Category Archives: NEW CARS

NEW CARS

Bentley Doubles Down on EVs While Rivals Hedge Their Bets

Bentley is not hedging its bets. While rivals scramble to retrofit their electric ambitions with a safety net of combustion, Crewe is doubling down—quietly, confidently, and perhaps a little defiantly.

At a time when Lotus Cars has pivoted midstream—reengineering its Lotus Eletre X to accommodate a range-extending combustion setup amid cooling demand—Bentley Motors is choosing a different path. Its forthcoming “Luxury Urban EV,” set to debut in the second half of this year, will remain exactly what it was always meant to be: fully electric, no backup plan required.

CEO Frank-Steffen Walliser doesn’t sound like a man interested in engineering compromises. Retrofitting an internal combustion engine—or even a plug-in hybrid system—into Bentley’s new EV platform isn’t just off the table; it’s fundamentally incompatible. The PPE architecture underpinning the car simply wasn’t designed for such duality. And more to the point, Bentley doesn’t want it to be.

That’s a notable stance in a segment that’s showing early signs of hesitation. Premium EV adoption hasn’t exactly stalled, but it has lost some of its initial inevitability. Walliser himself admits that one of the key challenges ahead lies in figuring out just how large the market really is—and who, exactly, is ready to spend six figures on silent propulsion.

Bentley’s answer isn’t to dilute the product. Instead, it’s to diversify the showroom. The plug-in hybrid Bentley Bentayga remains in play as the brand’s bridge to combustion loyalists, ensuring that the new EV doesn’t have to be all things to all buyers. “We’re not here to force anyone,” Walliser effectively says. Translation: if you’re not ready for electric, Bentley still has something for you. If you are, they’re building something entirely new.

And that’s the interesting bit. Bentley insists this isn’t a replacement, but an expansion—a strategic reach toward a different kind of customer. Which raises the question: what exactly is a Bentley EV supposed to be?

Clues are thin, but not nonexistent. The new model will share key underpinnings with the upcoming Porsche Cayenne Electric, suggesting serious hardware. Think dual motors, all-wheel drive, and outputs that could climb into four-digit horsepower territory. If Porsche’s numbers hold—up to 1140 hp and nearly 400 miles of range from a 113 kWh battery—Bentley’s version won’t be lacking in muscle or stamina.

But performance alone doesn’t define a Bentley. According to Matthias Rabe, the goal is something more nuanced: “very comfortable like a Flying Spur and agile like a Continental GT.” That’s a tall order—melding limousine ride quality with grand-tourer sharpness—but if achieved, it could mark a new kind of flagship. Not just electric, but distinctly Bentley.

Rabe goes further, promising blistering acceleration figures and, perhaps most boldly, calling it “the best Bentley on the road.” That’s either marketing bravado or a sign that Crewe sees this car as more than a compliance exercise.

So while others hedge, Bentley commits. No hybrids, no range extenders, no safety nets. Just a clean-sheet EV aimed at buyers who don’t need convincing—or at least, don’t want compromise.

In a market still figuring itself out, that kind of clarity might be the biggest luxury of all.

Source: Bentley

NEW CARS

2027 DS No7: France’s Boldest Shot Yet at Audi and BMW

DS Automobiles has never exactly been accused of playing it safe, but with the new No7, it’s doing something far more consequential: playing for keeps.

This is the successor to the DS 7, a car that quietly carried the brand on its shoulders—at times accounting for half of its total sales. Now comes the replacement, and it arrives not as a mild evolution, but as a clean-sheet rethink aimed squarely at the most hotly contested corner of the premium market: the compact luxury SUV class.

At 4.66 meters long, the No7 grows just enough to matter—five extra centimeters between the axles translates into noticeably improved cabin space—but the bigger change is philosophical. Where the outgoing car leaned heavily on ornate detailing to stand apart, the No7 pivots toward a more cohesive, modern identity. It borrows heavily from the flagship No8, adopting a sharper, more technical aesthetic defined by a V-shaped light signature, an illuminated grille that practically announces itself in Morse code, and available 21-inch wheels that fill the arches with intent.

It’s still unmistakably French, but now it looks like it means business.

Underneath, the No7 shares its bones with a familiar cast of Stellantis stablemates, but DS insists the magic lies in what you don’t see. And what you do get is a powertrain lineup that reflects the industry’s ongoing identity crisis: part electric future, part combustion present.

The headline act is the all-electric variant, packing a 97.2-kWh battery and offering up to 460 miles of range in its most efficient form. That’s not just competitive—it’s borderline showboating in a segment where range anxiety still sells cars. Even more impressive is how it gets there: a drag coefficient of 0.26, achieved not through dramatic coupe-like compromises but careful aerodynamic housekeeping.

