News

A few become famous because people can recognise them from the other side of a circuit. The Manthey “Grello” Porsche is one of those cars. For the 2026 Nürburgring 24 Hours, Manthey is celebrating two milestones at once: 30 years of Manthey and 10 years of the Grello livery. To mark the occasion, the team will race a special one-off anniversary design that connects the yellow-and-green icon of today with the team’s earlier “Der Dicke” era.

Lexus has revealed the TZ, an all-new fully electric six-seat SUV designed to bring a different kind of luxury to the large EV segment. Lexus is leaning into something it understands very well: quietness, refinement, comfort and a very deliberate sense of calm. The brand calls the concept “Driving Lounge”, and honestly, that might be the most Lexus way possible to approach an electric three-row SUV. The new TZ is scheduled for launch in Europe in 2027.

In 2025, fully electric cars represented 95.9% of all new-car registrations in Norway, up from 88.9% in 2024. In December, the figure climbed even higher, to almost 98%. That means the petrol and diesel car have not just lost market share in Norway. They have effectively become exceptions. For the rest of Europe, where EV adoption is still uneven and often politically contested, Norway now looks less like an early adopter and more like a completed case study.

Revealed at Top Marques Monaco, the new ABT Urus SE takes the electrified Lamborghini SUV formula and adds more power, more carbon, more sound and more visual aggression. The result is not just a tuned Urus. It is ABT’s interpretation of what a hybrid performance SUV should look and feel like when restraint is no longer part of the brief. The numbers tell the first part of the story: 910 hp, 669 kW and 1,100 Nm of torque.

The market has shifted and Van Mossel has moved faster than many expected. The Dutch automotive group, active in Belgium since 2018, has now become the country’s largest car dealer group by new-car registrations. That is not just a commercial milestone. It says something much bigger about where car retail in Belgium and Europe is heading.

BMW M is giving its inline-six engines a very interesting future. From mid-2026, the BMW M2, BMW M3 and BMW M4 will receive a new engine technology called BMW M Ignite. It is a patented pre-chamber ignition system designed to improve efficiency under high load, especially during circuit driving, while also helping BMW M meet the upcoming Euro 7 emissions requirements.

At the second edition of Lamborghini Arena in Imola, the brand revealed the Fenomeno Roadster, an ultra-limited Few-Off open-top supercar with a 1080 hp V12 hybrid powertrain and a production run of just 15 units. That makes it the most powerful open-top Lamborghini ever created.

Some partnerships go far beyond supplying cars. The relationship between Alfa Romeo and the Carabinieri is one of them. At the Alfa Romeo Museum in Arese, the Italian brand has presented a new book titled Carabinieri and Alfa Romeo – for Italy, celebrating 75 years of collaboration between the Biscione and the Carabinieri Corps. It is not just a book about official vehicles. It is a story about post-war Italy, public service, national identity and the role certain cars played in the daily life of a country.

McLaren’s return to top-tier endurance racing is starting to look very serious. Just days after revealing the name and test livery of its new MCL-HY Hypercar, McLaren Racing has confirmed Laurens Vanthoor as the second driver for its 2027 FIA World Endurance Championship programme. He joins Mikkel Jensen, who recently completed the car’s first track running at Varano’s Autodromo Riccardo Paletti in Italy.