We’re just a few days away from one of the most iconic luxury brands on the planet taking a bold step into the unknown. The full unveiling of the Ferrari Luce – only the interior control surfaces and seats have been revealed at time of writing – will truly set the cat amongst the pigeons as the progenitor of the luxury sports car sector ventures into pure electric propulsion for the very first time.

When even the unveiling of the Luce’s dashboard – usually not a subject to trigger controversy and provocation – spawned endless amounts of comment and opinion, it became clear that the combination of electrification and deviation from a pre-conceived norm could not fail to be anything but rage bait.

Wallpaper* can confidently predict the rage-bait churn will get another hearty stir – not because of any aesthetic shortcomings, but because sports cars have been sucked into the culture wars. We’re pretty sure that wasn’t Ferrari’s intention when it signed up LoveFrom and its car-mad directors, Sir Jony Ive and Marc Newson, to steward the aesthetic of Ferrari’s first EV, working closely with Maranello’s engineering team to create the ultimate expression of luxury electric mobility.

You might well ask why a car maker going electric is even remotely controversial in 2026. To answer that, one must strap in to experience a perfect storm of misplaced idealism, a layer of wishy-washy governance, a vociferous fandom who have become vocal gatekeepers, and the endless but near mythical search for the true soul of a machine.

Thirty years ago, the latter Grail Quest would have been considered fully done and dusted, with the glorious mechanical symphony that is the V12 engine placed upon a pedestal in the eternal temple and henceforth worshipped forevermore.

To the fury of the temple gatekeepers, that’s not what happened. The inconvenient truth of mobility’s fossil fuel addiction was no longer possible to ignore, except to the most steadfast denialists and exceptionalists. Unfortunately, it’s this contingent who rule the roost in the small but high-profile world of luxury sports automotive.

So what’s the true status of electrified performance? One of the side effects of electrification has been that hitherto unattainable levels of performance are now handed on a plate to drivers of ‘everyday’ machinery; in its most powerful form, the humble Volvo EX30 will hit 62mph in 3.6 seconds. That’s quicker than the limited production 1995 Ferrari F50, now comfortably commanding upwards of £3.5m.

In divorcing the thrill of out-and-out performance from the exclusivity of extortionate prices, the luxury performance market is having to push the boundaries of design, materiality and technology to retain its edge. The new inclusivity of electrification effectively divorces the emotive qualities of performance. And perhaps more than any other carmaker, Ferrari once considered itself the be-all and end-all of emotional machinery.

That’s why the Luce is not a two-seater, but a grand tourer, perhaps the last bastion of romance on four-wheels. But even this sanctified typology – with its evocation of great journeys, open roads and a life of leisure – hasn’t quite cracked the apparently tainted image of electric luxury.

Will the Luce change this? It’ll certainly help shift the dial. This year also sees the release of Jaguar’s new Type 01, the production iteration of the car revealed as the no-less controversial Type 00 Concept. The first all-electric Bentley is also on the way, previewed by the EXP 15 Concept last year, while Rolls-Royce has been quietly operating in this electric realm for several years, first with the Spectre and more recently with the coachbuilt Project Nightingale.

So are all these companies doubling down on an unchangeable course they might conceivably come to regret? That’s certainly the takeaway from the more performance-focused slice of the luxury market. Porsche, Maserati and Lotus have all performed screeching U-turns on their pure EV strategies.

Maserati scrapped a near-completed electric variant of the MC20 supercar, while Porsche has delayed its Boxster replacement, despite engineering a fully electric variant, in order to accommodate ICE power as well – not on the original spec sheet. Meanwhile, Lotus has just announced the Type 135, a hybridised V8 supercar that’s a world away from the electric-only Evija hypercar and Theory 1 concept, reversing plans to make the brand electric only.

Meanwhile, Lamborghini, McLaren and Aston Martin are blocking their ears and pretending their customers have a perfect right to carry on polluting and they have a perfect right to carry on allowing them to do so. The reason? There’s no demand for EVs amongst buyers who favour V8s and V12s, the pop of unburnt fuel crackling in the exhaust pipe and the roar of mechanical combustion.

Despite technical agreements (McLaren with Nio, Aston Martin with Lucid and Lamborghini as part of the VW Group), the fruits of these labours are still shrouded in their respective design studios, waiting for positive customer clinics and enthusiasm from dealers. The 2023 Lamborghini Lanzador concept now looks like a dead end.

Like so many manufacturing and technology sectors, the luxury car industry is in danger of being left behind by China. Right now, the only thing the country doesn’t have is the lustre and leverage of a heritage automotive brand. Otherwise, Chinese EVs are attaining new levels of luxury and performance. The extraordinary 300mph Yangwang U9 Xtreme (parented by BYD) is just a foretaste of what’s to come. The country’s fleet of luxury EV GTs is even stronger, from the Xpeng P7+ to the Zeekr 001 FR and Ferrari-aping Denza Z9 GT.

So is the customer always right, or can they be swayed by new brands without the accumulated centuries of heritage that still shapes our understanding and perception of cars? Companies might cry that ‘our customers don't want an EV!’ but the viability of ICE is increasingly running counter to social norms. No one would welcome fumes in a smoke-free space just because the smoker could afford a pricey cigar. So why would an expensive but outlandishly noisy exhaust be a socially acceptable thing to inflict on a city?

Perhaps it’s the beginning of the end for the traditional supercar and hypercar, their unfeasible abilities hamstrung by social norms and legal restrictions. Genuine enthusiasts know that power isn’t everything, let alone price, and that the best driving thrills don’t necessarily even need speed. A beautifully balanced small sports car will always triumph over a bloated, oversized performance machine.

There are signs that EVs are starting to head in this direction. Consider the return of the ‘hot hatchback’, once a mainstay of affordable ICE performance, now reborn for the electric era. There’s a veritable stable of smallish, sporty electric cars either here or on the way, from the Alpine A290 to the Hyundai Ioniq 5N, as well as the Vauxhall Corsa GSE, Peugeot e-208 GTi, Cupra Raval VZ, and the Volkswagen Polo GTI, even the supercar-baiting Renault 5 Turbo 3E. These run the gamut from affordable to outrageous, but all pack a dynamic punch that more than matches up to ICE equivalents. Zero emissions, more space, less sound and more reliability are all added bonuses.

Those with more patience might want to hold out for the Caterham Project V, due to be revealed in 2027 (when there might also be an electrified successor to the Audi TT to talk about), while fellow small manufacturer Morgan has also dabbled in electric concepts (including the riotous XP-1) and could still be a contender in this defiantly niche market.

The pressure on the traditional sports car is technological, cultural and economic, threatening to squeeze this once highly desirable form factor into obsolescence, afforded only by a tiny coterie of confused collectors unsure as to what they’re even signifying. As it stands, China has almost all the cards when comes to the premium electrified GT (despite Porsche and Audi’s valiant resistance). Will Ferrari’s top-tier competitors respond to the boldness of the Luce, or will they simply wait and see how it all pans out?

Lest we forget, the very first EV of the modern era, the Tesla Roadster, was a sports car (engineered by Lotus, no less). It was a simpler machine from a simpler age but still retains some charm. Nearly 20 years later, a true successor is nowhere to be found. Whoever can convincingly splice electrification with true driver engagement could still come up with a winner.

Two volume manufacturers have revealed their next-generation small electric cars. In VW’s case, it’s another update for the enduring ID.3, whilst Hyundai has extended the Ioniq range to include the new compact Ioniq 3. Which offers the best approach to zero-emission urban motoring?

Volkswagen ID.3 Neo

And pivot. VW is returning to what it does best with the Neo version of the ID.3 electric hatchback, the third attempt to give this small car the same kudos as its longstanding ICE equivalents. Unsurprisingly, the Neo now looks more like the Polo or Golf than ever before, with the pebble-smoothness of the original ID.3 from 2019 gradually toughened up with a facelift and now given a substantial do-over, a visual approach which will ultimately be rolled out across the entire ID family.

Inside and out, the Neo represents a new way of doing things that, more often than not, has more in common with the old ways. Compare and contrast the interior and dash of the 2019 car with the Neo, and you’ll see that a host of switches and dials have appeared, including the transmogrification of VW’s hated capacitive steering wheel switches into more conventional buttons. Yes, it’s more conventional but it’s also utterly indicative of the trend towards analogue control on even the most digital of cars.

One thing the Neo emphatically does not do is make any regressive moves back to an ICE or PHEV powertrain, unlike certain other manufacturers who are quietly reengineering cars that debuted as pure EVs to accommodate wishy-washy government policy and the more strident consumers. Instead, the ID.3 Neo gets a new drive system with better efficiency. It’s a relatively compact car, so battery size is always the main restriction, but with the largest 79 kWh power pack, VW quotes a maximum range of 390 miles (630km).

New technologies also join the car for the first time, including the introduction of Connected Travel Assist, which offers traffic light recognition for the first time. The ID.3 can now also be used to power external devices, such as charging up an e-bike.

Hyundai Ioniq 3

In contrast, the Ioniq 3 is an all-new machine from Hyundai, albeit one that uses a familiar design language (see the Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6 and Ioniq 9, for example). With its kicked-up rear and shallow rear window, the Ioniq 3 is a very different visual proposition to the more conventional VW. Hyundai call this the ‘Aero Hatch’ typology, with the company’s trademark faceted bodywork extending through doors and sills like a cubist composition.

As well as improving interior space, the approach gives the Ioniq 3 impressive aerodynamics, helping it on its way to a projected WLTP range of 308 miles (496 km) in Long Range configuration with the 61kWh battery. It might be a smaller battery than the VW, but the efficiency levels are higher as the Hyundai is also substantially lighter than the VW (1,580 kg versus 1,966 kg). Both cars are full five-seaters, but the Ioniq 3 also trumps the ID.3 Neo in boot space (441 litres to 385 litres).

The similarities don’t stop there, however, for both cars major on button-driven interiors to supplement their large infotainment screens. And while the ID.3 Neo represents an incremental, evolutionary approach, Hyundai has the edge when it comes to executing a more contemporary-looking exterior, albeit on a tried and tested platform. Final pricing and availability for both models will be available soon.

Volkswagen ID.3 Neo, more information at Volkswagen.co.uk

Hyundai Ioniq 3, more information at Hyundai.com

Hans Hansen is not necessarily well known to anyone but the most studious of photographic historians. Throughout a long career, the self-taught German photographer has quietly carved a niche as a master of still life and commercial image-making. His work explores colour and composition, as well as drawing lessons from modern artistic movements, resulting in some of the most striking and memorable product images of the 1970s, 1980s and beyond.

Curated by Dr Esther Ruelfs and Claire Müller, ‘Photo: Hans Hansen’ is a large-scale retrospective of Hansen’s work, a collection of 220 photographs that cover every aspect of a six-decade career. Hansen’s clients have included brands such as Volkswagen, Kodak, Erco, Nikon and Lufthansa.

In unskilled hands, his stark compositions and use of light and shadow would create stark, lifeless imagery, but somehow, Hansen ekes out the playful and the unexpected, creating images that have formed the heart of influential campaigns in the process.

Born in Bielefeld in 1940, Hans Hansen studied lithography and Applied Graphics at the Düsseldorf Art Academy, although he never graduated. Working with a medium-format Rolleiflex camera, Hansen began his career with a collaboration capturing the Finnish designer Tapio Wirkkala’s glass collaborations with Iittala.

Hansen used the camera as a compositional and creative tool, part informed by the era’s rediscovery and rehabilitation of the Bauhaus and other modern movements. This is photographic minimalism, to be sure, but it’s also technically precise.

Among the images on display are his seminal vision of the 1988 Volkswagen Golf, dismantled into 6,843 constituent parts. This advertising photograph was actually an update of an earlier campaign for the VW Beetle, part of the ‘Think Small’ series commissioned by the pioneering New York ad agency Doyle Dane Bernbach.

Working with the deep-pocketed auto industry – he also worked for Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and Fiat – also helped Hansen acquire studio space and technology, including custom flash units. He was able to deploy the unexpected use of colour to highlight form and brand, taking car photography away from its serious, quasi-scientific roots.

His work for Lufthansa was paired with the typography of Otl Aicher, showcasing the very best in German creativity. Other specialities included the use of abstracted series, especially for the work done for lighting manufacturer Erco, as well as food photography and his own personal projects, including the most recent, Analog.

The Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg manages Hans Hansen’s 10,000-strong slide archive, as well as his personal collection of art glass, documentation and correspondence. The exhibition is a rare opportunity to revisit the work of this pioneering photographer.

‘Photo: Hans Hansen’ is at MKG Hamburg from 17 April to 1 November 2026.

For more information, visit MKG-Hamburg.de, @MKGhamburg, Hansen.Works

The first VW Golf, Fiat Panda and Maserati Ghibli; the 1970s Lotus Esprit immortalised under water in James Bond’s The Spy Who Loved Me and the ‘gull-winged’ 1980s DeLorean DMC-12 in Back to the Future; the elegant early 1960s Alfa Romeo Giulia GT and super-practical late 1960s Suzuki Carry; or the mid-1970s everyman Hyundai Pony that kickstarted the Korean brand and the late 1970s BMW M1 supercar: Giorgetto Giugiaro created them all.

These design classics – most of which were developed by Italdesign, the design and engineering company he co-founded in 1968 – sit within a list of 300-plus production vehicles, dozens of concept cars, as well as cameras for Nikon, keyboards for Bontempi and even a type of pasta.

At the forefront of car design for five decades, Giorgetto Giugiaro sold the last of his shares in Italdesign to the VW Group in 2015 and set up GFG Style with his son Fabrizio in Turin to offer automotive, architecture and industrial design services. Now 87, Giugiaro is still chairman of the company and had a chat with Wallpaper* during a recent visit to the UK.

Giorgetto Giugiaro on car design then and now

Wallpaper*: What are your views on artificial intelligence?

Giorgetto Giugiaro: When technology is able to support your ideas, you can exploit it. Can artificial intelligence do better [than humans]? Maybe, but there always needs to be someone responsible. Design is not democracy. You need one person to decide. But I have to admit, that staying on the beach and pressing a button and the job is done [is appealing].

W*: You predicted over a decade ago that future cars would be more comfortable with easy-to-grasp functionality. It seems the first part of that prediction came true, but not the second. Why is so much of today’s car design user experience so bad?

GG: To ‘fish’ for a greater audience, car makers try to add more features. And for some, the user experience becomes worse. As a parallel, there are so many features in cars nowadays that we don’t have at home. So of course we are not used to them.

The touch functions on a car can also be dangerous. The interaction between human and car is so much faster. Before, you needed to move a stalk or push a button. Now you move close [to a screen with your fingers] and you’ve already activated something. Looking at some futuristic interiors there’s no need to go to Disneyland because everything is already inside the car, with lights and more. There is too much.

W*: You say good design needs to be ‘honest’ for the public to accept it. Do you think some modern EVs are not honest enough and that’s partly why they’re not being accepted?

GG: It is a commercial problem in that there needs to be financial advantages for the manufacturers. And [for consumers] there’s a shortage of information and a psychological problem: when you choose a product, you want it to say something about you.

W*: Given the variety of engines and motors that customers can choose today, plus greater safety legislation, do you think you ‘had it easier’ designing cars in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s?

GG: [Chuckles] Contrary to what you think, the more rules there are, the smarter the product can be. You have to think harder. When aerodynamics started to be taken seriously, it was a problem for designing cars, but over time it helped to improve the product.

W*: Why do you think your Lotus Esprit design has stood the test of time (beyond its role in several 007 movies)?

GG: It is the simplicity of the whole and the proportions. It’s the same with a man’s or a woman’s face, the proportion between the parts and the simplicity of the lines. This gives the beauty, the power to last. Looking at the car now, I realise it didn’t get so old.

W*: What do you think of Apple’s design work on the iPhone?

GG: This device made us lazy, so we don’t even remember the phone numbers of our friends and families anymore. And it removes our time to create, as we look at what other people are doing and because it does everything.

W*: …but you still have one!

GG: [Everyone laughs] It does help me talk easily with friends in other parts of the world. And it makes me think: if we have a device so powerful today, what will humankind be able to do in another 50 years?

GFGStyle.it, @GFG.Style

Munich’s IAA Mobility Show is a different kind of motorshow, reflecting the industry’s general shift away from big-budget events that have fallen out of favour with the public. In addition to an IAA Summit for professionals and media, designed to entice big-name manufacturers alongside start-ups, commentators and industry-watchers from all aspects of mobility design, and the regular show stand arrangement, there’s also the IAA Open Space.

The last is an open event for the general public, scattered around the streets, stores and exhibition spaces in the heart of Munich and designed to put new ideas and fresh launches in front of the very people who’ll ultimately end up buying them. The bi-annual event started in 2021, grew more in 2023, and this time around, there were even more manufacturers involved, with major announcements made across the board.

Some of the concepts on show have already broken cover, including the Vauxhall Corsa GSE Vision Gran Turismo and the Audi Concept C, as well as a major activation by Cupra.

Read on to discover our selection of key reveals from the show.

BMW iX3

The home-ground advantage was played by all the German manufacturers. Munich is, after all, the home of BMW. To consolidate this status, BMW chose the IAA to launch its ‘Neue Klasse’ iX3, the first production version of a new design language that’s been previewed by a number of concept cars.

In the metal, this new all-electric mid-sized SUV impresses with its restraint, and the apparent about-face BMW is taking with its signature kidney grilles – once huge, now daintily proportioned. The interior pairs a central touchscreen with a slim, wide display set just beneath the windscreen. There’s more minimalism here as well, especially on the pared-back door trims. With a promised range of up to 500 miles, the iX3 will be one of the first true volume cars to do away with range anxiety altogether.

BMW.co.uk, @BMW

Volkswagen

VW also had a slew of major announcements up its sleeve, both for the main Volkswagen brand and for wider activity in the VW Group. In addition to cementing the existence of a compact ‘Electric Urban Car Family’, featuring distinct but related models from Volkswagen, Cupra, and Škoda, all priced from around €25,000, VW also doubled down on a new naming strategy.

Turns out that the ID. name plate will no longer be the only sign of a pure VW EV. As of 2026, what would have been the ID.2 will now be known as the ID.Polo, with ID.Golf to follow. The realisation that these classic model names, with their decades of history and loyal following, could simply be taken into the electric era seems like a no-brainer – the only surprise is that it took VW so long to realise.

The ID.Polo, along with its GTI sibling, were both shown at IAA – albeit still in camouflage – along with the ID.Cross concept, a compact urban SUV. Both slot into the Electric Urban Car Family announced above, alongside the Cupra Raval and Škoda’s Epiq.

VW also showed the newest version of the popular T-Roc, another compact SUV. Finally, there was the ID.Every1, a concept with the task of bringing VW back into the ultra-compact urban car category like classic older models such as the Lupo and the Up!.

Volkswagen.de, @Volkswagen

Porsche 911 Turbo S

Porsche presented its new flagship 911, the 911 Turbo S. A legendary name, this latest version of the evergreen sports car goes heavy on the tech. Power output is at record levels (711 PS), thanks in part to a T-Hybrid powertrain that incorporates two electric exhaust gas turbochargers. There’s also all-wheel drive and an EV-bothering 0-62mph sprint time of 2.5 seconds.

Like all 911s, the new Turbo S is designed to be easy to live with, combining that massive power with a spacious cabin, great sightlines and a colossal breadth of dynamic ability, from everyday use about town to the challenge of the track.

Porsche.com, @Porsche

Mercedes-Benz GLC

Another big reveal came from Mercedes, which countered BMW’s iX3 with the new version of its equivalent model, the GLC. The all-electric Mercedes-Benz GLC with EQ Technology (the car’s official name) also demonstrates a company rowing back from the idea of separate lines of ICE and EV cars. The first GLC was introduced back in 2015 and a decade has truly transformed the model.

Instead of its rather lumpy forebears, the newest GLC is relatively slim in profile for an SUV, with neat rear-light treatment. The big grille rather lets the ensemble down – no lessons learned from BMW’s vogue for shrinking front-end graphics. Inside, Mercedes is still wedded to vast displays with the latest iteration of the dash-devouring MBUX Hyperscreen.

The car’s operating system uses a so-called multi-agent approach, taking the best bits of AI from both Google and Microsoft. As a result, Mercedes claims that ‘for the customer, talking to the MBUX Virtual Assistant is like chatting with a friend – it can provide detailed responses and answer follow-up questions without the need to repeat context’.

Mercedes-Benz.de, @MercedesBenz

Avatr Vision Xpectra concept

There were also plenty of Chinese brands represented, marked a fresh wave of new metal intended to increase the country’s Western market share. New models from Leapmotor, Deepal, GAC and Dongfeng included the GS7 SUV, with its quirky animated headlights, the Aion UT, as well as the arrival of Dongfeng’s new Forthing sub-brand in Europe and the Huawei-owned Aito brand, which showed three new crossover models.

Our attention was grabbed by Avatr’s dramatic Vision Xpectra, a vast new concept created by this sub-brand from Changan Automobile to express what it calls ‘emotive luxury’.

As well as the sheer scale of the 5m-plus limousine, with its near fully-glazed upper body, there’s a wealth of technology crammed into the interior, much of which is controlled via a VPA (Virtual Personal Assistant), the latest must-have for modern cars. Shown alongside production models, including the Avatr 06, 07, 11 and 12, the Xpectra is a bold statement of intent.

Vision.Avatr.com

Polestar 5

Polestar finally revealed the production version of the long-awaited Polestar 5 at Munich. As the EV company gets closer and closer to completing its projected line-up, the arrival of the 5 marks the most premium Polestar yet, with the Performance model starting at £104,900 for the Launch Edition.

Based on the original 2020 Precept Concept, the Polestar 5 is described by the company as a ‘performance grand tourer’. The dual motor model should be good for around 400 miles of range, whilst the rapid Polestar 5 Performance is rated at 351 miles. At 5m in length, the Polestar 5 is limousine-sized, with rear space and accoutrements to match.

Polestar.com, @Polestarcars

Mini John Cooper Works concepts

Mini created a large-scale installation in the heart of Munich, complete with faux Tube station entrances and lots of lovely British clichés. When it came to cars, the BMW offshoot chose to present a collaboration with the lifestyle brand Deus Ex Machina, which resulted in two one-off John Cooper Works cars, dubbed The Machina and The Skeg.

Drawing influences from drag racing and surf culture, the two concepts are full-blooded race cars and have inspired a capsule collection from the brand. Asymmetric styling cues and liveries are coupled with spoilers and slick tyres, with one car celebrating EV power and the other traditional ICE.

Mini.de, Deuscustoms.eu

Renault Clio

The Clio is an important car for Renault, even though most of the company’s recent attention has focused on the 4 and the 5. The Clio was a mainstay for many years, and now the compact car is back, this time with a hybrid powertrain. The sixth generation of this popular small car is actually larger than ever before and shares several interior elements with the 4 and 5 models.

There’s little evidence of retro design here, however, with a more aggressive front-end styling. Despite the hybrid power, it’s still a light car by modern standards, and should be impressively economical as a result.

Renault.de, @Renault_de

Škoda Vision O

We see hints of the 1954 Chevrolet Corvette Nomad in Škoda’s brave Vision O estate car concept. At a time when the practical, elegant estate has been all but decimated by the SUV, the brand’s decision to double down and reinvigorate the segment is a welcome one.

Look beyond those very conceptual doors and you’ll see a finely proportioned wagon that combines Škoda’s playful but practical approach with a new design language, ‘Modern Solid’. The dashboard gets the two-screen set-up also seen in BMW’s iX3, with the upper level dubbed the ‘Škoda Horizon Display’, while there’s also a softer, more natural approach to interior materials and aesthetics, as well as ‘Bio-Adaptive Lighting’ that uses natural light cycles to keep occupants feeling fresh and alert.

As well as 650 litres of luggage capacity, the Vision O also debuts new ‘Simply Clever’ features, the little design add-ons that have come to define Škoda’s attention to detail. The signature door-stowed umbrella is present and correct (no fewer than four of them), and the car incorporates a fridge as well as a detachable Bluetooth speaker.

Also on display was the new Škoda Epiq, a conceptual preview of the company’s contribution to VW’s quartet of compact all-electric city cars. Like its siblings, the Epiq will hit the streets in 2026, largely unchanged from the car you see here.

With a low price, above average range for the sector (c.260 miles) and a spacious, functional interior, the Epiq will be the first production car to incorporate the Modern Solid design language and shows the brand hasn’t forgotten its functional, affordable roots.

Skoda-Auto.com, @Skodagram

Hyundai Concept Three

This is the Concept Three, a preview of the next and smallest car to bear Hyundai’s Ioniq sub-brand EV badge. Expected to reach production as the Ioniq 3, if you overlook the tinted windows, lemon-yellow interior and purple highlights, you’ll see the fundamental silhouette of the next-gen compact car.

The Three actually brought to mind the 2007 Hyundai HND-3 concept, which in turn reached production as the quirky and asymmetric Veloster in 2011. Both cars had an unusual door arrangement, something that’s carried through to this concept, with its coach rear door.

The concept demonstrates what Hyundai is calling its ‘Art of Steel’ design language, doubling down on the industrial conglomerate’s impressive ability with the material, along with the Parametric Pixel detailing seen across the rest of the Ioniq range. All European EVs were on display at IAA Mobility 2025, as well as the Insteroid concept first shown at Seoul in the Spring.

Hyundai.com, @Hyundai

The year was capped off with one of the most widely seen and discussed concept cars of recent times, Jaguar’s controversial Type 00. Following hot on the heels of an even more hotly contested brand re-launch, Type 00 ticked all the boxes of a radical re-boot, a polarising proposal that manages to keep Jaguar’s production intentions swathed in some mystery.

Some manufacturers were content to let their concepts stay purely in the realms of the imagery – Renault’s R17 restomod springs to mind – while others put forward ideas that felt like their time would never come, for better or for worse. Concepts are mostly just that - from our list of 2023’s conceptual bests, only the Callum Skye has made it through to production readiness.

So what would we like to see built in 2025? If DS can distil elements of its SM Tribute into a production car, that would be a welcome sight, and Alpine’s A390 β Concept indicates there’s more scope to the performance brand than first appeared. Read on to discover our top ten.

01. Jaguar Type 00

Jaguar’s svelte Type 00 wasn’t really much of a provocation in design terms, but some people took the big electric GT concept very personally. New materials, new forms, new ethos and new branding, all wrapped up in a Miami Pink bodyshell that hints at next year’s all-new production car.

READ MORE

02. Tesla Cybercab Robotaxi

Tesla’s Cybercab was an inexplicably svelte two-seater that promised a level of autonomy many doubted it could deliver by 2026, when the production version arrives. Now that Musk has better access to the rule book, all that might change.

READ MORE

03. Verne autonomous taxi

Another ambitious conceptual foray into autonomous transport, Verne’s driverless machine also offered only two seats, albeit in a much more compact footprint. Rimac Automobili’s side project wants to get going in Europe before the end of the decade.

