That crazy cute electric dune buggy concept car Volkswagen unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show may not be just a concept after all.
It has no doors, no side or back windows and only fittings for a simple cloth roof.
But VW thinks there is a market for this car, especially in the U.S. – where beach buggies were originally created in the 1960s. So, VW is speaking with some low-volume car manufacturers about producing perhaps 5,000 of these a year.
In a separate interview, Scott Keogh, head of VW in the US, said that emotional products like the dune buggy will be even more important for VW in the future as electric motors do away with the engines and transmissions that make vehicles so different from one another today.
Cars like this give customers a fun way to engage with a brand.
This funny-looking, three-wheeled electric number comes from Estonia. But the company behind the car thinks the United States could be its largest market.
The vehicle is called Nobe. It features two doors, three seats, three wheels (with three-wheel-drive) and a removable hardtop. It’s yet another example of the kind of quirky and unexpected vehicles that turn up at the Geneva show.
Auto executives in Geneva are warning of disastrous consequences if Britain crashes out of the European Union without a deal that protects trade.
BMW board member Peter Schwarzenbauer said Tuesday that the German carmaker may close its Mini plant near Oxford if the United Kingdom crashes out of the European Union.
Asked whether BMW would stop making Minis in the United Kingdom, Schwarzenbauer said it was a possibility. “We at least have to consider it,” he said.
Toyota also said that a disorderly Brexit would put its UK operations at risk. Asked about reports that Toyota would reduce its investment in the United Kingdom if there’s no deal, Toyota Motor Europe CEO Johan van Zyl said such a scenario would be “very negative.”
“Of course, we are still hoping, we’ve invested in our facilities, that we would like to avoid that by improving our competitiveness,” he told the BBC. “But if the hurdle has become so high that you cannot achieve it, then of course, you can’t avoid it.”
It’s a big day for the Morgan Motor Company.
The niche English automaker unveiled the Plus Six on Tuesday, the first supercharged car in its long history. The Morgan family also said the company has a new majority owner.
Italy’s Investindustrial has purchased a majority stake in Morgan, which is best known for its iconic three-wheeler. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Investindustrial has previously taken stakes in Aston Martin and Ducati.
“To really fulfil Morgan’s full potential and secure our long-term future, both the family and management team felt it was essential to bring in a strategic partner,” said Morgan Chairman Dominic Riley. The company has 190 employees.
The Plus Six could help set the company on a new path. Weighing only 1,075 kilograms (2,370 pounds), the roadster comes with a BMW engine that produces 335 brake-horsepower and can propel the car from zero to 62 miles per hour in 4.2 seconds.
Here’s another photo of the new car.
Spare a thought for the automaker that comes to Geneva without a supercar.
Of course, there are a bunch. And they’re not shying away from unveiling models that they hope will be huge hits with consumers who have yet to make their first million.
Renault showed off a new version of its compact car, the Clio, which will be offered for the first time as a hybrid.
Volkswagen, which says it wants to make electric vehicles for millions, not millionaires, stuck with that theme in Geneva, showing off a new version of the Passat that will be sold in Europe.
Indian industrialist Ratan Tata was on hand to see the launch of Tata Motors’ newest car, the Altroz. Still, the supercars are clearly the crowd-pleasers.
“I would have expected a bit more applause,” Tata Motors CEO Guenter Butschek joked after one of the company’s new models made its debut. “Isn’t it stunning?”
The Geneva Motor Show opened to the media on Tuesday, with the first press conferences scheduled for around 8 a.m. local time. By the time the car show closes for the day, nearly 70 press conferences will have taken place.
The show will open to the public on Thursday. For now, journalists rule the roost, racing from one press conference to the next. Reporters chat with company execs, while photographers jostle to get the best shots of new models.
Carmakers, meanwhile, are out to impress. Many use huge video screens and flashy promo videos during their press conferences. New vehicles are covered until their big moment, when the cloth is removed amid waves of camera flashes.
Here’s a couple of photos to give you a sense of the scene.
Renault CEO Thierry Bolloré says that dramatic changes in the auto industry mean that his company needs alliance partners Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors more than ever.
Bolloré was speaking just hours after a court in Tokyo cleared the way for Carlos Ghosn, the former chief of Nissan and Renault, to be released on bail after spending more than three months in jail. Ghosn has been replaced as chairman of Renault and Nissan, and is awaiting trial in Japan on charges he understated his income and abused his position.
Bolloré said that Ghosn’s arrest had not changed the alliance’s strategy. He said that recent discussions with Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa have been positive, and that all three companies recognize the importance of a deeper alliance.
“This has nothing to do with the latest events,” said Bolloré, who was named Renault CEO in January after Ghosn resigned. “Even before, we knew we permanently have to improve the alliance, make it more efficient for the good sake of the three companies.”
Someone, Bugatti won’t say who, paid €16.7 million (almost $19 million) for this one-of-a-kind supercar. Based on the Bugatti Chiron, La Voiture Noire (The Black Car) is a tribute to the Bugatti Type 57 SC Atlantic from the 1930’s. Only four of those cars were made, three of which are known to survive. They are worth at least $50 million each.
The idea to do a new take on the Depression-era model was suggested by the buyer, Bugatti said.
