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THERE have been plenty of industry whispers about Jaguar’s reinvention, with lots of people moaning about the brand’s apparent silence since the announcement that it would be going upmarket and all electric back in February 2021. As our exclusive story this week reveals, Jaguar is working at full chat on the plans, and has chosen to keep its silence on what’s happening – until now. In fact, it was a discussion with Auto Express contributor and former motoring editor of The Sun, Ken Gibson, that led to our story. Ken – who also worked as a consultant at JLR when Ralf Speth was CEO – still very much has his ear to the ground on the British automotive scene. And he pitched the idea of a feature on the future…

mail@autoexpress.co.uk ● On road and track in the plugin replacement for the 570S ● New V6 hybrid system will be used for other future McLarens “Start flinging it around a bit and the Artura comes alive beneath your backside and fingertips” THE Artura matters for McLaren. A lot. Its new carbon-fibre platform and twin-turbo V6 hybrid powertrain will form the basis for pretty much all McLarens for the next decade, so it can’t really afford to put a foot wrong. Hence the reason its original launch was postponed from late 2021 until now, eight months later, thereby allowing Ferrari to launch its own V6 hybrid – the 296 GTB – to such acclaim in the meantime. But that’s how vital the Artura is to McLaren’s future, so the fact that…

Steve_Fowler@autovia.co.uk @stevefowler ● Current Jaguar range to move upmarket ● Bespoke architecture confirmed for new Jags ● Development mules on the road in weeks We are engineering a bespoke architecture for Jaguar. That’s the only way we’re going to ensure we meet our vision for the brand that Gerry [McGovern] and his team have created, which will be a copy of nothingNICK COLLINS Executive Director of Vehicle Programmes JAGUAR Land Rover’s Reimagine plan in February 2021 outlined a bold, brave new future for Jaguar as an allelectric luxury car brand. Shortly after that, JLR CEO Thierry Bolloré exclusively revealed to Auto Express that luxury meant prices in the region of £100,000, while news of three new Jaguar models also crept out. Since then, the silence on the intentions for Jaguar…

sean_carson@autovia.co.uk ● Last pure-combustion M car ● Unveiled in full this October NO current M car arguably resonates more with BMW M division values than the M2. And this new version signifies the end of an era, since M boss Frank van Meel has confirmed that it will be the last pure-combustion-powered M model ever. After this, they’ll all be plug-in hybrid or full EV. The new M2’s 3.0-litre turbocharged six-cylinder engine is mounted in the front of a compact two-door coupé body and comes with a manual gearbox (an automatic will be offered) that powers the rear wheels only. The car is undergoing final development ahead of its official unveiling in October, and sales will start in April 2023. For now, BMW is remaining coy on specifics, but we…

James_Brodie@autovia.co.uk @JPBrods ● Trio of new models will expand Spanish brand’s line-up ● Current cars will be facelifted to share same design language CUPRA has given an early glimpse of its entire line-up for 2025, including vehicles in three new segments. Two allelectric cars will join the Cupra range in the form of the UrbanRebel electric hatchback (revealed last week) and the Tavascan electric SUV – and now a new plug-in hybrid SUV called Terramar has also been revealed. The Terramar is positioned as a new mid-size model, described by Cupra design director Jorge Diez as a 4.5-metre-long SUV with “Cupra DNA” and a “driver-oriented cockpit”. However it’s not a replacement for the Ateca, which is slightly smaller. The new car’s design language takes a decisive step away from some…

WITH Cupra taking the recent attention, the future of SEAT has been a hot topic of discussion. According to R&D boss Dr Werner Tietz, it’s tied closely to the falling cost of electrification. “For SEAT we have just launched the new Leon and have updated the Ibiza and the Arona,” said Tietz. “So now it’s time for Cupra and also to electrify Cupra. For now, the electrification is still a little bit expensive [for SEAT] so we think we have to concentrate on Cupra now. When we think the prices for the components are going down, then we can consider talking about SEAT again.” Tietz admitted that the two brands have a small customer overlap of about 10 to 15 per cent, confirming most Cupra buyers are new. Designer Jorge…