+++ New developments in the car world are always closely guarded secrets, but in a world where a social media presence is essential to the sustained growth of a brand, mistakes are made relatively frequently. Presumably meant to be published later in the year, a now-revised post on LinkedIn appears to have accidentally leaked the news that the all-new AUDI RS5 will debut this year with a plug-in hybrid powertrain. Mention of this vehicle has since been removed from Audi’s social media, but the announcements will likely be remade not too long from now. The post on LinkedIn read as follows: “The new Audi RS5 is also nearing its debut and will be our first performance plug-in hybrid. Stay tuned to our channels so you don’t miss any news”. This doesn’t tell us very much, but we already know a few things, including that this new RS5 won’t be offered in coupe format. It will likely be available in both Sportback (liftback) and Avant (station wagon) forms. Both variants are expected to feature the B9 generation’s 2.9-liter twin-turbo V6 and combined with an electric motor, more than 600 horsepower is possible. Spy shots reveal that the RS 5 Sportback will have vents behind the front wheels like the most recent RS3, as well as a small wing on the edge of its tailgate. At the front, a large Singleframe grille with diamond-shaped mesh will be flanked by a pair of upright grilles for cooling the brakes, among other components. Flush door handles are also evident. Large, oval tailpipes in a pronounced diffuser will help identify the M3 competitor, as will blistered rear fenders. +++
+++ BENTLEY could build a more off-road-biased version of its Bentayga, previewed by the extreme new X Concept. Developed so Bentley can “stimulate and gain feedback” for such a car, it is based on the existing Bentayga Speed, with a twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 sending 650 hp to all 4 wheels. It rides 55 mm higher and 40 mm wider than the road-focused model and its track has been stretched by 120 mm. The wheels are 22 inch one-piece items from specialist manufacturer Brixton and they are fitted with high-profile all-terrain tyres. The Bentayga’s air suspension system and active anti-roll bars are retained. The tweaks give the luxury SUV a maximum wading depth of 550 mm (up 50 mm) and a ground clearance just shy of 310 mm, said Bentley. The X Concept is also equipped with a roof rack on to which are mounted 4 spotlights and an electric go-kart. The X Concept reflects an ongoing trend for luxury cars being converted into outright off-roaders, with the first generation Porsche Cayenne among the most popular cars to receive the treatment; both by owners and Porsche itself. The trend has boomed in recent years, with several sports car manufacturers offering all-terrain versions of their sports cars, including the Morgan Plus Four CX-T, Porsche 911 Dakar and Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato. +++
+++ While Infiniti struggles to recapture their former glory, due in part to a slow rate of electrification, LEXUS soared once again on the sales charts last year. Throughout 2025, Lexus sold 882.231 vehicles globally, a new annual record for the manufacturer. Last year’s sales were up by 4% over 2024, and contributed to the Toyota Group being the world’s best-selling automaker for the sixth consecutive year, with a total of 10.3 million vehicles sold. Once again, North America proved to be the biggest market for Lexus, and all but one major region saw growth for the brand. North America led the way for Lexus, with 408.070 vehicles sold in the region in 2025. In the United States alone, 370.260 Lexus models were sold. The other biggest regions for Lexus were Asia (237.946 sales), Japan (87.418) and Europe (80.686). All markets grew besides Europe, where sales slowed by 2.3% relative to 2024. Lexus attributed strong sales in North America to SUVs like the RX, NX and TX. The former 2 cars have been around for a few years now, but continue to thrive, while the TX finally gave Lexus a strong 3-row crossover contender. In the United States, sales of the TX increased by over 100% in 2025, with 57.346 units sold. The tough GX also saw growth of over 20% here. Strong SUV sales helped account for declining sedan sales, as Lexus sedans were down 6% in the U.S. in 2025. However, the all-new Lexus ES should change this. Set to go on sale in March 2026, it will be available with both hybrid and fully electric powertrains. While Lexus is popular in North America, it doesn’t have the same level of global appeal as its German rivals. Excluding Mini and Rolls-Royce, the BMW Group sold 2.169.761 vehicles in 2025, more than double what Lexus managed. However, this was a 1.4% decline, so the 2 brands were a little closer last year than in 2024. Mercedes-Benz sold 1.800.800 units (-9%), still well clear of Lexus. Finally, Audi delivered 1.6 million vehicles globally, a decline of 3% but still ahead of Lexus. +++
