Autocar June 26, 2019

WORRIED IF FUTURE driver’s and sports cars will retain the appeal of their storied ancestors, given a shift away from the things (manual gearboxes, naturally aspirated internal combustion engines, no driver aids) that made them great? We’ve got the key men behind such models from rival companies together to detail the future for the cars we love the most. Perhaps most interesting of all from the fascinating discussion between senior engineers from Porsche, Jaguar Land Rover and Aston Martin (p52) is their views on something dominating and overhauling the entire industry, which is due to land at their door imminently: electrification. Each knows electrification will one day inevitably meet with sports cars, increasing weight and therefore power with it, the former of which is as big a penalty to such a car as…

“The 0-62mph time of the reborn M1 is a claimed 3.0sec and BMW quotes a top speed of 186mph” BMW’s M performance car division is developing a long sought-after successor to the 41-year-old M1 supercar. Previewed by the Vision M Next concept ahead of an expected debut at the Frankfurt motor show in September, the advanced carbonfibre-bodied coupé is planned to go on sale early next decade. It will introduce a new 591bhp plug-in petrol-electric drivetrain that is also earmarked to power more conventional, future M models. The new high-performance driveline, which develops well over double the power of that used by the BMW i8, forms part of a drivetrain electrification programme being overseen by BMW M’s new CEO, Markus Flasch. The Vision M Next will be a spearhead for the firm’s ‘Strategy…

BMW could be set for some significant upper-level management changes following reports of heated exchanges between key shareholders of the German car maker and incumbent CEO Harald Krüger. Nothing is official, but word around BMW’s Munich headquarters in recent weeks has suggested 55-year-old Oliver Zipse, the board member responsible for production, could be drafted in to replace 53-year-old Krüger (right), who was appointed CEO in 2015. Insiders have told Autocar that Zipse is being groomed by BMW’s majority shareholder, the Quandt family, to take the top job. Further rumours suggest the current head of BMW’s R&D operations, Klaus Fröhlich, could also be replaced should Zipse be appointed CEO.…

“Plans have now been approved for a new four-wheel-drive four-cylinder 1 Series with up to 400bhp” BMW’S M PERFORMANCE car division will expand its line-up with more M Performance and full-blown M models that span the entire range – from the new M135i xDrive to a 600bhp version of the upcoming X8 SUV. M division also plans to top its line-up and showcase its engineering prowess with a bespoke mid-engined coupé based on the Vision M Next. That arresting new concept points to a high-tech hybrid future at BMW M. However, significant restructuring measures have already been put in place to ensure the long-term competitiveness of more volume-selling M models against a growing number of rivals from Audi Sport, Jaguar SVO, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche. BMW M’s wide-ranging engineering programme is ensuring a quick…

Ford’s new Puma takes a classic name and applies it to a new car that is subtly but effectively different from its established SUV rivals. Officially, the company describes the Puma as an “SUV-inspired crossover”, with its three standout virtues claimed to be “seductive styling”, ingenious rear stowage and the new 48V mild-hybrid petrol drivetrain. The body’s flowing surfaces have been developed under what designer George Saridakis labels an “anti-wedge” policy. What he calls “separated” headlights and tail-lights are also a move against the current trends for “joining everything up”, Saridakis citing the industry fashion for full-width light bars across a vehicle’s tail. The new Puma is based on the same new C2 company architecture as the Fiesta and the Focus, but the platform’s inherent flexibility has allowed the Puma to be sized…

The sense of excitement senior Ford people have for the Puma is clear. Ford has taken an admirably fresh look at the booming compact SUV market and decided that another scaled-down, old-school SUV is not the way of the future. The Puma has an impressive and polished presence and it has been clearly thought through in fine detail. This, perhaps, is one of the benefits of the ‘One Ford’ period coming to an end. Rather than needing a couple of years to knock the Ecosport into European shape, or having to share a Mondeo with North America and China, the Puma is a very European product. Ford has bet much of its European future on what it calls crossovers – cars that are taller and more useful than a conventional hatchback but…