+++ HONDA is officially renewing its vows with Guangzhou Automobile Group (GAC) for another 12 years. Despite tumbling sales figures in the region as buyers overwhelmingly rush toward electrified options, the Japanese automaker is holding tight. They are locking in their joint venture until 2038 in a defiant stand to maintain their business presence and hold onto hope in China. The timing of this announcement comes right when the Chinese auto landscape is more cutthroat than ever. By securing this long-term deal, Honda is signaling it refuses to pack up and leave the largest automotive market in the world. The brand’s recent South Korean exit proved it isn’t afraid to cut losses when sales collapse entirely, but clearly, the Chinese market is a critical battleground it is willing to fight for. The new contract formally extends the GAC-Honda operational timeline through 2038. This move is a direct response to a rapidly changing landscape where legacy automakers are scrambling to hold their ground and remain relevant. With the tie-up extension, Honda is aggressively hoping to stabilize its Chinese business operations and prepare for the next decade of intense, high-stakes competition. It is no secret that traditional brands are rapidly losing market share to domestic heavyweights who are capitalizing on the EV rush. Competitors like BYD are relentlessly dominating the sales charts, achieving massive milestones like rolling out their 100.000th vehicle from overseas plants. To fight back, Honda and GAC aim to rapidly overhaul their strategy to roll out electric models that can actually compete. This desperate pivot requires a massive shift in how they actually design and assemble vehicles from the ground up. China’s massive auto boom is forcing Honda to drastically rethink production lines to keep costs down and development lightning fast. It is an aggressive, necessary move designed to match the breakneck pace of domestic rivals who iterate faster than traditional automakers ever thought possible. This extension is a necessary, but incredibly defensive play. Honda knows they simply cannot afford to lose China if they want to remain a global automotive powerhouse. However, throwing a fresh 12-year timeline at the wall doesn’t magically fix their current technology lag. They are playing a gruelling game of catch-up in a race where the local leaders are already sprinting miles ahead of them. If they actually want to survive and thrive until 2038, they need to deliver next-generation battery technology at cut-throat prices. Relying on legacy models and basic compact hatchbacks simply will not save them in a market that is currently obsessed with futuristic, heavily digitized EVs. The GAC partnership extension gives Honda the factory floor to stay in the fight, but whether they can actually throw a knockout punch remains the ultimate question. +++
+++ Spy photographers have caught the redesigned Hyundai Tucson on numerous occasions, but they’ve finally snapped the first photos of its KIA counterpart. We’re talking about the next-generation Sportage and it could debut in time for the 2028 model year. Spotted undergoing testing, the SUV is heavily disguised but appears to follow in the footsteps of newer models such as the Seltos. It’s clear the redesigned model will have split lighting units. The mid-mounted headlights reside at the outside edges of a wide grille and a prominent horizontal bar. The lower intake features a central sensor pod as well as matching horizontal accents. The model has a taller and more upright front end. The crossover also trades swoopy, curvaceous styling for a more rigid and linear setup. Speaking of the latter, there’s a flatter beltline and a more angular A-pillar. The Sportage retains a gently sloping roof, but it’s accompanied by thicker fender flares. We can also expect stylish 18 inch wheels sporting a 2-tone design. It appears the license plate recess has been lowered and the SUV adopts split lighting units out back. The taillights are in the usual location, but the turn signals appear to be mounted just above the bumper. That’s an odd setup, so I’m wondering if it’s temporary for the prototype. Inside, we can get a glimpse at a Pleos Connect infotainment system. It’s offered in a variety of sizes including 12.9, 14.6 and 17.0 inches. We can also expect a digital instrument cluster as well as streamlined switchgear. Powertrain options will likely be shared with the new Tucson and this means we can expect hybrid and plug-in hybrid setups. Both should see significant improvements to maximize performance and efficiency. +++
+++ The LAND ROVER DISCOVERY is the latest vehicle pulled back in the United States over a rearview camera issue, though the cause here isn’t the usual software gremlin. Land Rover points instead to an inadequate “water management system” and while the company does have a fix ready to go, the method it has landed on is about as low-tech as recall remedies get. According to Land Rover, water may not drain away from the Discovery’s rearview camera as it should. Instead it pools around the camera and, over time, can damage it. That leaves the driver unable to see what’s behind them, making it a safety hazard on top of an annoyance. The NHTSA’s recall notice states JLR opened an investigation into a potential issue in February while reviewing warranty claim data in 2021 Discovery models. It later expanded the investigation to include other model year vehicles before deciding to issue the recall. A total of 100 claims and field reports have been submitted in the US related to faulty rearview camera systems, triggered by water intrusion. A total of 15.535 Discovery models are being recalled, all of which were manufactured between September 14, 2020 and July 17, 2025, for the 2021-2025 model years. To fix the issue, Land Rover will inspect the cameras of impacted Discovery models and replace them as required. To help ensure nothing like this happens again, more holes will be drilled in the underside of the tailgate trim, which should improve drainage and prevent recurrence. All repairs will be conducted free of charge. +++
+++ MERCEDES recently launched an updated version of its flagship S-Class sedan. That car packs a fresh 4.0-liter V8 with a flat-plane crank setup, doling out as much as 530 horsepower and 700 Nm of torque in the S 580. A flat-plane crank means less rotational mass and quicker revs, which helps equal more horsepower. But while the engine might be suited for Benz duty first and foremost, the AMG side of the family wants to make sure it’s up to snuff before shoving it into the pumped-up snouts of its own vehicles. That includes 2 models currently sorely missed from the Mercedes-AMG line-up: the C 63 sedan and E 63 wagon. AMG engineers have been watching the engine’s development closely as it rolls out in the new S-Class. According to Mathias Geisen, a board member with Mercedes, phase one of the return of proper AMG V8 engines has begun. “One step after the other”, he says. “First we have to make sure we have a very nice and sophisticated V8, and of course we now look into market demand and have some plans of where else to use it”. Those plans very likely include the return of the aforementioned AMG models. It’s no secret that buyers never warmed to the four-cylinder C63. And the current E53 AMG is merely okay, while also possessing some of the worst brakes I’ve felt in any Mercedes product. +++
+++ For years, SUBARU enthusiasts have watched the company drift away from the formula that made it the brand it is today. The STI disappeared, the WRX gradually evolved into a more mature (and far less playful) sports sedan, and exciting concepts repeatedly stole headlines before leading to exactly nothing for customers to own. Now, Subaru is acknowledging things need to change, and it’s creating an entirely new division dedicated to making sure fun cars don’t become an afterthought. According to a report from Japan’s BestCar, the automaker recently established a new Product Innovation Headquarters. Within it is a Sports Vehicle Planning Office tasked exclusively with adding fun back to the Subaru brand. If that sounds like something Subaru should have done years ago, you’re right! The announcement came during an interview with Subaru Chief Technical Officer Tetsuro Fujinuki, who made it clear the company wanted to abandon its previous development process. “We decided to stop doing things the old way”, Fujinuki said. “Because it’s boring”. That’s a remarkably candid admission from a company whose performance lineup has largely stood still while rivals continued pushing forward. Subaru’s reputation was built on rally-bred machines like the WRX STI and other turbocharged, all-wheel-drive performance cars. Yet over the past decade, the enthusiast side of the business has steadily shrunk. Perhaps nothing illustrates that stagnation better than the STI itself. The final spec WRX STI produced 310 hp, just 10 hp more than the 300 hp model that arrived back in 2004. Instead of evolving into an ever-more capable flagship, the STI simply disappeared after the 2021 model year, leaving enthusiasts wondering whether Subaru still cared about performance at all. According to Fujinuki, changing emissions and fuel economy regulations had made it difficult to justify more powerful gasoline models. Those same regs didn’t stop cars like the Honda Civic Type-R from arriving on the scene, though. That said, American regulations are nowhere near as tough as they had been. Creating a new department doesn’t automatically guarantee a new golden age for Subaru performance cars. Enthusiasts have spent years watching exciting concepts come and go without ever reaching dealerships. But establishing an entire office dedicated to sports cars is a far more meaningful commitment than another flashy concept unveiled at an auto show. +++