For those who want more punch, there’s a dual-motor, all-wheel-drive version producing 370 horsepower and still managing a claimed 422 miles of range. And for buyers not quite ready to cut the cord, DS offers a hybrid setup pairing a 1.2-liter turbocharged three-cylinder with an electric motor for a combined 143 horsepower. It’s not thrilling on paper, but it’s designed for efficiency—up to 53 mpg—and can operate with the engine off around town for roughly half the time.

Charging, meanwhile, is brisk. The EV can pull up to 160 kW and, more importantly, sustain that rate across a useful portion of the battery, adding nearly 120 miles in just 10 minutes. That’s the kind of real-world usability stat that matters more than peak numbers.

Inside, DS leans fully into its boutique luxury ambitions. The cabin is less about minimalist restraint and more about curated opulence. A 16-inch central touchscreen dominates the dash, flanked by a 10-inch driver display, while physical controls remain—thankfully—for key functions. The X-spoke steering wheel looks like it belongs in a concept car, and the dashboard flows seamlessly into the doors, creating a wraparound, cocoon-like effect.

Materials and craftsmanship are where DS is staking its claim. This is not a brand trying to out-German the Germans; it’s offering an alternative—one built on texture, detail, and a certain Parisian flair.

And then there’s the ride. DS’s Active Scan suspension system uses cameras and sensors to read the road ahead and adjust damping in real time. It’s the kind of tech that sounds like a gimmick until you drive over a broken stretch of pavement and realize the car already knew it was coming.

Pricing is expected to start around £40,000 for the hybrid and £45,000 for the EV, putting it right in the crosshairs of established players. It’ll be built in Italy alongside its corporate cousins, but DS is betting that design, comfort, and technology will justify the premium.

That’s the gamble here. The No7 isn’t just another entry in a crowded segment—it’s a statement of intent. If it succeeds, DS moves from niche curiosity to serious contender. If it doesn’t, well, there’s no understating what’s at stake.

Either way, this is the car that will define what DS becomes next.

Source: DS Automobiles

NEW CARS

Audi Q9: The SUV That Replaces the Audi A8’s Crown

Audi doesn’t do subtle when it comes to flagships. And with the arrival of the Audi Q9 later this year, Ingolstadt is making it clear that the age of the limousine as the ultimate expression of luxury is fading in the rearview mirror.

This is the new apex predator of the lineup—a high-riding, three-row monument to excess that quietly ushers out the Audi A8 and replaces it with something far more in tune with what buyers in places like the United States, China, and the Middle East actually want: size, presence, and a commanding view over traffic.

Positioned above the already sizable Audi Q7, the Q9 isn’t just bigger—it’s a statement. Expect a silhouette defined by a long, imposing hood and an even more imposing evolution of Audi’s signature single-frame grille, now stretched and sharpened into something that looks less like a design feature and more like a declaration of intent. If subtlety was ever part of the brief, it didn’t survive the first sketch.

Inside, Audi is shifting the luxury conversation rearward. Like its sedan predecessor, the Q9 is engineered with passengers in mind—particularly those not holding the steering wheel. Buyers will be able to choose between a conventional seven-seat layout or a six-seat configuration with individual rear thrones that promise the sort of comfort typically reserved for private jets and boardrooms. In other words, this isn’t just a family hauler; it’s a rolling executive lounge.

Under the skin, the Q9 is expected to ride on an extended version of the Premium Platform Combustion (PPC), the Volkswagen Group’s latest toolkit for large, combustion-powered luxury vehicles. Translation: big engines, long wheelbases, and the kind of refinement that can smother rough pavement without breaking a sweat.

And yes, there will be a proper engine to match the attitude. The range is likely to culminate in an SQ9 variant packing a twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8—because if you’re going to build a flagship SUV in 2026, restraint is not part of the equation.

Audi CEO Gernot Döllner didn’t mince words when introducing the model: the Q9 is the new flagship. More importantly, it’s a car built with global heavy-hitters in mind, particularly the American market, where bigger has long meant better, and SUVs have all but replaced sedans in the luxury hierarchy.

Interestingly, the Q9 won’t stand alone for long. It will reportedly underpin a future flagship SUV from Porsche, currently known by the codename K1. That model, expected later this decade, will share production roots in Bratislava, Slovakia—further proof that in the modern automotive world, even the most exclusive machines are often part of a bigger corporate puzzle.

So here we are. The A8 is gone, the SUV has taken the throne, and Audi’s new flagship doesn’t glide low to the ground—it towers over it. Whether that says more about progress or preference depends on where you’re sitting. Ideally, in the back seat of a Q9.

Source: Audi