All posts by Francis Mitterrand

News

Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team will have two new drivers at the Dakar Rally

The start of one of the world’s toughest races, the Dakar Rally, is approaching, and the Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team has announced that its new drivers will be Corbin Leaverton and Gonçalo Guerreiro. The two young drivers will replace the previous four drivers, Seth Quintero, Cristina Gutiérrez, Mitch Guthrie Jr. and Guillaume de Mévius, who will compete in the Ultimate Car class.

The Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team has already had Dakar winners in the Challenger class, the brilliant Cristina Gutiérrez, while Guillaume de Mévius finished second in the Ultimate class in the 2024 edition of the Dakar Rally.

Leaverton followed in the footsteps of Portuguese Seth Quintero, who said: “I was in the junior team from the beginning and I owe my career to this program. It was challenging to start with a car that was still in development, but it instilled a lot of work ethic in me. A lot of incredible things happened during that time, including records and victories. I don’t think there’s a better way to start racing in the Dakar than by competing for the junior team.”

“I’m proud of my performance in this year’s Red Bull Scramble series, because these races are held on different types of terrain, in different conditions, and the rivals are different. I enjoy showing up anywhere and being competitive. The Dakar is simply the biggest challenge in the world of off-road racing. It’s a big jump from Southern California. Different cars, different racing styles, different cultures… It’s been great to see Seth and Mitch adapt so well. I want to follow in their footsteps and get to the Ultimate class,” said Leaverton.

Also, Gonçalo Guerreiro said that he is excited to participate in the Dakar Rally and that he shares the great passion for the adventure that this race provides. “I started driving fast cars when I was 17. It’s a passion I share with my father and I’m proud of my journey so far. I was the champion of Portugal in 2022, after which I moved to FIA racing. This year I participated in the Baja Morocco race, where I finished second overall. After the race we stayed in Morocco to test the Taurus T3 Max because of the Dakar focus. I think there are two reasons we all love Dakar, which is a challenge and an adventure,” said Guerreiro.

The 2025 Dakar Rally starts on January 3 in Bisha and ends on January 17, in the Empty Quarter (Rub’ al Khali) desert.

Source: Red Bull

EV

2026 Nio Firefly EV

Chinese multinational automobile manufacturer Nio has unveiled its new car, the Firefly. It is an all-electric city hatchback designed by former BMW and Ford designer Kris Tomasson.

Nio’s plan is to produce small electric cars that are affordable to a wider range of users, as shown by its price of $20,400. It will officially hit the market in April 2025, and the order book is open. It will also arrive in Europe at the beginning of next year and is expected to cost around 30,000 euros.

At first glance, the three-piece round LED headlights, as well as the taillights, attract the most attention, while some parts such as the glass, black roof and pillars are reminiscent of Honda cars. The size of the car is not known, but everything indicates that its main rivals could be models like Fiat Grande Panda, BYD Dolphin or Renault 5.

Firefly is designed to achieve five stars in C-NCAP and Euro-NCAP tests, which is made possible by the use of high-strength steel and aluminum, which make up 83.4 percent of the body structure, as well as double anti-collision beams in the front doors. The car has nine airbags as standard, as well as the best torsional stiffness in its segment (37,700 Nm).

Photos of the interior have not yet been released, but spy photos reveal a minimalistic dashboard, digital instrument panel and a touchscreen infotainment system, similar to that found in Tesla cars. What is known for now is that the car offers a lot of luggage space, which could please families as well as singles who travel with a lot of bags. The front luggage compartment has a volume of 92 litres, which is more than most electric models offer, while the rear luggage compartment offers an additional 1250 litres, when the rear seats are folded down.

When it comes to the powertrain, Nio has yet to release technical details, so more will be known after the car hits the market next year.

Source: Nio

Gallery:

2026 Nio Firefly EV
News

Fisker sold more EVs than VW

In June, the American company Fisker declared bankruptcy, and in October it went into liquidation. However, miracles are possible. Recent data shows that Fisker sold more vehicles in October than the German automaker VW.

So how did that happen? After the bankruptcy was declared, the Fisker car sale began. A judge approved the company’s plan to sell approximately 3,000 unsold Ocean electric crossovers, which allowed Fisker to sell 110 cars in October. Most of the vehicles were bought by the leasing company American Lease (New York), while the remaining cars were sold by dealers at high discounts.

In October, Fiat sold 135 EVs, while Volkswagen sold only 92 EVs. This is the result of bad decisions by the German manufacturer, which offers only two EV models on the American market, the ID.4 and the ID.Buzz. Problems with electronic door locks also contributed to the poor sales, which caused the recall of almost 100,000 ID.4 units.

Globally, Volkswagen is not doing well. The German car industry is in a major crisis, and rising costs and frequent employee strikes have forced Volkswagen to start laying off workers and moving production of some models to other continents.

A few days ago, it was confirmed that VW will move production of the Golf Mk8 to Mexico, and that 35,000 employees will lose their jobs by 2030 as a result of an agreement with the IG Metall union. Volkswagen says that the agreement combines job security, financial stability and a leading technological position in the field of sustainable mobility. They also said that the savings of more than 15 billion euros per year will help future investments until the end of the decade.

Source: S&P Global Mobility