3.3 seconds and a top speed in excess of 300 kph, Bovensiepen claims. It has bespoke Bilstein dampers that can be configured in 3 driving modes (Comfort, Sport and Sport Plus), which Bovensiepen says offers “a range from pronounced comfort to athletic driving dynamics”. It also gains a lightweight, twin-exit titanium exhaust system from Akrapovič, which is said to be 40% lighter than the standard system. BMW will reveal the next steps for the Alpina brand in 2026, it has said, with ex-Polestar designer Max Missoni joining the German firm to lead the styling for all luxury models, including Alpinas. Bovensiepen’s unveiling of the Zagato comes just a day after BMW revealed its own 8 Series-based special edition, the Speedtop shooting brake, which is due in production next year. +++
+++ DACIA boss Denis le Vot has outlined what he thinks is behind the brand’s continued growth and spoke about the new Bigster and its significance for the brand. Also he explained why small cars need to have a future to ensure mobility remains affordable to all, and teased a new 5-year model plan that will be announced later this year. Among the new models set to be confirmed in this plan are an electric Sandero (due 2027/2028), additional C-segment models to sit alongside the Bigster and a new entry-level electric car to replace the Spring. Le Vot said the overarching theme of the plan will be a focus on Dacia coming back to “affordable mobility or very affordable mobility”, plus electrification of the range. The Sandero electric car will have a technical and design freeze at the end of the year, and le Vot is happy to push this as long as possible to ensure the model is able to benefit from cost reductions and technology breakthroughs in electric car technology. “We will come after the battle” on costs, he said. “The later you are, the better you choose”. On the Spring replacement, le Vot said this would be engineered in China and use parts sourced from China, but be built in Europe, unlike the current model. It will be larger than the current Spring but won’t cost much more, with a target price of less than 21.000 in the Netherlands. At the other end of the range, Dacia has no plans to offer a model larger than the Bigster but it would be joined by additional body styles in the C-segment. Dacia is unique in its engineering approach in the industry, setting the cost of its components, cars and projects first and then creating them to that cost, rather than designing the car and components first and sourcing them after, which can lead to a lack of cost control. Dacia said it was able to carry on doing this as, unlike other car groups and companies, it did not need to leverage components and platforms across multiple models with different positioning and market positioning, which always ends up with unnecessary weight and components engineered into a car. “We could take a Renault Austral and try and make it simpler to make a Dacia Bigster, but you would have all the spec still. We don’t have an ‘A’ brand, and try and then make that car into a ‘B’ brand. If you look at the Jogger against its rivals, they are all 250 kg heavier as they are carrying that higher spec. This has a cost. We’re not rooted by a minimum spec. We come from the bottom up and add the minimum technology we need. Rivals come from the top down as they have to platform share”. The Bigster breaks new ground for Dacia in going into the C-segment for the first time. As part of its development, Dacia researchers went to Germany to speak to 400 owners of German SUVs to find out what they considered to be ‘essential’ technology for a model in the family SUV segment. That’s what has led to the likes of a powered tailgate, a powered driver’s seat and dual-zone air conditioning being offered on a Dacia for the first time. “We wanted to make sure that buyers here didn’t feel like they had downgraded, to get the right level of essential kit. We really talked to people, and played a game of to buy or not to buy based on different kit. It was hard to guess! We did a bit in the United Kingdom too but the ‘codes’ between German and British buyers are very similar. The proportion of buyers from Germany versus France is much higher than with our other models”. The Bigster has had the most successful pre-sales period in Dacia history and more than 4 in 5 customers had never had a Dacia before. More than 90% of buyers have gone for the top trim level, too. “We need to make sure people ‘cross the road’ to come and check out Dacia. We have offered a €32.500 Bigster (Dutch pricing), but most have bought a €38.000 one. They’re happy and we’re happy”. Dacia has more than doubled its sales over the last 7 years from around 300.000 to almost 700.000 in 2024, and the brand enjoys strong loyalty with more than two thirds of buyers staying with the brand. The average tenure of a Dacia buyer is almost 8 years, which on the sales numbers makes around one third of Dacia buyers each year being those who have bought from the brand before. The other two thirds are “people who say cars have become too expensive” and typically are from people coming from “upstairs” in the industry and other brands. Yet the brand has been evolving with a new look, logo and styling, and adding equipment as the market matures and evolves. “We were cheap before but the curve of what is essential is changing. Maybe we were below the curve before, now we’ve stuck more things on it. There is no arrogance in the product. We used to be low cost only but now we offer higher trims with all you need”. +++