READ MORE

04. Scout Motors Traveler and Terra concepts

Volkswagen re-booted Scout, a venerable name in all-American SUVs, with the Traveler and Terra concepts. Electrified and simplified, the production cars that follow should hew closely to this admirable template.

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05. SM Tribute by DS Automobiles

DS Automobiles finally found the right part of their archive with this fantastic homage to the SM of the 70s. The French company promises that upcoming models will contain more than a hint of the SM Tribute’s fine lines.

READ MORE

06. Renault R17 electric restomod x Ora-ïto

Part of its strategy of bespoke one-off retro-reworks in collaboration with named designers, Renault took time out from its impressive production car revival to showcase the Ora-ïto-styled R17, a symphony in classy brown.

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07. Cadillac SOLLEI Concept

Cadillac offset their line-up of chunky SUVs with this wild foray into conceptual design, a vast convertible that recalled the company’s 60s and 70s heyday. From its Manila Cream colour scheme to its elaborate marquetry detailing, the SOLLEI shone brightly.

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08. KIA PV5 WKNDR and EV9 ADVNTR

Although Kia has a showroom full of futuristic production cars, it still found time to put out two conceptual visions of future campers. We especially liked the PV5 WKNDR, van-like and vowel-less, with a multi-functional interior.

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09. BMW Vision Neue Klasse X

BMW’s clarity of conceptual vision has come into sharp focus in recent years, and the Vision Neue Klasse X was no exception. Promising a new design language for its X-series of SUVs, this was one vision we hope materialises soon.

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10. Alpine A390 β Concept

Alpine’s A390 Beta was one of several high-profile French designs revealed at the revitalised 2024 Mondial de l'Auto in Paris. The stylish electric crossover concept showed a way for Renault’s sporting relation to break out into new markets.

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Not so long ago, the writing seemed to be on the wall for the Volkswagen Passat. Buffeted first by the relentless rise of the hatchback, then knocked back again by the dominance of the SUV, it seemed that there was no love left for a straightforward, traditional saloon and estate car. The original B1 Passat began life as a large fastback sedan, launched in 1973 with era-appropriate angular bodywork by none other than Giorgetto Giugiaro. The B2 version arrived in 1981. In an era when market-specific names were considered essential, the B2 was known as the Carat in Argentina, the Corsar in Mexico, the Quantum in America and Brazil and the VW Santana in Japan and China.

It was the latter nameplate that kept the model aloft for decades, most notably in China. In fact, the Santana has a strong claim to be the origin story of that country’s vast motor industry. The creation of the Shanghai Volkswagen Automotive Co., Ltd in 1984 set the scene for slow but steady growth throughout the 80s and 90s (at the time of the partnership there were barely half a million private cars in China), as well as the all-important percentage of state ownership of foreign ventures. The venerable B2 Santana was built in China for thirty years, from 1983 to 2013.

Back in the West, the fashion for fastbacks waned in the 80s, and the Passat settled into a slightly doughy anonymity with the B3 and B4 variants. It wasn’t until 1996’s B5 Passat that the model re-found its mojo. Styled by the legendary VW head of design Hartmut Warkuss and a team include the young Peter Schreyer, the B5 Passat helped start VW back on track towards the simple, restrainted design language it still practices today.

What we have here is a prime example of the B9 generation Volkswagen Passat, launched in 2023 and available ( in the West at least) only as an estate car. It’s a thoroughly impressive all-rounder, made all the better for being a hybrid. If I was being extremely hypercritical, then the current Passat would lose marks for slightly generic, anonymous styling. It looks a little over-bodied, with a wheelbase that’s just short enough to unbalance the overall composition, rather than plant it.

Estate aficionados – and there a few of them – might see the Passat as a bit of a missed opportunity on the style front, not least because VW had some true corkers in its line-up in the not-to-distant past. Just two years ago there was the marvellous Arteon Shooting Brake, which offered a winning combination of style, practicality and performance. There’s also the contemporary VW ID.7 Tourer, an all-electric estate car that seems eerily well positioned to cannibalise from the Passat and vice versa.

In case you haven’t been following the business pages, the VW Group is not having an easy ride at the moment. Big conglomerates that centralise their product planning and then introduce competing products are especially susceptible to shifts in the consumer psyche (see also the current struggles of Stellantis). The co-existence of the Passat and ID.7 Tourer is a case in point – is the company hedging its bets or is one department simply pitted against another?

All this confusion is a shame, for the Passat packs a lot of likeability and even more practicality into an anonymous, unthreatening but admirable package. It’s a big car, but not a tall or oppressive feeling car. The huge luggage compartment extends all the way to the back of the front seat – a colossal, wardrobe-sized load bay. I drove the 1.5 TSI eHybrid, but there are petrol and diesel models in the line-up as well – for those in the market for an all-electric estate, VW offers only the ID.7 Tourer. None of them are especially distinguished in terms of performance but that only adds to the quiet allure of the car.

VW inexplicably pitches this low-key machine as ‘business-class reinvented’, when it’s really anything but. There’s nothing remotely executive level about the Passat, but the car is all the better for it. It’s as if VW’s design division refused to play along with automotive one-upmanship which then flummoxed the marketing team. If you need a big car and have no desire to step up to an SUV, then the Passat is a welcome retreat into simplicity.

Volkswagen Passat R-Line 1.5 TSI eHybrid, from £38,505, Volkswagen.co.uk

The Volkswagen Golf is celebrating its 50th birthday, so Wallpaper* went in search of some balloons. Welcome to arid and ancient Cappadocia, in eastern Turkey, with its flame-like ‘fairy chimney’ rock formations and fresco-covered cave churches cut into the jagged valley walls.

Once a hotspot for troglodytes, it now caters to tourists. The town of Göreme, which was a centre of early Christianity, sits at the heart of a network of valleys filled with these fantastical boulders and otherworldly hermitages. The landscape is perhaps best appreciated from the air, which is why in the last couple of decades Göreme has become the world headquarters of hot air ballooning. Up to 200 balloons take off at sunrise every morning. The Golf only needs 50.

The Wolfsburg-built Mk1 Golf was the people’s car for the post-hippie era, with an angular shape and a steep hatchback that was a U-turn on the Beetle and which remains a highlight of genius designer Giorgetto Giugiaro’s CV. Reduced to the essentials, the lines are clean and the C-pillar, which lives on in the current, 2024 Golf, is striking.

In May 1974, when the Mk1 first came to the market, the Oil Crisis was still causing shockwaves at the petrol pumps, and here was a small, beautifully engineered and chic small car that appealed to almost every section of society. Like the Mini, it was essentially classless. Thirty-seven million Golfs have since been sold.

VW brought all eight generations to Cappadocia for us to sample. Available as a three- or five-door, each generation has seen the little Golf swell slightly, becoming more rounded, accommodating safety systems, more effective crash structures, and elbow room for larger or more space-sensitive humans along the way.

It has drifted from what has become known as the A-segment, the smallest category of passenger car, to C-segment – ie, medium. Yet it remains practical, well-proportioned and peppy even if you don’t opt for the GTI. The Mk2 followed in 1983, Mk3 in 1991, Mk4 in 1997, Mk5 in 2003, Mk6 in 2008, Mk7 in 2012 and Mk8 in 2019. Like a record collection, each era evokes strong memories.

The Mk4 was a high point in terms of simple yet dynamic styling and upmarket refinement, and the one I didn’t want to give back. While Ferdinand Porsche’s game-changing Beetle democratised mobility, his grandson Ferdinand Piëch’s Mk4 Golf democratised luxury. This was an Audi in all but name. Having been for a play in the first and most recent models, I scooped up the keys to the Mk4 V6 4motion, cranked up some 1990s beats and blasted it across the honeycomb tundra of Göreme’s Love Valley.

Earlier that morning, I’d stood on a high plateau to watch the balloons rise as the sun came up, the bulb-shapes intermittently glowing as the pilots ignited the burners. While the VW crew busied themselves shooting their own cars, I watched as couples posed for wedding photographs, sometimes with knackered old Chevy and Fiat convertibles. Local entrepreneurs are doing a roaring trade facilitating this sort of thing.

There’s no denying the awesome spectacle of more hot air ballons than you can count silently navigating the busy apricot sky and the hazardous dentures of the rocks below. Among them flickered a white balloon with a big VW logo on it. The following day, at 6am, I was in the wicker gondola myself, gazing down at the volcanic landscape. At 60 million years old, it has some legs on the Golf still.

Then again, Volkswagen has promised that unlike the Polo, Passat and Beetle, the Golf name will live on into the next decade and the Mk9 is set to break cover in 2028. Maybe one day the Golf will be as old as the ancient fairy chimneys and medieval monasteries hewn from the Cappadocian rocks, but it still feels young and entirely buoyant.

The Volkswagen Golf range starts at £27,420, Volkswagen.co.uk

Electrogenic is a place where classic cars come to undergo major surgery. From its unassuming pair of sheds on an Oxfordshire industrial estate, the small engineering company has developed a tried and tested way of bringing electrification into cars that were conceived long before our current obsession with kilowatts and range anxiety.

Of all the machines cluttering up its main storage space, one really stands out, the DeLorean DMC-12. This is Electrogenic’s first bite at this wayward icon of 1980s cool, a dramatic but familiar-looking machine that’s way lower and wider in the metal. Originally launched in 1981, it remained in production for less than two years. Only around 9,000 cars were built.

The DeLorean stands out from Electrogenic’s already idiosyncratic collection of cars, which range from VW Beetles, a Porsche 356, Jaguar E-Type, several Land-Rover Defenders, and a massive pre-war Rolls-Royce. Concealed under covers are a number of familiar-looking shapes that must stay anonymous for, for reasons we’ll later discover. Over the road is the workshop, an oilier, messier affair where the raw process is laid bare as classic cars are decarbonised and reborn as EVs. Currently in the works is a Citroen DS (the second that’s gone through the process), as well as an early Mazda MX-5.

The DeLorean is one of the company’s Bespoke projects, a select collection of meticulously hand-built cars that run to about 10 or 12 units each year. The rest of its output are kits, carefully engineered to fit a small number of iconic classic cars, namely the Jaguar E-Type, Porsche 911 (964 model), classic Mini, and Land-Rover’s Defender and earlier Series models. These are ‘drop-in’ kits, shaped to precisely fit the engine bay of the donor car and capable of being easily reversed, should a subsequent buyer hanker after the smell of burnt and spilt hydrocarbons.

For Founder and CEO Steve Drummond, these are the precise qualities that an Electrogenic project is designed to avoid. Usability is what the company is all about. Customers quite often bring their own car for conversion, tired of spinning the wheel of breakdown roulette every time they ventured out in their wheezing old classic.

The kits are sold to other businesses, usually specialists in the respective models, which can then be sold as ‘powered by Electrogenic’ cars. Specialist knowledge is required (‘High voltage is not to be messed with,’ Drummond notes). The company’s years of experience ensure each kit is perfectly tailored for the car. ‘We never cut, drill or weld. Everything is completely reversible,’ he says. ‘We try and use original dials and gauges and the battery and motors fits into the existing space.’

The other parts of the Electrogenic business are a little more secretive. The company is working on electrification programmes for a number of small manufacturers, acting as consultants to create prototypes and low volume manufacturing runs. In addition, it also works for the UK’s Military of Defence, helping the armed forces shift to EVs starting with the first combat 4x4s. Ironically, Drummond says he can probably talk more openly about the MoD work than the industry consultancy.

Driving the electric DeLorean DMC-12

But that’s not why we’re here. This is the DeLorean’s public debut and its new owner has kindly allowed Wallpaper* to sample the car on the test track at Bicester Heritage, just down the road. The original DeLorean was an outrageous style statement in the shape of a car, with almost all practicality damned in favour of style. The striking form came from the pen of one Giorgetto Giugiaro, one of the most acclaimed automotive designers of all time. It owes a visual debt to earlier Italdesign concepts like the Maserati-based Medici I and Hyundai’s 1974 Pony Concept.

Famed for its gullwing doors, corrosion-proof stainless steel body and cinematic associations – of which more later – John Z DeLorean’s attempt to build the ultimate contemporary sports car has evolved from its original status as a glorious automotive failure to become an essential cultural and nostalgic reference point. Without the DMC-12’s shiny, sharp-edged flanks leading the way, it’s unlikely that Elon Musk would have picked creased stainless steel as the material of choice for his beleaguered Cybertruck (a vehicle very much in need of a much-loved movie franchise to preserve it for posterity).

When you first raise the gullwing door and slide in (rear first) to the DeLorean DMC-12’s low, low driver’s seat, you’re struck by the sheer impracticality of the driving position. This isn’t sitting – it’s practically reclining, and the well-padded, heavily patinated black leather seats reinforce that feeling of lying back on an overstuffed piece of outlandish 80s furniture. The road feels distant, framed by a shallow, wide windscreen that gives no clue as to the car’s width. Those big doors are easy enough to operate and have the added bonus of looking great when they’re open.

Had it not been for Hollywood, John DeLorean and his automotive experiment would probably have remained a curious footnote in motoring history, bolstered by the financial, political and ultimately legal shenanigans that bedevilled the Belfast-based company. The car might have looked the part, but it was hamstrung by an insipid Peugeot-Renault-Volvo V6 engine, rather than an all-American V with 8 or something Italian and exotic. Underpowered, not especially well built, and launched into the teeth of an economic recession, sales struggled, and the company folded in 1982.

At the track, Electrogenic’s team talk us through the updates. It’s no exaggeration to say that electrification completely transforms the DMC-12’s character. It has now twice the power of the original, with only a marginal weight gain from the 43kWh battery pack, which is split between front luggage compartment and the rear engine bay. Painstakingly designed and assembled in house, right down to the lines of code that control the battery management system, the conversion cuts the DeLorean’s 0-60 time in half to around 5 seconds, and the characteristic instant torque of an electric motor makes the car feel sprightly at any speed.

A simple digital display has been integrated into the original dashboard to show the three driving modes, Sport, Normal and Eco, along with the battery level. Air conditioning has been retro-fitted, as has Apple CarPlay (in a concealed folding screen), and the engineering work also included regenerative braking to put power back into the battery as you scrub off the speed.

Out on the track there’s no concealing the fact that this is a big, old car, and creaks and bumps are very much in evidence. The interior is dark and angular, with chunky switchgear and period perfect graphics. Electrification certainly suits the DeLorean’s more space-age qualities, and although the soft whoosh of acceleration makes the rattles all the more prominent, it feels solid, relaxed and capable. The steering suspension was originally engineered by Lotus, so the car is more than capable of dealing with the power increase, but it’s still more suited to cruising, not hustling.

The range? Around 150 miles. Drummond notes that current battery technology means all Electrogenic cars end up with about the same range; bigger car, more batteries, more weight, lower range. Their electrified Mini has a compact 20kWh battery, and around 80 miles of range, for example. It’s a bit of an Achilles heel, but certainly no dealbreaker, especially with fast charging capacity (and a socket concealed behind the rear number plate). Nestled on the bulkhead between the seats is another non-standard fitting; a recreated Flux Capacitor. The customer couldn’t resist this nod to the DeLorean’s role in Back to the Future, and the light-up prop pairs perfectly with the silent powertrain.

Purists might argue that an engine is the heart and soul of a car, but Drummond counters that unless a car is used on a regular basis, it’s little more than a museum piece. He acknowledges that certain projects like the Mazda MX-5 are emotionally rather than economically driven, although as he says, the DeLorean, with its original wheezy engine, is the ‘perfect candidate for conversion to electric drive.

One machine in the Electrogenic workshop highlights this ethos better than any other. The vast 1929 Rolls-Royce Phantom was a one-off bespoke project for the actor and filmmaker Jason Momoa. It’s a mighty machine with an outré, OTT Hollywood presence, yet a century’s worth of patina has been preserved, inside and out. The new motor and battery are clad in a shiny deco-style housing underneath the vast bonnet, and the vintage dials and gear selector work the new electronics.

There are unlikely to be any takers for another electrified Twenties Phantom, but Electrogenic reckon the DeLorean is sufficiently transformed as make a kit a viable option. That wouldn’t have been possible without all the work and research undertaken on this particular car.

As we can attest, few modern cars attract as much attention or intrigue. Where we’re going, we probably do still need roads, as long as they’re quiet and free of smog. Ask Electrogenic to spark up a DeLorean and see where it’ll take you.

DeLorean DMC-12 Electrification kit, from £65,000 to £85,000 plus tax depending on installer (plus donor car), more details at Electrogenic.co.uk, @ElectrogenicRev

Bentley has debuted its new Continental GT Speed, the latest iteration of grand tourer flagship, now billed as being the ‘most powerful Bentley ever created’. That extra whack comes from the integration of the company’s new Ultra Performance Hybrid powertrain, taking the total power output on this fourth generation model to 782 PS.

The hybrid system has been co-developed with the engineering might of parent company Volkswagen, which has already deployed this high performance hybrid system in the latest Porsche Panamera e-hybrid. In the Continental GT Speed, it offers a vast breadth of ability, from 50 miles of pure electric range to a top speed of 208 mph.

This is the fourth generation of the car that transformed Bentley from an inhabitant of a luxury backwater into one of the world’s preeminent brands. Arriving in 2002, the GT was the first fruit of new ownership and new investment. Instantly successful, it was overhauled in 2010 and the substantially updated and upgraded in 2018 on an all-new platform.

This fourth generation car showcases a clear stylistic crossover with the strictly limited-edition Bentley Batur, particularly in the new headlights, which eschew the double lamp set-up that has been part of the Conti GT’s face since its inception.

On-board technology goes beyond the hybrid system and will include four-wheel steering, four-wheel drive, active anti-roll control and a new damping system. In the past, this emphasis on tech has given the big Bentley coupé a formidable dynamic capability that belies its size.

Inside and out, the focus on bespoke finishes, colours and materials will continue much as before. Bentley has made great strides in the discovery and refinement of more sustainably sourced materials, from driftwood to textured surfaces, and you can expect the fourth generation GT to deliver even more on this front. The company has chosen to unveil both GT and GTC convertible at the same time, with the latter set to be one of the swiftest four-seater convertibles ever made.

We’ll be delivering a full drive report on both variants of the new Continental GT in due course.

Bentley Continental GT Speed, price tbc, BentleyMotors.com, @BentleyMotors

The Fiat Grande Panda is the brand’s new entrant into the hard-fought B-segment car category – the slot one smaller than ‘C’ for compact and one of the toughest spaces to make an economic space for a well-finished, high-specification vehicle, even more so if it’s electric.

Nevertheless, Fiat built its reputation on small cars, even if the micro scales of the original 500 and even the first-generation Panda have long since vanished from our roads. The Grande Panda is just under 4m long, small by modern standards, and splices the aesthetics of Giugiario’s classically tailored original with the bubblier proportions of the Mk3 and Mk4 models that replaced it at the start of the new century.

Fiat Grande Panda: recapturing the brand's small-car heyday

The most recent iteration of the Fiat Panda was a solid performer, even if it was slightly underwhelming in terms of design. Fiat is no doubt hoping that the new Grande Panda will bring with it some of the sparkle and zest that accompanied the revived 500 and has continued to this day with the Fiat 500 EV (a bit of heritage-infused zip that’s still notably absent from the rest of the company’s range).

For a start, the Grande Panda is being positioned as a ‘world car’, something that’ll suit someone in practically every market. That means flexibility, with a pure EV and hybrid version available, sold in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Olivier François, Fiat’s CEO and Stellantis Global CMO, describes the new model as a ‘real Fiat’ on account of it being ‘perfectly suited for families and urban mobility in every country’, recapturing a USP from the company’s 1980s small-car heyday.

Underneath the clean lines is a modular platform, the STLA Smart platform, which should allow for much greater flexibility when dealing with regional demands and desires. The new model has been shaped at the Centro Stile in Turin, and is distinguished by solidly modelled flanks, dot-matrix-style LED lighting (a hint to the style recently revived by Hyundai) and a bright palette of basic colours.

The most obvious homages are to the Panda 4x4, an uprated version of the Mk1 model that garnered a cult following for its ultra-compact go-anywhere ability. Distinctive ‘Panda’ branding is moulded into the sills, and the wheelarches are also exaggerated, housing X-shaped wheel designs.

Fiat is following in its own footsteps here, but also ensuring that companies like Renault, with its forthcoming 5 E-Tech don’t get all the glory. On basis of these initial images, it looks set to do the business.

Fiat Grande Panda, price tbc, Fiat.co.uk, @Fiat

This is the Volkswagen New California, the latest in a long line of factory-built camper vans that can trace its origins back to the Type 2-derived models of the 1950s. With the excellent all-electric ID Buzz snapping at the heels of VW’s conventionally powered vans, it might also be the last VW camper of the combustion era (although electric camper vans are nothing new, of course).

The new Volkswagen California is VW’s first plug-in hybrid camper van

However, this new model, officially known as the New California1, is keeping pace with the world and innovative camper van rivals. As Volkswagen’s first camper van to be offered with a plug-in hybrid system, as well as four-wheel drive, it has extended range, performance and practicality as a result. 

Straight away this classic design impresses with sensible upgrades to bolster practicality and comfort. The introduction of sliding doors on both flanks makes it easier to use once parked up, and every one of the five versions comes with the pop-up roof as standard.

Each version – Beach, Beach Tour, Beach Camper, Coast and Ocean – has a slightly different equipment list, but all have a dedicated app as well as an onboard display in the living space to control the various functions. 

For example, the Beach Camper has a mini-kitchen at the rear, while the more upscale Coast and Ocean models have full kitchenettes inside the van itself.

Other layout upgrades include two individual removeable seats in the rear, instead of a bench, greatly increasing the camper’s carrying capacity. With twin sliding doors also comes the ability to add twin awnings to create a large covered outdoor space.

The app’s functionality also includes an ‘all lights off’ button (something many hotels could benefit from), as well as the ability to check water and waste levels. USB-C ports are scattered around the interior.

The eHybrid model is joined by a conventional turbo diesel and turbocharged petrol option, with the California Beach model offered as the entry level. Beach Tour is pitched at day trippers who want the option for an occasional overnight stop, while the Beach Camper and Coast are the classic, fully-kitted out camper vans. 

Finally, there’s the flagship California Ocean, which can seat and sleep four, and adds additional details like a roof stowage box, air conditioning and an external power socket. 

Interior packaging has always been a strong suit of the California range. The slightly larger Multivan platform that underpins the new camper creates more flexibility for travelling, eating and sleeping layouts, with added storage and enhanced black-out blind systems.

Over the years, VW has built over 280,000 examples of the California, with countless thousands more campers produced by third-party companies. Key elements – like the pop-up roof and two-tone paintwork – keep the New California at the forefront of the genre.

Volkswagen New California, sales start in June 2024, Volkswagen-Vans.co.uk

Europe still hasn’t been graced by the presence of Rivian, the Californian start-up that is battling tricky market conditions, despite its excellent products, the R1S SUV and R1T pick-up. Now the company is bringing its aesthetic and approach to a broader audience with the announcement of two new models, the Rivian R2 and R3.

Rivian R2

The latter was something of a surprise, given that Rivian was only expected to launch a slightly downsized version of the R1. The R2 fulfils this job admirably, offering up five seats and a much smaller footprint than the substantial R1. It carries over the same design language too, with the now-familiar droid-like face and clean lines inside and out.

As with the larger cars, Rivian has infused the R2 with lots of neat design details, like a powered rear screen that drops into the tailgate for loading, carrying long items and just driving with an enhanced open-air feel. The second and third row of seats fold down completely flat (ideal for car camping), and there are optional extras like the roof-mounted tent box – transforming the R2 into a compact camper van.

Rivian R3

The R3 is a more compact proposition, with crossover-type styling that bears a passing resemblance to Giugiaro’s VW Golf Mk1, or even the Soviet-era Lada Niva. The R3X is intended to be Rivian’s first performance-focused vehicle, even though the rest of its all-electric fleet are hardly shirkers.

The R2 and R3 will be offered to market with two battery sizes and three motor configurations, Single-Motor (RWD), Dual-Motor (AWD), and Tri-Motor. The last will power the R3X to 60mph in under three seconds, whilst the right combination of wheel size, motors and battery should deliver a 300-plus mile range. You won’t be able to get both at the same time. 

The Rivian tech includes the company’s ‘perception stack’, which using 11 cameras and five radars to deliver a far more advanced semi-autonomous drive ability – perfect for crawling along Californian freeways. As is customary in the sector, Rivian’s go-anywhere, freedom-loving image is somewhat at odds the real-world requirements and use patterns of its customers. However, unlike the practicality vacuum that is Tesla’s Cybertruck, Rivian has taken time to shape its vehicles for hardy functionalism, not heady futurism.

Rivian R2, from $45,000, available early 2026, Rivian R3 and R3X will follow, Rivian.com, @RivianOfficial

The VW Golf is 50 years old in 2024. Originally intended to be an update and replacement for the beloved VW Beetle, the Golf ended up as an icon in its own right, the epitome of the forward-thinking, compact family car ethos that once underpinned Volkswagen. Through eight generations, the Golf has tracked developments in technology and cultural trends, growing ever larger and more sophisticated. 

VW Golf in 2024

This month (January 2024), Volkswagen announced the most recent upgrade, giving the eighth-generation model a thorough overhaul to take it through the next few years. First introduced in 2019, the Mk8 Golf embodied the idea of a single model covering every conceivable market, from estate car and hybrid through to the cultish GTI.

Styled by Giorgetto Giugiaro, the Golf’s fashionably creased bodywork ensured it was diametrically opposed to the friendly curves of the Beetle. As the model wore on, a more rounded form was adopted; only in recent years has a finer line prevailed. As one of the first ever hatchbacks, the Golf set the standard for the class.

A new GTI is one of the models used to herald the latest update. The very first Golf GTI was introduced in June 1976 and received instant acclaim. With its tartan seats and red and black trim introduced by interior designer Gunhild Liljequist, the GTI wasn’t initially expected to do very well. VW reckoned it could sell around 5,000; in the end, 462,000 Mk1 GTIs were sold.

To date, VW has sold over 37 million Golfs in all, with its scale incrementally increasing with each generation (the Mk1 was 3.7m long by 1.6m wide, making it around the same size as the tiny VW Up!; the latest Golf is 4.2m x 1.8m wide).

Larger size equates to more refinement and equipment, and even in its lowliest form the newest Golf is very much a premium product. From the late 1980s onwards, VW embarked on an ambitious advertising campaign that sold the Golf as the smart choice of the discerning and well-heeled. The latest version will come in petrol, diesel, hybrid and pure electric versions, as well as the aforementioned GTI and estate versions, and the forthcoming flagship Golf R.

The New Golf’s most substantial updates will come in software form, an area where VW has struggled in recent years with much publicised issues with the interface and tech rolled out with the original ID.3. All this – and more – is set to be sorted, with a return to regular buttons rather than the loathed capacitive touch buttons that came with the Mk8.

VW has already said that the new model will come bundled with a ChatGPT-enabled voice assistant, and other benefits include a hybrid model capable of travelling over 60 miles on battery alone.

