Tag Archives: vehicles

News

Dacia Spring Becomes Britain’s Cheapest New Car After £3,750 Price Cut

The Dacia Spring has never pretended to be anything other than what it is: the bare-minimum electric car for buyers who simply want cheap, simple mobility. Now, with a significant update for 2026 and a hefty price cut, it has doubled down on that mission—while quietly addressing its biggest weakness.

At £12,240, the updated Spring is officially the cheapest new car you can buy in the UK, electric or otherwise. That headline figure comes courtesy of a £3750 discount introduced by Dacia to mirror the UK government’s Electric Car Grant. Because the Spring is built in China, it doesn’t qualify for the official scheme, which offers up to £3750 off eligible EVs. Dacia’s response has been refreshingly direct: match the saving itself.

For buyers looking at finance, the numbers become even more compelling. On a four-year PCP deal, with a £2776 deposit and an annual mileage allowance of 6000 miles, the entry-level Spring comes in at £129 per month. In a market where even small petrol hatchbacks now flirt with £20,000, that positions the Spring as a genuinely disruptive proposition.

But price alone isn’t the whole story this time. The original Spring’s biggest flaw was performance—or the lack of it. The outgoing 45bhp and 65bhp motors made the car feel out of its depth anywhere beyond urban streets, particularly on faster A-roads and motorways. Dacia has clearly taken that criticism on board.

Both old motors have been dropped, replaced by new 70bhp and 101bhp units. The entry-level motor now gets the Spring from 0–62mph in 12.3 seconds, a vast improvement over the glacial 19.1 seconds of the old 45bhp version. Step up to the 101bhp option, priced from £13,240, and that sprint drops to 9.6 seconds—finally placing the Spring in the realm of what most drivers would consider acceptable for motorway use.

Dacia says these changes make the Spring “fit naturally into motorway traffic,” and while no one will confuse it with a hot hatch, the numbers suggest a car that no longer feels like a rolling compromise once speeds rise.

Powering both motors is a new 24.3kWh battery using lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) chemistry. This marks a first for any Renault Group model and reflects a growing industry shift toward LFP for entry-level EVs. Compared with conventional nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) batteries, LFP packs are cheaper to produce, more durable over time and offer improved thermal safety—key considerations in a budget-focused EV.

Range remains unchanged at 140 miles on the WLTP cycle, but that figure has always been more than adequate for the Spring’s intended use. Dacia claims it’s enough to “easily cover a full working week with a single charge,” and for urban commuters, that’s a fair assertion. Charging speeds have improved too, with range-topping Extreme models now capable of charging at up to 40kW, up from the previous 30kW standard rate. It’s still no rapid charger champion, but it shortens top-up times enough to matter.

Beyond the drivetrain, Dacia has quietly refined the Spring’s dynamics. An improved braking system with stronger assistance, a newly standard anti-roll bar and retuned suspension all aim to deliver better stability and confidence. Subtle aerodynamic tweaks have also reduced the drag coefficient from a lofty 0.743 to 0.665—still high by modern standards, but a meaningful improvement nonetheless.

These changes build on updates introduced last year and suggest a brand increasingly aware that even the cheapest car on sale still needs to feel competent, not compromised.

Customer deliveries of the updated Spring are scheduled to begin next spring. By then, the EV market will be even more crowded, but few rivals will be able to match the Spring’s blend of price, simplicity and now, finally, usable performance.

The Dacia Spring remains a car defined by restraint, but with this update, it no longer feels like a city-only experiment. Instead, it stands as a reminder that affordable electric mobility doesn’t have to mean settling for the bare minimum—just something thoughtfully engineered to do exactly what it promises.

Source: Autocar

News

Changan’s European Ambitions May Include a Proper Dream Car—and That’s the Point

As Chinese manufacturers continue their measured advance into Europe, Changan is already thinking beyond the sensible business of crossovers and market entry. The state-backed carmaker, newly arrived in the UK, is openly flirting with the idea of a “dream machine” — a halo car designed not to chase volume, but to build desire.

Changan’s immediate European ambitions are grounded in pragmatism. The Deepal S07 electric crossover is leading the charge into the UK retail market, with the smaller S05 set to follow. These are the kinds of cars that establish networks and credibility. But behind the scenes, something more aspirational may be brewing.

For a company with roots stretching back to 19th-century arms manufacturing, the notion of an emotional flagship might sound like a modern indulgence. Yet Changan’s history shows a steady evolution: licensed Jeep production in the 1950s, in-house model development from the 1980s, and a UK-based R&D presence dating back to 2010. This is not a brand arriving cold.

Speaking to Autocar, Changan’s design chief Klaus Zyciora — formerly a key creative force at Volkswagen and the man behind the ID.3, ID.4, ID.5 and ID. Buzz — framed cars as more than transport. They are, in his words, “freedom machines and dream machines,” and something worth celebrating. When pressed on whether Changan wanted one of its own, his response was tellingly brief: yes — just not yet.

Zyciora stopped short of confirming details, but the outline is easy to imagine. The company’s VIIA concept from 2023 — a dramatic, three-seat grand tourer — remains Changan’s most overtly sporting statement to date. With the rapid development cycles typical of the Chinese industry, a production interpretation within two or three years would not be unrealistic.

Brand structure may offer further clues. Changan operates three sub-brands: Avatr, Nevo and Deepal. Of these, Zyciora singled out Deepal as appealing to younger buyers with a more performance-led mindset — fertile ground for a brand-defining sports car. So far, Deepal’s global line-up has been sensible rather than sensational, spanning the S05, S07 and S09 crossovers, the L07 saloon and the rugged G318 4×4. A halo model would be a clear departure, but perhaps a necessary one.

