News

On AutoNext, you’ll find the most important automotive news from Europe and beyond: filtered, analysed, and placed in the right context.

LEGO is turning the Jaguar E-Type into a 1,673-piece British Racing Green icon
Article
10/07/2026

LEGO is turning the Jaguar E-Type into a 1,673-piece British Racing Green icon

LEGO has revealed a new Icons set recreating the Jaguar E-Type roadster, set number 11381, with 1,673 pieces and a price of 139.99 euro. Finished in British Racing Green, it features opening doors, bonnet and boot, a retractable fabric-style roof, classic wire-wheel styling and a tool kit in the boot, with mostly printed details rather than stickers. It joins LEGO's Icons car line and goes on sale on 1 August 2026.

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XPeng's new L03 is a sleek, cheap electric SUV-coupe heading to Europe
Article
10/07/2026

XPeng's new L03 is a sleek, cheap electric SUV-coupe heading to Europe

XPeng is bringing its budget Mona sub-brand to Europe with the L03, a compact electric SUV-coupe with styling led by former Ferrari designer Juanma Lopez. It offers 56 kWh or 69 kWh LFP batteries for around 525 to 625 km of range on China's CLTC cycle, a 245 hp single motor and a slippery 0.228 drag coefficient, plus XPeng's in-house Turing AI chips and camera-only assisted driving. A full reveal lands on 16 July 2026, with a European launch planned for 2026 at a price meant to sit below the G6 (which starts at 41,490 euro). European pricing is not yet confirmed.

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MG revives its cheeky supermini spirit with the electric GO! concept, and a 2027 production car
Article
10/07/2026

MG revives its cheeky supermini spirit with the electric GO! concept, and a 2027 production car

MG has revealed the GO! concept at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, a compact five-door electric supermini that revives the cheeky, affordable spirit of cars like the MG ZR. Penned by design director Carl Gotham's team, it borrows cues from the MGB GT, Metro Turbo and 6R4 rally car while keeping a modern, budget-EV brief. A production version is confirmed for 2027, possibly badged MG2, and it will square up to the Renault 5, MINI Cooper E, VW ID. Polo, Citroen e-C3, BYD Atto 1 and Honda Super One. MG has not yet revealed the battery, power or price.

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BYD's Denza Bao 5 is a 544 hp plug-in off-roader gunning for the Defender
Article
10/07/2026

BYD's Denza Bao 5 is a 544 hp plug-in off-roader gunning for the Defender

Denza, BYD's premium sub-brand, has revealed the Bao 5, its first SUV for Europe and a rugged, ladder-frame plug-in hybrid off-roader aimed squarely at the Land Rover Defender. Its Dual Mode Off-road system combines two electric motors and a 1.5-litre petrol engine for 544 hp and 0-100 km/h in 4.8 seconds. A 31.8 kWh battery gives around 90 km of electric range, with a combined 864 km total. Prices start at 69,500 pounds, with European orders opening this summer and deliveries in Q4.

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Belgium wants a road vignette from 2027, and yes, Belgians will have to pay it too
Article
10/07/2026

Belgium wants a road vignette from 2027, and yes, Belgians will have to pay it too

Belgium is planning to introduce a mandatory road vignette from 1 May 2027 for cars and vans using its main roads, both motorways and regional roads. The annual vignette would cost between 90 and 125 euro, with shorter-term options of roughly 10 to 20 euro required by EU rules. Because those same rules ban a foreigners-only charge, Belgian drivers will have to pay it too, on top of the existing annual road tax. The aim is to make foreign road users contribute.

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The new DS N°7 is a first-class French EV, and DS is still criminally underrated
Article
10/07/2026

The new DS N°7 is a first-class French EV, and DS is still criminally underrated

DS Automobiles has revealed the N°7, a new premium compact SUV built on the STLA Medium platform and focused on comfort and refinement. E-TENSE electric versions offer 230, 245 or 350 hp, with two French-made batteries of 73.7 or 97.2 kWh giving up to 740 km of WLTP range and 20-80 percent charging in around 27 minutes, plus a 145 hp hybrid. Inside there is Nappa leather, Alcantara, wood, 14-speaker audio and massaging seats. Prices in France run from around 44,000 to 77,500 euro, with deliveries from late 2026.