VW’s biggest issue going forwards is self-cannibalisation. The Golf is practically on a parity with the slightly smaller Polo, whilst the ID.3 EV also occupies the same niche. The forthcoming ID.2 EV (which may well be a Polo replacement) adds even more confusion. Throw in the many other VW Group companies that use the Golf platform to build similarly sized and pitched cars, and you have potential confusion. However, the Golf name should have the cachet, heritage and credibility to rise above it all.

Volkswagen New Golf, deliveries start spring 2024, details and prices at Volkswagen.co.uk

In recent years, shows like the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and even Salone del Mobile in Milan have picked up the slack left by the mass abandonment of the traditional global auto show. With design and tech considered to be an integral part of private mobility, the halls at CES 2024 were unsurprisingly alive with new concepts for ways of keeping us safely entertained and informed while driving.

As a result, there was an increased focus on ways in which AI and autonomy could be used to make cargo hauling and deliveries much more efficient. Here are some of the many ways in which AI will find its way into our future dashboards, as well as visions of the cars themselves.

CES 2024: future mobility and AI

Volkswagen makes a date with ChatGPT

Volkswagen was one of several manufacturers making bold claims about how AI integration into future cars is going to reshape the way we use voice recognition and receive information. The company has worked with tech partners Cerence Inc to develop a ‘uniquely intelligent, automotive-grade ChatGPT integration’.

The first cars to use VW’s IDA voice assistant should appear later in 2024, and will include the ID range of electric cars, as well as the latest generation of the Tiguan, Passat and Golf – the GTI Concept of which is shown here. The intention is to imbue cars with the same high-quality of voice recognition as Siri, Alexa or Google Assistant, fine-tuning the system to make it specific to the model, location and context. 

Volkswagen.com

Low-impact logistics with Kia’s PBV System

Kia unleashed a collection of five new electric vehicles, all of which use the same modular system. The Platform Beyond Vehicle (PBV) debuted as the Concept PV7, PV5 and PV1, with the former and latter representing the largest and smallest manifestation of the approach, and the PV5 represented by three different iterations. All are initially aimed at commercial buyers, with potential applications including robotaxis, last mile delivery and larger logistics operations.

There might also be potential passenger versions further down the line. The simple form language was driven by the need to maximise interior space and access, with lots of bio plastic, paint and recycled fabric, felt and yarns used in the interior.

Kia.com

Hyundai gets ever closer to take-off

Kia’s parent company Hyundai also had news, leading with the debut of the latest iteration of its proposed eVTOL craft, the Supernall S-A2. This five-seater (pilot plus four passengers) is part of an ongoing programme to reshape all aspects of urban mobility and find a reliable, efficient and safe replacement for the conventional helicopter.

The company also made some major strategic tech announcements. Chief amongst them was the news that Hyundai – a multinational conglomerate capable of building everything from elevators to oil tankers – is developing large-scale green hydrogen production methods, as well as ways to ‘transform environmental pollutants into clean hydrogen’. 

Hyundai also launched its ‘Software-defined Everything’ (SDx) strategy, effectively detaching software development from automotive hardware to allow each to be independently updated. Naturally, AI plays a role, with the company’s own Large Language Model (LLM) forming the basis of a new in-car assistant and navigation system, as well as open-source kits for third-party apps. 

Hyundai.com

Re-setting the EV with Honda’s 0 Series concepts

The art of the concept car was alive and well on the Honda stand with the announcement of a new ‘0 Series’ of electric cars to be sold around the world. The first Honda 0 Series models will go on sale in North America in 2026 and were previewed here by two concepts, the elegant Saloon and Space-Hub. The latter is a spacious people mover, with a fashion lounge-style interior, while the Saloon is especially sleek machine that promises to blend an ultra-efficient electric powertrain with exceptional efficiency.

The core values are ‘Thin, Light and Wise’, indicating that more manageable EVs are finally coming down the pipeline – a fitting approach for the ‘zero’ reset these cars represent. The company also debuted a new logo, or ‘H’ mark, for the first time since 1981. Besides their genuinely appealing looks, the two concepts should integrate Honda’s sophisticated automated driving system (available in the second half of the decade) and have long-life batteries thanks to sophisticated software management. 

When the Space-Hub finally makes it to production, expect the stark minimalism of the interior to be toned down somewhat, although there’ll still be generous and configurable space. More dubiously, Honda says that the 0 Series will use AI and big data to ‘learn the user’s preferences, such as music, as well as a driver’s behaviours and tendencies while driving, and … make various suggestions’. Modern cars that know you well are an inevitable sign of things to come. 

0.Honda

Music and more from Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz unveiled a clutch of innovations at CES 2024, starting with the announcement of a new, AI-powered virtual assistant. The company is making much of the power of its new user interface, which will debut in this year’s new CLA model (based on last year’s CLA Concept). The MB.OS infotainment system is an evolution of the dashboard-wide screens that arrived with the company’s first EQ models a couple of years ago, only now they have a generative AI assistant that’s said to offer a ‘hyper-personalised user experience’. No longer will you endlessly have to repeat ‘Hey Mercedes’ to get the car to do a simple task.

Mercedes also unveiled a collaboration with Will.i.am, having invited the musician and occasional tech entrepreneur to create something a little different for the Mercedes-AMG performance sub-brand. Sound Drive is the result, an interactive instrument that uses sensors and software to ‘turn the car into an instrument’. Think of it as an evolution of the endlessly generative music originally developed for video games, making it one more step along the road to the gamification of travel. 

Mercedes-Benz.com

BMW introduces a world of in-car entertainment

BMW hopes that the ninth iteration of its in-car Operating System will have as much impact as the original iDrive did when it was introduced back in 2001. BMW OS9 is yet another implementation of a large language model (LLM) in an automotive context, although BMW has gone straight to the top with the use of Alexa’s LLM. Other new features include the future AR Ride, an augmented reality-based navigation system (developed with XREAL) that overlays navigation content onto the driver’s AR glasses.

In addition, there was the introduction of BMW Digital Premium, essentially giving passenger’s access to third party apps like music, audio and gaming (the latter using regular gaming controllers) – all of which will be a boon for anyone lucky enough to use the massive rear screen in the back of the BMW i7. Finally, a very American application for computer-controlled driving tech was also on display; remote control valet parking. 

BMW.com

Sony Honda Mobility update the Afeela EV

In 2023, a surprise hook-up was unveiled in the form of Sony-Honda Mobility. The new company showed off its first product, the Afeela, with no hint of any production viability or timescale. The Afeela was back for CES 2024, suitably upgraded with fresh collaborations with Qualcomm (for computing power) and Microsoft (for, you guessed it, AI integration).

All this silicon is intended to give the car more of a personality and purpose, with screens and sensors aplenty. There are no distinct visual changes – the Afeela is still an elegant, smooth super saloon – but plenty of questions about how well the worlds of big data and big mobility are going to play together when the time comes, and what it means for the humble consumer who just wants to go from A to B with minimum fuss. 

SHM-Afeela.com

Harman shakes up screen design 

American car component manufacturer Harman (owned by Samsung since 2017) used the show to highlight innovations in interior design and information screens. The company’s new Ready Display is available in a number of different sizes, including a curved format, and uses Samsung’s Neo QLED technology for high res, rich colour graphics. It also showed the SeatSonic system, a way of integrating audio into the structure of a seat to enhance the listening experience. 

Car.Harman.com

Bosch and Amazon unite to fight inefficiency

In yet another example of a technological innovation that generates more questions than answers, industry super supplier Bosch announced a partnership with Amazon Web Services to track drivers' eye movements in order to predict and pre-empt their needs. 

The system could well be another example of Amazon’s habit of trialling labour-saving devices on its long-suffering workforce, as the first customers are predicted to be its own fleet of delivery drivers. Some of the proffered stats are alarming – in Bosch’s native Germany, ‘more than 150 million [cargo vehicle] trips are empty runs, which adds up to more than 6.5 billion empty kilometres annually, or more than 160,000 unnecessary journeys around the Earth.’

Amazon is certainly making a dent in these figures with its ongoing partnership with Rivian; the company now has 10,000 of the unique EV vans on its US fleet, with a commitment to electrify its entire delivery fleet of 100,00 vehicles by 2030. Germany is the most recent market to receive these machines, designed specifically for Amazon by the Californian EV maker. Rivian, best known for its R1T pick-up truck, is now offering the bespoke EV van to all buyers as the Rivian Commercial Van.  

Bosch-Mobility.com, AboutAmazon.com, Rivian.com

This round-up of 24 transportation design innovations for 2024 is driven by curiosity rather than any attempt to be comprehensive. The following machines – whether wheeled, winged or just seats or buildings – are all dedicated to making mobility just a little bit easier, more elegant and, hopefully, more efficient. Some are practically in the bag, while others may be subject to slight delays. Read on to discover some of the many ways we’re hoping to get around this year.

Transportation design innovations to expect this year

Lotus Emeya

Lotus’ Eletre SUV was a hugely credible start to the company’s latest revival. 2024 will see the launch of the Lotus Emeya, a four-door sports EV that’s aimed squarely at the current market leader the Porsche Taycan. Sharper styling, innovative tech and graphics and sharp handling are all promised. 

LotusCars.com

Porsche Panamera 

The latest version of Porsche’s mighty Panamera amps up the electrical content for more range and performance, all the while refining the design of the company’s original four-door sporting GT. The outgoing generation was one of our favourite fast four-doors, and the new model looks set to exceed it in every respect. 

Porsche.com

Volkswagen ID.7

Another big saloon, albeit cut from a slightly less sporting mould, Volkswagen ID.7 is the latest model in its all-electric line-up. With a projected range of around 384 miles, the ID.7 is set to be one of the longest-legged EVs to debut this year. 

Volkswagen.co.uk

BMW i5 Touring

BMW’s i5 Touring is the first application of electrification to the company’s traditionally styled estate cars. While estates have been overlooked for too long in favour of SUVs, there’s also an EV estate on the way from Audi, signalling a slight but significant shift in the scale of aspirational cars. 

BMW.co.uk

Hyundai Ioniq 7

Previewed by the Ioniq Concept ‘Seven’ from 2021 (shown here), the forthcoming Ioniq 7 is pitched as the Korean company’s flagship SUV model. Closely related to Kia’s EV9, the Ioniq 7 will be spacious and flexible, as well as distinctively designed.  

Hyundai.co.uk

Cupra Tavascan

Cupra is ploughing ahead with its conversion to a pure EV company. Next up is the Tavascan, a fast-back compact SUV that’s the most coherent representation to date of the Spanish company’s strangely gothic form language. 

CupraOfficial.co.uk

MG Cyberster

As the first electric convertible sportscar to market, the Cyberster is going to attract a lot of attention. Considerably larger than the compact MGs of old, the Chinese-owned brand is still hoping to capture some of their original magic. 

MG.co.uk

Polestar 4

Polestar previews its products well ahead of time, so the shape and style of the 4 is no surprise. Following on from the Polestar 3, an SUV, the Polestar 4 is an SUV coupé, a crucial stylistic distinction that gives this car an elegant silhouette. 

Polestar.com

Volvo EX90

Also incoming from Sweden is the new Volvo EX90, a seven-seater SUV that looks set to embody all the archetypal Volvo qualities – safety, practicality, steadfast style – in an all-electric package.  

VolvoCars.com

Fiat 600e

The upcoming Fiat 600e is much more than an upscaled 500e. Sharing a platform with Jeep’s accomplished Avenger, this modestly sized EV uses Fiat’s friendly design DNA for a more practical everyday proposition. 

Fiat.co.uk

Citroën ë-C3

Billed as the first ‘affordable European electric car’, the Citroën ë-C3 channels the spirit of its stripped-down Ami microcar and Oli concept. With an upright stance, simplified visual language and sub €25k price, the company is positioning this as a 2CV for the 21st century. 

Citroen.co.uk

New Mini EVs

The electrification of Mini gathers pace in 2024 with electric versions of the Mini Countryman and Cooper on the way, along with the Aceman crossover SUV. 

Mini.co.uk

Volocopter Air Taxi

While all the four-wheeled debuts are signposted way in advance, innovations in aerial transport rarely commit to fixed timescales. Air taxi start-up Volocopter has vouched to have a service up and running for this summer's Paris Olympics; will this prove over-ambitious? 

Volocopter.com

CityAirbus NextGen

Airbus Industry’s CityAirbus NextGen is still very much a prototype machine, but 2024 should see this all-electric, four-seater eVTOL aircraft take its first flight. The eVTOL market is crowded with concepts but the backing of Europe’s largest aeronautics company makes this one to watch. 

Airbus.com

Wisk Aero

US air taxi developer Wisk Aero is assembling the production prototype of its sixth-generation aircraft in California with a view to flying the fully autonomous four-seater craft sometime this year. Wisk’s strategy of skipping human pilots altogether is markedly different from potential competitors. 

Wisk.aero

Hill Helicopters HX50

Compared to the futuristic forms proposed by the eVTOL companies, Hill Helicopters is somewhat conventional. Building a traditional rotorcraft from scratch is still a tall order, and the UK-based is focusing on first-time buyers with its sleekly designed five-seater.

HillHelicopters.com

Passenger Terminal, Mumbai

Also coming online late this year are the passenger terminals and control tower at Mumbai’s new D.B. Patil International Airport. Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects in the firm’s characteristic expressive modernist style, the pavilion-like terminals will be surrounded by lakes and feature voluminous curved roofs. 

NMIAirport.co.in

LAX APM System

Although mass transit and the United States go together like oil and water, Los Angeles Airport has made an effort with its new automated people mover (APM) system. Linking LAX’s terminals with transport nodes outside the airport itself is a start, but in a country where Disney World’s monorail system is allegedly the 9th largest mass transit system, don’t expect any Elizabeth Line-style grand gestures.

LAWA.org

Lufthansa Allegris seating

Lufthansa passengers will finally get an uplift in every class in 2024, as the company rolls out its long-awaited new Allegris seating systems. First and Business Class customers flying the airline’s newest A350 and 787 will get the upgrade this summer. 

Lufthansa.com

Air New Zealand Skynest

Air New Zealand runs some of the longest-haul routes in the world. To make the journey fly by, the company is rolling out its innovative Skynest bunks for passengers flying to New York and Chicago, both 15-plus-hour routes. The pod-like system, designed by Kate Cameron-Donald and Zoe Wenn, offers six bunks that can be pre-booked for a chunk of in-flight sleep.

AirNewZealand.com

Frauscher x Porsche 850 Fantom Air

We’ve already previewed the sleek Frauscher x Porsche 850 Fantom Air electric speedboat, a collaboration between the sports car maker and the historic Austrian boatbuilder. This year will see first customer deliveries of this super watercraft. 

FrauscherxPorsche.com

Blue Innovations Group R30

Another electric boat to watch out for is BIG’s R30. A 30ft cabin cruiser, the R30 is designed for the big time, pitched at pleasure boat users seeking a multifunctional vessel with zero emissions, with a flexible interior and deck configuration. On-board solar helps top up the battery. 

BlueInnovationGroup.com

BMW Motorrad CE 02

Following on from the launch of the CE 04, BMW Motorrad is branching out with another electric scooter, the CE 02. With a chunkier, more stripped-back style, this is a bike aimed at riders of every ability. 

BMW-Motorrad.co.uk

Stilride 1

Stilride’s debut electric scooter is diametrically different in style to BMW’s offering, with an expressive body formed from origami-inspired bent steel. The Swedish company says the Stilride 1 will get around 120km of range, while its clever construction saves material, waste and labour. 

Stilride.com

We kick off 2024 with our experiences with the lightly refreshed Volkswagen Touareg R eHybrid, the flagship version of the company’s flagship model, the absolute summit of the brand. The Touareg was launched way back in 2002 to get VW into the all-important SUV sector. Now in its third generation, it’s actually designated as a ‘mid-size’ SUV in auto-industry terms, although by European standards it clearly sits at the upper end of the scale. 

As it stands, the Touareg has more in common with its close mechanical cousins, the Audi Q8, Bentley Bentayga, Porsche Cayenne and Lamborghini Urus, than it does with any other VW, even its (smaller) SUVs. That is to say that it prioritises plushness, performance and comfort over any sense of ‘utilitarian mobility’. For instance, switch to ‘sport’ mode – which adds extra boost from the electric motor – and the interior lighting scheme transforms the cabin into a Chippenham nightclub, all lairy red and black. It’s not subtle.

In R eHybrid form, at the very top of the VW product tree, this means you’re looking at an £80,000 car, fully laden with an acronymic blizzard of options to assist with progress on and off the road, from highways to parking garages. Truth is, you need a fair bit of help to guide the big Touareg through cities with any degree of precision, such is the scale of this 4.9m-long machine (well over 2m wide including wing mirrors).

Powering all this is a petrol V6 linked to an electric motor and battery pack; the latter gives an electric-only range of around 30 miles. As with all plug-in hybrids, a projected and practical use case is to charge at home for regular short trips, keeping the ICE on hand for longer journeys. All well and good, but the fact remains that you’ll be hauling around 3,000kg of largely redundant technology on the off chance you’ll need to run to the shops as well as traverse a massive sand dune on the same afternoon.

Like many big SUVs, the Touareg offers occupants a sense of impervious detachment from the world, swathed in a layer of technology that cossets, entertains and occasional infuriates (touchscreen-only controls for the heating and aircon, for example). A power output of 455hp means that performance is never lacking, although the aforementioned sport mode ensures everyone on board is well aware of your profligacy.

The world of hybrid SUVs currently offers no half measures. In fact, it’s something of a shock to delve into VW’s current line-up and discover that the brand makes no fewer than eight different SUVs, the T-Roc, Taigo, T-Cross, Tiguan, Tiguan Allspace, the electric ID.4 and ID.5 and the flagship Touareg. Over the Atlantic, there’s also the even larger Atlas and Atlas Sport.

How much longer can this Swiss Army knife approach to car design and engineering survive? The Touareg and its ilk sit at the peak of the auto industry’s imminent tipping point; at some point in the not-too-distant future, battery tech will have sufficiently evolved to make small electric cars a truly viable economic proposition. The current glut of huge hybridised and electric SUVs demonstrates that we’re not there yet. Sure, cars like the Touareg demonstrate that you can have it all in one package, but the costs are high for everyone.

Volkswagen Touareg R eHybrid, from £80,710, Volkswagen.co.uk

Electrification isn’t just about mainstream autos; some of the most intriguing products of the last 12 months took modern batteries into new territories, from travel trailers to motorbikes, speedboats, pick-up trucks and even classic car conversions. Find out more in our top 10 transport design stories of 2023…

Top 10 transport design stories of 2023

01. TELO Pick-Up Truck

One of the USPs of fuseproject’s TELO is that it’s tiny, relatively speaking, cramming go-anywhere practicality into a stubby EV frame that’s shorter than a (modern) Mini. 

READ MORE

02. New compact camper vans

The renaissance in camper van and RV culture continued apace throughout 2023, with compact designs that double up as everyday drivers making a particular impact. 

READ MORE

03. Living Vehicle HD24

Californian company Living Vehicle launched the HD24, a home from home that also doubles up as an office on the move. Meticulous multi-functional design make this machine a highly desirable mobile des-res. 

READ MORE

04. Electrogenic 1929 Rolls-Royce Phantom II

Electrified classics are everywhere right now, but kudos to Electrogenic for applying the tech to a true vintage machine. This one-off 1929 Rolls-Royce has been transformed over 18 months, replacing the original monstrous engine with a battery pack without compromising its majestic stance.

READ MORE

05. Bentley Blower Jr

At the other end of the scale is this pocket-sized Bentley, shrunk and electrified by the Little Car Company. At 85 per cent scale, it’s still a sprightly two-seater. 

READ MORE

06. Fuell Fllow Motorbike

Electric touring motorbikes have yet to have their moment, but Fuell’s futuristic Fllow was a bright sign of things to come, mixing fast charging with a long range and plenty of performance. 

READ MORE

07. Fiat Topolino

Fiat’s tiny Topolino has yet to go on sale, but we’re eagerly awaiting a go. Based on the cracking little Citroën Ami, the Topolino truly captures the spirit of small Fiats of the distant past. 

READ MORE

08. Pebble Flow

If there was an award for the most sophisticated travel trailer of the age, the Pebble Flow would snap it up. With embedded electric power – to lessen the load on the tow vehicle – the four-berth Flow would light up any weekend away.

READ MORE

09. Renault Twingo by Sabine Marcelis

Renault continues to play with its icons and Sabine Marcelis’ take on the classic original Twingo followed Mathieu Lehanneur’s Renault 4 based Suite N°4, and Pierre Gonalons’ stylish Renault 5 Diamant. The French manufacturer will soon return to its roots as the king of small cars. 

READ MORE

10. Candela C-8 Polestar Edition

As a way of showcasing their power packs, Polestar fitted out the Candela C-8 hydrofoil with its hefty batteries. The resulting Polestar Edition blazes a trail for luxury electric watercraft. 

READ MORE

This was the year that EVs went thoroughly mainstream, even as political dithering dented the emphasis on the urgency of the need to switch from ICE. There were still a few notable novelties in the latter sphere, perhaps buoyed by mixed official messaging and the belief that fossil fuels somehow deserved a future in the hands of the well-heeled. Whilst we thoroughly enjoyed the latest from Ferrari, Maserati, and Aston Martin, there’s an undeniable feeling of an era drawing to a close. Will the old guard manage to rewrite the rule book, or will new brands without the heavy drag of heritage be able to get ahead? Peruse our picks of 2023 (in no particular order)…

Top 10 cars of 2023

01. Audi e-tron GT

We loved Audi’s e-tron GT, a handsome grand tourer that shows that premium electric cars need not be about over-powered hypercars or hefty SUVs. Expect a face-lifted and lightly upgraded version of the GT to break cover in 2024 – we’re looking forward to it. 

READ MORE 

02. Hyundai Ioniq 6

Hyundai kept up its current winning streak with the sleek Ioniq 6, a streamlined electric saloon that showed that design could be bold and different without alienating anyone. 

READ MORE

03. Volkswagen ID.Buzz

VW has a hit on its hands with the ID.Buzz, a flexible MPV that’s equally at home as a car or a commercial vehicle. The high-riding driving position and acres of space recall the original VW Combi and 2024 should see 7-seater and campervan variants arrive.

READ MORE

04. Rolls-Royce Spectre

Rolls-Royce spoiled us with the all-electric Spectre, a mighty achievement that goes straight to the top of the luxury wish-list. Serene, majestic yet also sprightly and long-legged, the vast coupé epitomises the company’s long-held ethos.  

READ MORE 

05. Lotus Eletre

The Lotus Eletre follows the familiar playbook for all-new electric auto brands; start with a sizeable SUV and eventually downscale. Only Lotus is no start-up. The Eletre might not demonstrate the venerable sports car maker’s historic passion for lightness, but it’s a truly convincing piece of kit. Next year sees the arrival of the new Emeya electric saloon.

READ MORE

06. Ferrari Roma Spider

Ferrari threw open the roads of Sardinia for the launch of its beautiful Roma Spider, reasoning that the media would look most kindly on the car if it was in its natural environment. It succeeded; in the right location, the Spider encapsulates la dolce vita.

READ MORE

07. Aston Martin DB12

Something of a glorious anachronism, the DB12 is the automotive equivalent of a long-running film franchise that manages to stay fresh and relevant with each release. Essentially an uprated and restyled DB11, the DB12 retains the essential elements of beauty and brawn, only now it’s a little more user friendly. 

READ MORE

08. Maserati MC20

The MC20 was a mild surprise for long-time followers of Italian manufacturer Maserati. Just when it seemed the company had sacrificed over a century of history on the altar of the dreaded SUV, it came out with this magnificent mid-engined supercar. Old-school cool in all the right ways. 2024 marks Maserati’s 110th birthday, so expect some kind of four-wheeled celebration. 

READ MORE

09. Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale

Another modern Italian masterpiece, the 33 Stradale is a strictly limited-edition hypercar. Unveiled back in August, it pointed to a mini design renaissance for the firm, once the unrivalled masters of making beautiful cars at every price point. If just 10 per cent of the 33 Stradale’s good looks make it into the next all-electric generation of Alfa road cars, the company’s future looks bright.

READ MORE

10. David Brown Automotive Mini eMastered

Finally, a leftfield choice that merges truly iconic design with up-to-the-minute technology. DBA’s Mini eMastered is both strikingly brilliant and fantastically expensive. The ultimate luxury city car?  

READ MORE

In the transition to electrification, few mass-market production car makers have caused as much of a stir as Hyundai. The Korean company pushed the boundaries of convention with its Ioniq 5 model and then unveiled the closely related Ioniq 6. With the latter recently awarded the World Car of the Year 2023, we got behind the wheel of a top spec Ioinq 6 to experience Hyundai’s electric flagship. 

Compared to the faceted form of its sister model, the 5, the Ioniq 6 is a very different aesthetic proposition. A swooping, curvaceous body brings to mind early experiments in streamlined design, or perhaps even a four-door Volkswagen Beetle. From the rear, the collision of spoiler, boot lid and full-width lightbar with its downturned edges has been likened by some to the classic Porsche 911 Turbo; regardless of the aesthetic intention, this sets the 6 apart as a sportier proposition.

Hyundai is more than happy for you to give into temptation and indulge in the propulsive shove that characterises an electric powertrain. All models share the same 77.4 kWh battery, but the all-wheel drive model adds another motor and is substantially faster as a result, with a 0 to 60 mph time of 5.1 seconds. As with every EV, it’s not about top speeds, but acceleration, both from a standstill and at overtaking speeds.

Around fast corners, the Ioniq 6 tracks securely and comfortably, with minimal body roll, and suspension that conceals its mass well. The driving position is rather high, but this is not a traditional sports car, more of a sporting saloon. In any case, you’ll be spending most of your time in the ‘Eco’ drive mode, which maximises range at the expense of slower acceleration. The 6 also has a punchy regenerative braking system which makes one-pedal driving a breeze – simply use the left steering wheel paddle to engage.

Absolute maximum range – one that’s all but unobtainable outside of laboratory conditions – is 338 miles. That should mean a comfortable c300 mile range in day-to-day use, which is our sweet spot for effectively vaporising range anxiety (something we probably won’t even remember in five years’ time). Add in 350Kw charging, the fastest currently available, and the Ioniq 6 can be taken from ten to 80 per cent charge in under 20 minutes.

Inside, the accommodation is similar in scope and scale to the Ioniq 5. There is a slightly more premium feel, especially with the raised centre console with a handy storage underneath and the most premium models get heated seats all round and a useful complement of USB charge points. Points are docked for not allowing Android Auto or Apple CarPlay to operate wirelessly, however. A head-up display completes a comprehensively equipped dash – only the paucity of physical buttons for climate control lets the side down.

Another functionalist misstep is the inclusion of wing mirror cameras in the top spec model. These reduce the car’s width and improve aerodynamics, but the benefits don’t outweigh the downsides. Each screen is angled inwards and placed at the far ends of the dashboard and it takes a while to look inside the car instead of at the (rather bulky) camera units on the doors. The picture offers decent definition, but there’s a hint of the uncanny about looking at a screen, rather than a reflection, that implies less immediacy to whatever it is zooming up behind you.

Other minor quibbles include the incessant bings and bongs emitted by the car’s various warning systems. They’re all switchable, naturally, but everything reverts back to its most alarmist when you restart the car (as legislation now requires). Obey the rules diligently for a quiet life.

The Hyundai Ioniq 6 is distinctive without being awkward, technically accomplished and well equipped. It’s an easy car to live with and an easy car to recommend, especially as proper four-door electric saloons are still rather thin on the ground. This car gives this unfashionable sector a much-needed shot in the arm. 

Hyundai IONIQ 6, from £47,040. Ultimate AWD model from £55,035, Hyundai.com

Cupra is based in Martorell, north of Barcelona, alongside a large factory that once churned out the products of Spain’s major car maker, Seat. Seat, or Sociedad Española de Automóviles de Turismo (the Spanish Touring Automobiles Company), was founded in the 1950s as a partly state-owned venture. Strong early links to Fiat meant that many early Seats were effectively re-badged Fiat models and it wasn’t until the company was acquired by the Volkswagan Group in 1986 that it started to forge its own identity. 

Now Seat has split once more. The Cupra nameplate, once a performance-focused Seat sub-brand, was spun off into an independent name in 2018. Both companies are headed up by Wayne Griffiths, a long-term auto industry veteran with over 30 years’ experience working for the VW Group, firstly at Audi and then at Seat. 

We travelled to the company’s HQ to talk about all things Cupra and what the next move is for a new company that’s committed to an electrified future. The HQ was built in 2019 and forms part of a vast complex that includes factory, design studio, research laboratories and many more of the multiple moving parts required to build a modern car. As well as Seats and Cupras, you’ll also see Audi’s A1 going down the line, a symbol of the VW Group’s adept resource management.

Cupra: ‘emotional design’ for a post-combustion era

Cupra’s HQ combines offices with towering public spaces, stacked with merchandise and auto-related objects. Despite the decon-business park exterior, inside, it has a dark, neo-gothic vibe, a quality that could be associated with the cars themselves, with their matt black paintwork, bronze detailing and little Gaudi-esque flourishes. The company’s most recent concept car, the DarkRebel, was revealed at the 2023 Munich auto show, and epitomises this brand’s most Batmobile-style excesses, part Christopher Nolan, part Rocky Horror Picture Show. 

Griffiths knows that Cupra has been gifted an opportunity. VW’s current EV strategy must navigate the choppy waters of changing legislation, public expectation, and dithering politicians, so a certain amount of bet-hedging needs to be done. While Volkswagen itself can cling on to the combustion engine until 2033 at the earliest, Cupra is set to quit combustion much, much earlier – 2025 is being talked about.

The newish brand is an advance scout, sent out to observe the lie of the land in the post-combustion era and stake a few claims while it’s out there. ‘When we launched the brand five years ago, we wanted to be a challenger brand,’ says Griffiths, ‘a brand with emotional design and performance. Not about premium and luxury, or heritage and tradition. Cupra was created because of two things; industry disruption due to electrification, and social disruption due to different value systems.’ 

The latter is a reference to the shift in car-ownership and usage patterns. ‘Mobility’ was once taken to mean the four-wheeled conveyances that were parked outside your place of residence – these days it references everything from public transport to car sharing, to cycling, e-bikes and even scooters. ‘Before, Seat was essentially about cheaper Volkswagens,’ Griffth says frankly. ‘Now we have a new value. We’re the only brand in the group created from scratch.’

Griffiths points out that Cupra’s customers are ‘younger and they want something new’. Up until about 18 months ago, that newness was still closely related to the former parent company. Cars like the Leon and the Ateca were essentially uprated versions of Seat equivalents. The first Cupra-only model was the Formentor, a neat blend of hatchback and SUV. 

It was followed by the Born EV, a Cupra-badged version of Volkswagen’s ID.3. Coming up are the Tavascan and Terramar SUVs, both due in 2024, and the Cupra Raval (formerly the UrbanRebel), a compact city car expected to be available from 2025. It’s more than enough to give the new brand solid growth and great customer perception. With 400,000 cars sold to date, Griffiths points out that ‘we’re no longer an experiment or a test – people see that it works’. 

Through involvement in events like Extreme E racing, Griffiths argues that ‘we’re helping redefine what motorsport means’, ensuring the brand’s origins in racing still shine through. While no Cupra is slow, the line-up is still a long way off making it a dedicated sports car brand, but that’s not the intention. Nor, surprisingly, was the coming all-electric model range part of the original plan. ‘In 2018, we didn’t have that plan,’ Griffiths admits. ‘It’s been accelerated by Covid, the semi-conductor shortage, and the climate crisis.’

With EVs now front and centre of the Cupra strategy, Griffiths still needs to make cars that are distinct. ‘We focus purely on emotional electric cars,’ he says, pointing to the recent DarkRebel concept as a case in point. ‘It’s the maximum expression of an emotional electric car. It’s a car for a car-lover, not about focus groups or people pleasing. I tell [Design Director] Jorge Diez that he needs to shock me. The design team has maximum liberty and flexibility.’ 

Electrification further simplifies an auto industry that was already reliant on platform-sharing across brands and groups. It also means that challenger brands can compete with century-old established names. Whether you find motoring a delight or a chore, the industry is striving to ensure that there’s something to cover all bases. The bigger the company – the VW Group is the world’s largest car maker by revenue – the more bases to cover. 

That’s where Cupra comes in and why Griffiths can afford not to be consumed by rules or brand bibles. ‘I know what Cupra is and is not,’ he says simply. ‘We know where we want to go.’ This includes the strong gut feeling that a provocative, bold sports model will always find an audience, no matter what. ‘There’ll always be people out there who want to drive,’ he says. ‘We’re not going to be focused on self-driving or autonomous cars.’

Whilst the DarkRebel is very definitely a concept, one senses that it’s the car Griffiths himself would be keenest to drive. One of its technical flourishes is the inclusion of an avatar-like personal assistant, as well as three distinct driving modes that can completely change the character of the car. Griffiths points out that systems need to collaborate, not compete, and that although ‘data is a new currency’ when it comes to carmakers, the challenges of security and data protection are myriad. 

Car makers assure us that we’ve reached the watershed point in automotive weight. The tricky balancing act between performance, safety and range has seen larger EVs flourish, whilst short-range, lighter machines don’t find favour with drivers still mentally constrained by range anxiety. ‘A 600 mile [range] will change that pre-occupation,’ says Griffiths confidently, ‘[the current restrictions] are temporary.’ 

VW is investing big in Spain: new platforms, new battery tech, a new battery assembly plant, around €10 billion in all. Cupra’s confidence is underpinned by VW’s strategy for the two sister brands. Seat is moving more and more into micro-mobility, with the electric Mo scooter and potentially a Citroën Ami rival based on the 2019 Minimo concept. It is Cupra, not Seat, that is planning to tackle the mighty US market (‘we need a car that fits in the US, which is a large SUV’). 

The other advantage of a brand-new brand is that there’s no historical baggage or off-message associations. Everything Cupra does is from first principles, albeit with the might of the VW Group to support it. That means everything from new materials to exploring the sound generated by the new-generation of EVs. The Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System (AVAS) is mandated by law and requires every car maker to corral an acoustic department and work out their own acoustic signature. 

The Tavascan, we are told, will have a sound inspired by nature, a gentle rushing like water drawing through pebbles on a beach, or wind in tall grass. It also means pushing the envelope in lighting design, a visual signature that becomes more and more important due to the flexibility of LED technology. Twenty years ago, a Tavascan-sized car would probably have had only five bulbs in the passenger compartment; the new model has upwards of 100 LEDs in the interior alone.

Above all, Cupra believes it is well placed to flourish in a time of change. ‘We’re a brand from Barcelona, young, vibrant, on the beach but with a rich culture,’ Griffiths says, explaining that things like brand partnerships and ambassadors are rich pickings for a youthful, sporty and focused new company. ‘There are some areas I’d to explore further, such as fashion,’ he says, ‘also cinema, not just in terms of product placement, but working with certain directors.’ 

Cupra already puts its name to Barcelona’s Primavera festival and can also be found on FC Barcelona’s shirts. ‘You’re going to fail if you try and defend the status quo,’ Griffiths says simply, ‘the future will belong to those brave enough to reinvent themselves and do something new.’ 

CupraOfficial.co.uk

Camper vans – including the new breed of electric camper vans – have never been more fashionable, and as their star rises, so too do the expectations of a new generation of wannabe van lifers, eager for the open road but not so hot on giving up amenities. Away from the endless variation and individuality of the custom and self-build market, there is still a lot of choice, as established companies make the most of booming interest. Here are four campers, concepts and one-offs that showcase the current state of the art.

Volkswagen California Concept

The Volkswagen California Concept is practically identical to the production version of the company’s core camper offering. The California sits below the Grand California and the forthcoming official ID.Buzz Camper, but it’s the model with the most direct lineage to the original T2 campervan of the 1950s. The concept previews the 2024 model, the seventh-generation California, which will also have a plug-in hybrid option and replace the current California 6.1.

The main update is the addition of a sliding door on each side, allowing the interior to be completely opened up with in-built awnings providing shade and shelter. Slightly larger than its predecessor, it combines the practicality of a passenger van with all the accoutrements of a camper, with swivelling front seats, a kitchen layout that can be accessed from inside and outside, and an aluminium-framed pop-up roof structure with windows, lighting and power. 

The concept also showcases a new touch-screen ‘camper van control unit’, which gives info on all the van’s systems, water levels, etc., and operates the roof and entertainment.

Volkswagen California Concept, concept only, seventh generation California available 2024, Volkswagen-Vans.co.uk

Citroën Type Holidays

This one-off model was presented by Citroën at the recent Düsseldorf Caravan Show. Although the retro-inspired ‘Type Holidays’ won’t make it to production, it heralds a revamped campervan line-up that’ll be available from 2024. The Type Holidays is a modern iteration of the company’s fabled H Van commercial vehicle, nearly half a million of which were built up until 1981 (many survivors have since been resprayed, filleted and refitted for new lives as upmarket coffee kiosks).

Working alongside the Italian coachbuilder Caselani, which has been creating old-school body styles on existing Citroën platforms for several years, the Type Holidays recreates the slab-sided corrugated metal appeal of the original. It comes complete with a bespoke interior and the all-important pop-up roof.

In addition to working with Caselani, Citroën tapped Slovenian camper specialist Bravia Mobil to kit out the concept. Underneath it all is a Citroën SpaceTourer, with a flexible interior layout, including four berths, a kitchenette and dining table, that’ll soon be available for sale. 

Citroën Type Holidays, concept only, Citroën.co.uk

Ford Transit Custom Nugget

The Nugget is the esoteric name for Ford’s Transit and Tourneo-based campervans, turning these trusty commercial vehicles into compact homes from home. For 2024, the company has used the most recent generation of the Transit to create a camper that’s also plug-in hybrid for the first time.  With space for four in the tilt-roof model, the Nugget blends Ford’s legendary reliability with camping know-how from Westfalia.

The result is a well-equipped machine awash with options, from a solar roof to all-wheel drive, as well as a car-like dashboard and a full suite of driver assistance options. The multi-zone living space has storage in every available nook and cranny, with an L-shaped kitchen, fridge, hob and sink, as well as a tailgate-mounted shower. 

Ford Transit Custom Nugget, available soon, Ford.co.uk

Mercedes-Benz V-Class Marco Polo

Not to be outdone, Mercedes unveiled its new V-Class Marco Polo at Düsseldorf. Marco Polo is the company’s in-house campervan range, complementing the huge number of industry specialists who use Mercedes’ commercial vehicles as the basis for bespoke RVs and mobile homes. As well as the compact V-Class, Mercedes also revealed the Marco Polo Module to transform its smaller T-Class van into a micro-camper (previewed by the recent Concept EQT).

The Marco Polo has been a cut above the ordinary, taking the Mercedes luxury touch to the campsite. Features include the Mercedes-Benz Advanced Control (MBAC) interface module, a touch-screen control system, and special AIRMATIC suspension that can level the van when parked up on uneven ground. 

Mercedes-Benz V-Class Marco Polo, available soon, Vans.Mercedes-Benz.com

In the old days, Bentley’s flagship was a saloon car. Tradition dictated that the most prestigious vehicle in a fleet should be a large, preferably stretched, four-door saloon with elegance, gravitas and presence. Over the past 100 years, many Bentley saloons have nobly taken on this role, from the two monumental Bentley State Limousines built for the late Queen Elizabeth, to the Mulsanne, a vast saloon produced from 2010 to 2020. 

The Mulsanne was very much the last of its kind, built on a bespoke platform to the same levels of near-maniacal perfection that drove other high profile VW Group projects of this golden era of intensive engineering – cars like the Bugatti Veyron and the Volkswagen Phaeton. Yet while Bentley still has a perfectly good saloon car in its line-up, the excellent Flying Spur, it’s chosen the Bentayga SUV to be its new pinnacle. 

The Bentayga should have been controversial. Introduced in 2015, it followed the deep furrows left by other luxury SUVs and eventually carried Bentley to new heights of profit and production. Unlike the hugely complex Mulliner (constructed in such a way that no battery could ever fit, even for a hybrid system), the Bentayga sits on a tried and tested, highly flexible VW Group engineering platform, allowing Bentley’s engineers to do practically whatever they like.

Since it debuted, we’ve seen Bentaygas take an ill-fated foray into diesel power, go hybrid and even get stretched with the EWB (extended wheelbase) model. 

Mulliner starts with the EWB as standard, skipping the hybrid option and plumps for the 4.0-litre twin turbo V8. The additional length all goes into that voluminous rear passenger compartment, configured as two reclining ‘airline-style’ seats, with a practically limitless number of colour and trim options. 

Inside the Bentley Bentayga EWB Mulliner

For most luxury car buyers, high specification and extensive personalisation tick all the right boxes. More and more features and options are piled upon the buying process, making it as intricate and empowering as possible. The Mulliner division is making much of new sustainable options, like leather tanned with wastewater from olive oil pressing, and carpets made from recycled nylon. Smart seats ensure the car’s occupants enjoy ‘optimum thermal wellbeing’, and the materials, controls and instrumentation convey digital realities through a filter of nostalgic wonder for engineering solidity and heft. 

How long will the Bentayga EWB Mulliner fly the role of flagship? It’s disconcerting to report that the car market seems to have no upper limit on extravagance. Rolls-Royce’s recent quartet of Droptail speedsters and even Bentley’s own Bacalar and Batur models, demonstrate that even cars costing from £2 to £20m will still find buyers. Where next? Although the Bentayga EWB Mulliner will transport you in supreme comfort, the destination is down what is an increasingly untrodden path. 

Bentley Bentayga EWB Mulliner, from £245,000, BentleyMotors.com

It stands to reason that the next big revolution in the RV world is electrification. Yet unlike their commercial and consumer equivalents, camper vans and recreational vehicles have very different demands on power, range and space. What might suit a short-range city delivery service won’t necessarily suit a long-range, off-grid camping vehicle, where survivability is key, and the reliability of a gas-powered generator will always trump a solar array.

Volkswagen has finally launched its long-awaited ID.Buzz Stateside, while EV-only travel trailers like the striking Lightship L1 demonstrate that aesthetics are changing just as fast as the tech underneath. Traditional campers are still being subverted, but at this stage in the electrification of camping we’re still very much in the realm of conversions, as the following list confirms.

However, purpose-built electric vans are becoming far more commonplace, aimed first at the world of work. Renault’s amazing Estafette Electric Van Concept debuted at this year’s Paris Motor Show, while Canoo’s MPDV delivery vehicle also shows promise. Sharp recently showed off its Sharp LDK+, an EV the company described as an ‘extended living room’, and there are also rumours of a 'Rivian Adventure Van' coming in 2025, something that splices the ruggedness of Rivian’s off-roaders with the spacious interior of the Rivian Commercial Van.

Clearly, the future will offer way more options for keen converters. In the meantime, here’s our updated selection of what to look out for in the world of zero-emission van living.

eVentje by Ventje

The first of several new VW ID Buzz conversions, the eVentje is Dutch specialists Ventje's entry into the zero emission camper game. With an electric cooker, plenty of sockets, an onboard solar panel and a pop-top roof, as well as a plethora of power sockets and LED lighting throughout, the eVentje is a thoroughly modern take on the camper van aesthetic VW introduced to the world with the 50s-era Type 2 VW Transporter.

eVentje by Ventje, from €95,000, Ventje.com, @Ventje_camper

Vanacea by Maxwell Vehicles

LA-based specialists Maxwell Vehicles can supply a fully electric van with an interior fitted out by specialist builders Rossmonster. One big draw is the full solar roof that the company claims to provide up to 1,500 Watts of charging when you park in full sun. This adds up to a ‘daily range bonus’ of 20 miles on especially fine days, or around 8.5 kWh of battery charge. The floor mounted battery pack frees up more of the interior for Rossmonster’s custom cabinetry, galley and storage.

Vanacea, price on application, MaxwellVehicles.com, Rossmonster.com

THOR Vision Vehicle

The Vision Vehicle is American RV stalwart THOR’s vision of the near future, offering a 300 mile range from a large battery pack and fuel cell combo, with a tech-filled interior to create a ‘home away from home’.

The company also recently collaborated with Harbinger to create a new Class A motorhome platform (the largest camper platform), an electric powered RV concept that combines a 140 kWh battery with a gasoline-powered range extender to give a range of 500 miles.

THOR Vision Concept, THORIndustries.com, HarbingerMotors.com

ElectricBrands XBUS Camper

The diminutive XBUS is a multipurpose platform designed by German company ElectricBrands. It’s available as a regular van, pick-up, catering truck, passenger vehicle and camper, and the company is currently taking orders.

The camper variant is available in both standard and off-road configurations, with sleeping space for two formed from two add-on camper modules, both of which feature extendable living space. The standard battery promises a 200km range, although extended capacity is also available.

XBUS Camper, from €29,727.73, ElectricBrands.de

Tonke ID.Buzz

This is the Tonke ID.Buzz, the Dutch company's companion to its EQV model. Many EV-minded campers are holding out for an official electric camper version of the acclaimed ID.Buzz, but it still looks like it'll release a hybrid camper version of its Volkswagen California camper first and foremost. 

Tonke ID.Buzz, Tonke.eu, @Tonke_Vans

Alpincamper ID.Buzz

German van conversion specialist Alpincamper claimed to have made the very first conversion of the Buzz, with this sleekly designed two-berth model that makes the most of the interior space with an aesthetic that mirrors the Buzz’s chunky, soft-edged interior scheme. The company says the conversion doesn’t dent the Buzz’s maximum range of around 248 miles.

Alpincamper ID.Buzz, more details at Alpincamper.de

Grounded RVs

Detroit-based start-up Grounded has pivoted from using the Ford E-Transit platform to using the GM BrightDrop as the basis for its Zevo 600 or Zevo 400 electric RVS. Still aimed at the American market, the company places an emphasis on space and function, with a modular interior system that can be upgraded over the lifecycle of the van.

Grounded G1, price tbc, GroundedRVs.com

Winnebago eRV2 concept

As the name suggests, this is all-American brand Winnebago’s second electric camper concept, based on the Ford E-Transit (the company says it is ‘actively pursuing’ range extension opportunities to incorporate into a future commercial version). In addition to the electric powertrain, the eRV2 is a showcase for sustainable and recycled materials, as well as a layout tailored to working on the road.

The interior is calm and refined, according to ‘Japandi’ design principles, the weirdly popular term for a mix of Japanese and Scandinavian principles. It’s a far cry from the fussy country kitchen style (complete with artificial fireplace) that you’ll find in the company’s flagship $450,000-plus Journey. Watch this space for a production version.

Winnebago eRV2, concept only, Winnebago.com

Tonke EQV Nomad, Adventure and Touring

Tonke’s EQV conversions come in three variants, Adventure, Nomad and Touring. This minimal camper conversion of Mercedes’ EQV electric people carrier doesn’t compromise its passenger-carrying abilities. A folding double bed is created from the seats, along with a slide-out kitchen module, while an optional pop-up roof creates standing space, as well as the ability to add two more berths, depending on the chosen specification.

Space-saving measures are everywhere, including an optional drawer storage system that slides out of the rear tailgate. Maximum range for this converted Mercedes is said to be in line with the standard EQV, or around 224 miles.

Tonke EQV, from €73,919 ex VAT, MyTonkeEQV.com

Porsche Taycan with Porsche Roof Tent

Porsche’s realisation that even sports-car drivers like the occasional spot of car camping saw it launch a dedicated roof tent for its models. Mounted up on the roof-rack and accessed via a ladder, the folding tent bears distinctive Porsche branding and folds down into a hard shell case that also contains the integrated access ladder.

Inside there’s a polyfoam mattress, two side windows and a rooflight. For the ultimate – and fastest – zero emission way to camp, slot one of these on top of a Taycan, preferably the incredible Taycan Cross Turismo (which sadly has to be bought separately). 

Porsche Roof Tent, available from Shop.Porsche.com

Mercedes Concept EQT Marco Polo

While others transform its new breed of EV vans into campers, so far Mercedes has only trailed the prospect of an electric version of its excellent Marco Polo camper. This model is a micro camper by most standards, with room for four at a push, but best thought of as a relatively luxurious space for two.

The Concept EQT previews the forthcoming machine, with a fully removable interior – the Marco Polo Module – that transforms it from camper into van when required. Whether the production version will include this level of flexibility remains to be seen.

Mercedes Concept EQT Marco Polo, concept only, Mercedes-Benz.co.uk

Škoda Roadiaq Concept

Škoda has already demonstrated its one-off Enyaq iV 80 FestEVal roof tent camper, but this student project takes that idea still further, adding an all-new roof structure and a finely crafted multifunctional interior that includes a kitchen and a full complement of leisure accessories.

The Škoda Roadiaq is a fully functional concept made by 29 students from Škoda’s Vocational School. Solar cells help supplement the power supply for equipment like the built-in 27in monitor – aimed at those who want to live and work on the road.

Škoda Roadiaq, concept only, Skoda.co.uk

So here we are in a lightly fettled Volkswagen ID.3, version 2.0 of the car that launched the company’s much-vaunted electric reset. The original ID.3 was by no means groundbreaking in terms of design, but it did help move the needle on the EV barometer; one of the world’s largest automakers was finally going all-in on a ground-up, pure electric car (alongside an equally important new modular electric drive platform, MEB). 

VW ID.3, version 2.0

There have been economic ups and downs in the three years since 2020 (mostly downs), but the vast industrial commitment required to get the ID family to market could in no way be halted or diverted. ID.3 was followed by ID.4 and ID.5, while there’s an ID.6 in China and an ID.7 and ID.2 on the way. And let’s not forget the brilliant ID.Buzz. 

At some point over the next few years, the baton will have to be handed over and the slightly bland ‘ID’ suffix will be blended with Volkswagen’s well-established and highly recognisable nameplates – Polo, Golf, Passat, Touran, etc. Until that day comes, the company is soldiering on with its two-tier line-up, split between EVs, hybrids and regular old ICE. You can even still buy diesel models if you’re the contrarian type.

The ID.3 was originally conceived as a Golf replacement, just as the Golf began life as a successor to the original Beetle. Neither strategy panned out. Even as buyers shift to SUVs, big and small, the Golf still sells just shy of 300,000 units a year around the world. In contrast, VW sold around 73,000 ID.3s in 2022. Although it’s not hard to image a future with an ‘ID.Golf’ in it, we’re not there yet. 

So how does the revised ID.3 stack up on its own? In truth, the improvements are relatively low-key, with just a few tweaks to lighting and styling. Fresh bumpers and a new bonnet treatment bring the car in line with forthcoming ID models, while there’s also an emphasis on better quality and more sustainable interior materials. With the car built in VW’s Zwickau factory on a production line that has been certified carbon-neutral, you can’t fault the company for its commitment to making sure its business model survives in a net-zero future. 

On the road, the ID.3 behaves with characteristic refinement and decorum. There’s no indication of a ‘hot’ equivalent to the famous Golf GTI, but the usual electric zest is present and correct, if not in overpowering amounts. A shade smaller and a tad wider than the equivalent Golf Mk8, it just about qualifies as a small car in this age of bloated private transportation.

Externally, the ID.3 is well proportioned and tidily detailed, off-setting the slippery anonymity of pure aerodynamics with some sharply chamfered edges, stylish wheels and black out sections of trim at the rear. The interior benefits from tweaks to VW’s multimedia interface – the Achilles’ heel of the 1.0 model. Although much of the plastic is sourced from recycled raw material, it doesn’t really look or feel like it. Perhaps the company could wear its eco heart on its sleeve a bit more. 

The ID.3 succeeds best when it comes to range, successfully condensing the characteristics of much large EVs into a relatively small package. The base ID.3 Pro offers 266 miles of range from a 58kWh battery, while the ID.3 Pro S has an official range of 347 miles. This is well past the tipping point of range anxiety avoidance and takes us straight to a world without stressing about the proximity of the nearest charge point. 

It won’t set the world on fire, let alone achieve the cult status of the Beetle (or even the Golf), but the ID.3 is the kind of car that slots happily into any role, without unnecessary fuss or ostentation. VW’s upcoming ID.2 will be smaller still. Given that cult cars are quite often small in stature, perhaps that will finally be the true people’s EV? 

Volkswagen ID.3, from £37,115, Volkswagen.co.uk

To showcase the versatility of its largest EV, Škoda has taken an Enyaq IV and given it enough kit to double up as a mobile hotel room, suitable for campsite, festival or a road trip with no fixed destination. The Škoda Enyaq iV is already a credible, capable EV, one that synthesises all the best bits from the VW subsidiary’s handsome design language without coming over all overbearing and over-scaled. 

Škoda Enyaq iV 80 FestEVal: a one-off camper

It's still a big car, and this special one-off Škoda Enyaq iV 80 FestEVal makes the most of that interior space with a couple of very non-standard extras. For a start, there’s a rooftop tent, a folding affair that collapses into a slip roofbox. When open, it’s accessible via a collapsible ladder and provides a sleeping space for two, with integrated fan and light. 

Down below, there are more bespoke additions. First up is the rear camping unit, a bespoke piece of integrated joinery by the Czech-based manufacturer EGOE. This is a Nestbox, a sliding unit that contains a gas-burner and sink, as well as storage and can be shaped for practically any SUV, estate or MPV. In the case of the Enyaq, it takes up a fair chunk of boot space, with even more sacrificed to the second double bed, in this case a mattress frame that oversails the folded rear seats. 

The Enyaq already had a fairly substantial battery system (good for up to 338 miles of official range), and the 82kW battery pack provides power to the berths and systems when the car is stationary. True electric campers are currently light on the ground, with only a few custom models available. VW is readying a version of its excellent ID.Buzz to carry on decades of camping tradition, and there’s also the forthcoming Mercedes EQT Marco Polo. 

All credit to Škoda for creating a quirky alternative. The Enyaq iV 80 FestEVal might not be a match for a traditional long-term camper van, but it’s an admirable piece of packaging and an indication that EVs are now sufficiently mainstream enough to be customised. Right now, however, this particular car remains a conceptual one-off; you’ll have to buy an Enyaq and build it yourself. 

Škoda Enyaq iV starts from £49,925, Skoda.co.uk,EGOE, egoe-nest.eu

Michael Mauer, vice president of style at Porsche, has overseen the creation of a new Porsche badge, the latest iteration of a longstanding and ever-evolving symbol of sports motoring. 

Ferrari isn’t the only company to have a rampant horse on its badge. Although the Italian stallion was originally associated with 1930s racing Alfa Romeo, Enzo Ferrari’s former team, it has been associated with Ferrari’s own cars since the first Ferrari 125 S of 1947. 

The following year, a new sports car maker emerged from the ashes of post-war German industry. Porsche’s badge has more in common with traditional heraldry than its Italian counterpart. The horse comes from the flag of the city of Stuttgart (‘stud garden’, a name which gives away its horse-breeding history). The first badge bore the name of the company and its hometown, with the black and red colouring and deer-antler motif lifted directly from the shield of Württemberg-Hohenzollern, the state founded in 1945 and eventually becoming part of Baden-Württemberg.

This clearly Germanic symbol was partly due to influential car importer Max Hoffman, the man who brought Porsche to the USA. Hoffman wanted the new 356 sports car to better signal its origins, and the crest was drawn up in 1952, four years after the car debuted. 

The draughtsman behind the logo was one Franz Xaver Reimspiess, an Austrian engineer responsible for much of the mechanical innovation behind the Volkswagen Beetle. Reimspiess was also rumoured to have designed the Volkswagen logo in 1936.  

The new crest maintains the form and dimensions of the original but tightens up every element. ‘The “75 years of Porsche sports cars” anniversary was the occasion for us to fundamentally rework this trademark,’ Mauer says, ‘We reinterpreted historical characteristics and combined them with innovative design elements such as a honeycomb structure and brushed metal.’

It's taken three years to shape this badge, both as a three-dimensional physical object to adorn the cars and as a 2D logotype that’ll been seen around the world both digitally and in printed matter. The process was overseen by Joachim Paetzel, specialist for colour and trim at the brand. 

Every facet is different, included a softer coloured gold, a finely tapered bevel around the edge, the application of clear brushed metal surfaces behind the antlers and a new 3D honeycomb pattern for the red stripes. The word ‘Stuttgart’ now uses Porsche’s own typeface and the horse itself has been redrawn to be bolder and less stylised.

The original crest was given a refresh in 1954, then again in 1963, 1973, 1994, 2008 and finally in 2014. This new badge will make its debut on the new Porsche Panamera, due at the end of 2023. The company keeps historic badges in production, however, as the Porsche Classic restoration service needs to have access to every conceivable part. With 75 years of heritage to preserve, plus high hopes of at least another 75 to come, brand identities are precious enough to need continuous care.

Porsche.com

When the Volkswagen ID.Buzz finally arrived, it was clear that VW had spent plenty of time finessing the details. While the brand’s other ID models have been criticised for wayward software and less than inspiring styling, the ID.Buzz had a lot to live up to. 

The spirit of Volkswagens past hangs heavy over the ID.Buzz. It’s not just in the retro two-tone paintwork, but in the scope of the whole endeavour; a van-like vehicle that can be adapted into an almost infinite variety of uses, just like the original Type 2.

Ironically, it’s taken until now for an EV platform to provide this potential flexibility at consumer level, rather than simply being a simple way for auto giants to spread the cost by sharing components across fleets and brands. 

The ID.Buzz isn’t alone. Mercedes has electrified its Viano model to create the EQV, while Vauxhall has the Vivaro Life Electric. However, both of these models share platforms with ICE equivalents, albeit a purely commercial one in the Vivaro’s case. VW’s advantage is a clean-sheet design, as well as a fertile tranche of good feelings left over from the collective cultural memory of VW’s Type 2 bus and its descendants. 

Volkswagen ID.Buzz reviewed

So does the Buzz rekindle this passion? Although long-wheel base passenger variants haven’t yet arrived, there’s already an ID.Buzz Cargo for those who want to forgo seats for goods, as well as two basic trim levels for the passenger model, the Life and the Style (the latter gives you that all-important layered paint job).

There’ll soon be a seven-seater variant, as well as a long-awaited camper version, a modern version of the cult 1950s and 1960s model and an electric rival to VW’s own California series. It’s not hard to imagine a pick-up variant, or an ice cream van or any number of other applications where profile is just as important as performance.

Not that the ID.Buzz is a slouch. With an official range of 258 miles (so just over 200 in real world use), it’s not quite as long-legged as more conventionally shaped rivals, but it easily sees off the other EV vans. Tuned for range and relatability, not out-and-out performance, the seating position is upright and far-sighted. Although you don’t quite sit above the front axle as in the vans of old, this is still very much a ‘cab forward’ design, and a good example of how an EV platform can easily adapt to a different body shape.

The cabin is well equipped, with oddment drawers, shelves and pockets providing ample storage space. The flat floor also opens up the internal space, while the rear bench folds perfectly flat with the dual level cargo deck, creating a generous double-bed sized space.

Aftermarket accessories are springing up, including items like Quququ’s BusBox-4, a compact folding mini-camper with stove, water supply and folding bed. Other innovations include German specialist ABT’s bespoke solar roof panels, which are design to top up the battery and provide power to onboard equipment. There’s also talk of allowing the Buzz to act as a standalone home power supply (something Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 can already do, amongst others).

What the ID.Buzz gets right is the blend of form and function. It’s that rarest of cars that attracts attention for its looks yet is also 100 per cent, undeniably practical. 

The low-slung battery pack dispels any lingering memories of top-heavy vans and campers, providing solidity on the road, even in heavy winds, and the Buzz can also pick up speed with aplomb, another entirely un-van-like characteristic.

Other car makers must be looking jealously at how well VW has leveraged its heritage without compromising the forward-thinking modernity of a pure EV. As a result, VW hasn’t just remade an icon, it’s also built one of the first electric cars with guaranteed future classic status. It took a while to get here, but the ID.Buzz represents mission accomplished.

Volkswagen ID.Buzz, from £58,915 (ID.Buzz Life), £63,715 (ID.Buzz Style), Volkswagen.co.uk

This week sees Auto Shanghai 2023 (until 27 April) hold sway as China’s largest motor show and a reminder of the industry’s ongoing gravity shift to the East. Alongside a host of new models from Chinese manufacturers, many long-established players chose the event to showcase new flagship models. Even those companies that didn’t exhibit still picked this month to unveil new metal, mindful of the danger of being seen to be standing still. Of course, EVs continue to dominate, and crossovers and SUVs continue to be the car type of choice. Read on to discover the key cars of 2023 and beyond.

Auto Shanghai 2023: the key reveals

MG Cyberster

As the MG4 brings new sophistication to the Chinese-owned, once-British brand, the next model looks even more intriguing. MG’s new Cyberster is a two-seater, open-topped EV due to launch in 2024. Bigger and bolder than its ancestral inspiration, the Cyberster will create a whole new category and shift the perception of EVs in the process. 

MG Cyberster, available Summer 2024, MG.co.uk

Lincoln Nautilus

Distinct Range Rover vibes from Lincoln’s 2024 Nautilus, which broke cover in New York earlier this month. The new Nautilus features a 2-litre turbocharged hybrid powertrain across the trim levels, indicating that even in the land of the enormous SUV, attitudes are slowly shifting away from vast petrol engines as a signifier of power and luxury. It’s still a very big car, suggesting there’s still a long way to go before opulence is equated with downsizing. 

Lincoln Nautilus, available in North America, early 2024, Lincoln.com

BMW i7 M70 xDrive

A new electric flagship for BMW, which has given its electric 7-Series sedan the ‘M’ power treatment for the first time. Like the other mighty electric BMW, the XM, the company is going all out on brutalism right now. The bluff front, two-tone paintwork and radically re-shuffled light and grille elements take some getting used to. Owners can bask in the knowledge that this BMW’s fastest accelerating EV, with an accompanying Hans Zimmer-composed ‘engine note’. Long distance travellers can switch on a hair-shirted MAX RANGE mode to eke out the best from the battery (nearly 350 miles) 

BMW i7 M70 xDrive, available from Q3 2023, BMW.co.uk

Volkswagen ID.7

The latest in VW’s fast-expanding ID range is the ID.7, a limo-sized slippery-shaped four-door. The ID.7 majors on efficiency, with a projected maximum range of over 400 miles, as well as well as a host of luxury extras to tempt fleet buyers and executives to go electric. These include massage chairs apparently approved by the German Campaign for Healthier Backs, a dimmable glass sunroof, and remote parking with a memory function. 

Volkswagen ID.7, launching Europe and China Autumn 2023, Volkswagen.co.uk

HiPhi X

Chinese brand HiPhi is ready its X crossover for European sales, soon to be followed by the Z grand tourer (a ‘digital GT’). There’s also a larger HiPhi Y in the works. Boldly styled, the X has rear-hinged rear doors and a gullwing roof hatch. Inside there’s a central info screen on a multi-axis robot arm – it’s described as the ‘HiPhi Bot’. The brand is a best-seller in China and wants to make a similar impact in the European market. 

HiPhi X, details tbc, HiPHi.com

BYD Dolphin, Seal and Yangwang U9

BYD has been selling EVs in the UK for over a decade, albeit in a lowkey way. That effort will now be ramping up. Using defiantly different naming conventions, BYD (‘Build Your Dreams’) is also making an aggressive play for European drivers with two new mid-market cars, the Seal saloon and Dolphin hatchback. With fluid, vaguely fishy design language and batteries built in-house by the Chinese conglomerate, the new cars go head to head with offerings from Stellantis and Ford.

BYD’s luxury subsidiary, Yangwang, also showed its new sports coupé, the U9. With bodywork designed by Wolfgang Egger, formerly head of design at Audi and now doing the same role for BYD, the car promises extraordinary performance and a smart suspension system capable of running on just three wheels in the event of a blowout. 

BYD Dolphin, available from June 2023, BYDEurope.com

Yangwang U9, details tbc, YangwangAuto.com

Mercedes-Maybach EQS 680 SUV

You’d have to travel back to the plutocratic excesses of the 1970s to find a comparable model to the new Mercedes-Maybach EQS 680 SUV. Only the legendary Mercedes-Benz 600 (the Grosser Mercedes) comes close to the scale and scope of this, Maybach’s first all-electric model. 

Based on MB’s EQS, the Maybach ramps up the craftsmanship and CEO-level extras, including folding worktables, a cooling compartment, silver-plated champagne goblets, along with ventilated, heated and massage functions in all four seats. The interior is a butterscotch symphony of LED lights, sustainably produced leather and wood trim. 

Mercedes-Maybach EQS 680 SUV, Mercedes-Benz.com

Genesis GV80 Coupé Concept

The GV80 Coupe calls itself a concept but you can consider it a relatively faithful representation of the South Korean luxury manufacturer’s next model. Revealed at the brand’s Genesis House HQ in New York, the GV80 Coupe takes the companies largest model, the GV80 SUV, and gives it the contemporary fastback body shape. No word yet about potential powertrains but expect the GV80 to go beyond its sister car’s lack of hybridisation - perhaps even taking inspiration from the company’s best model, the GV60 EV. 

Genesis GV80 Coupe, currently concept only, Genesis.com

Lamborghini Revuelto

Another non-show debut, Lamborghini chose to reveal its next generation super sports car on its own terms. The story here is hybridisation, and the Revuelto is billed as the first series production V12 plug-in hybrid. Lamborghini has always been bullish about the enduring appeal and regulations-busting qualities of its internal combustion engines. However, recent moves by the US Environment Protection Agency to do away with exemptions for Small Volume Manufacturers to meet wider CO2 reduction targets might end up forcing the company's hand. 

In any case, the famous Sant-Agata Bolognese-based brand is equipping the Revuelto with a battery pack big enough to encourage electric-only driving, although there’s no word of what the likely range will be if you put your foot down. 

Elsewhere, you’ll find extensive use of ultra-light carbon fibre, dramatic doors and all the angles and creases that have come to define this most defiant of sports car brands. The Revuelto will continue the family line that started by the Countach in 1974, going through the Diablo, Miura, Murciélago and Aventador models. 

Lamborghini Revuelto, on sale in 2024, Lamborghini.com

Ford Explorer

Ford is splicing its pioneering American DNA with the more technologically adventurous spirit of its European arm with a new all-electric version of the Ford Explorer. Designed and engineered in Europe, it takes the clunky family-focused SUV into a zero-emissions future. The aesthetics are a bit more car-like than the original Explorer’s infamous truck inspired shape, and Ford is pushing the new model’s fast-charge ability, spacious interior and rugged, adventurous image. 

Ford Explorer, available from late 2023, Ford.co.uk

Denza N7

Denza is yet another BYD offshoot. The new N7 is passably handsome, if a bit forgettable, and although Denza describes the car as an SUV, it’s more crossover in terms of scale and height. As BYD’s first model to include a suite of LiDAR sensors the N7 is suitably future proofed, but what interests us most is the brand’s collaboration with audio tech manufacturer Devialet. The French brand’s first foray into automotive audio, the N7 includes a 16-speaker system that has been tailor-made for its interior. 

Denza N7, China only, TengshiaAuto.com

Smart #3

Shaped by the Mercedes-Benz global design team, the new Smart #3 is the company’s ‘first ever sports utility coupé’. On the plus side, this means it’s substantially smaller than other cars with this unwieldy and slightly meaningless designation. On the downside, it looks a teensy bit generic. Smart claims this is due to the car’s ‘seamless, smooth lines and athletic curves,’ but there’s none of the eccentricity that defined the brand back in its early days. The seamless swoop of the roof makes up for the otherwise disappointing shape; perhaps when it’s lined up alongside its larger rivals will it all start to make sense. Aimed squarely at a young city-dwelling driver, interior equipment includes a music system tuned by Beats. 

Smart #3, availability tbc, Smart.Mercedes-Benz.com

Porsche Cayenne

Porsche have given their venerable Cayenne a substantial overhaul with the aim of seeing it through until the launch of an all-electric replacement. Minimal exterior changes are supplemented by a massive overhaul of the interior architecture. Cayenne now gets a dashboard-wide screen system, a new ‘Porsche Driver Experience’ that balances analogue displays with digital content, as well as giving the front seat passenger their own touchscreen to play with. The V6 hybrid models have also been updated, and now offer a much longer electric-only range and greater efficiency. 

Porsche Cayenne, available to order now, Porsche.com

Jorge Díez oversees Spanish auto brands SEAT and Cupra. A long-time Wallpaper* reader, the designer has a full portfolio of future models on the boards. Born in Galicia, Díez studied industrial design, but retained a keen interest in fashion, graphics and transportation design. ‘For me, the car is an object that combines everything,’ he says, describing how he had to move to London’s RCA in order to explore all these different disciplines.

An early internship with Audi led to a scholarship for his second year and then a job at the German company, part of the VW Group. For Audi, he was instrumental in the design of models including the second-generation Audi TT and the first-generation Audi A7. Díez then moved to SEAT, also part of VW, where he led the Exterior Design Department at the beginning of the last decade.

Back at SEAT since 2019, Díez has been part of the team overseeing the creation of the new standalone Cupra brand. Previously, the ‘Cupra’ designation was applied to sportier versions of SEAT’s model range, but by transforming the sub-brand into its own identity, the VW Group has given itself another outlet for expressive design in the burgeoning EV market.

‘There hadn’t been a new brand in the European market for many years,’ says Díez. ‘It was a good opportunity to get into a higher market position.’ The origins of the SEAT brand lie in post-war Spain, when it was founded in 1950 as the country’s national motor manufacturer, owned in part by the Spanish government and Italian industrial stalwart Fiat. The first SEATs were re-badged Fiats, and it wasn’t until 1986 that the company was taken on by VW.

Cupra arrives unburdened by this heritage, which has left SEAT with a lingering image of a hot-blooded people’s car, the emotional counterpart to the strictly rational Volkswagen. There are national stereotypes at play here, of course, but when has a carmaker ever missed the opportunity to emphasise these? 

For Díez, the new brand was ‘a white sheet of paper’, and he admits that from the outset, Cupra embodied ‘some element or spirit of the country, a bit more emotion’. ‘Cupra doesn’t have to be liked by everyone, he says, ‘but a few people will really love it.’

While the current range still includes ‘hot’ versions of SEAT’s Leon and Ateca, there are also two unique Cupra-badged cars, the compact Formentor crossover and the new Born, which takes VW’s ID3 platform and gives it slightly more of an edge. 

There have also been three key concept cars in the Cupra journey to date, the Tavascan electric SUV, the Terramar, a larger, plug-in hybrid SUV, and the Cupra UrbanRebel, a compact electric city car. The last is due in 2025, and the first two in 2024.

One of Díez’s tasks has been to consolidate Cupra’s image. ‘We try to give each car its own personality,’ he says. ‘We would lose a bit of the effect if they all looked the same. Instead, they’re like brothers and sisters.’ Key elements, like the triangular graphic on the lights, front and rear, the slash-like creases in the bodywork, and the use of signature matte colours with copper detailing, all set the company apart and imbue a sophisticated, sporty image. In comparison to SEAT’s universal, Desigual- or Mango-like mass-market appeal, Cupra is technical sportswear.

These impressions matter in a market awash with change. ‘We believe that the cars should express that they’re fun to drive,’ says Díez, arguing that the shift to EVs is a big opportunity. ‘Some brands become a bit calmer when they go electric,’ he says. ‘For us, it was all about emotions. My ultimate target is to create a sense of desire.’

For all the talk of emotive design, Díez is frank that being part of the VW Group gives a relatively small brand like Cupra a huge advantage. ‘Being in the group means we have many possibilities,’ he says. ‘However, how you use the platforms is up to each brand. And platforms are far more flexible now than in the past.’

Cupra is also not about designing outlandish concept cars that can never reach production. These days, car companies have concept engineers who work alongside the design teams to ensure that design principles dovetail with manufacturing capabilities. ‘We have to explain the importance of every time, so it’s important we’re all on the same page,’ says Díez.

Ultimately, Díez’s role is to sift, sort and identify the differing demands of future customers across three brands, SEAT, Cupra, and SEAT’s burgeoning electric personal mobility brand. ‘We’re looking at the desires and influences of people who are now teenagers,’ he says, pointing out quirks of future consumers – they’re very good with their hands, but not so agile with their feet. Design is a way into these different approaches.

‘It’s important to look outside the automotive world,’ he says. ‘We don’t use “classic” materials like wood or chrome, for example.’ Instead, the neutral matt colours and flashes of naked copper give Cupra its own identity, as does the overt use of recycled plastics and things like Neoprene on the seats. Díez and his team are exploring the potential of 3D-printing to add further personalisation, but the designer also stresses that modern LED lighting systems can also make each interior individual and unique. 

To emphasise the sporting potential, Cupra interiors tend to be more driver-focused (‘It’s a bit egoistic,’ admits the designer), while even elements like interior smell and sound are considered. ‘For us, a designer needs to be like a sponge, capable of absorbing everything and analysing it,’ Díez says. ‘Objects can talk without words.’

Ultimately, it’ll be brands like Cupra that give voice to the next generation’s response to the automobile. ‘Speed and acceleration once generated emotions,’ says Díez, ‘but we’re looking to trigger those feelings in a different way. The key is the use of technology. I think Cupra is well placed to explore all these different aspects.’

This is the new Volkswagen ID. Buzz, the long-awaited modern-day manifestation of one of the most iconic Volkswagens of all time, the Volkswagen Type 2. So named because it was second VW product after the original Beetle, the Type 2 was the original multi-functional utility vehicle. Produced as a passenger van, a transporter, a pick-up, a camper, and many, many other variants, the Type 2 became that rarest of things, a cult object that was also hugely successful. Introduced in 1949, the Type 2 evolved into the distinctive T2 of the late 60s, and the basic design brief survives all the way up to the newly introduced T7 Multivan, which currently co-exists with the T6.1 Transporter range for commercial customers.

The ID. Buzz is different. As VW’s first all-electric commercial vehicle, it complements the regular hybrid and ICE range and comes in as a new flagship, available as both a passenger vehicle and the ID. Buzz Cargo panel van. Electrifying the latter seems like a no-brainer for crowded, polluted cities, and private customers are also crying out for a distinctive electric people carrier. The Buzz has certainly been a long time coming. Not only does the design reference the original 1949 machine, but it also has strong doses of the 2001 Microbus, an extremely well-conceived concept that was allegedly taken all the way to production readiness, only to be canned at the very last minute. In 2011, the basic shape re emerged as the electric Bulli Concept, which was followed by the 2015 BUDD-e Concept. In 2017, the ID Buzz finally broke cover in concept form. 

It's taken five years for that concept to reach production, during which time battery electric vehicles have improved substantially in terms of range. The one-box form sweeps back from the raked front end, where the focus falls naturally on the central ‘VW’ logo, just as it did all those decades ago. A generous glasshouse occupies the top third of the body, with sliding rear doors allowing easy access to a capacious interior. A seven-seater is on the way, and the interior features recycled plastics on the seats as well as ample connectivity. VW has also opted to make the ID. Buzz ‘bidirectional’, meaning the vehicle can supply energy from its own battery, whether for camping, or even providing domestic electricity to the home for short spells. 

The ID. Buzz has taken a very long route to market and will finally be available to buy later in the year. For now, Volkswagen’s heritage will give the ID. Buzz an unassailable lead, with its attractive blend of practicality and personality. But as more and more people see the benefits of mono-box styling in an electrified, increasingly autonomous age, other start-ups are gearing up to steal some of VW’s magic.

So here are five alternatives to Volkswagen's ID. Buzz; available now, or in the (hopefully not too distant) future.

01. Canoo Car

 Canoo.com

We’ve already chronicled the imminent arrival of Canoo, an LA-based company whose boxy lifestyle vehicle is billed as a 'loft on wheels' and is due to start shipping this year. There’ll be a delivery vehicle version as well, with the most basic Canoo starting at $34,750. The spacious interior has wraparound seating and there are plans for more rugged, all-terrain versions as well. 

02. Arrival Car

Arrival.com

Other companies have partnered with ride-sharing firms, believing that the quickest route to market is to cater to their very specific requirements. Next year should see the appearance of the Arrival Car, the first in a suite of transport and utility-centric vehicles from this UK-based company. Your only chance of getting into one of these sleek compact MPVs is to hail one, for the first batch of Arrival Cars are destined solely for Uber drivers. The company is claiming an innovative manufacturing approach, with localised ‘Microfactories’ capable of building cars that are tailor-made for each neighbourhood, thanks to a modular style of construction that’ll eventually be applied to buses and cargo vans. 

03. Waymo Zeekr

Waymo.com, ZeekrLife.com

Not to be outdone, Google’s Waymo mobility division has paired up with Chinese manufacturer Geely to create a bespoke machine that will hone and refine the company’s autonomous technology. The Waymo Driver system will be integrated in a new vehicle from Geely’s Zeekr electric sub-brand, a pared-down minimalist modern taxicab with twin sliding doors and a full suite of sensors for the autonomous drive system. 

04. Budget Airline Car

Car Design Research

Cambridge-based Car Design Research offers another, rather more speculative, take on the utility car. Their Budget Airline Car concept doesn’t sound especially glamorous. Instead, the concept is an attempt to find a new mode of transportation to replace an environmentally maligned niche; the low-cost, short-haul flight. Noting that comfort and convenience are almost inevitably sacrificed to price, CDR’s Chinese-Indian team came up with a long, low electric six-seater designed to whizz efficiently up and down tomorrow’s highways. The pared-down interior features individual seats and space for luggage, and with an efficient electric drivetrain, the C02 emissions per passenger mile would be considerably lower than flying. 

05. Hyundai Staria

Hyundai.com

Finally, there’s the Hyundai Staria, a car you can buy right now, albeit only in certain global markets and with a conventional internal combustion engine. The wedge-like minivan splices the long-standing influence of the VW with another important car, Renault’s pioneering Espace MPV from 1984 (which in turn dated back to designs from the 70s, including Mario Bellini’s iconic Kar-a-Sutra). Although a hybrid is in the works, a hydrogen-powered Staria is also on the cards, due for release in 2023.

INFORMATION

Volkswagen ID. Buzz, from c£50,000

Volkswagen-Vans.co.uk

Aside from its midcentury science fiction nomenclature, the Škoda Enyaq iV is about as mainstream as a modern EV can get. As part of the VW Group, Škoda is following a well-signposted path of ever-evolving platforms, batteries, and drivetrains. As a result, you can spot distinct familial likenesses between cars in the group. The Enyaq iV shares a platform with Audi’s Q4 E-tron and Volkswagen’s ID 4, the Volkswagen Group’s Modular Electrification Toolkit (MEB).

Slightly less physically substantial than the first wave of electrified SUVs (like the Mercedes EQC or Audi e-tron), the Enyaq iV is what passes for mid-sized in this era of escalation. Can it deliver the goods?

Škoda Enyaq iV

Buyers seem to think so, snapping up about 45,000 Enyaqs last year, its first on sale. Ever since it made the transition from tragic Eastern Bloc punchline to credible Czech contender, Škoda’s target market has been families. VW Group ownership has opened up a world of high-quality parts and platforms, not to mention the skills of a vast network of designers.

Škoda makes excellent use of its resources, pitching itself as a more affordable but roughly equivalent brand to Audi.

The Enyaq is a good example of a coherent, well-proportioned contemporary cross-over, albeit with surfacing that uses every trick in the book to disguise the car’s scale.

The pinched crease along the flank just above the door handles bleeds into the rear lights, above which a slight bulge references the flared wheel arches of a more sporting machine, while the tapering glasshouse and elongated roofline help the overall composition.

There’s something quietly disruptive about Škoda’s design language. It doesn’t have the inoffensive middle-of-the-road tastefulness of Volkswagen, or the pumped-up muscularity of Audi. Instead, it’s somewhere between the two, existing in a hinterland of commonplace tropes that somehow coalesce into a car that’s traditionally handsome, if not classically beautiful.

It’s as if Škoda’s designers have slashed and cut at the more rounded form of the VW ID4 to make a bolder, more chiselled machine. Which in a way, is exactly what they did.

The two cars share much of the same interior architecture as well. This is both good and bad: generally speaking, the VW Group UX is one of the better in-car systems. There are frustrating oddities common to both cars, such as the ribbon-strip volume control beneath the central info screen.

Overall, it’s clean and user-friendly, making Audi’s Q4 e-tron interior look a bit fussier in comparison. Respect is due to Škoda, too, for being a bit different in its colour choices, offering up a tan colour launch trim rather than the ubiquitous black. New for 2022 is a wool-based fabric that incorporates recycled plastic bottles.