+++ NISSAN began 2026 expecting a rebound. After a turbulent 2025, management aimed to stabilize performance and rebuild momentum. A central part of that narrative was the decision to sell the Yokohama headquarters in a sale-and-leaseback transaction worth about $610 million. It also cut 7 plants and about 20.000 jobs to reduce costs and bolster its coffers. The company presented the move as a way to strengthen its balance sheet while continuing to invest in future technologies and product development. Investors and analysts initially saw the sale as pragmatic. Nissan needed liquidity after reporting significant operating losses and declining global unit sales. The cash from the asset sale was meant to support restructuring and future growth initiatives. Yet the deal also sent an unintended signal: Nissan’s need to monetize core assets pointed to deeper issues rather than confidence in a strong market rebound. Nissan’s product slate in Japan was expected to drive renewed demand. The redesigned Leaf entered the market with a longer range and a new body style. The Ariya was updated. The X-Trail e-Power underwent a refresh and the Skyline sedan received revisions. Dealers were counted on to convert interest into orders and help restart Nissan’s volume growth. Instead, early order data in Japan tells a starkly different story. The updated Ariya registered zero confirmed orders at launch. Dealers cited weak customer interest and pricing that made sales difficult. The redesigned Leaf has offered some orders but not at the pace Nissan hoped for, with buyers often waiting for lower-priced trims. Even the Skyline shows little traction in a market shifting away from sedans. This underwhelming intake is a disappointment given the importance of Japan to Nissan’s brand and wholesale volumes. As Nissan struggles to turn its product momentum into sales, competitors are capitalizing. Toyota recently overtook Nissan in quarterly EV sales in Japan for the first time. Toyota’s efforts with models such as the BZ4X and other electrified vehicles have resonated with buyers, eroding Nissan’s long-held advantage in EV leadership. Toyota’s ascent in EV sales adds to the pressure on Nissan. It once dominated Japan’s plug-in market with the Leaf. Losing that top spot reflects not just one quarter’s performance but a broader challenge the automaker now faces in aligning product appeal, pricing, and marketing execution. Nissan still has strong global name recognition and a loyal customer base, but its competitors are moving quickly. Unless it accelerates changes to pricing, incentives and product relevance, its weak start to the year risks defining its performance for 2026. +++
+++ PEUGEOT is “thinking about” launching a model positioned above its flagship 5008, boss Alain Favey has told. But to be successful, “it would need to be something really different” so it could stand out against rivals, he said, referencing the difficulties the axed 508 had in a segment that included premium offerings such as the Audi A4 and BMW 3 Series. He explained: “We had the 508, which we stopped 6 months ago. It just shows the difficulty of having a car (despite it having a really credible offer) for a brand like Peugeot, because obviously in this segment you will have a lot of more premium brands being extremely successful”. Asked what form a new Peugeot flagship could take, Favey admitted that “I don’t know” but added that the firm has the ability to dip into the Stellantis parts bin and “look at what is possible”. He continued: “If ever we’re tempted to do that, it would need to be something really different, and I don’t know what that is. So are we thinking about it? Yes”. Although there is no “concrete plan” today, “we have to also be conscious” of not overloading the Peugeot line-up, said Favey. As such, he warned that one of the car’s stumbling blocks could be that it gets lost within the line-up as the “difficulty we have is to advertise everything”, referring to the lack of noise made about the 408, despite it being “great advertising for Peugeot, because the car turns your head”. He asked, therefore, is “it not more reasonable to focus on what we do well, which is B- and C-segment cars? That’s why I hesitate. Even though I would love to launch such a car”. +++