According to Zyciora, Changan sees its future customer base as a “community”, with far more to come beyond today’s offerings. The challenge lies in walking the tightrope between innovation and acceptance — a familiar dilemma for any brand trying to go global.

Design, he argues, is where the risk is either managed or amplified. Push too hard to be radical and the result can tip from distinctive into alienating. Break every rule, and you may create an icon — or a costly misstep. In large organisations especially, the responsibility on designers is acute: a dream car should elevate a brand, not derail it.

That philosophy suggests any future Changan dream machine will be bold, but not reckless. Striking proportions, carefully judged originality and global appeal are likely to matter more than shock value. If and when it arrives, it may say as much about Changan’s confidence as it does about its design flair.

For now, the message is simple: the sensible cars come first. But somewhere in Changan’s European strategy, there’s room for a car built not just to sell, but to make people dream.

Source: Autocar

News

BMW’s Supercar Dream: Why Munich Keeps Teasing—and Delaying—the Ultimate M

For decades, BMW fans have insisted that the proper way to cap the M lineup isn’t with another SUV or a six-figure luxury cruiser, but with a genuine supercar. The XM, despite early whispers of M1 lineage, never came close. It’s a technological flagship, sure—but it’s no spiritual reboot of the E26. The idea of a dedicated, no-excuses performance machine sitting atop the M hierarchy has lingered like unfinished business. BMW keeps flirting with the concept. It just never seals the deal.

Lately, though, the company has given enthusiasts reason to believe that the impossible might be merely improbable. BMW has proven—repeatedly—that it can sell ultra-expensive, low-volume M cars to a willing audience. The 3.0 CSL did exactly that. Built to celebrate 50 years of M, it was essentially an M4 CSL underneath, wrapped in a bespoke, coach-built body inspired by the E9 “Batmobile.” Slightly more power, a manual gearbox, and a rumored €750,000 price tag later, all 50 examples were spoken for—despite costing more than four times as much as the €165,200 M4 CSL it was based on.

That wasn’t a one-off. BMW followed up with the Skytop, a radically reworked M8 turned into a two-seat convertible with a removable targa roof. Official pricing was never announced, but reports pegged it at around €500,000. Considering the standard M8 Convertible topped out at €193,400 in Germany, the math was eye-watering. Buyers didn’t care. Fifty units sold anyway.

Then came the Speedtop, a stunning shooting-brake take on the M8 Coupe. Same story: breathtaking design, limited production, a rumored half-million-euro price, and instant sellout. Seventy buyers signed on, proving once again that there’s a healthy appetite for Rolls-Royce money wrapped in BMW badges—provided the product is special enough.

That’s the crux of the argument. If BMW can sell multiple six-figure, limited-run M cars with ease, why not go all the way and build a supercar?

Because doing so is a very different beast.

Those special-edition cars all leaned heavily on existing platforms. The bones were already there; BMW merely reimagined the bodywork and assembly process. A true supercar would demand bespoke architecture, unique components, and years of development. That kind of project is hard to justify when BMW is already knee-deep in the largest investment in its history. According to outgoing CEO Oliver Zipse, the Neue Klasse program alone has cost over €10 billion, with roughly 40 new or updated models scheduled to arrive by the end of 2027.

Timing, in other words, is terrible.

Recent spy shots of a mysterious coupe wearing Neue Klasse styling sparked fresh rumors of a mid-engine M car, but insiders say that’s wishful thinking. The closest BMW came to reviving the M1 spirit was around 2020, with the M Vision Next concept—internally known as the I16. That project was meant to become reality, complete with a hybrid drivetrain. Then the pandemic hit, priorities shifted, and SUVs won the internal battle. Enter the XM.

Still, BMW M isn’t pretending the dream is dead. Earlier this year, M boss Frank van Meel was refreshingly honest about the situation. The desire is there, he said, but the capacity—and corporate green light—are not. The division doesn’t want to lose focus on its core high-performance models chasing a halo car, even if everyone involved secretly wants to build one. The message was clear: someday, maybe. Not now.

There’s also the uncomfortable elephant in the room: electrification. Electric supercars have struggled to ignite passion, and demand for sporty EVs remains lukewarm at best. At the same time, emissions regulations are tightening the noose around combustion engines. BMW M is working to keep its inline-six and V-8 engines compliant with Euro 7, buying itself a little more time. If a supercar ever does happen in the internal-combustion era, history suggests it would be a hybrid—engine mounted behind the driver, just as the canceled I16 envisioned.

For the moment, BMW has bigger fish to fry. Neue Klasse will redefine the brand’s lineup, ushering in models like the next-generation i3 and iX5, followed by an iX7, iX6, and even smaller EVs like the i1 and i2. There’s talk of an i3 Touring, plus a large, rugged SUV aimed squarely at the Mercedes G-Class. M, meanwhile, will juggle gasoline, plug-in hybrid, and electric performance cars as it rides its 14th consecutive year of growth.

A dedicated M supercar won’t be part of that immediate future—but the door isn’t closed. Sylvia Neubauer, BMW M’s Vice President of Customer, Brand, and Sales, has hinted that internal discussions are ongoing and that a slot for a small-series M car already exists. Translation: patience.

Logic says a true successor to the M1 won’t happen this decade. Hope says BMW has surprised us before. Given how quickly those half-million-euro specials vanished, one thing is certain: if Munich ever gives M the go-ahead to build a supercar, buyers will be waiting—checkbooks open, nostalgia fully engaged.

Source: BMWBlog