The Enyaq iV settles into the middle tier of the distance charts, with a maximum range of 331 miles from its largest 77kWh battery.

Performance is decent, not earth-shattering, and the options list includes a head-up display, and this fancy ‘crystal grille’ (above) that makes a stylistic virtue out of a feature that isn’t strictly necessary.

There’s obviously more to come from Škoda’s electric stable. Just as the Q4 E-tron and ID4 went on to spawn slightly sleeker ‘coupé’ variants, so it is with Škoda, with the imminent arrival of the Enyaq Coupé iV. Ironically, less functionality means slightly more efficiency, as the tapering body shape means marginally improved aerodynamics, one of the all-important factors when it comes to maximising every last inch of range.

By 2025, Škoda promises to have six pure EVs on the market. The Enyaq iV is a very promising start.

INFORMATION

Škoda ENYAQ iV 80 EcoSuite, as tested £47,100

skoda.co.uk

You have to pity the poor VW Golf. So zestful and efficient, yet so out of step with the times. Assaulted by SUVs on the one side and pure EVs on the other, it is a car that has evolved constantly through nearly half a century of manufacture. Right now, the eighth generation Golf represents the acme of the internal combustion engine, a true all-rounder that combines basic transportation with brilliant packaging and driving enjoyment. Over that time, the Golf has also become all things to all people; it’s an electric Zipcar, a family hatchback, a small-engined city car, a performance hybrid, a track-honed pocket supercar.

We’re comparing two very different models from the range, the Golf Life and the Golf GTE. The former is the aforementioned city car, as basic as the VW gets in an increasingly demanding and sophisticated age. With a 1.0-litre petrol engine and manual gearbox, the Life is one of the lowliest models in the Golf line-up. Yet nothing about it feels remotely budget, for the Golf has spent the past few decades pushing itself relentlessly upmarket, becoming one of the first truly classless cars, the smart choice for the well-heeled buyer who doesn’t want to skimp on quality but also cares little for ostentation or display. 

Compare and contrast it with the Golf GTE, a plug-in hybrid model that takes a bit of the magic dust generated by the legendary Golf GTI and splices it with the no-nonsense EV practicality of the e-Golf (which is tellingly no longer available). Mixing and matching often leads to unhappy compromises, but in many respects the GTE really is the best of both worlds, leaving cost aside. It is as fast as you conceivably need a car to be, but it can also be switched to a pure electric mode for short hops. The interior includes VW’s iconic tartan cloth trim, and the levels of equipment and ergonomics are probably best in class.

The Life and the GTE are not exactly chalk and cheese. Instead, they’re more like the difference between mass-market cheese and cave-aged Somerset cheddar. They both do the same job, but one demands to be savoured.

However, progress and change are nibbling away at the Golf’s enduring low-key ubiquity. The new Volkswagen ID.3 is Golf-shaped, Golf-sized and engineered from the ground up to do away with all the unnecessary plumbing required by the internal combustion engine. With a rumoured speedy GTX version in the works and the inevitable end of ICE sales on the near horizon, the Golf’s do-it-all image could soon be usurped. There’s also a brand-new Volkswagen Polo to contend with. Traditionally perceived as the Golf’s smaller sibling, both cars have grown up together, quite literally, closely tracking the evolving sophistication of the fossil fuel-powered automobile. As that era draws to a close, VW has to decide whether the Golf name can still play a role in the next half century.

INFORMATION

Golf Life, from £23,355
Golf GTE, from £36,010
volkswagen.co.uk

When it debuted in 2011, the little VW up! instantly became one of our favourite cars, especially if one overlooked that eager exclamation mark. The petrol-powered up! was about as basic as a modern car can get, with a wheel-at-each-corner stance and VW’s traditionally minimal detailing. The e-up! is the range’s pure electric variant, with all the amenities of its conventional sibling but the added delight of zero tailpipe emissions. At 159 miles, the range is at the lower end of what one might expect from a new electric car, but despite being perfectly capable of a modest excursion, the e-up! is ultimately a city car through and through.

As one of the smallest electric cars you can buy, the e-up! ticks almost every box in the city driver's dwindling option list; compact, peppy, practical, and low-key. The interior reduces instrumentation to a bare minimum with a dash mount that enables your smartphone to take over navigation and media player duties (although infuriatingly it doesn't seem to take larger-sized devices). Quality is up to usual VW standards, which means everything is satisfyingly solid, from buttons to interior materials. The flipside of such a small footprint is a lack of luggage space, but as we've already established, this is not a car for taking four people on a long road trip. However, if and when urban traffic returns to its previous levels, more and more people will be seeking clean, modest, efficient and minimal transportation. In this respect, the e-up! is all the car you would ever need.

There'll come a point in the next six months when VW will be complementing the e-up! with a home-grown rival, the all-new VW ID.3, just over half a metre longer and with double the range. Despite this, the ID.3 is still classed as a compact car and everyone is expecting it to shoot to the top of the EV best-seller lists (teething problems notwithstanding). So where will that leave the little e-up? We hope there'll still be a future for diminutive industrial design in all its forms – a world that desperately needs to re-focus its craving for consumption has to start somewhere. After all, the hitherto elusive delights of quiet roads, empty streets, temporary pedestrianisation, lowered air pollution and freedom of movement is making minimalists of us all.

INFORMATION

Volkswagen e-up!, from £22,865. volkswagen.co.uk

There may have been grumbles from within the Frankfurt motor show about fewer exhibitors than in previous years and protests outside about the automotive sector’s contribution to climate change, but say what you will about the biennial German event, it still has the power to attract major attention and warrants scrutiny.

All the big German brands rolled out significant models, most notably VW’s ID.3 – its first made-to-measure full-electric car and the first of at least six from the same modular platform – that suggests it really does want to put its Dieselgate scandal-blighted past behind it. To signal the symbolic shift VW even unveiled a new, more humble 2D version of its formerly shiny 3D one. Electric power was king everywhere at the show. Even Land Rover’s long-awaited new Defender 4x4 – previously a very chuggy and usually no-nonsense diesel vehicle – now boasts a mild hybrid version plus a plug-in hybrid to follow, alongside its traditional petrol and diesel offerings.

Beyond the established Western marques, Chinese newcomer brands were more numerous than at previous European shows – with both Wey and Byton the most convincing. In particular, the 48-inch wide infotainment screen on Byton’s production-ready M-Byte impressed with its ambition and software, and is unmatched by any other maker in the world right now (the interior screen of Honda’s endearing ‘e’ city car also unveiled in Frankfurt, is the nearest). Both should deliver their cars to customers by mid-2020.

The appetite for such high-tech EVs is out there, demand outstrips supply in many cases, so now the carmakers need to deliver on their promise in sufficient numbers, and be matched by public charging infrastructure. Out of five main halls populated by vehicle manufacturers, here are Wallpaper’s 2019 Frankfurt top six unveils…

Volkswagen ID.3

The positive news from VW’s stand was the reveal of the production-ready ID.3 with most of the charm of its conceptual forebear intact. The product design-inspired and Golf-sized five-seat hatch is the start of an all-electric family which will be produced in the millions and spawn a large saloon, several SUVs, a 21st camper van and possibly a beach buggy and a racing car too. Jump inside the ID.3 and apart from the high-tech screens the design is noticeably simple and pared back. ‘It’s about the democratisation of electric mobility to get the price point down,’ head of design Klaus Bischoff explains, ‘and also at the end of its lifespan it’s then easier to dismantle and recycle.’ UK prices should start from circa £27,000 and begin in mid-2020, with home-charging wallboxes from £300. VW says the ID.3 is as important to its history as the Beetle and the Golf and it might just be proved right – which after years of being in the wrong over emissions cheating – is a good thing.

Land Rover Defender

We’ve had to wait a long time for this most famous vehicle silhouette to be refreshed. Two concepts for a new Defender were shown in 2011 and the basic shape dates back to the very start of the brand in 1948. But looking at all those influences, the production-ready new Defender stays pretty true to what endeared it to so many. Some critics feel the new design doesn’t look rugged enough, but its boxy and functional proportions remain, practical steel wheels are an option and the new model will surely still have the necessary skills to ‘go-anywhere’, albeit costing a little more money than before. The commercial van-back version will starts from £35,000 rising to £40,000 for the six-seat 90 edition and £45,240 for the 110 version with five-, six- or 5+2-seat configuration possibilities.

Mercedes-Benz Vision EQS

The Vision EQS concept limousine was the headline news on the Mercedes stand and is significant as the first design on a new electric platform which will lead to many other luxury EV production models. It’s also crucial to the ambition of Mercedes’ parent company Daimler and also announced in Frankfurt, to become CO2-neutral by 2039. The Vision EQS continues Mercedes’ quiet sophistication in design approach too. ‘Everybody is still putting slashes and creases on the sides of their cars while we do simple and clean designs,’ Gorden Wagener, chief design officer told us. ‘We vary that for all our luxury cars but the EQ models should be the most progressive.’

The large battery pack required for a longer-distance EV is accommodated and visually hidden between a considerably lengthened wheelbase and by using larger wheels, while in side view the car is unified by a silhouette that has become almost a single arc, (or what Mercedes calls a ‘one-bow’ design, as in a rainbow shape). Either way, Wagener promises 80 per cent of the Vision EQS’s design will make it through to the production EQS due circa 2022 and will sell alongside the brand’s next S-Class limousine, not replace it.

Porsche Taycan

Porsche is one step ahead of Mercedes on its luxury electric saloon journey, unveiling its four-seater Taycan production EV ready to buy now and true to the Mission E concept of 2015 that prefaced it. The interior features a modern design with frameless driver display – the bulky cowl on previous models has been dispensed with as Porsche found a way to manage without by adding a sunglasses-like polarisation effect on top of the screen glass to avoid unwanted reflections. And by moving some of the battery packs to the outer edges, rear passengers’ feet effectively sit within a hollowed-out section, thus allowing them to sit lower and the roofline to remain swoopy. The Taycan is not for the masses – what Porsche is? – but a technical tour de force nonetheless and a big psychological leap for the previously combustion-engined stalwarts.

Hyundai 45 Concept

Another brand looking to the past to find inspiration for the future at Frankfurt was Korean brand Hyundai. Its 45 concept paid homage to the number of years since its significant Pony Coupe concept of 1974 designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, the independent design legend also behind the first VW Golf, Fiat Panda and DeLorean DMC-12. Behind the nostalgia of its retro lighting effects and angular proportions, the 2019 concept is superbly modern in execution and has a wonderful lounge-like interior enhanced by a louvred sunroof which throws light into the space like natural sunlight can sometimes do through a blind in a domestic living room. No pre-production teaser this, but the 45 indicates Hyundai’s clean design approach underpinned by electric powertrains, is heading in a very tasteful direction.

BMW Vision M Next

Technically, BMW’s Vision M Next supercar was revealed to the world some weeks before Frankfurt but its public debut at the show was the best thing on the BMW stand by far, in the opinion of all the critics and experts we bumped into during motor show week. Hunkered down, angular and well-proportioned, with a convincing new interpretation of the brand’s famous kidney grille, plus a dynamically diagonal two-tone paint job.

INFORMATION

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Pictured top, Pininfarina Battista (around $2m). Pitched as Italy’s ‘most powerful ever sports car’, the Battista packs 1,900hp of battery power within its sleek frame. Go easy, and you’ll get a 280-mile range. pininfarina.com. Pictured bottom, Rivian R1T Truck (available in 2020). Boasting a 400-mile range, the Rivian Truck (also joined by a new SUV) is an all-American utility vehicle hoping to bring rugged, go-anywhere chic to the EV market. rivian.com. 

As of this month, you’ll be able to put down a deposit on a brand new Volkswagen ID, a Golf-sized all-electric vehicle that comes pre-loaded with a weight of expectations. The car itself won’t be shown to the public until this September’s Frankfurt Motor Show, and this sight-unseen marketing strategy is hitherto unknown for a volume car manufacturer. Two things have changed the automotive landscape in the past decade. The first is the unpredictable combination of aspiration, ego, innovation and bottomless funds that has driven the American manufacturer Tesla to the forefront of the industry. The second is the fallout from the Volkswagen emissions scandal, a corporate cluster-bomb that had the unintended consequence of vastly accelerating change by killing off the very fuel it was trying to promote.

Electric vehicles (EVs) are now all the rage. At this year’s Geneva Motor Show, EVs were thick on the ground, from high-end sports cars to compact city runarounds, over-styled crossovers, outlandish luxury SUVs and conventional family cars. Almost overnight, the EV market has blossomed to fill every niche. For the industry, the shift to EVs is a no-brainer; brands will flourish under a system that promotes zero-emission driving. Over a century’s worth of automotive heritage will simply shift gear to accommodate a new generation of car buyers. For governments, cities and the public, the answer isn’t so clear. Tax revenues from fuel sales look set to plummet, while congestion and auto-centric urban design will persist.

Pictured top, Citroën Ami One (concept only). Citroën’s Ami One is a nod to the French firm’s innovative small city cars of the mid 20th-century. The two-seater is aimed squarely at the urban market. citroen.com. Pictured bottom, Polestar 2 (from €59,900). An all-electric fastback design, the Polestar 2 promises a new approach to car ownership, with seamless digital integration and smart minimal design. polestar.com.

For aspirant carmakers, this shift seemed an opportunity. Building an auto brand from scratch is a colossal undertaking, but EVs have lowered the barrier to entry, with shared platforms and far lower start-up costs. Where Tesla led, others followed. The clean-slate approach of new names such as Lynk & Co, Byton, Nio, Faraday Future and the revived Fisker brand, or even the secretive Dyson project, suddenly all seemed to have a place at the table. That window of opportunity may be narrowing, though.

Volkswagen has dug deep into its corporate pockets and set about reinventing itself as an electric powerhouse. By 2028, it promises 70 new electric models across its various brands; it claims it will be a CO2-neutral company by 2050. Other manufacturers are also taking stock. In 2017 Volvo was first to announce that all its new cars launched from 2019 would be hybrids (either ‘mild’ or ‘plug-in’) or entirely electric, with 50 per cent of its fleet being pure electric by 2025. Honda also recently committed to the total electrification of its European sales output by 2025. Porsche (a Volkswagen subsidiary) is making a massive push, bringing the sleek Taycan saloon to market later this year, with other EVs to follow. Other makers are adopting the strategy of electrifying small cars and keeping hybrid tech for larger vehicles.

For many car owners, the EV is still an unknown. Big name support might bring confidence, but other companies are resorting to another tactic: pure temptation. Electric vehicles represent a new design opportunity in an image-obsessed industry. BMW’s i division debuted in 2013 with two defiantly distinctive models, the i3 and the i8. Jaguar’s i-Pace is the style-obsessed manufacturer’s most glamorous and desirable car, while debut EVs from Audi, Mercedes, Mini, Hyundai and Kia all major heavily on design. Honda is bringing out a chic little city car in 2020, previewed by the delightful e Prototype, while other quirky urban electrics include Quadro’s eQooder (bolstered by a collaboration with Tod’s), Citroën’s Ami One, Seat’s Minimó and Fiat’s Concept Centoventi (a rather late entry for a company with gold-star heritage in the urban sector). Brands such as Polestar and Lynk & Co (both owned by Chinese manufacturer Geely, which also owns Volvo) combine contemporary design with new ownership models, reasoning that future drivers might not need to have 24-hour access or responsibility for their own vehicle.

Other start-ups are going further still to bring EVs into every conceivable niche. Rivian is hoping to create an ‘electric adventure vehicle’ sector. The American company’s R1S SUV and R1T pick-up truck are due on the road towards the end of next year and boast a 400-mile range (‘San Francisco to Yosemite and back’). Rivian’s vice president of vehicle design, Jeff Hammoud, describes an emphasis on design from the outset. ‘The first thing we paid attention to is the proportion,’ he says, explaining that the company’s EV platform (which it may license out) allows for a plethora of body styles and functions. Branding is also consciously different. ‘Trucks have grilles to communicate strength and power – they tend to be very big. We don’t need a grille, but we have kept everything intelligent and blunt. That identity also has to scale into the future.’

Hammoud describes Rivian’s style as a ‘Patagonia jacket, not an Armani suit’, emphasising the brand’s inherent functionalism. The rebirth of Lagonda, on the other hand, is pitched at the consumer of luxury attire. Part of Aston Martin since 1947, Lagonda resurfaces in 2021 with an SUV, previewed at Geneva by the All-Terrain Concept. Purely electric from the outset, the target is the Rolls-Royce market and the ethos is contemporary luxury, underpinned by cutting-edge craft, materials and tech. ‘We aim to reimagine luxury travel in a way that could only be done in the 21st century,’ says Gerhard Fourie, Aston Martin Lagonda’s director of marketing and brand strategy. ‘We don’t see luxury and technology at opposing sides of the spectrum; together they can create wonderful experiences.’ Luxury buyers seem keen to embrace the new. ‘We obviously get the strongest reaction from customers who are open to change,’ Fourie admits. ‘They have strong views on design and quite a healthy relationship with the technology in their lives – I’d say they are “technology enabled” rather than “technology obsessed”.’

Pictured top, Lagonda All-Terrain Concept car (available 2021). Lagonda’s All-Terrain Concept will hit the market in 2021 as the first luxury electric SUV. The British brand, revived in 2018 by Aston Martin, is majoring on design and quality. lagonda.com. Pictured bottom, Honda e Prototype (available 2019). Inspired by the original Honda Civic, this prototype previews Honda’s ultra-compact city car, a neat four-door with retro styling, a chic interior and, of course, zero emissions. honda.com

Also at the high end you have the Pininfarina Battista, an electric hypercar that’s out to steal the super-rich away from their Ferraris. ‘If we want to do justice to the brand we have to start where people perceive us,’ says Automobili Pininfarina’s CEO Michael Perschke, who describes the 89-year-old design house as the ‘Château Lafite of car design’. The Battista – named after the brand’s founder, Battista ‘Pinin’ Farina – is intended to be the ‘most powerful Italian sports car ever made’. With a motor in each wheel, the car will have a scarcely credible 1,900hp (over 25 per cent more than its conventionally powered rival, the Bugatti Chiron). ‘The design is a balance between radical technology and timeless Pininfarina design,’ says Perschke. ‘We want people to fall in love with an electric car for the first time.’

For well over a century, the motor car has been a totem of identity as much as a mode of transport, embedded for better or worse within society and culture. The success of all these cars depends on the premise that the automobile is here to stay, yet calls to curb or cut out car use are given increasingly serious consideration. Early EV adopters might have already reaped all the available rewards, sucking up the rebates, subsidies, free parking spots and absence of tolls. The other as yet unanswered question is that of charging. Although manufacturers are helping new networks seed across the road system, what’s really needed is a top-down overhaul of park and charge infrastructure, from city streets to supermarkets. That’s a whole different story. What’s certain is that for a time at least we’ll have more cars, not fewer, as EVs blur the lines between concept and reality and find new ways of seducing the drivers of the future. 

As originally featured in the June 2019 issue of Wallpaper* (W*243)

Germany is making design news. In our April 2019 issue (W*241), we shined a light on its bold new Bauhaus Museum, and its pioneering fashion collectives redefining everyday dressing. Here, from the supplement, we explore the country's power surge of electrifying autos.

BMW 530e iPerformance (pictured top)

BMW’s electric strategy seems to be taking two routes. On the one hand, you have the acclaimed i3 and i8 – still two of the most futuristic cars on the road some eight years after the designs were first seen. And on the other, you have the slow, inexorable hybridisation of every other model in the fleet. The new 530e iPerformance is a case in point. As a plug-in hybrid, it leaves it down to the driver whether to make the most of EV power, offering up a more than serviceable petrol alternative if the batteries are flat. Make the most of both options, however, and you have a hyper-efficient business saloon, full of cutting-edge but discreet technology. It drives with the spirited verve that defines every BMW saloon, while encouraging you to make the most energy-efficient progress you possibly can. From £49,950, bmw.com

Mercedes-Benz EQC

Mercedes-Benz has launched a dedicated electric sub-brand, EQ, to focus its EV strategy (there are already a host of hybrid variants of the marque’s regular models). The EQC is the first production model to appear, a relatively conservative, big SUV that doesn’t break any moulds but instead offers a familiar form to those wavering between old-school engines and the zero-emission future. In fact rather sleeker than its combustion-engined siblings, the EQC benefits from a more minimalist touch. Access to the Ionity fast-charge network and a projected range of 280 miles make it competitive, while the slick evolution of the Mercedes-Benz interior will also win fans. Expect more EQ models in the coming months, both big and small, topped by a rumoured all-electric alternative to the flagship S-Class saloon. Approximately £60,000-£70,000, mercedes-benz.com/EQ

Porsche Mission E Cross Turismo

A concept that’s not far from reality, Porsche’s Mission E Cross Turismo is related to the upcoming Taycan – the marque’s first all-electric production car – but has a slightly higher ride and an extended luggage compartment. Porsche is already a master of hybrid tech, as seen in the 918 supercar, the Panamera, the Cayenne and the forthcoming 911; its pure EVs will take things further. To retain its status as the world’s biggest sports car-maker, Porsche needs to make its Porsche Mission E Cross Turismo EVs ultra-desirable. As a result, its designers have spent half a decade honing the Taycan, starting with the original Mission E concept in 2015. The model will have a fast-charge system that will give 80 per cent range in just 15 minutes, using the Ionity network. Variants are sure to follow, all with Porsche levels of performance as standard. The concept seen here could be a part of a major shift in performance motoring. Concept only, porsche.com

Volkswagen e-Golf

Despite Volkswagen’s garage-full of new electric cars due to roll out at the start of the next decade, there are still plenty of takers for the simplest option: an electric Golf. The e-Golf has been a long-term project, with the first prototypes arriving in 2011. Since then, it has continued to evolve and improve its range, to the point that it is a truly credible alternative to the combustion-engine classic. At one point, the e-Golf was the best-selling car in EV-mad Norway, for example. However, despite its appeal, this may be your last chance, at least for a while, to grab one. While a Golf Mk8 will be released this year, the e-Golf is likely to give way to the company’s new ID range of pure electric cars. From £32,550, vw.com

As originally featured in the April 2019 issue of Wallaper* (W*241)

The Volkswagen T-Cross is a compact car with big aspirations. Pitched at image-conscious urban professionals, it is a fine example of VW’s expertise. However, when the history of the company’s role in 21st-century transportation comes to be written, much will be said about the engineering shenanigans that hastened the end of diesel propulsion as a high-end option. Inevitably, less space will be given to cars like this, for the T-Cross is very specifically about a certain time and place, making this compact, city-centric crossover the very definition of a ‘stop-gap’ that’s merely keeping time until the electric revolution kicks in.

This is not to say the T-Cross is a bad car – anything but. Volkswagen knows how to build small cars with a premium feel. The company practically invented the modern compact car sector and in the shape of its Up!, Polo and Golf models, it still has the best and most straightforward iterations of the conventionally-fuelled automobile. The T-Cross is an attempt at jazzing up that formula, skewed a little younger for a more dynamic and style-conscious audience, albeit those who don’t fancy getting a full fat, in your face SUV.

From the outside, the T-Cross presents itself as a likeably chunky iteration of VW’s chiselled family features. It is the first point on the scale in VW’s burgeoning range of Crossovers and SUVs, sitting beneath the T-Roc and Tiguan, and dwarfed by the hefty seven-seater Touareg. The T-Cross is actually a very similar size to the VW Golf, which remains the gold standard of small car packaging (although it actually shares some components with the Polo). But whereas the Golf is burdened slightly by its smart, sensible image, the T-Cross comes on the back of a Cara Delevingne-driven ad campaign and an emphasis on youth. Inside, there’s more of Volkswagen’s legendary technical efficiency, with quality materials and the option of plenty of tech, including lots of charge points and phone integration. This is finished off with optional ‘R-Line’ exterior enhancements that emphasise the high driving position and quasi-rugged image (despite which, there is no option for four wheel drive).

The T-Cross performs modestly and economically with a three-cylinder petrol engine. There is a diesel available, but electric option. Will there ever be an electric T-Cross? With the new VW ID electric car poised in the wings, it remains to be seen whether fast fashion and styling tweaks will be enough to keep cars like this in our affections, however well they’re made.

INFORMATION

Volkswagen T-Cross, £26,735, as tested. vw.com

The world’s biggest vehicle market is fast becoming the most influential too. At China’s most important motor show for 2019 – Auto Shanghai (18-25 April)  – electric car unveilings were the rule, not the exception. The only significant global premiere that Wallpaper* noted without an electric powertrain was Mercedes GLB small SUV – and even that model will spawn an electric variant soon.

The reason? While the western world slowly moves towards electric vehicles – accelerated by the ripples from VW’s ‘Dieselgate’ emissions scandal – the Chinese Government is promoting electric vehicles as never before. This is in large part to alleviate the vast country’s urban traffic and pollution problems but also because, as one non-Chinese designer working for a local Chinese maker put it: ‘the Chinese Government wants its auto industry to take over the world via electrification’.

Despite a slight sales decline in 2018, down 4 per cent to 23.8m units, the Chinese market is still massive and firmly number one – the US shifted 17.3m and Europe 15.6m by comparison. Chinese designers at local car brands – albeit often under the guidance of older Western design chiefs – are now showing more maturity in exterior execution and creating interiors bristling with innovation. Meanwhile, many historic western brands are being revitalised under new Chinese backing (Volvo and more recently Lotus are two examples, both now majority-owned by Geely Holdings).

All in all, China has become a key market, investor and player in the auto world. Out of the myriad global unveils across a dozen-plus halls over multiple floors, here are Wallpaper’s 2019 Auto Shanghai favourites…

Geometry A

Chinese brands unknown or at least new to most western eyes were in abundance at the 2019 Shanghai show. In contrast to the various mystery start-up concepts with only projected on-sale production dates, the model A from all-new, all-electric Geometry brand of parent company Geely Auto, was one of the most convincing unveils. Why? Because a) the compact saloon is already on sale in China, for RMB150,000 (about £17,000), due for distribution worldwide and offering two credible electric-range options – 410km and 500km and b) the well-designed vehicle has a remarkably sophisticated interior with details like embedded under-the-surface buttons that not even high-end Western makers have yet managed to get into production.

Lotus Type 130

Historically much-loved but currently under-performing sports car brand Lotus chose Shanghai to announce its effective re-birth with backing from Chinese owner Geely Auto. The first product in the new range will be a £1.5m-plus full-electric two-seater hypercar called Type 130. Development is well under way – we've seen exclusive full-scale model evidence – but publicly for now Lotus only showed an enigmatic silhouette render. Expect Le Mans prototype-style aero tricks and serious power and performance from the final model to be revealed later this year in London, and more sporting models from Lotus to come swiftly after. Promising.

