Autocar January 4, 2023

DESPITE ONGOING supply problems in the car industry, there’s no less abundance of new cars coming in 2023, with 130 models due to land on our shores this year (p47). There’s no standout reveal – think the Defender hype in 2020, as an example – but instead there are a number of seminal cars that are hugely important for their makers and beyond. None more so than the electric Spectre from Rolls-Royce, which has pipped its rivals to the post with a new-era flagship model that promises refinement and performance on a par with or beyond its combustion vehicles’. Another Brit-built model, the new Mini hatch, has much resting on it. As the market for small cars rapidly shrinks, Mini – albeit in a premium position – has shown its commitment to combustion…

“The new model will rival the Mercedes-Benz EQA and sit below the XC40 Recharge and C40” Volvo’s forthcoming electric-only compact crossover, tipped to be called the EX30, will feature bold new design elements and technology in a bid to help the firm win over a younger audience. Set to be revealed this year before sales kick off in October, the EX30 is likely to rival the Mercedes-Benz EQA and will sit below the existing XC40 Recharge and C40 models in the firm’s growing line-up of electric SUVs. It is expected to be twinned with the Polestar 4 and will use a modified version of parent Geely’s SEA architecture. Volvo previewed the new crossover at the launch of the EX90 large SUV last month but it has yet to be drawn on a name…

“The pioneering quad-motor system is capable of ‘extremely precise’ power delivery ‘within milliseconds’” Testing of the first purely electric BMW sports car is under way, with engineers working to preserve the distinctive dynamic character of an M car in the postcombustion era. BMW revealed the first images of a mysterious EV prototype last year, giving few details but confirming that it was powered by a pioneering quad-motor, fourwheel drive system capable of “extremely precise” power delivery “within milliseconds”. Speaking exclusively to Autocar following the recent unveiling of the new M2 Coupé, which is in line to receive similar technology in its next generation, M CEO Frank van Meel hinted that 4WD performance EVs will take the lead from the F90-generation M5 xDrive saloon. That model was controversial on its reveal for adopting a powered…

JAGUAR HAS NAMED Philip Koehn as its new managing director, his appointment to the top job coming in the wake of the high-profile departure of Jaguar Land Rover CEO Thierry Bolloré in November. The German first came to notice five years ago as chief engineer of Rolls-Royce. In an exclusive Autocar story timed for the 2017 launch of the Rolls-Royce Phantom 8, Koehn revealed how he was leading a team pioneering a new, highly flexible aluminium spaceframe chassis that would provide underpinnings for forthcoming Rolls-Royce models, all with different body and mechanical layouts, powered by both ICE and electric powertrains. That experience, and Koehn’s comments about it back in 2017, give a valuable insight into how Jaguar is tackling its own huge challenge of moving, in terms of price and exclusivity, from being…

Volkswagen’s plan to launch an electric off-road SUV – known as the ID Ruggdzz – appears to be back on track, following confirmation that the ladder-frame chassis used by the new Amarok pick-up is being engineered to take an electric drivetrain. This Ford-developed chassis, which is also used by the fourth-generation Ranger pick-up, currently supports petrol and diesel as well as petrol-electric plug-in hybrid drivetrains. But in an interview with Autocar at the launch of the new Amarok in South Africa in December, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles CEO Carsten Intra confirmed that engineering aimed at accommodating a battery and electric motors within the Ford platform is ongoing, despite recent reports suggesting such plans had been abandoned. “We’re looking at it together with Ford,” said Intra when asked about the possibility of full electrification of…

THE LONG-AWAITED Lotus Type 133 – a sleek luxury saloon to rival the Porsche Taycan – is on track to be unveiled this year, having started testing on public roads in production form. Pictures published to Chinese social media platform Weibo show what Autocar understands to be an early development mule for the upcoming saloon. Its camouflage and cladding leave much to the imagination, but even at this stage it’s clear that the Type 133 will be a close relation to the brand’s larger Eletre SUV. Lotus’s first saloon car since the legendary Carlton will be given a name beginning with ‘E’ when it reaches showrooms, Autocar understands, but this is unlikely to be ‘Envya’, as has been widely reported.…