+++ KIA is priming an estate-bodied version of its new Volkswagen Golf rival, the K4 (a petrol-powered equivalent of the electric EV4). The striking K4 has already launched in global markets such as the United States as a liftback and a conventional hatchback (photo), but it has yet to be confirmed for Europe. However, prototypes have previously been spotted testing in Europe, a key market for mid-sized hatchbacks. Although a spokesperson for Kia told that this does not mean the car is poised to go on sale in Europe, the emergence of an estate suggests Kia could be considering wider launch plans, given the continent accounts for the majority of estate sales globally. Meanwhile, the segment is all but extinct in the key markets for the K4 currently, such as the United States. It’s possible that the K4 could arrive as a replacement for the Ceed Sportswagon and Proceed, which are approaching the end of their lifespans. They were launched 7 years ago and are built in the brand’s factory in Slovakia, which will soon pivot to production of the new EV4. But the market for such cars remains fruitful, and it is unlikely Kia would so easily abandon the segment. The K4 estate is likely to be notably larger than the 4.61 meter long Proceed, given that the K4 liftback stretches to 4.71 meter. That would probably result in its repositioning as an alternative to the big-selling Skoda Octavia Estate, which measures 4.7 meter long. But the business case for the K4’s import into Europe is not completely flawless: the model does not currently offer any electrified powertrains, which would make it harder for Kia to meet CO2 emissions targets set by the EU. In the US, it is available with either an atmospheric 150 hp 2.0-litre 4-cylinder petrol engine or a turbocharged 1.6-litre unit that puts out 200 hp. Kia has however committed to expanding its range of hybrid powertrains in response to slowing growth in electric car sales globally. It could be that the K4 arrives in Europe once these powertrains have been introduced; nine models are set to gain them globally within the next three years. +++
+++ Drastic times call for drastic measures. Amid a series of cost-cutting efforts in its fight for survival, NISSAN may also part ways with its global headquarters. The troubled Japanese automaker moved its base from Tokyo to Yokohama in 2009, following 2 years of construction. Located in the Minato-Mirai 21 district, the building is estimated to be worth over 100 billion yen, or about $700 million, according to a local realtor. A fresh report from Nikkei Asia claims the HQ appears on a list of assets Nissan intends to sell by the end of March 2026. The company’s newly appointed CEO, Ivan Espinosa, has already announced upcoming asset sales, although he hasn’t explicitly mentioned the complex. Nippon Hoso Kyokai (Japan Broadcasting Corporation), or NHK, also alleges the building is up for grabs. Even if Nissan decides to sell its global headquarters, it may continue using the facility by leasing it from the new owner. This wouldn’t be without precedent in the automotive industry. McLaren did the same a few years ago with its HQ in Woking through a sale-and-leaseback deal to reduce debt. Selling its headquarters would be yet another entry in a growing list of major cost-cutting moves following a $4.5 billion loss last year. Nissan is closing 7 factories, including 2 domestic sites, reportedly identified as the Oppama and Shonan plants. The workforce will be significantly reduced, with 20.000 jobs to be eliminated in the coming years. Nissan is even halting the development of certain models to cut expenses. Additionally, 6 vehicle platforms are being dropped, leaving just 7 in the line-up. Another goal is to unify more products by reducing parts complexity by 70 percent. After the failed merger with Honda, Nissan is trying to figure out how to survive on its own. To grasp the seriousness of the situation, consider that some 3.000 R&D employees have been reassigned to work on “cost reduction initiatives”. Elsewhere, badge-engineered cars like the Micra/Renault 5 will help bring new models to market by leveraging Renault. Nissan also aims to strengthen its partnership with Mitsubishi to accelerate the development of new products. It might even allow its Chinese partner, Dongfeng, to build cars at some of its underused factories. +++
+++ German sports car firm WIESMANN “remains committed” to returning to the market with its Project Thunderball EV, despite significant delays. The electric roadster was unveiled in 2022, 6 years after troubled Wiesmann was acquired by international technology firm Contec Global, and was due on sale in 2024 at €290.000. It features a pair of electric motors on its rear axle, combining for 680 hp and 1,100 Nm of torque; enough for the 1.7-tonne roadster to dispatch the 0-100 ph sprint in 2.9 seconds. An 83 kWh (usable capacity) battery is claimed to provide it with 500 km of range. Explaining the delay, strategy chief Jaspreet Ahuja said Wiesmann had suffered from “supply chain challenges” that were exacerbated by “the confusion changes in tariffs are creating for manufacturers like us. We remain committed to producing the Thunderball, and I am hoping we will have an update for you by the end of the year”, he said. +++