BYD E-Seed GT

Build Your Dreams (BYD) is a Chinese supplier of electric buses to London – routes 153, 360, 507 and 521 in case you were wondering. It’s also a major manufacturer of batteries and trains and boasts being the best-selling electric car maker in the world. So far so functional, but at Shanghai BYD broke free from its practical self to unveil a gull-wing doored E-Seed GT concept created by a supergroup of western designers led by ex-Audi design boss Wolfgang Egger and ably assisted by ex-Mercedes interiors man Michele Jauch-Paganetti and ex-Ferrari exterior expert JuanMa Lopez. More about styling direction than tomorrow’s production reality and far removed from BYD’s regular electric SUVs and saloons, the E-Seed GT nonetheless shows BYD’s ambition to build some more dreams, and knowing its track record, sooner than you think.

Karma GT by Pininfarina

Another western brand resurrected by Chinese backing – even if far less established than Lotus – is the nascent US EV brand Karma. The brand’s first Revero four-door model has been on sale for a few years now and sold a few hundred in the US, but Shanghai saw the reveal of a revised version plus the far more striking two-door coupe GT alongside it. Created by legendary Italian design house Pininfarina behind almost all the great Ferraris of the late 20th-century, it presented a highly elegant future design direction for the upmarket EV Tesla rival. If we were Karma, we’d take it.

Mercedes Concept GLB

Master niche-filler Mercedes, unveiled another SUV – the small but upright seven-seat Concept GLB which will make production barely changed later this year – after chatting to Chinese customers and realising they’d missed a trick. ‘The design is a mix of G-Wagen and GLS and came as a direct result of customer feedback from China,’ Mercedes’ head of exterior design Robert Lesnik explains. ‘Not every market wants a third row, but China was keen and it will be sold worldwide, with the third row optional in European markets.’ Unlike almost every other car at the Shanghai show the GLB was shown with a 224hp four-cylinder petrol engine. But fear not EV fans, an electric version called EQB will follow in 2021.

Volkswagen ID.Roomzz concept

VW’s upcoming family of EVs are all prefaced by the ID moniker and its sixth – the ID.ROOMZZ – was revealed in Shanghai. Despite the German brand’s misplaced obsession with spelling most of its EVs with too many capital Zs – CROZZ, BUZZ and VIZZION are three others – the idea is still not sending us to sleep, as the concepts genuinely preview a change of course from the disgraced business famously caught fibbing about its diesel models’ emissions back in 2015. The ID.Roomzz – capitalisation now dropped for the sake of sanity – is VW’s seven-seat electric SUV and its clean aesthetic inside and out is firmly in line with the rest of the ID range which should lead to a more beautiful and cleaner landscape from 2021 onwards. China is a key part of that push too. VW has gone on record as saying its overall Group (including Audi, Skoda et al) aims to produce 22 million full-electric vehicles by 2028, of which it hopes 11.6 million will be sold in China. Serious and likely.

Aiways U7 ion

Yet another example of a Chinese start-up recruiting established talent from more mature automotive markets, Aiways – born in 2017 – recently hired independent designer Ken Okuyama and gave him the rather grand title of ‘chief advisor of design and art’. The Japanese veteran is best known for his work at Pininfarina, including the Ferrari Enzo, 612 Scaglietti and 599 GTB Fiorano as well as the Maserati Quattroporte. Okyama also has his own eyewear range and designs trains and bikes. In Shanghai, his first design for Aiways was the U7 ion concept, a spacious four-seater equipped with 12 high definition screens that aims to be a sanctuary for modern life. Somewhat unbelievably it boasts a self-learning robot, mounted to a roof rail inside the cabin that moves around the vehicle to offer on-board sound recognition, passenger identification and more. Okuyama is clearly convinced. ‘I chose to work for this company because they do technology in a way the Japanese and Koreans don’t,’ he explains candidly. One to watch.

Audi AI:ME

Audi’s design has been going through an awkward phase of late so it was refreshing to see and sit in the very well-resolved AI:ME megacity concept in Shanghai. Displaying bold ideas with a truly original interior it also gained bonus points for including, as far as we are aware, the first use of hanging plants in a concept car. Beyond that original aesthetic flourish, the AI:ME offers space for four people, Level 4 autonomous capability and high levels of artificial intelligence (thus the vehicle’s name). The idea behind the AI:ME is that it will learn users’ preferences over time, reacting to eye movement, voice, gesture and touch, to make each journey more tailored. So for instance, the lighting in the car only switches on when the driver approaches and the order in which the lights come on guide the user’s gaze towards the car’s various functions.

Dial in the use of material not normally associated with vehicle cabins, like Corian (which covers the door rails and touch pads), high-quality wooden struts (and those hanging plants) in the large panoramic roof area, electro-chromatically tint-able windows, and a sound system with noise cancelling to shut out traffic noise and city dwellers’ inward gaze when required, and the AI:ME creates quite a vision for shareable future city mobility. As Australian-born interior designer James Nissen explains: ‘Overall, our approach was to make the AI:ME less like a car, and more like a home.’ The best interior concept of the show by far.

INFORMATION
Auto Shanghai runs until 25 April. For more information, visit the Auto Shanghai website

ADDRESS

National Exhibition and Convention Center
333 Songze Avenue
Qingpu District
Shanghai

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The last major auto show of the 2018 calendar takes place in LA, a city built around the cult of the car. It’s a love affair that shows no sign of abating, and for the most part the new vehicles on display didn’t do much to move the game on even though the show has rebranded itself as AutoMobility LA, mindful of the need to cater to more than mere cars. The car is having something of an image crisis right now, not that you'd know from observing the crowded, broad highways of Los Angeles, thicker with private automobiles than it has ever been. But with GM cutting 15 per cent of its workforce and shuttering eight factories, as well as an increasing interest in car-sharing over ownership, all is not rosy in auto world.

Volvo exemplified this shift, with a spacious stand that included not a single car. Instead, the company pushed its subscription model, highlighted its hook-up with Google and showcased their autonomous pod concept. Elsewhere, it was business as usual, however bland. The home audience was more thrilled by Jeep’s new Gladiator pick-up truck than anything else, although BMW’s massive X7 came closest to synching up with local taste. Elsewhere, there were the usual clutch of EVs and SUVs but the only real flash of American innovation was the new Rivian electric SUV, which breaks the mould in many ways, not least in terms of its elegant, unaggressive design. Practically every other brand is spreading its identity across numerous models and sectors, creating a wafer-thin layer of design consistency in their desire to please every possible buyer.

Individuality was thin on the ground. The basement of the Los Angeles Convention Center was given over to ‘The Garage’, where specialist tuners and aftermarket accessory makers showcased American car culture untrammelled by taste, practicality and common sense. Occupying the wildcard spot in between the two main exhibition halls was the Icona Nucleus, a big ‘self-driving living room’ concept with a name unnervingly similar to Ford’s nuclear-powered Nucleon proposal from the late 1950s. Another out-of-hall exhibit was the frankly hilarious Karlmann King, a faceted, ‘stealth’-inspired SUV that just reeks of criminal intent. Overall, however, the usual auto show tropes were still in evidence; practically every other stand had the obligatory hi-def screen displaying expansive landscape imagery, these days just as much of a diversionary cliche as the ongoing dependence on spokesmodels.

Here’s our selection of best in show...

Mazda 3

Mazda chose LA to go big on the launch of its new compact saloon and hatchback, the Mazda 3. Bringing in a global press corp numbering in the hundreds, it was an old fashioned kind of launch, with bombastic son et lumiere and a laboured emphasis on the eternal value of design. This is ironic, because although the Japanese manufacturer is late to the party when it comes to emphasising the importance of the ‘d’ word, Mazda is actually responsible for some of the most accomplished mass market design statements you can buy.

The 3 has been shepherded into our consciousness via a programme of concept cars and grandiose statements about flowing, naturalistic forms – Mazda’s so-called ‘Kodo’ design philosophy. The first Mazda 3 came out in 2003 and while this kind of compact hatchback means next to nothing in the US, in Europe it’s a potential big seller. The big selling point is inclusion of the company’s evolving ‘Skyactiv’ technology – doing clever things with the traditional petrol engine in the name of efficiency and entertainment, as well as better refinement all round. Ikuo Maeda, global head of Mazda design, described the 3 as part of a quest ‘to elevate our design quality to that of art’. It’s a tall order but it certainly shows that qualities that were once the preserves of luxury brands are increasingly available to all. Price TBC

AUDI e-tron GT

Audi has taken its time in getting serious about electric cars but are now getting into their stride. The e-tron SUV kicked off the new era and will soon be joined by the e-tron GT. Shown in concept form at LA, this is an undeniably handsome fastback that is intended to steal sales back from Tesla. It’ll have the same 800-volt battery system as the forthcoming Porsche Taycan, and promises to deliver 80 per cent battery charge in just 20 minutes, with a maximum range of just under 250 miles. If this city’s ongoing love affair with Tesla can be disrupted, California-friendly brands like Audi and Porsche are best placed to do it. Full-on electric performance comes as standard, with 0-62mph in around 3.5 seconds.

Kia Soul

Audi might have the prestige market all sewn up, but mass-market EVs are arguably far more important. Kia’s next-generation Soul will be one of the most significant, chiefly because the UK market will only get an all-electric version, unlike with the current model. The Soul is a sparky little compact SUV, boxy and upright and aimed squarely at millennial buyers who are put off by overt displays of automotive machismo. A revised battery pack promises a much improved range over the previous generation’s 110 miles. Price TBC

BMW X7

As its name suggests, the X7 is the biggest BMW SUV ever, rounding off a set that starts with the X1 and currently runs to X6. With seven full-size seats and an increased emphasis on luxury, tailormade details and in-car comforts for every passenger, this is a machine that doesn’t mess about, aimed squarely at conservative markets where brawn and bulk are still key indicators of status. The company’s new ‘Intelligent Personal Assistant’ system will be fitted as standard, promising true speech recognition for a variety of functions in the vein of Amazon’s Alexa. Even if the other six seats are empty, the X7 driver will still have someone to talk to. Available from April 2019, from £72,155

Lincoln Aviator

This is what the X7 is up against, a smarter, sleeker yet still hugely traditional take on the large SUV. Lincoln is betting big on its new Aviator, with hybrid models from the outset and smooth, uncluttered lines. There’s a hint of Range Rover in those flanks (Gerry McGovern made waves as Lincoln’s chief designer at the turn of the century, interestingly enough) but Ford’s luxury brand is also weighing in with other novel features, such as a set of warning chimes recorded by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the ability to use your smartphone as a key. The seven-seat interior lives up to the exterior promise, refined and restrained but still undeniably luxurious.

Porsche 911

LA might seem an unlikely place to re-launch a German classic, but this has long been a heartland for the brand; Porsche’s Beverly Hills dealership spans three blocks along Sunset Boulevard. The eighth generation 911 will not exactly surprise you. This iconic model name is now 55 years old and Porsche is making a big deal about this impressive legacy. Visually there’s not a massive evolution, but then the 911 has always been wedded to the modestly sporting shape that has defined Porsche’s image for generations.

Much has been made of the newest model’s potential for hybridisation, although it seems the first ever petrol-electric 911s won’t appear for several years. Instead, this new car represents incremental improvement all the way round, from efficiency to performance, with a slight increase in size as well. The interior eschews the ‘glass cockpit’ trend of recent years in favour of a traditional instrument binnacle that evokes the earliest models. From £93,110

Volkswagen I.D. Buzz Cargo concept

Why laud a commercial vehicle? Back when the original VW Type 2 debuted in 1949 it was as a light van designed to help post-war Europe get back on its feet. Fame and fortune as the iconic VW camper/Kombi came later. Volkswagen has already committed to an all-electric version of the I.D. Buzz minivan and with the newly unveiled Buzz Cargo it has another potential winner on its hands. Urban deliveries are on the increase, thanks to our app-driven shopping and eating habits. Flooding cities with electric vans is the obvious answer, and few are as stylish or desirable as this. Deliveries, in every sense, should start in around 2022. Concept only

Rivian

One of the undisputed stars of the show was American start-up Rivian. New EV brands have been thick on the ground in recent years, all hoping to capture a bit of the Tesla buzz, but few have translated their impressive concepts into cars you can buy. Rivian has taken its time and done its research. Using a ‘skateboard’-style architecture that can take a variety of body styles, Rivian chose to debut with the R1S and R1T, an electric SUV and pick-up truck respectively. These are two vehicle types that America is still very much in love with, but the kicker is the vastly improved space provided by the EV powertrain, a 400 mile range, the impressive performance promises (a 3-second 0-60 time) and a visual identity that stands decisively apart from the rugged, shoulder-height, light- and bullbar-festooned machines on offer from the established American auto makers. Deposits being taken now.

INFORMATION
LA Auto Show runs from 30 November – 9 December 2018. For more information, visit the website

ADDRESS

Los Angeles Convention Centre 1201 S Figueroa St Los Angeles, California 90015, USA

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The SUV’s ascent into the pinnacle of luxury design has been a slow but steady one. The very first Range Rover, all the way back in 1970, was obviously onto something but it took its rivals decades to match this grand old mash-up of the agricultural with the aesthetic. Since the turn of the century, the genre has exploded, starting with the mass-market. Over one in three cars sold is an SUV, a segment where profits are higher and perceived kudos is easily demonstrated: bigger is best.

We present the ur-SUV, two cars at the summit of the genre, the apex predators of this automotive form. The well established Bentley Bentayga – newly available in V8 form – and the upstart high-tech challenger from Volkswagen, the new Touareg, represent the new world order of automotive scale.

Of the many, many models and variants that Volkswagen builds, the Touareg is the biggest and boldest, as well as being the most expensive and – it goes without saying – the most prestigious. It’s also not really designed for European car culture as it current stands, let alone as it will soon evolve. The Touareg is a ‘full size’ SUV, the Venti coffee of car culture. Actually, that’s not true, because in the US you can get the VW Atlas, the Trenta equivalent, with seven seats and a rugged, outdoorsy family-orientated image. In stark contrast, the new Touareg is pitched as an all-out luxury car. VW has dipped into its enviable kit of parts, stitching together the best of every brand to create what is now its flagship.

Volkswagen Touareg

As a result, the Touareg is a technical showcase, with a dashboard-swallowing touch screen that must be one of the largest on the market. It is smooth, near silent and incredibly cosseting to drive, easily on a par with the best luxury saloons from the likes of Mercedes and Audi. With only a V6 diesel available to start with, performance is above average but not exceptional. A bigger engine and a hybrid version will be along in due course.

It’s worth pointing out, though, that the Touareg sits on VW’s MLB2 Platform, a German acronym for ‘Modular Longitudinal Matrix’. This is an engineering template that forms the core of many of the group’s most significant large cars over the past decade. Platforms are developed to massively cut the complexity of car-making, by sharing certain key components and hardpoints. Engines, transmissions, bodywork, interior and all the fripperies and trapping of branding can then be farmed out to the independent companies in the group, saving time and money and allowing for far greater diversity.

The Touareg is the newest car to use the tech, and it joins a diverse list of other stalwarts in the VW Group range, including Audi’s Q7 and Q8, the Lamborghini Urus, Porsche Cayenne and Bentley Bentayga. Price aside, these cars are sufficiently distinct so as not to encroach on each other’s toes; presumably no Bentley buyer will suddenly waver and opt instead for a Volkswagen and vice versa. The platform has baked-in support for hybrid technology, but doesn’t form the basis of the all-electric SUVs that are starting to creep into the market.

Inside the Volkswagen Touareg

The Touareg also offers a very contemporary definition of luxury, smooth and quiet, with well integrated tech, graphics and switches. It’s not about wood and leather, or finicky crafts and decades of heritage. As the visceral sound and feel of a traditional engine starts to fade from our memory and fall off our wish lists, these new high-tech luxury signifiers will be more and more important. How smart is your car? How well does is sync with your other tech? Can it track and keep pace with the traffic? Does it integrate with your smart home?

The Touareg’s sibling, the Bentley Bentayga, has a different take. The Bentayga is newly fitted with a V8 petrol engine (as opposed to the massive W12 that’s fitted to the flagship). Fire it up, and the futuristic concerns that occupy the Touareg owner swiftly fade away. As we noted above, the Bentayga shares an awful lot of the Touareg’s genetics. But where the VW is chiselled and sleek, the big Bentley SUV has a baroque, voluptuous heft. Contemporary car design is all about ensuring the essence of your brand feels like its baked all the way through an object, even if the actual physical changes are confined to a 5-10 cm deep layer of surface treatment.

No-one will mistake these cars for one another, but they will certainly have a reaction to their scale. The Bentayga is bigger in every dimension (that flexible platform, remember), but inside feels smaller on account of the more traditional approach to dashboard and switches. There’s no cinemascope-style screen, just a smaller touchscreen that is already showing its age. Instead, you have Bentley’s traditional ‘organ stop’ style ventilation controls and chrome, wood and leather aplenty, beneath all which are the switches for the clever off-road technology that the Bentayga shares with the VW.

Bentley Bentayga V8

Where the Touareg is apt to get a little wheezy, the Bentley just blows on through. This is perhaps the closest thing modern car culture has to the monstrously powerful and brutish inter-war luxury cars built by the likes of Mercedes, Rolls-Royce, Bugatti and, of course, Bentley itself. At over two and half times the price of the Touareg with options, the Bentayga is aimed at a very different customer. Heritage means so, so much more in this sector. Since becoming a spoke in the mighty wheel of VW, Bentley has underplayed its technology in favour of an emphasis on traditional craft and effortless performance.

On the open road, the latter is peerless. The Bentayga will cruise all day at autobahn speeds in near silence, yet also dive in-and-out of corners with an ease that belies its size (and weight). In town, the former qualities come into play; the car acts as a buffer for the outside world, insulating you against noise, traffic and the occasional rolled eyes or rude hand gesture. This is not a machine that wins friends and influences people. Instead, it is for the supremely self-confident who need no additional help.

There are many who’d say that the old, cramped cities of Europe are no longer suitable stomping grounds for today’s SUVs. These are machines for the wide open roads of the US, or the new territories of China and Russia, trade embargoes and corruption crackdowns notwithstanding. Yet regardless of the application, both of these cars provide a hefty, impregnable carapace against the inevitable brickbats of modern life. Your brand allegiance, however, will surely determine the way the world reacts to you.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Bentley website, and the Volkswagen website

May was a busy month in the automobile industry, with marques far and wide launching refreshed models from well-loved lines, as well as especially eye-catching one-off releases. Stylish saloons, stoic SUVs, nimble urban navigators and stealthy supercars captured our attention at Wallpaper* – explore our selection of the best releases of the month, and be sure to read our full features for in-depth reviews.

Ferrari SP38

Another rabbit pulled from the Ferrari hat, the Special Project 38 (joining the marque’s One-Off division) is something genuinely unique – built to order with close collaboration with a dedicated customer. The Ferraristi will recognise the basic proportions of the company’s mid-engined flagship 488 GTB, with a bodywork inspired by the legendary F40 model and hints of earlier models such as the snubby 1970s GT4. Intended for both road and track, the SP38 will most likely find itself an impressive investment, a project bringing a loyal customer to the heart of the brand whilst adding another chapter to Ferrari’s ever expanding design history.

Volvo XC40

Explicitly positioned as a ‘designer object’, Volvo XC40 is relatively compact, undeniably trim and a very pleasant place to sit. A beautifully tailored interface is fast and intuitive, akin to those found in its larger siblings the XC60 and XC90. The bodywork is a little more expressive, featuring a chunky, blade-like D-pillar that kicks up from the backdoor and dovetails into Volvo’s signature arrow-like rear lights. Volvo imbues its decades-long heritage into the XC40, values of safety, solidarity and stoic simplicity, all of which it lives up to.

Bentley Continental GT

Bentley Continental GT has sold over 65,000 units since 2003. For the latest model, engineers were still tweaking the gearbox right up until the last minute, illustrating the amount of time invested into making the new model just right. Exterior proportions bring to mind the best in Italian and French car design from the 60s and 70s, whereas inside, technology and tradition meet at tactile switches and dials, metals and woods. Whilst throttle response and steering isn’t razor sharp, the available power and unflusterable balance make it delightful to push, with a top speed of 207 mph and reaching 0 – to 60 in around 3.6 seconds.

Volkswagen Up GTI

VW continues to excel at building small cars in an age where SUVs, saloons and supercars are all the rage. Small, light and peppy, VW Up is a piece of near-perfect packaging, with 115 PS eked out of a 1 litre 3-cylinder engine, a six speed gearbox, powerful hi-fi and heated seats. On the flip side, the Up does away with the touchscreen, reasoning that you’d rather use your smartphone in place of an integrated system (however, VW need to update their phone cradle so it takes the current generation of smartphones). Amazingly economical, the Up delivers a purist experience, and is the embodiment of old school fun.

Audi RS4 Avant

The new Audi RS4 demonstrates that the attraction of stealth performance is still undiminished. Joining the RS branch of the Audi family tree (reserved for ‘racing sport’ models), the latest RS4 features a twin turbo-charged V6 engine, making it a relentlessly quick and efficient machine, with extremely fast handling and power delivery best deployed for lightning-fast overtaking manouevers. Sufficient refinement makes everyday use a pleasure and not a grinding chore – some owners will seek out every opportunity to put the car through its paces on the track, whereas for others, it’s the knowledge that absolute power is available in such a convincing and capable package.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit our Cars tagpage

There’s a compelling argument for automotive downsizing. Roads aren’t getting any bigger, vehicles are more numerous and bigger equates to more pollution and emissions, let alone the sheer amount space taken up by monstrous SUVs. VW doesn’t exactly have a squeaky clean record when it comes to emissions but there are welcome signs that the company is working hard to usher in electrification, perhaps even to an accelerated timeline thanks to the fall-out from Dieselgate. In the meantime, the company continues to excel at building small cars (while still, of course, offering the full complement of massive vehicles for those that want them).

The GTI Up is a small and peppy embodiment of the purist driving experience

The little Up was conceived in the middle of the last decade, an exercise in compact design that delighted those who thought VW’s design ethos peaked with the Beetle. The concept made it to market without compromise and ever since the little car has been quietly garnering fans for its neat design, inside and out. VW’s GTI range is the gold standard of swift small cars, blending the fundamental rightness of their design with another level of driver engagement. With the original GTI, the Golf, getting ever closer to junior supercar territory, there was room for something a little more basic. So the idea of a performance Up was mooted last year and received a predictably welcome response.

This is it. Small, light, and peppy, the Up is a piece of near-perfect packaging made even better. VW’s engineers have eked 115 PS out of a 1 litre 3-cylinder engine, while a six speed gearbox, a scattering of special GTI trim items (including the iconic tartan seat fabric) and a few other niceties like a more powerful hi-fi and heated seats complete the package. The Up does away with a touchscreen, reasoning that you’d rather use your own (however, VW need to update their phone cradle so it takes the current generation of over-sized Smartphones).

115 PS is eked out of a 1 litre 3-cycle engine

Amazingly economical, the Up delivers a purist driving experience, although the short scale will throw you about a bit on rough-edged roads, but that’s all part of the fun. Small and perfectly formed, with a dinkily downscaled dashboard – even the heating and ventilation controls have a three-quarter scale to them – and the ability to dart around corners like it's glued to the road, the Up is the embodiment of old school fun.

Compared to the roaring super saloons and supercars that increasingly crowd our roads, the little Up’s vital statistics aren’t up to much, but it’s all about how this car feels and goes. If the future is to be believed, tomorrow’s cars will encourage their ‘drivers’ to become more and more disconnected from the road. In stark and refreshing contrast, the Up is a potent piece of engineering that keeps the spirit of driving alive.

INFORMATION
Volkswagen Up GTI, from £13,750. For more information, visit the Volkswagen website

From hybrid supercars to hi-tech campervans, Germany is pushing auto innovation into top gear. Think AI dashboards, pure electric ideals and cult concept hits. Here’s all you need to know about the very best in German motor manufacturing and design in 2018...

BMW i8 Roadster

When the BMW i8 Coupé debuted in 2014, it was like nothing else on the road. The flag bearer for the Munich manufacturer’s drive to electric propulsion, the sporting four-seater was a grand tourer with bold style and a minimal environmental footprint. Now the line-up is joined by the i8 Roadster, which retains the Coupé’s dihedral doors and replaces the rear seats with a quick-folding electric soft-top, while new battery tech increases the all-electric range. BMW now has a total of nine electrified vehicles, with an all-electric Mini waiting in the wings for 2019. Next up is the BMW iNext, a concept SUV that points the way to a pure electric future; by 2025, the company hopes to over 25 electrified cars, 12 of which will be fully electric.

BMW i8 Roadster, from £124,000, bmw.com. Photography: Leon Chew

VW ID Buzz Concept

Many credit Volkswagen’s original Type 2 as the car that shaped the company’s image. From 1950 onwards, the various Type 2 vans, campers and buses projected an image of friendly functionalism, industrious but also countercultural, with a design that was compact and reassuringly durable. The ID Buzz is the concept version of the vehicle that VW hopes will recapture those glory days. Come 2022, the all-electric descendant of this pure concept car will be silently gliding along the boulevards of the future. With seating for eight, a projected 250-mile range and more clever design touches than you’d find in three regular-sized cars, the Buzz promises to replicate its forebears’ cleverest trick and become a cult hit that’s also a commercial success.

Volkswagen ID Buzz, concept only, volkswagen.com. Photography: Leon Chew

Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid

If there’s a more complete supercar on the market, we’ve yet to find it. Serving as our photographer’s trusty steed for the epic road trip behind this story, the new Turbo S E-Hybrid version of the Panamera combines space with pace, and pure dynamics with a veritable deluge of technology. Under its sleek bodywork is a turbocharged V8 mated to an electric motor and a hefty chunk of batteries. The result is a car that can glide silently and emission-free in EV mode, but still tear it up on the Autobahn, with a scarcely credible 3.4 second sprint time, thanks to instant electric torque. The finely detailed interior is perhaps the gold standard of what a tech-centric luxury sports car should look like inside. This is the ultimate hybrid machine and Porsche’s own all-electric saloon arrives next year.

Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid, from £137,140, porsche.com. Photography: Leon Chew

Mercedes-Benz CLS

The CLS-Class has been led by design since the first swoopy saloon was launched back in 2005. Now on its third generation, it’s still the machine of choice for those who want a sober saloon with a subtle hint of class. Shown here as a 4MATIC four-wheel drive 400d in special Edition 1 trim, the CLS has the option of accommodating Mercedes-Benz’s cutting-edge driver assistance technology, widely seen as a stepping stone to the next level of  autonomous driving. The top-of-the-line 450 model also incorporates EQ Boost, a new ‘mild’ hybrid system that throws in a few more electric horsepower to help with acceleration. Add in the optional Widescreen cockpit, which scatters the dashboard with panoramic display screens, and you have a classically elegant car that fuses traditional style with the building blocks for tomorrow.