+++ VOLKSWAGEN is preparing to bring some of its Chinese-engineered and built models to Europe. The cars will plug any gaps in its future product range as the German giant goes through a vast restructuring process to reduce complexity and costs. Speaking on a half-yearly results call, Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume said: “Volkswagen Group in China, we’re a China player, and with the market as it is, it opens the same opportunities as Chinese brands when it comes to export”. No specific timeline has been laid out yet, but this move will build on a larger plan to turn VW’s ‘In China For China’ program into a hub for markets in the eastern and southern hemispheres. The plan will also extend to offering certain Chinese models in Europe, although the German brand has been careful to emphasise that these will not include models which could overlap with European-designed or built cars already on sale. Blume continued by saying: “We would only bring products in segments which don’t have any European coverage, so it wouldn’t have any impact on European development. They’re completely different cars”. The plan has 2 main benefits. The first being a chance to mitigate the toughening market conditions in China by diversifying into other less competitive markets, while also dealing with any potential oversupply. This is exactly what other Chinese brands are already doing, and as VW comes with an established global footprint, it already has a foundation to sell from. The second benefit is a chance to offer some of its cutting-edge models in Europe, covering more segments without doubling up on R&D across regions. However, VW leadership are aware of the optics, especially as rumours continue to swirl about cutting European production to a point where plant closures might be inevitable. Which is where part-2 of this idea comes into play as Blume also confirmed there’s scope to build these Chinese-engineered models in European factories to help keep the lights switched on. Blume was bullish about the way VW goes about this, telling us: “First export, then check the response in the market. But we would carefully plan which segments we’d enter, which could then open up the opportunity to build any of these models in those plants”. As such, there’s little chance that any of VW’s small to medium sized models offered in the Chinese market would be sold here, instead it’ll be larger and more profitable lines such as the popular ID.Era 7X. This new model has already been considered a hit in the Chinese market, shooting right to the top of the popular full-sized range-extender SUV class. It would also make sense for the European market as these range-extender style vehicles could meet the demand for models with an internal combustion engine before an ICE ban comes into force. +++
+++ Selling a majority stake usually means a company is looking for the exit. VOLKSWAGEN GROUP ’s India deal suggests the opposite. The world’s fastest-growing major car market has become so valuable that Volkswagen would rather surrender control than surrender its place in line. Instead of scaling back, its handing majority control of its Indian operations to JSW Group, one of the country’s largest industrial conglomerates. India isn’t a niche market anymore. It’s now the world’s third-largest car market behind China and the United States. Yet car ownership remains only about 30–35 vehicles per 1.000 people, compared with roughly 800 in America, leaving enormous room for growth that mature markets simply don’t have. On paper, Volkswagen should have been one of the winners. It has spent decades building factories, engineering cars specifically for India and selling models from Volkswagen and Skoda. Yet its combined market share remains in the single digits, dwarfed by local leaders such as Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Tata Motors and Mahindra. Unlike in the U.S., India’s market has long favoured inexpensive, highly localized vehicles backed by vast dealer networks and low-cost servicing, areas where domestic manufacturers have held a significant advantage. That’s where JSW enters the picture. Imagine if Nucor or U.S. Steel suddenly became one of America’s most influential car companies. Best known globally as one of India’s largest steelmakers, the conglomerate has quietly become a serious automotive player. It already helped reshape MG Motor India after becoming a strategic investor, giving MG deeper local roots at a time when foreign automakers were finding it harder to go alone. Winning increasingly requires local ownership, local suppliers and local political and industrial relationships. +++