Category Archives: NEW CARS

NEW CARS

Jaguar Type 01 Spotted Testing

Jaguar has spent the better part of a century building cars that growled, snarled, and occasionally leaked on expensive driveways. Now it’s trying something far riskier: convincing the ultra-luxury crowd that silence is the future.

And somewhere along the sun-drenched streets of Monte Carlo, wrapped in bright red camouflage foil, the first real glimpse of that future just rolled into view.

Officially named the Type 01, Jaguar’s upcoming electric flagship represents the most radical reset in the company’s modern history. Forget evolutionary redesigns or cautious electrification strategies. This is Jaguar tearing up the old playbook and setting fire to the remains.

The latest prototype photos reveal a car that’s dramatically more realistic than the theatrical concept Jaguar previously showed the world. Gone is the exaggerated two-door fantasy-car layout. In its place sits a sleek four-door grand tourer with proportions that still scream drama, even if the packaging finally acknowledges the existence of rear passengers.

And make no mistake: this thing is enormous.

At 5.2 meters long with a wheelbase stretching 3.2 meters, the Type 01 occupies the same rarefied air as cars from Rolls-Royce and Bentley. Massive 23-inch wheels fill out the arches, while the endless hood delivers classic Jaguar theater—even if there’s no V-8 hiding underneath it.

That hood, Jaguar insists, contains nothing more exciting than storage space.

The company has publicly denied rumors suggesting the Type 01 would use a gasoline-powered range extender tucked beneath the nose. Instead, the front compartment will serve as a trunk, compensating for limited cargo space in the rear. Charging ports integrated into the front fenders further emphasize the company’s all-in EV commitment.

Still, Jaguar knows luxury buyers won’t accept compromise disguised as innovation. So the numbers attached to the Type 01 border on absurd.

Three electric motors.
1,000 horsepower.
1,300 Nm of torque.

Those figures place the Type 01 firmly in hyper-sedan territory, despite Jaguar positioning it as a grand tourer rather than an outright performance car. If the company delivers on those promises, the Type 01 could become the most powerful production Jaguar ever built—and easily the fastest.

But straight-line speed isn’t really the story here.

The real challenge is whether wealthy buyers actually want a six-figure electric Jaguar at all.

That’s where the company’s gamble starts looking less like confidence and more like desperation. Jaguar’s traditional clientele—buyers raised on supercharged V-8s, long hoods, and old-money British swagger—haven’t exactly been begging for an ultra-modern EV reboot. Dealers around the world have reportedly expressed serious concern about the brand’s dramatic change in direction, warning that many longtime customers are walking away altogether.

And honestly, it’s not hard to see why.

The high-end luxury market may be slowly embracing electrification, but the world’s wealthiest enthusiasts still seem deeply attached to internal-combustion excess. Cylinders still matter. Noise still matters. Presence still matters. For many buyers in this segment, an electric drivetrain remains something to tolerate—not celebrate.

Jaguar, however, appears convinced that the future customer is someone entirely different.

The company no longer wants to compete with traditional German luxury sedans or aging sports coupes. Instead, it’s chasing a younger, wealthier, design-obsessed audience that sees electric propulsion as progressive rather than sacrilegious. The Type 01 isn’t trying to be the next F-Type. It’s trying to become a rolling piece of modern architecture.

Whether that vision succeeds is another question entirely.

We’ll see the production-ready Type 01 later this year, before sales begin in 2027. By then, Jaguar won’t just be unveiling a new car. It’ll be revealing whether one of Britain’s most iconic brands can survive a complete reinvention without losing the soul that made it matter in the first place.

Source: Jaguar

NEW CARS

BMW Sends the G80 Out with a Clutch Pedal and a Bang

BMW is closing the chapter on one of its most controversial modern M cars the only way it really knows how: with a limited-run special that leans hard into nostalgia, driver engagement, and just enough restraint to make enthusiasts argue about it for years.

Meet the BMW M3 CS Handschalter, a US-exclusive farewell to the sixth-generation BMW M3 and, more specifically, one of the last manual transmission M cars you’re likely to see in the modern era. It follows in the footsteps of the Z4 Handschalter in marking a quiet but definitive retreat from the six-speed manual in BMW M’s higher-output lineup.

At its core, this is still a CS model, which means BMW hasn’t simply bolted a clutch pedal into a standard car and called it a day. The Handschalter is 20 kg lighter than the regular M3, and up to 34 kg lighter when optioned with carbon-ceramic brakes. It sits 6 mm lower than the M3 Competition and receives the full CS chassis treatment: stiffer springs, dampers, and anti-roll bars tuned to sharpen response and reduce any remaining hint of softness.

Unlike the more familiar all-wheel-drive CS setup, this version returns to rear-wheel drive. That alone signals its intent. This is not the most secure, fastest-to-the-first-corner M3 configuration. It is the one that asks more of you—and gives more back when you get it right.

Power comes from BMW M’s twin-turbo inline-six, but in this application output drops to 473 hp, down 69 hp from the automatic CS. The reason is less philosophical than it sounds: BMW M limits torque and power on manual cars to preserve drivetrain durability. The eight-speed automatic can handle more abuse; the manual, not so much.

Even so, performance remains properly serious. BMW claims 0–60 mph in 4.1 seconds and a top speed of 180 mph, which places it firmly in “don’t mistake this for a nostalgia exercise” territory. It still moves like a modern M car should, just with an extra layer of mechanical involvement between driver and road.

Visually and tactically, it gets the full CS treatment: yellow daytime running lights, bold striping options, and a palette that swings from subdued black to louder greens, reds, and purples. Inside, carbon-fiber bucket seats dominate the cabin, reinforcing the car’s track-first identity while still pretending, at least faintly, that you might daily it.

At $103,750 in the US, it also sits in familiar CS territory: expensive, exclusive, and very deliberately positioned as the “final word” rather than a volume seller. Unsurprisingly, there’s no indication it will reach Europe, where the manual M3 has already been phased out in favor of automatic-only configurations since the G80 launched in 2020.

And while this car closes one door, BMW is already opening another. The next-generation M3 is expected next year, and for the first time, it will include a fully electric variant. That model will reportedly use a four-motor setup producing well over 1,000 hp, with software-designed “engine character” meant to replicate the feel and sound of a combustion M car.

Alongside it, a heavily updated turbocharged inline-six M3 will continue the combustion lineage, engineered to meet Euro 7 regulations. BMW M executives have even suggested both versions will be priced in the same general bracket, a move that signals just how seriously the brand is taking its transition.

So the M3 CS Handschalter isn’t just another limited-run special. It’s a closing statement. A reminder that, for all the talk of electrification and future-proofing, BMW still knows how to build a driver’s car that asks you to do the shifting yourself—one last time.

Source: BMW

NEW CARS

BYD Wants a Piece of the Defender Market with the New Ti7

BYD’s global expansion has largely been defined by sensible EVs and value-packed family haulers. But the Chinese giant is about to try something bolder: taking a swing at the king of the modern luxury off-roader. Enter the BYD Ti7, a seven-seat plug-in-hybrid SUV aimed squarely at the wildly successful Land Rover Defender.

And unlike some of the softer crossover imitators that merely borrow the Defender’s aesthetic cues, the Ti7 appears determined to weaponize them.

With squared-off proportions, bluff surfacing, and a tailgate-mounted spare wheel, the Ti7 leans hard into classic expedition-truck design language. There’s more than a hint of Toyota Land Cruiser in its upright stance too, although BYD’s interpretation feels more futuristic than retro. It’s ruggedness filtered through Shenzhen rather than Solihull.

Size-wise, the Ti7 slots neatly between the Defender 110 and Defender 130, giving BYD an opportunity to target buyers who want genuine three-row practicality without venturing into full-size SUV territory. That alone could make it one of the brand’s most ambitious products yet in Europe.

But the real story sits beneath the sheetmetal.

The Ti7 will be the first UK-bound BYD to use the company’s new performance-focused “DM-p” plug-in-hybrid system. The setup pairs a turbocharged 1.5-liter gasoline engine with dual electric motors — one on each axle — and a substantial 35.6-kWh lithium-iron-phosphate battery pack. BYD claims a 0–62 mph sprint in just 4.8 seconds, which would make this family-sized SUV quicker than many performance sedans from not that long ago.

More impressive still is the claimed electric-only range of 79 miles. If that figure holds up under real-world testing, the Ti7 could become one of the few plug-in hybrids capable of handling most weekday commuting without waking its combustion engine at all. In a segment where electrification often feels like an efficiency afterthought, BYD is making it central to the pitch.

Interestingly, the Ti7 isn’t being positioned as a hardcore off-roader despite the visual drama. While it shares DNA with the upcoming Denza B5, BYD says the two SUVs target very different buyers. The body-on-frame B5 is designed with genuine trail work in mind, whereas the monocoque-based Ti7 is aimed at customers who want the adventurous look without necessarily planning to climb mountains every weekend.

That distinction says a lot about where the SUV market is heading. The Defender itself has become less of a utilitarian tool and more of a luxury lifestyle statement, and BYD seems acutely aware of that shift. The Ti7 doesn’t need to out-crawl a Land Rover in Moab. It just needs to convince buyers that electrified performance, tech-heavy refinement, and bold styling matter more than locking differentials.

And BYD certainly isn’t lacking confidence on the tech front.

In China, the Ti7 is also available as a full battery-electric model compatible with BYD’s eye-opening “Flash” charging architecture, capable of handling charging speeds of up to 1500 kW. That’s a number so outrageous it almost sounds fictional in today’s infrastructure landscape. BYD plans to build 300 compatible chargers in the UK this year ahead of the launch of the Denza Z9 GT, although it remains unclear whether the fully electric Ti7 will follow the hybrid to Europe.

Pricing hasn’t yet been announced, but expectations are that the Ti7 will sit at the top of BYD’s UK lineup, above the BYD Sealion 7. That would likely place it directly in the orbit of premium European SUVs — exactly where Chinese brands once struggled to gain credibility.

Now they’re arriving with 4.8-second acceleration, nearly 80 miles of EV range, and enough road presence to make established players uncomfortable.

The Ti7 could make its UK debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this July, which would be fitting. Goodwood has increasingly become the stage where legacy automakers and ambitious newcomers collide, and BYD no longer looks like an outsider trying to get invited to the party.

It looks like a company ready to headline it.

Source: BYD