La Voiture Noire maintains the general shape and proportions of the Chiron, but the body has been subtly changed all over. Behind the seats, under a lattice of small triangles cut into the car’s carbon fiber skin, is Bugatti’s 1,500 horsepower 16-cylinder engine.
Asked about the nationality of the buyer, Bugatti CEO Stephan Winkelmann would only say that the car will remain in Europe.
Audi has unveiled its highly anticipated electric SUV concept, giving fans a taste of what the carmaker’s electric future could look like.
The Audi Q4 e-tron compact SUV is an early look at a model expected to enter full production by the end of 2020.
Audi brought only electrified vehicles to Geneva — four battery electric models and four hybrids, reflecting its strategic shift away from internal combustion engines. The Volkswagen Group’s luxury brand plans to offer 12 pure electric vehicles by 2025, as well as an electrified version of each of its core models.
To pull off the move away from gasoline and diesel, Audi has committed to spending about €14 billion on electric mobility, digitalization and autonomous driving by the end of 2023.
The Pininfarina Battista is a new $2 million 1,900 horsepower all-electric supercar that can launch itself from zero to in 60 under 2 seconds.
Automobili Pininfarina, the company that made this car, was spun off from the famous Italian auto design firm Pininfarina. Pininfarina is best known for designing some of Ferrari’s most famous cars. The Battista is named after that original firm’s founder, Battista “Pinin” Farina.
Today, the company is owned by Mahindra & Mahindra, an Indian company that makes a variety of mass market cars including electric ones. This will be Mahindra’s most expensive EV by far.
The Batista is expected to have a driving range, on a single charge, of about 450 kilometers or 250 miles. Only 150 of the cars will be built.
Bentley will make just 100 copies of this special edition Continental GT. It celebrates the famous supercharged “Bentley Blower” that raced at LeMans in 1930.
Volkswagen has unveiled an electric dune buggy in Geneva, a concept that hearkens back to custom Baja Bugs that earned a cult following in the 1960s and 1970s.
CEO Herbert Diess told reporters at an event Monday that the concept was an example of his company’s commitment to electric vehicles.
The original Baja dune buggy, called the Meyers Manx, was created by American Bruce Meyers in 1964. That vehicle was based on a shortened Beetle chassis, and found an ideal playground in the deserts and beaches of California and Baja, Mexico.
Volkswagen used the concept to show off the versatility of its Modular Electric Toolkit, or MEB, a platform developed specifically for electric vehicles. Of course, like the electric microbus concept Volkswagen revealed in 2017, the dune buggy also allows Volkswagen to remind people of its past successes in creating pop culture phenomena.
Diess said that Volkswagen is opening the platform to other car makers, the latest sign that auto manufacturers are seeking to share the cost of developing electric and autonomous vehicles.
We’re in Switzerland for the Geneva Motor Show, one of the most exciting displays of auto engineering and design on the global car-show circuit.
Mainstream brands like Nissan, Kia, Renault and Fiat are here, and many of them will be touting the latest in electric cars. But this is the show where exotic brands like Lamborghini, Ferrari and McLaren unveil their new models. This year, we’ll also see cars produced by Italian design house Pininfarina, a resurrected Hispano Suiza and Italdesign.
While most attendees come to just gawk at those cars, a lot of business gets done here. For companies that build cars costing six, seven, and even eight figures, the Geneva Motor Show is a selling floor. Wealthy shoppers travel from around the world to see the latest luxury offerings in one place.
Journalists get a preview on Tuesday and Wednesday. The show opens to the public on Thursday, March 7, and runs through the 17th.
The first vehicle that visitors see while walking from Geneva’s airport to the city’s auto show is not made of steel, iron or aluminum. It’s made of Legos.
Lego and Bugatti have teamed up to construct a nearly life-size version of the Chiron that appears to be made entirely of the tiny plastic blocks.
Smaller Lego sets of the Chiron were on sale in Geneva for 439 Swiss francs ($439). The real thing sells for an eye-watering $3 million.
Here’s a couple more shots of Lego’s Chiron.
And here’s a pic of the car’s interior, just because it’s so cool.
Volvo will put a speed limit on its cars as part of its effort to eliminate fatal accidents.
The automaker said Monday that it will prevent its cars from going faster than 180 kilometers per hour (112 miles per hour). It said it is also considering other technology that could put stricter speed limits on cars when they’re driving near schools and hospitals.
Volvo has set a goal of zero fatalities or serious injuries in new Volvos by 2020. But its statement Monday said that no matter what safety features it builds into cars, it needs to also address driver behavior as part of its efforts.
The European Union is considering requiring what’s known as “Intelligent Speed Assistance” on new cars sold there by 2022. The proposed regulation would require cars to have technology that would make them comply with speed limits.
Smart, the tiny-car brand from Mercedes-maker Daimler, released images of its Geneva Motor Show concept a few days early.
The Smart FourEase+ is a concept car is for those who want an electric Smart car with a classic convertible top. By next year, all of its funky little city cars will be electric.
Smart shared more images of the car on its official Instagram account:
Ferrari has already shared photos of the new F8 Tributo supercar it will unveil in Geneva.
Behind the seats it has a 710-horsepower turbocharged V8 engine. Ferrari promises the “evocative soundtrack” the brand’s engines are famous for.
Ferrari boasts that it’s “one of the fastest, most thrilling, and communicative supercars ever.”
The automaker revealed more images on Twitter:
