+++ Toyota is poised to bring back the CELICA for an 8th generation, more than 2 decades after the last version went off sale, as an entry model for its new GR performance brand. The sports coupé is set to return as part of chairman Akio Toyoda’s ambition to resurrect the “three brothers”; his affectionate nickname for the Supra, MR2 and Celica. With the Supra revived through a partnership with BMW several years ago, and plans taking shape for an imminent resurrection of the mid-engined MR2, the Celica is tipped to be next down the line. The firm has not yet committed to a timeline, but a test mule for Toyota’s 2027 World Rally Championship contender was recently spotted with a radical new 2-door body. Next year’s WRC rules no longer tie bodywork to a current road car, but it would make sense for Toyota to use it to promote a new Celica. Swapping from the GR Yaris the firm currently fields in the WRC to the Celica would be a return to form for Toyota, which has used several iterations of its coupé as the basis for factory rally cars over the years, winning the 1993 and 1994 WRC with Celicas. As with previous generations, the new Celica road car is expected to be based heavily on more mainstream underpinnings. Logically, those would be supplied in its next outing by the rakish new Corolla, which was previewed by a futuristic, mould-breaking concept at last year’s Tokyo motor show. A 2-door, sporting-oriented take on its big-selling family hatchback would provide Toyota with a direct rival to the similarly conceived Honda Prelude (based on the Civic) and provide a less extreme entry point into the expanding GR line-up, which will be topped by the new V8-engined GR GT supercar. The new model, which is being referred to internally as the Celica Sport, is expected to use the same 2.0-litre engine as the GR Yaris M concept that’s being used as the mule for the new MR2, but here mounted at the front (as it has been for all seven previous generations), and forming part of a hybrid powertrain, à la Corolla. The WRC’s 2027 regulations mandate a 1.6-litre engine, so the rally car is expected to use an evolution of the current GR Yaris’s engine, but Mikio Hayashi, marketing manager for Toyota’s GR division, previously told that the three-pot “cannot meet emissions regulations, so we have to consider the possibility of a 2.0-litre” in the road-going derivative. He said the firm was “not at a stage where we can tell you exactly what size it is” and that no decision had been made about whether to use a hybrid or plug-in hybrid powertrain. The Corolla will be available with both and, like the MR2, will use a new engine that is as small as possible to allow for a low-slung body and spacious cabin. Irrespective of its exact powertrain, the new Celica is expected to be four-wheel drive (in rally and road-going forms), although there’s no indication of plans to revive the GT-Four name. +++
+++ HYUNDAI has just made several exciting announcements during its CEO Investor Day, from a slew of new performance vehicles to intentions for its upcoming mid-size pickup to be built in America, but there’s still more to discuss. The Korean automaker has also revealed that it will soon enter the extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) market with 2 models, one of which will be the new Santa Fe, set to arrive next year with 1.000 km of driving range. The other model looks like an EREV version of the Genesis GV80V, which Hyundai says will be given an “all-new high-performance battery” with even more range, achieving over 1.050 km before the petrol tank and battery need replenishing. Of course, Hyundai isn’t stopping there. The Santa Fe EREV will be built alongside the regular SUV and Hyundai claims that the battery will have half the capacity an all-electric Santa Fe would have required, which means the battery won’t encroach on space or impact weight too much. The Santa Fe EREV will have 2 electric motors, likely combining across both axles to provide AWD since the engine probably won’t drive the wheels directly (EREVs usually use the combustion engine as a generator to charge the battery, with no mechanical connection to any axle). Hyundai claims an “EV-like driving experience and acceleration”, so we should get decent horsepower and torque figures. Interestingly, Hyundai’s presentation showing all its current and future powertrains indicates that the EREV system will be offered across all market segments, potentially even entry-level models. These will obviously get even smaller batteries, since they won’t need as much range. Hyundai’s ability to put a decent battery with competitive range comes from its development of all-electric vehicles, and these new EREVs will doubtless further advance the technology. Furthermore, they’ll provide buyers yet another electrified option (a conventional GV80 hybrid was recently launched) without having to deal with the range anxiety concerns of a pure-electric vehicle. VW-backed Scout Motors also realized early on that all-electric vehicles are still tough for many Americans to consider, pivoting to focus on EREVs, and Hyundai’s announcement shows it understands the same stumbling blocks. By putting the somewhat novel tech in a familiar package or two, Hyundai and Genesis will be able to get more buyers to have an EV-like experience, which may foster EV sales later down the line, while simultaneously keeping the brand adaptable to whatever global emissions requirements demand. Price, weight, and space will be critical, but Hyundai knows that and I expect these EREVs to uphold the brand’s high standards. +++