+++ TESLA ’s annual profit plunged to its lowest level since the pandemic 5 years ago as it lost the title of the world’s biggest electric vehicle maker to a Chinese rival and boycotts hammered sales. The EV company run by Elon Musk reported that net income last year dropped 46% to $3.8 billion. It was the second year in a row of steep declines. The drop came despite the introduction of cheaper models and Musk’s promise to remain laser-focused on the company after a foray into U.S politics. Still, Tesla investors have kept the faith in Musk. The stock is up 9% in the past year. Musk has been urging investors to focus less on car sales and more on what he considers a bright new future of robottaxis ferrying millions in cars without drivers, or even steering wheels, and robots watering plants and taking care of elderly parents. On a conference call, Musk said Tesla would be closing down production of 2 models, S and X, in the second quarter this year and converting a Fremont, California, factory to produce its Optimus robots. For the fourth quarter of last year, Tesla’s net income also plunged, down 61% to $840 million. “They’ve got aging product that is less and less competitive as others manufacturers come out with new models, then there is the general brand destruction”, said Telemetry analyst Sam Abuelsamid. “Musk‘s involvement in politics has turned off customers”. One bright point was Tesla’s gross profit margins, which leapt to 20% last quarter from 16% a year ago. “Tesla’s ability to show improving profitably was a surprise”, said Morningstar analyst Seth Goldstein. “I think that is the reason the stock is up now”. Goldstein said he was also encouraged by plans outlined in Tesla’s earnings report to roll out robotaxi service in Houston, Miami and 5 other cities in the first half of this year. Investors cheered earlier this year when Musk shifted his focus back to the company after spending months as head of a government cost-cutting team in Washington. But it’s not clear his attention will remain as undivided in the new year. He has plans to take his rocket company SpaceX public, possibly in June, in what many expect to be a blockbuster IPO that make him the world’s first trillionaire … but also possibly distract him. The latest Tesla figures are a setback for a company that had promised so much a year ago. After President Donald Trump was elected, investors pushed up the stock on a bet that his advisory role in the new administration would help the company. Instead it backfired. Customers angry with his work for Trump and his right-wing political stances boycotted the brand. Musk had also promised a year ago that European regulators would approve its partial self-driving software within 3 months, a potential big boost to Tesla sales there. But that didn’t happen either. And investors were also excited about Tesla’s robottaxi service promising rides without anyone driving the car. But instead they got cars with supervisors inside to grab the controls in case something went wrong, though on this count there may be progress. Tesla recently said it was removing these safety drivers in Austin where it launched the service in June and has vowed to aggressively expand into other cities in the coming year. For some on Wall Street that is enough to get excited about the company, and keep pushing the stock up. Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities, one of Wall Street’s most bullish analysts, expects robottaxis will be in more than 30 cities by the end of this year, and that Tesla will capture 70% of the global market for self-driving cars in a decade. Others are also excited about Tesla energy storage business, which posted strong numbers last quarter with revenues surging 25% to $3.8 billion. Tesla is benefiting from massive demand as datacenters sucking up energy are being built out around the U.S. +++
+++ Owners of Single Motor Extended Range and Twin Motor Performance versions of the VOLVO EX30 have been instructed not to leave their cars unattended while charging indoors or in covered areas, due to a battery fire risk. Volvo recently identified an issue with battery cells overheating in the long-range versions of the EV, which use a 69 kWh pack comprising nickel-managanese-cobalt modules. Cells that overheat can cause a fire that spreads to the rest of the pack, potentially igniting the rest of the car. The new advice comes after Volvo advised owners of these EX30s not to charge to more than 70% to mitigate the risk of fire. A charge limit can be applied through the charge settings menu in the EX30’s touchscreen infotainment system. If cells overheat, a warning is displayed on the touchscreen stating: “Danger! Battery overheating. Stop safely now and exit car”. In a statement, Volvo said the number of such incidents reported so far amounts to 0.02% of all the 33.777 EX30s with that battery built over that timeframe, equating to 7 cars. The company added that there have been no reports of personal injuries related to the fault and that it plans to bring in the affected cars for remedial work. “We plan to roll out a recall as soon as possible to fix the cars in question”, Volvo said. “In the meantime, we are contacting all affected owners to ask them to limit their cars’ maximum charge level to 70%. We will contact them again as soon as a fix is available. “Other models are not affected by this notice and not all variants of EX30 are affected”. The fault doesn’t affect the entry-level version of the EX30, the Single Motor, which employs a different battery entirely: a 49 kWh pack using the lithium-iron-phosphate chemistry. +++