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Volvo produced one million XC40 units at the Belgian plant

The Ghent plant is one of the most profitable facilities of the Swedish car manufacturer Volvo, where EX40/XC40 models are produced. It is a subcompact luxury crossover SUV that arrived on the market in 2017, and a few days ago, the company announced that one million XC40s left this plant.

Aside from conventional petrol and diesel engines, a plug-in hybrid model was introduced in 2019, and a battery electric vehicle model was released a year later. Both the plug-in hybrid and the battery electric versions were marketed as the XC40 Recharge. In 2024, Volvo renamed the battery electric XC40 to the Volvo EX40, aligning it with newer battery electric models such as the EX30 and the EX90.

In 2023, the XC40 was Volvo’s second best-selling model, after the XC60, while increased demand for the smaller model, the EX30, in early 2024 pushed the XC40 into third place.

In April, Volvo announced that it was moving the production of the EX30 model to its factory in Ghent, with which this plant will reach its maximum production capacity. Last year, about 230,000 units left the factory in Ghent, of which 60 percent were electric cars.

Source: Volvo

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Tesla Cybercab has arrived

After seeing the unsuccessful presentation of the Robotaxi Verne in June, yesterday we could witness another presentation of this type of vehicle. It’s the long-awaited Tesla Cybercab that was supposed to debut in August, but it didn’t happen because the company wanted to improve the vehicle with some new technological solutions.

The Cybercab design is inspired by the Cybertruck model. It is equipped with a full-length LED light line in the front, a light line in the back, and a butterfly door that no other Tesla car has. Also, since it is an autonomous vehicle, there are no side mirrors and no back glass either.

Inside, as expected, a minimalist design with a large central infotainment screen and two seats, without a steering wheel or pedals.

The car is Musk’s desire to impress investors and Tesla fans may help the company’s shares, which have not seen much growth this year due to weak sales of electric cars. However, some feel that Tesla is still far behind Waymo.

Although the Cybercab is equipped with Tesla’s latest autonomous driving systems, Missy Cummings, a professor at George Mason University and an expert in artificial intelligence who advises the California DMV on the topic of autonomous vehicles, believes that Tesla is not a serious candidate for real applications of autonomous driving. “I think they are at least 10 years away from implementation.”

The company stopped reporting to the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) back in 2019, nor does it update outside experts or the media on its progress. Regulators have been closely monitoring Tesla’s Autopilot and fully autonomous driving programs for some time, and the technical problems surrounding those programs suggest that it will be extremely difficult to fulfill Musk’s vision anytime soon.

Source: Tesla, Forbes

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Tesla Cybercab has arrived
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2025 Alpine A390_β Concept

In recent years, the demand for SUVs has been on the rise, and many manufacturers who have long resisted offering their customers this type of vehicle are now slowly entering this market. One of the newcomers to the SUV market is the French company Alpine, which has announced the arrival of its first SUV car with the Alpine A390_β concept.

The Alpine A390 brings standard B roof racks and five doors, and the designers have promised that the production version will retain 85 percent of the elements that adorn the concept model. Also, the company insists that the name will be A390 sport fastback. The interior of the car, enough to accommodate five passengers, will be modern and functional, inspired by some solutions from Formula 1.

When it comes to the powertrain, the SUV will be powered by three electric motors, one on the front and two on the rear axle, with adaptive drive on both axles, and the driver will be able to choose only RWD.

The A390 will be the second electric model of the French manufacturer, but not the last, as the company plans to offer at least seven fully electric cars by the end of the decade. One of them is the Coupé A310, which with a 2+2 seat configuration should be the company’s answer to the competitive Porsche 911.

Source: Alpine

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2025 Alpine A390_β Concept