+++ After a slow start, Toyota and LEXUS have significantly expanded their electric lineups. However, one of their most important models will reportedly go into production in the fall of 2027. According to Nikkei Asia, Lexus will build a next-generation electric vehicle at a new plant in Shanghai. Little is known about the model at this point, but it’s reportedly a crossover that will be “made with leading-edge technology, including gigacasting to mold multiple aluminum body parts together as a single large piece”. The use of gigacasting was pioneered by Tesla and has been slowly spreading across the auto industry. It will be used on the upcoming Ford Fathom and it promises significant weight savings. In the case of the Lexus EV, this could increase the crossover’s range by “several percent”. While Toyota usually reserves its most advanced production techniques for Japan or the United States, the Lexus is being billed as the “rare exception”. Electric vehicles dominate in China and the company has struggled there as they only sold 182.458 vehicles in 2025. For comparison, the luxury brand moved 370.260 units in the United States that same year. Lexus is reportedly planning to build around 1.000 units per month in the model’s first year. However, production is slated to ramp up to “tens of thousands” of units annually. The model appears to be a Chinese-exclusive, which would be a bit of a change for the automaker. A quick look at the company’s current line-up reveals an assortment of familiar models including the NX, RX, GX and LX. They’re joined by the ES, LS, LM and RZ. The latter is the brand’s sole electric vehicle in a market that practically demands them. +++
+++ PORSCHE ’s next combustion-powered Macan has resurfaced. The new SUV will have the Audi Q5 as its donor. The new combustion Macan will use the VW Group’s Premium Platform Combustion architecture shared with the latest Q5. Expect a similar array of 2.0-liter 4-cylinder and 3.0-liter V6 engines, plus the Macan’s first ever plug-in hybrid powertrain that will deliver at least 100 km of electric range. Being a Porsche, though, the Macan will want to show its cousin who’s boss. So while Audi’s hottest Q5 is the 367 SQ5, we can expect the punchiest Macan to try much harder. The 2026 Macan GTS, which is still on sale in America despite production ending last month, as a reminder, already makes 440 hp from its bi-turbo V6. Porsche recently said it wanted to reduce the number of variants to help boost profitability, but Audi Q5 Sportback development mules have also appeared in Spain alongside the more upright SUV versions, raising the possibility Porsche might exploit that hardware to create a more rakish Macan derivative. That’s just speculation for now, but a coupe-like companion would hardly look out of place in today’s premium SUV market. Porsche originally expected the electric Macan to replace the combustion one altogether. But slower EV adoption, especially in the massively important American market, triggered an urgent rethink. The outgoing gasoline Macan has already vanished from Europe because of cybersecurity regulations, and stocks will soon run dry in the US, much to the dismay of buyers who have chosen the ICE SUV over the EV by a big margin this year. Once the inventory dries up dealers and fans will have a long wait until the new combustion Macan debuts in 2028, potentially as a MY29. But we should at least get to see some real prototypes soon as Porsche’s testing team shifts away from Audi-based mules. +++
+++ Nearly 3 million TESLA cars are heading back to service centers in China. Zero are doing the same in Europe, and the reason has nothing to do with politics. The Dutch regulator RDW, which oversees Tesla safety for the European market, confirmed on August 26 that no recall is planned on the continent over retractable door handles. Its written position: flush handles are not inherently a problem, as long as a door still opens “intuitively and without tools” from inside or outside if the power dies. RDW is not waving Tesla through blind. The regulator told Reuters it is “closely following” the situation, but declined to say whether an investigation is underway. That is a deliberate middle ground: monitoring without triggering the formal recall process that requires demonstrated, documented failures in the field, not just a design that looks risky on paper. The distinction matters because Europe’s safety bar is not about whether a handle is flush or mechanical. It is about function under failure. RDW’s stated test is whether a door can be opened by a stranded occupant during a total electrical fault, without a toolkit or a manual. If that condition holds, the design passes, regardless of how it looks. That threshold puts pressure back on Tesla rather than on regulators. The company’s cars already carry manual releases as a backup, and whether those releases are obvious enough in a panic is the open question RDW has not answered publicly. The NHTSA has floated similar concerns in the US, an early sign this scrutiny will not stay confined to Europe or bad door handles now drawing federal attention. China is not waiting to find out. Tesla and 8 other automakers are recalling about 4.3 million vehicles combined, roughly 3 million of them Teslas, after regulators tied concealed and electronic door handles to real cases of people trapped inside cars when the electrical system failed. That is the largest coordinated auto recall in the country’s history. Behind the recall sits a new national standard, GB 48001-2026, banning fully hidden or flush handles on new models starting January 1, 2027. Cars sold after that date will need mechanical handles, inside and out, plus visible labeling showing occupants exactly how to trigger an emergency release. It is a design mandate, not just a fix. Whether Europe or the US eventually follows with formal bans of their own remains unsettled. For now, current Tesla owners in Europe face no recall notice, and no forced retrofit, only a regulator that says it is watching closely. +++
