Kia records sales growth in April

Few companies can boast of sales growth, and Kia is one of them. According to published data, in April the South Korean manufacturer achieved a sales growth of 0.5 percent worldwide (274,437 units), which is a good sign that the company is successfully holding up under pressure from Chinese automakers.

51,005 vehicles were sold in the domestic market, which represents an increase of 7.4 percent compared to the same period last year. The highest demand was for the Sorento models (8,796 units), Carnival (7,592 units), and Sportage (6,703 units).

Among all-electric cars, customers chose the EV3 model the most, which took the title of World Car of the Year for 2025. The EV3, along with the EV4 sedan that will soon arrive in Europe and the Tasman pick-up, is the manufacturer’s main hope this year. Thanks to them, Kia managed to achieve sales growth worldwide and also boost sales of SUVs that were the leaders in sales. The Kia Sportage was the best-selling with 47,737 units, followed by the Seltos with 25,543 units, and the Sorento with 23,855 units sold.

In order to maintain and strengthen its position in the market, in March Kia presented the EV2 Concept, as a new step in its Opposites United design philosophy. This model should help achieve the set goals, as the company announced that it will be one of the most affordable all-electric crossovers on the market with a price of around 30,000 euros.

Source: Kia

Ford Mustang GTD was faster than ever on Nürburgring Nordschleife

At the end of 2024, the Ford Mustang GTD showed all its power on the most famous track in the world, the Nurburgring Nordschleife, achieving the best time in the American production car category. However, a few days ago, the Mustang GTD showed that it can do better.

On the 20.8 km long track, the Mustang GTD set a time of 6 minutes and 52.072 seconds, which is 5 seconds faster than its previous record. How good this result is is also shown by the fact that the Mustang GTD is faster than the Porsche 918 Spyder, Porsche 911 GT3, Ferrari 296 GTB and Lamborghini Aventador SV.

After setting the first record, Ford realized that the Mustang GTD could give more. They started improving the chassis by increasing torsional rigidity, improving aerodynamics, upgrading the ABS and traction control system, and calibrating the powertrain. In the end, the result was impressive and deserved.

The Mustang GTD is powered by a 5.2-L Coyote V8 engine assisted by a mechanical supercharger with about 800 hp (597 kW) at 7,500 rpm, paired with an 8-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission that sends power to the rear wheels.

Source: Ford

Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut and Regera in drag race

In February, the guys from Carwow tested the Koenigsegg Jesko Attack against the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport in a drag race, where it didn’t prove successful. Now they’ve decided to pit it against two of the company’s supercars, the Koenigsegg Regera and the Jesko Absolut.

The Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut is powered by a 5.0-L bi-turbo V8 engine with 1,622 hp (1,209 kW) and 1,106 lb-ft (1,500 Nm) @ 5,100 rpm (on E85). The engine is paired with a 9-speed Koenigsegg Light Speed ​​​​​​Transmission (LST).

The Koenigsegg Regera is powered by a 5.0-L twin-turbo V8 engine combined with three electric motors for a total of 1,500 hp and 2,000 Nm of torque. Power is sent to the rear wheels via a single-speed torque converter gearbox.

Behind the wheel of the Koenigsegg Regera was Markus, who had broken two world records with these two models. Interestingly, the company had never compared these cars. After turning off traction control and stability control, they went to test.

In the first race, the Jesko Absolut had a way better start, leaving the Regera far behind. Then they decided to repeat the race but this time they adjusted the pressure in the Jesko Absolut tires, which this time were even more convincing. At one point, driver Mat Watson said: “This is frickin’ nuts!” They repeated the race two more times but the Jesko Absolut was better each time.

The Jesko Absolut covered the 1/4 mile in 8.9 seconds while the Regera covered the same distance in 10.2 seconds. During the race, the Jesko Absolut accelerated to 60 mph in 2.78 seconds while the Regera reached 60 mph in 3.4 seconds.

Starting from 2nd gear, Jesko showed his strength again and was convincingly faster than Regera. Then Watson decided to start from 4th gear at 80 km/h, Regera held on for a few seconds but after that Jesko drove like a rocket to 1/2 mile.

In the braking test at 60 km/h, Jesko confirmed his dominance in this duel.

Source: Carwow via YouTube

Cars and catalogues