Mercedes-Benz CLS, from £57,510, mercedes-benz.com. Photography: Leon Chew

As originally featured in the April 2018 issue of Wallpaper* (W*229)

Audi Elaine Concept

By the end of 2018, Audi will have had an image overhaul unlike any before. For decades the face of rock-solid German dependability and classically modern design, the brand is embracing an electric future with gusto. First up this autumn will be the E-tron SUV, a conventionally-styled pure electric challenger to Tesla et al. It’ll be followed by a more stylish Sportback sibling, previewed here in the shape of the Elaine Concept. That personable name is no mere placeholder; it shows the company trying to humanise its rather aloof image. The core technology is Audi AI, with autonomous functions ranging from self-driving highway mode to self-parking, charging and even washing. This is all still future thinking, but the recently launched Audi Smart Energy Network pilot project – a home charger system designed to integrate with the power grid – shows the electric road ahead.

Audi Elaine, concept only, audi.com. Photography: Leon Chew

Volkswagen’s decision to push itself up market never quite struck a chord with the car-buying public. The fabulously over-engineered Phaeton from 2002 remains an iconic piece of luxury design, but despite being just as capable as its rivals, the car suffered from inverse snobbery and never found its mark.

Although the Phaeton was a glorious failure, it helped kick-start an increase in quality right across the VW range. As a result, the manufacturer’s current line-up has a chunky, machined elegance that stands out for its sophistication, functionality and general lack of showiness. In the motor industry, the bigger the car, the bigger the profit. VW might have made its name with city cars for mass consumption, but unless it can upscale the costs and the quality, the margins will always be slim.

Neither a luxury car nor sports car, the Arteon is handsome and ergonomic

Like many car-makers, VW is at a crossroads, not yet ready to deliver the technology that will free us all from the internal combustion engine, yet still in possession of incredibly sophisticated engines and drivetrains that it needs to sell to stay in business. The fall-out from the 2015 emissions scandal was not only expensive and reputationally catastrophic, but it also injected some urgency into the company’s plans for electric propulsion.

The Arteon is a move back into premium territory. Based on the big VW Passat – the kind of car that sells well in China but in Europe has been all but buried by its German rivals in recent decades – the Arteon emphasises design, elegance and, to a lesser extent, performance. Creased and crisp, the big five-door hatch straddles the psychological grey area between premium and luxury, the territory that Audi (a VW sister group, don’t forget) has occupied for decades. It’s not a true luxury car, nor is it a sports car. But it is handsome, as well as being an ergonomic tour-de-force. Not a button is out of place on the Bauhaus-simple dashboard. You come away thanking the company’s single-minded approach to simplicity and general absence of unwanted curves and bling.

On the road, the Arteon is a more than decent performer, mustering quiet confidence without descending into a screaming, always-on sports machine. The latter isn’t a VW quality and probably never will be but then again, neither is full-on luxury. Instead, the Arteon is a mature piece of automotive design, the no-brand alternative to badge snobbery or top trump performance comparisons. If you’re happy to be anonymously stylish, only compromising the cachet of a brand, then the Arteon does its job just fine.

INFORMATION
Volkswagen Arteon, from £30,190

The 2017 Tokyo Motor Show was notable for the increasing number of autonomous car concepts emerging from the lab into what manufacturers expect to be an almost completely computer-controlled future. Most of these machines came from Japanese manufacturers, keen to demonstrate their technological sophistication once more, but there was a strong showing from the Germans. Volkswagen, Porsche, Audi, BMW and Mercedes all had a big presence, but it was the latter that truly embraced the Tokyo aesthetic. The new Mercedes-Benz Concept EQA was paired up with the Smart Vision EQ Fortwo to showcase Daimler’s vision of autonomous electric urban driving.

The latter car is an enhanced vision of the next-generation smart car. After spending a week in the company of the most sophisticated smart on the market – the Smart Fortwo Cabrio electric drive – it’s hard to see how much more the experience could be improved. Stripping out the Smart’s tiny engine in favour of an electric motor doesn’t do it many favours in terms of weight and ride, but the diminutive machine has a bit of zip. The tiny turning circle makes you the master of the dead end, while the open roof gives you all the urban feedback you’ll ever need. The go-kart qualities of the smart make urban driving a breeze, so it’s hard to see how autonomy could enhance it.

The company took the opportunity of displaying its cars against the neon-drenched backdrop of downtown Tokyo, with a quick detour to showcase the smart concepts alongside Atelier Tekuto’s iconic concrete house. These are appropriate spots for small city cars, especially with their information-dense interiors and exterior screens that will all add to the urban tapestry.

We spoke to Katharina Becker, Daimler’s communications manager for digital vehicle and future technologies, to find out what lies on the road ahead...

W*: How central will autonomous driving be to the Mercedes-Benz of tomorrow?
KB: At Mercedes-Benz we are developing self-driving cars in two different ways. We pursue the evolutional approach by progressively increasing our driver assistance systems step-by-step. The new S-Class for example is another major step towards autonomous driving with new and significantly expanded driver assistance systems. The other way is to develop self-driving functions right away – the revolutionary approach so to speak. Imagine a car2go that comes to you whenever you need one or automated valet parking, where your car parks itself in a parking garage while you are in the elevator to your meeting already. This idea represents the new Smart Vision EQ Fortwo.

W*: Which cities do you see adopting autonomy first?
KB: At the moment we are testing different traffic situations all over the world, or to be precise: in five different continents with our Intelligent World Drive. Driving in Frankfurt, Shanghai, Sydney and Melbourne, Johannesburg and Los Angeles gives a very good impression which challenges an autonomous driving car has to face. Traffic lights for each lane, traffic signs with text, pedestrians, bicyclists, buses, trams, specific rules for each country or even each city. Therefore there is still a long way to go, before autonomous driving will be a daily routine in inner city traffic.

W*: What aspects of autonomous driving will be the most beneficial?
KB: For Mercedes-Benz autonomous driving means more comfort, more safety and more time for the customers: In the future they do not need to drive anymore in boring or stressful situation like the daily commuting to work or on long distance highway trips. While the car is doing the driving they can relax and use the time for other things like reading, watching movies or working. Another beneficial aspect of autonomous driving may be that user who are today not able to drive because they are disabled, too young or are just feeling insecure and uncomfortable with the daily traffic can use the comfort and safety of an autonomous driving car, some of them for the first time, some of them again.

W*: How will design – interior and exterior – accommodate these changes in how we use and perceive cars?
KB: There will be plenty of new opportunities especially in interior design. The Smart Vision EQ Fortwo is the first car from Daimler without any steering wheel. Its interior design focuses on space, privacy and seamless entertainment. In the exterior visual communication will be key. While the smart communicates with its headlights and a colourful display in the front, the Mercedes-Benz F015 luxury in motion can even project information for pedestrians via laser onto the street.

W*: Will autonomous driving work across all sectors of the market?
KB: We believe that autonomous driving affects all sectors. Therefore within the Daimler AG we work together across all division: we introduced the autonomous driving truck with Highway Pilot, last year in Amsterdam we presented the autonomous driving bus, in 2015 Mercedes-Benz Cars showed with the F015 Luxury in motion their vision from an autonomous driving car that also communicates with its environment. But you even do not need to own a autonomous driving car in the future: with the Smart Vision EQ Fortwo we recently showed how the future of car sharing can look like.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Mercedes-Benz website and the Smart website

It's hard to remember when car adverts were a treasury of wit, simplicity and concision. David Ogilvy's legendary penmanship for Rolls-Royce remains the gold standard of ad copy, but for sheer consistency of vision, snappy one liners and unambiguous graphics, the series of ads run by Volkswagen of North America, courtesy of the Manhattan agency Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB).

The agency’s approach was radical in every way, eschewing slick airbrushed artwork in favour of starkly realistic studio photography. Copy sparkled with the simplicity of the message; that the VW was small and decidedly different. Straplines like ‘It makes your house look bigger’ went against the ‘big is better’ consumer psychology of the era, and the client gamely allowed its product to be shown plastered in graffiti, upside down, and in pieces, even behind a tow-truck (strapline: ‘a rare photo’).

Dominik Imseng has researched a spirited, fully illustrated history of this pivotal era in American advertising in Ugly Is Only Skin-Deep: The Story of the Ads that Changed the World, capturing Madison Avenue at its height, and the inevitable clash between commerce and culture. The Beetle’s inherent ironies – an affordable, truly democratic car beloved by the counter-culture, yet borne out of pure fascist intent – were forgotten, thanks to slick copy-writing and art direction. Marketing made it into an American icon.

The company’s advertising has since retained this streak of rebellion, with DDB continuing to run VW’s campaigns with a dose of verve and ingenuity still missing from an increasingly conservative marketplace. Even so, the recent ‘dieselgate’ scandal has given the industry behemoth a new sense of purpose and yet another chance to reinvent itself.

Small isn’t on the menu just yet, at least not in North America. Volkswagen recently announced the Atlas, a vast SUV aimed at a US market that seems to have grown more and more allergic to both self-deprecatory wit and small cars as the decades have worn on. Whether the Atlas could ever be sold in such a way remains to be seen (deliveries don’t start until next spring), but whatever its reception, the big machine is about as ideologically opposed to the original Beetle as one could possibly find.

INFORMATION

Ugly Is Only Skin-Deep: The Story of the Ads that Changed the World, £13.99. For more information, visit the website

No one can deny that Volkswagen is home to some of the world's most talented engineers. Unfortunately, it was an engineering decision that saw the company spend much of 2015 at the intersection of politics, consumer rights and legal shenanigans, a thicket it hasn't managed to find its way out of just yet. There will be implications, not least on the company’s future product road map. Some proposed niche models and technologies might fall by the wayside as VW tightens its focus on what it does best.

One thing is for sure; there will still be a Volkswagen Golf. Over 40 years, the Golf has evolved from the quintessential small family car into the ultimate automotive platform. Its underpinnings are spread throughout the VW group (its ‘MQB’ platform is used by 12 different models across four brands), but it is the Golf that reigns supreme. Seven generations of Golf have allowed Volkswagen to hone and refine its mainstay model, its range book-ended by basic economy models and the much-loved GTI.

A few years ago, the company introduced an even faster Golf, the ‘R’. We sampled the current ‘R’ in estate form – the biggest a Golf has ever got – and remain thoroughly impressed by the refinement and dynamics packed into this compact machine. For decades the Golf has been sold as a sort of ‘everyman’s express’, a car so simple and baggage-free that it is the default choice of the buyer who cares about quality but not about image. Even the GTI, originally introduced in 1975, is still as classless as ever. The ‘R’ goes against type, barking and snarling like the true speed machine it is. Even so, it still looks subtle, with VW’s current clean, angular design language working especially well to sharpen up the edges.

An even more efficient addition to the range is the GTE, a performance hybrid that splices the best bits of the E-Golf with its speedy sibling. The GTE is remarkable for the amount of technology crammed into such a small space, and for the total lack of compromise that results. If anything, the GTE offers the best of many worlds crammed into one – a hybrid-assisted economy car, a true performance machine and a pure EV, albeit with a range of around 30 miles.

In many respects, the GTE is the ultimate manifestation of where we are with automotive technology – the best combination of electric drive, internal combustion and conventional packaging. It’s a miniature BMW i8, without the flashy styling yet with that winning Golf understatement. Sure, like almost all electric cars on the road it represents a triumph of innovation over compromise – next generation models will be better still. But for now, the GTE is quietly revolutionary, which is just how we suspect Golf drivers like things to be.

INFORMATION

VW Golf GTE, from £33,755; VW Golf R Estate, from £33,890. For more information, visit Volkswagen’s website

We are in the heart of Swedish Lapland about to test a pre-production Tiguan. Volkswagen technical experts are at hand, eager to guide us through the capabilities of this compact SUV. The four-wheel-drive boasts pretty decent off-road capabilities that, we are told, can handle routes as tough and rough as the ones through this frozen landscape.



To be convinced, we have taken a train, two planes, hopped on and off a number of shuttles, and endured temperatures of -20°C. And it is working. With its responsive engines and finely balanced chassis, the Tiguan handles these icy roads confidently. The car, we discover, has the flexibility to be both city and country transport, all wrapped up in the most discrete of attires.



The Tiguan is a modest conception. It isn’t striking at first glance, and you would possibly miss it if it were to drive past you on a busy road. Yet it is exactly what it advertises: a mid-size SUV that is intelligently constructed, wisely designed, safe to inhabit, effortless to drive and economical to own. It is, in other words, the perfect car for a small family.



The Tiguan is also capable of some real life off-roading, in the unlikely event that anyone should so desire (like all modern 4x4s, sometimes knowing that it can is enough). European carmakers have been coming to Arvidsjaur since 1967 to test their vehicles in the development stage, and the town remains a popular spot thanks to its ice proving ground, frozen lakes and abundance of open road driving. We spot numerous other cars being tested, many in pre-production camouflage.



Following a spot of ice driving, we head out on to an open road of extraordinarily beauty, seduced by the pristine whiteness of the vision before us, with fluffy snow covering every leaf on every tree to form magical sculptural shapes. The Tiguan's quiet cabin allows us to cruise in near silence, absorbing the raw beauty of the landscape.



This is Volkswagen's second-generation Tiguan – the first car was produced in 2007 – and much of what you see is brand new. It has undergone a complete redesign to be a longer, wider and lower vehicle for a more athletic stance on the road. It looks more elegant, with optional LED headlights, and, depending on the equipment line, a chrome strip running across the front of the car. This, coupled with the distinctive character line that runs the side length, emphasising the higher waistline, contributes to an altogether more stylish Tiguan.



This new car is a more practical proposition too, with a roomier cabin and increased cargo space by 145 liters to 615 litres – a healthy 1,655 with the rear seats down. Eight engines are on offer with power outputs ranging from 85kW/115ps to 176 kW/240ps. Despite the power increase, VW says they are up to 24 per cent more fuel-efficient than those of the previous model with Euro-5 engines. What’s more, the new 4MOTION Active Control system makes it easier to individually adapt the all-wheel drive to extreme driving conditions.



The Tiguan might not be a heart-stopper, but it exemplifies the best of modern platform engineering. VW's modular transverse matrix (MQB) platform underpins it all (it also forms the basis of the Golf). This is the first SUV in the VW Group to benefit from it and its flexibility allowed the team to configure a practical crossover with sporty credentials, saving weight and fuel consumption (as well as development time).



Some two million Tiguans have been produced to date and VW has high hopes for this latest car. It's a boom market: compact crossovers are in rising demand with forecasts predicting around nine per cent growth within two years. The Tiguan family will expand to include a longer wheelbase derivative and an even smaller VW SUV is on the horizon.

INFORMATION

From £23,000, on sale May 2016. For more information, visit Volkswagen’s website

Photography courtesy Volkswagen

The biennial Frankfurt show is traditionally a time for German carmakers to flex their muscles. So it was an unfortunate turn of events when BMW’s new chief executive Harald Krüger collapsed from what is said to be exhaustion as he delivered his keynote speech, bringing the press conference to an abrupt halt. Even more troubling are the VW Group’s issues with alleged emission dodging, an unfolding scandal that threatens the lustre of the country’s entire industry.



Presciently, perhaps, the mood was set for a rather sombre auto show, lacking the spark of recent years and a reflection on lacklustre car sales, especially in the promising future and frontier markets. Carlos Ghosn summed it up. ‘We have to accept that growth cannot be linear,’ said the Renault Nissan boss, noting the significant drop in sales in Russia and Brazil, and ‘disappointing’ developments in China.



The Jaguar F-Pace is a direct response to the economy of car making in this volatile global marketplace. This is the first sports utility vehicle from the marque, a timely product designed to interact with fresh customers. It joins an ever-growing family that includes the latest F-Type sports car and the small saloon XE – and it makes complete business sense given the popularity of such small on-road crossovers in Europe and beyond.



On the eve of the motor show, the F-Pace proved its credentials as the ‘sportiest SUV’ by defying gravity on the largest-ever loop the loop completed by a road car. It was undeniably exhilarating watching stunt driver Terry Grant race the car inside the 19.08m tall, 360-degree circle.



Another marque exploring novel territory is Bentley. The Bentayga is the company’s first SUV and has been in the making for some four years. The production car revealed here is a far cry from the earlier brash concept EXP 9 F presented at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show. Instead this is a studied approach to a luxe off-roader with a distinct Bentley flavour.



We caught up with Sang Yup Lee, head of exterior and advanced design. ‘I feel this is the biggest launch in the Bentley history,’ he said, noting the marque’s recent four doors have largely been interpretations of traditional luxury. ‘This is a representation of modern luxury. We have a great tradition but we must move forward,’ he added candidly.



Rival luxury automobile maker Rolls-Royce revealed the Dawn at Frankfurt. With its restrained sensibility, this sumptuous drop-top smaller Rolls is squarely aimed at younger drivers and markets beyond Europe.



Elsewhere, Mercedes Benz took the wraps off the S-Class Cabriolet, its first full-size convertible car in four decades. The company would like to enjoy a slice of the booming ultra-luxury sector by expanding its pinnacle S range. Earlier this year we saw the 18-foot S-600 Maybach limousine, and Frankfurt was also the stage for the unveiling of the powerful S-63 Cabriolet, a plausible rival to Bentley’s Continental GT Speed Convertible.



On a more conceptual level, Mercedes revealed Intelligent Aerodynamic Automobile, IAA for short. This is a real concept car in the old fashioned sense. Some colleagues joked that it is harking back to the 1950s, yet it was refreshing to be shown an idea that isn’t a production car in soft disguise. Instead this is the latest in a series of studies into future design, active aerodynamics, and alternative powertrains.



Finally, Porsche’s Mission E proved to be one of the only real revelations at Frankfurt. Pre-show digital teasers have taken the surprise element out of these events – a bit of a shame and perhaps an indication that the current motor show format is in need of a review.



Porsche, nonetheless, managed to keep its lips sealed until the press day. This sleek four-door 600bhp-plus electric concept car previews an upcoming ecologically responsible supercar that promises everyday practicality with unrivalled range.



‘We always said that when we do an electric car, it would be a true sports car,’ said head of research and development Wolfgang Hatz. Speed, it seems, is here to stay and it is up to sports car makers like Porsche to preserve the thrill of motoring in the age of electrification.

Jaguar F-Pace

The F-Pace is Jaguar’s first SUV in its 70-year history. Based closely on the 2013 C-X17 concept study, the lightweight aluminium architecture allowed the team the design freedom to create a car with ‘latent poise, a svelte car with attitude’, notes design director Ian Callum.



With the F-Type as benchmark in terms of design, Callum also sought to extract some of what he called ‘the spirit’ of the sports car. Many of the design details are also carried through, including the distinct light designs at the front and rear, which together with Jaguar’s mesh grille, help seal a strong family identity.



Callum admits designing an SUV was not an easy task for a marque with such a sporting heritage and a low, long and sleek vernacular, admitting, ‘the customer wanted one. It is a practical car but with the spirit of Jaguar.’



The F-Pace cabin has room for five adults and there is a versatile 650/1740-litre cargo space. The doors come alive with Jaguar’s signature blue ambient lighting, and the optional panoramic roof expands almost the entire length of the car suggesting a more spacious cabin.



This is a highly intelligent car too, featuring the marque’s latest 8-inch touchscreen and infotainment system, with an optional 10.2-inch InControl Pro system, which can connect up to eight devices to a wi-fi hotspot in the car.



The F-Pace is also a highly powerful machine. On the eve of the Frankfurt Motor Show, it broke the Guinness world record by completing the largest ever loop the loop, a 19.08m tall, 360-degree circle



On sale: spring 2016

Price from: £34,170

Bentley Bentayga

Marking the company’s first venture into this sector, the Bentayga promises to be the most powerful, sumptuous and exclusive sports utility car ever built. ‘The typology of the vehicle is therefore very contemporary,’ explains Sang Yup Lee, head of exterior and advanced design, ‘yet we had to ensure it is unmistakably a Bentley meaning very chunky front and thick body sides, and very powerful wheels. It has a unique fast rear glass that creates an unusual proportion for an SUV,’ he adds.



The cabin demonstrates the skills of Bentley artisans at the Crewe factory. There is an abundance of handcrafted wood, hand stitched quilted leather, precisely engineered chrome elements – seamlessly executed within a highly digital and connected environment.



Interesting design details include washers hidden on either side of the headlamps that spring out and spray high-pressure water to clean the lights. Customers can specify a bespoke Breitling mechanical Mulliner Tourbillon clock that automatically winds by way of a dedicated high-precision mechanism within the car. Made especially for the Bentayga, it comes in rose or white gold, with a choice of a mother-of-pearl or black ebony face decorated with eight diamond indexes.



Bentley customers are unlikely to go off-roading, yet there is something sexy about an automobile with this degree of refinement with real 4x4 capabilities. This 2,300kg car is highly powerful too, promising 0–60mph in a speedy four seconds



On sale: first quarter of 2016

Price from: £160,200

Rolls-Royce Dawn

The Rolls-Royce Dawn pays tribute to the 1950 drop-head Silver Dawn. Unlike the Silver Dawn that was factory built, the drop-head models were the last cars to be custom built and sculpted at coachbuilders, with only 28 made until 1954.



Like the car it honours, this is a voluptuous sculpture, yet the surfaces are quiet with a relaxed informality. Some 80 per cent of the exterior body panels are new, to accommodate an evolution of the design language and to encapsulate four-seat super-luxury architecture. The wide canvas roof seamlessly melts into the metal body, and we like the weighty ‘click’ as it drops open touching the mirror-matched open pore wood rear deck cover.



For director of design Giles Taylor, the design had to be primarily about the purity of line, the simplicity of form; ‘Three or four lines that evoke the glamour and the style of some of the most beautiful drop-heads ever created by Rolls-Royce,’ he says, adding that above all it had to have a ‘crisp, modern edge that would fit our contemporary customer’



On sale: early 2016

Price from: £250,000

Porsche Mission E

The Porsche Mission E is a sleek four-door 600bhp-plus electric concept sports car. It previews an upcoming sustainable supercar and hints at a 0–62mph that will challenge the latest 911 Turbo, as well as a range of over 331 miles.



Two electric motors, mounted up front and at the rear, provide power to the four wheel drive Mission E. Studies from the marque’s latest sustainable cars – Le Mans-winning 919 Hybrid and of the 918 Spyder hypercar – have helped the development of the lightweight construction, electric drive and battery technology on-board Mission E

Audi e-tron Quattro

The e-tron Quattro is Audi’s latest study into the future of electrification and previews the upcoming Q6 e-tron Quattro. The bold and, in places, futuristic design – with its sharp Matrix headlights upfront and long LED taillights at the rear, aerodynamic features, lightweight construction and battery technology – is suggestive of the marque’s future family of electric vehicles. The e-tron Quattro challenges the fastest of Audi’s conventional driven SUVs, and promises zero-emission range of some 311 miles 

Q6 e-tron Quattro on sale: 2018

Mercedes-Benz S Class Cabriolet

The new Mercedes-Benz S-Class Cabriolet is the marque’s first full-size convertible car in some four decades. It utilises a three-layer canvas soft top that can be raised or lowered in less than 20 seconds and up to speeds of 37mph. 

Much like its roofed sibling, the open-top S is luxuriously equipped, has a fully digital instrument cluster, and touch-sensitive dials that control the separate infotainment screen. The latest offering is part of the company’s plans to expand on its pinnacle S-Class range, joining the 18-foot-long S-600 Maybach limousine shown earlier this year 

On sale: early 2016 

Price from: c. £68,000

Mercedes-Benz IAA

Intelligent Aerodynamic Automobile (IAA) forms part of a series of concept cars by Mercedes-Benz that study future design, alternative hybrid powertrains and active aerodynamics. 

This four-door saloon previews the petrol-electric plug-in hybrid powertrain technology, and touch-based controls Mercedes plans to feature in its future cars. It is above all though a study into active aerodynamics. 

Reminding us a little of BMW’s 2008 GINA study, the IAA sculpture expands and changes shape from ‘design’ to ‘aero’ mode at speeds of above 50mph. The tail, for instance, stretches to increase length by some 390mm, and flaps in the front bumper and in the grille monitor airflow around the wheels and car. In its most efficient ‘long tail’ form, drag coefficient is at a super low scale of 0.19cd

Citroën Cactus M



Cactus M by Citroën examines the possibilities of a convertible model joining the Cactus family. This drop-top crossover concept car draws inspiration from some of the design ideas introduced in the Mehari, the no-frills country and beach vehicle based on the 2CV and built between 1968 and 1986.



The theme here is surfing, so the cabin is waterproof – the seats are made of wet suit material, and the rubber floor mats can be removed to let water escape through plugholes. This fun concept car is replete with two surf boards tied to the wooden veneered windscreen and rear hoop

Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo

Vision Gran Turismo previews Bugatti’s future form language, elements of which we should see in the Veyron successor due in 2017. Design director Achim Anscheidt notes candidly that the marque’s design has ‘reached a new stage in its evolution’. 

Inspiration came from the company’s 1920s and 30s racing heritage, most notably the Type 57 Tank that won at Le Mans in 1937 and 1939. This being a concept car, it is naturally an exaggerated representation, with emphasis as much on extreme performance as styling. ‘Even so, the progressive design language will demonstrate the path to be taken by Bugatti design over the next few years,’ says the designer

Ferrari 488 Spider 

The Ferrari Spider is the second car to join the 488 family and with its turbocharged V8 engine promising 660bhp at 8000rpm, and top speeds of 203mph, is the most powerful mid-engine open-top the marque has ever built. 

The body is the work of coachbuilder Scaglietti, and like its predecessor, it features a metal folding roof that takes 14 seconds to raise or lower where it lies flat on top of the engine. Finally, the car comes equipped with Apple CarPlay 

On sale: spring 2016 

Price from: £200,000

Lamborghini Huracán LP610-4 Spyder 

Huracán LP610-4 Spyder is an open-top two-seater by Lamborghini that claims to be some 40 per cent stiffer with 50 per cent more downforce than its predecessor, the Gallardo Spyder. Much like its coupe sibling, the convertible is powered by a 5.2-litre V10 offering 602bhp and 413lb ft of torque and despite a bit of added weight, it sprints from 0–62mph in just 3.4 seconds 

On sale: spring 2016 

Price from: £205,0000

Mini Clubman



The Mini Clubman has grown in size; it is hugely roomier, and more versatile than the outgoing model. It remains close to the concept we saw at the Geneva show two years ago evolving the barn-style doors of the original Clubman and introducing new horizontal rear lights to provide visual width. The eccentric design of the original car, however, with its unique single rear-hinged nearside door, has been somewhat diluted for an altogether more sober Clubman



On sale: October 2015

Price from: £19,995

Land Rover Discovery Sport HSE Dynamic Lux 

Discovery Sport HSE Dynamic Lux is Land Rover’s most expensive model in the range. It features new black doors and body cladding, 20-inch black alloy wheels, and the cabin comes with a selection of unique colour and trim options. The car features a new Intelligent Dynamic package that combines the company’s All Terrain Progress Control and adaptive damper systems. Finally, Active Driveline changes the drive depending on conditions, from two to four wheels 

On sale: October 2016 

Prices from: £46,000