+++ TOYOTA ’s car sales fell for a 6th straight month July as rising gasoline prices weighed on demand for non-electric vehicles in China. Its global sales last month, including those of subsidiary Daihatsu, fell 5.3% from a year earlier to 912.683 units, the company said in a statement Friday. Production declined 1.4% to 934.953 vehicles. Intense competition among China’s domestic carmakers is crowding out importers, while turmoil in the Middle East has disrupted critical supply routes and sent oil prices soaring. The pressure is straining global manufacturers, forcing even Toyota to cede ground in China, the world’s largest car market, since February. Toyota and Lexus brand sales in July were down 24% year on year in China, where domestic brands are churning out software-heavy, battery-powered electric vehicles. Middle East sales fell by almost 45%. Sales were relatively flat in North America, but up in Japan and across most of Europe, thanks in large part to a resurgent popularity of petrol-electric hybrid cars. Toyota exports roughly 500.000 to 600.000 vehicles annually to the Middle East. The manufacturer said in May that it expects almost half of that volume to be affected by the situation in the Middle East. Last month, Toyota raised its profit outlook for the fiscal year ending in March 2027 to ¥3.4 trillion, emboldened by U.S. demand for hybrids and a cushion provided by currency tailwinds. The manufacturer had forecast a rare drop earlier this year as it braced for higher raw material costs stemming from the Middle East conflict. Toyota said hybrid sales are on track to exceed 5 million units for the first time during this calendar year. Alternative powertrains and a weak yen have been a saving grace for Toyota, even as Japanese carmakers struggled to keep up with BYD and other domestic brands in China. Honda’s sales in July rose 3.4% from last year to 289.142 units, it said Friday. That included a 13% jump in the U.S. as well as a 44% drop in China. Global production fell 3.3%. Nissan Motor sold 219.495 automobiles last month, a drop of almost 17% from a year earlier. Production fell almost 16%. +++
+++ VOLVO has long been recognised as the undisputed king of estate cars, but it still won’t commit to any plans for a new one for a very simple reason: it’s unsure whether there’s enough people who haven’t been converted to SUVs that would buy one. It wasn’t that long ago that the Swedish brand had 4 different estates in its showrooms, but now just 1 remains, the V60, after the larger V90 went out of production last year. Load-lugger fans can rest assured, though, that there are no plans to axe the V60. A spokesman said: “We’ll keep it going until such time as we can’t”. Volvo did discontinue the firm’s existing V60 and V90 models in 2023, but they returned a year later thanks to popular demand and an outcry on social media, with the brand’s sales boss later admitting to us the decision was a mistake. Rivals BMW, Mercedes and Audi, plus several other marques, are also making new models, so clearly there is still some love for the humble estate. “From my perspective, it’s always great to have a representation of the iconic heritage of your brand across the range”, the spokesman Shaw said. “Even if it’s not in multiple variants, just to have that… I think that’s ideal. And having that alongside the newer innovation really demonstrates our commitment to all cars, whether they’re estates, saloons or SUVs”. Believe it or not, the UK is the third biggest market for Volvo worldwide, behind only China and America, and the spokesman understands that Brits’ love for the brand comes from nostalgia. He continued: “When I talk to people, there’s a huge amount of nostalgia. It’s ‘my grandad had one’ or ‘my dad had one’. A lot of people actually apply to work at Volvo because of that. “I think that is really important, particularly in the market we’re in now. People have a genuine love for the brand. It’s because it’s not coming from a functional perspective, it’s coming from an emotional connection”. However, fond memories for your parents’ old Volvo 245 or 960 don’t necessarily translate to sales, and in today’s hugely competitive market, what people clearly want are SUVs. Hence why the company is hesitant about investing the time, resources and cash to create a new estate car, when there’s easier money in a big volume crossover. “If you look at the industry, there are some real tough choices having to be made at the moment”, said the spokesman. “I appreciate it looks a little bit erratic being in, out and all the rest of it with our estate cars, but it does come from a very rational position of ‘are we selling enough of them?’ ”. Akhil Krishnan, vice president of Volvo’s ‘60’ line, echoed this when I asked him about a new estate car. He said: “If there’s a business case, why not? It depends on how the market is, but of course estate cars are an emotional thing for those who really like estate cars”. Very importantly, Volvo hasn’t given an unequivocal ‘no’ when we’ve repeatedly asked various execs at the brand whether it will make a new estate car, including CEO Håkan Samuelsson. I recently asked him if Volvo’s new, highly scalable EV architecture, SPA3, which underpins the EX60, could be used for an electric station wagon to which he simply replied: “That’s an interesting opportunity”. Chief commercial officer Erik Severinson told: “SPA3 is a very capable architecture to do big cars, small cars, high and low cars, which is a prerequisite for any estate discussion”. Krishnan hinted the same, so the door is clearly being left open for now. The SPA3 architecture will underpin all of Volvo’s new electric cars from here on, and features plenty of cutting-edge tech such as cell-to-body integration for the battery pack, an 800 volt electrical system and weight-saving, complexity-reducing megacasting construction. But it also unlocks more cabin space, according to Krishnan, and a lot more freedom for the designers, allowing them to accommodate big tall SUVs plus, theoretically, low, sleek estate cars. Volvo says it’s building up to the “most ambitious product plan in its history”, which will be outlined on 17 September, and we can only hope it will include at least one practical Scandi station wagon. +++