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A small Belgian firm is testing a self-driving Maserati on the motorway, and it's a European first
Article
10/07/2026

A small Belgian firm is testing a self-driving Maserati on the motorway, and it's a European first

AIdoptation, a technology company from Sint-Truiden in Belgian Limburg, says it is the first in Europe allowed to test a Level 4 self-driving car on public motorways. Its system is fitted to an electric Maserati GranTurismo Folgore, running a 100 km route on the E313 and E314 highways with a professional safety driver aboard to intervene if needed. Unlike most self-driving projects, which focus on low-speed city driving, AIdoptation is tackling motorway speeds of 120 km/h. Engineer Louis Joris calls it a massive milestone.

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Someone made the Bugatti Bolide road-legal, and it has 1,825 hp
Article
10/07/2026

Someone made the Bugatti Bolide road-legal, and it has 1,825 hp

British specialist Lanzante has created the world's first road-legal Bugatti Bolide, converting Bugatti's most extreme, previously track-only hypercar for use on public roads. It keeps the monstrous 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16 producing 1,825 hp, with 0-100 km/h in 2.2 seconds, but adds integrated headlights and softened suspension to cope with real roads and speed bumps. The first car debuted at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in exposed carbon with a reflective Klaussen livery.

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The wild Apollo EVO is finally production-ready, and it's a screaming V12 dream
Article
10/07/2026

The wild Apollo EVO is finally production-ready, and it's a screaming V12 dream

The track-only Apollo EVO is finally production-ready, with its first customer car, named Caribbean Dragon, debuting at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. A development of the Apollo Intensa Emozione, it uses a Ferrari-built 6.3-litre naturally aspirated V12 producing 800 hp to the rear wheels via a six-speed sequential gearbox, in a car weighing just 1,300 kg. Only 10 will be built at more than 3 million pounds each, each an obsessive coachbuilding exercise.

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RUF just built the world's first boxer-eight, a 1,000 hp flat-eight with a manual
Article
10/07/2026

RUF just built the world's first boxer-eight, a 1,000 hp flat-eight with a manual

Independent German engineering house RUF has revealed the B8, a bespoke twin-turbocharged 4.8-litre flat-eight, or boxer-eight, engine producing more than 1,000 hp and 1,000 Nm, mated to RUF's own six-speed manual. It is the first boxer-eight ever built in this form, a layout even Porsche only ever used in racing. It debuts at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in a lengthened, rear-mid-engined CTR3 prototype driven by Tanner Foust, and is set to shape a future RUF model.

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The new AMG CLA 45 is a 680 hp electric rocket that pretends to be a petrol car
Article
09/07/2026

The new AMG CLA 45 is a 680 hp electric rocket that pretends to be a petrol car

The new Mercedes-AMG CLA 45 4MATIC+ has gone fully electric, using three axial-flux motors, two rear, one front, for 680 hp of peak power and a 2.7-second 0-100 km/h sprint. On an 800-volt platform it charges at up to 330 kW (10-80 percent in 22 minutes) and offers up to 670 km of WLTP range in the saloon, or 640 km in the new Shooting Brake. It has fully variable all-wheel drive, active aero and an AMGFORCE S+ mode that simulates the sound and gearshifts of a combustion AMG.

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Maserati is heading back to GT4 racing with a 700+ hp GranTurismo
Article
09/07/2026

Maserati is heading back to GT4 racing with a 700+ hp GranTurismo

Maserati has previewed Project GT4 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, a GranTurismo-based race car developed by Maserati Corse for the international GT4 category. It uses the 3.0-litre twin-turbo Nettuno V6 with F1-derived pre-chamber combustion, front-mounted and rear-driven, making over 700 hp in racing form, and it is around 400 kg lighter than the road car. Engineered in Modena, it wears a centennial livery marking 100 years of the Trident and targets a competitive debut in the 2028 season.

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The McLaren 788HS is the wildest send-off for one of the great supercar platforms
Article
09/07/2026

The McLaren 788HS is the wildest send-off for one of the great supercar platforms

McLaren has revealed the 788HS, the most extreme and final car built on its long-running 720S platform, debuting at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. It uses a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 with 788 hp and 800 Nm, weighs just 1,265 kg dry for a class-leading 623 hp per tonne, and hits 0-100 km/h in 2.8 seconds with a 330 km/h top speed. It gets a carbon aero package with 10 percent more downforce than the 765LT and Senna-derived brakes. Just 200 will be built, 100 coupes and 100 Spiders.

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