Genesis Magma GT Concept reappears at Le Mans with a stunning new interior

Lamborghini and Halo have built a one-off Urus SE dressed as Master Chief to launch Halo: Campaign Evolved, with armour-green paint, 117 graphics, gold visor-tinted glass and helmet-style headlights. Underneath it is a standard 789 hp plug-in hybrid Urus SE. Xbox is giving away 1:18 scale replicas rather than the real car, with entries open until 13 September.

Ford has revealed the Bronco Desert Rising, the first edition in a new Horizon Series from its Custom Garage. It covers a four-door Bronco Outer Banks in streaks of pink and magenta inspired by the Utah desert, with berry-coloured details and a serialised badge. Just 1,000 will be built at about 13,695 dollars over the standard car, and it is a United States exclusive.

Mercedes-AMG is retiring the A 45 S after 13 years with a Final Edition, ending the hand-built four-cylinder AMG hot hatch. It keeps the 421 hp 2.0-litre turbo and adds yellow accents, forged wheels and Dark Chrome details, but no mechanical changes. The M139 engine cannot meet Euro 7, so the A 35 and A 45 S are being withdrawn, with an electric AMG A-Class expected from 2028.

BMW has revealed long-wheelbase versions of the X5 and electric iX5 built exclusively in and for China, stretched by 130 mm to a 3,165 mm wheelbase, longer than the X7. The iX5 uses sixth-generation eDrive with over 1,000 km of range on the CLTC cycle, and the rear cabin gets a ceiling Theatre Screen and Panoramic iDrive. Both go on sale in early 2027, and neither comes to Europe.

The Freelander 8, first model of the reborn Freelander brand from the Chery and JLR joint venture, is reaching Chinese dealers ahead of pre-sales on 10 August. It is a six-seat luxury range-extender with a 46-inch dashboard display, zero-gravity rear seats and around 221 km of electric range on the Chinese cycle. It is a China-first car, with a Middle East version due later and no word on Europe.

LEGO has revealed set 4000048, a brick-built recreation of the Bugatti Type 35, but only 250 were made and none were sold. Every one was gifted to guests at the 26th International Bugatti Meeting by LEGO, Denmark and the Danish Bugatti Club. That makes a free LEGO set one of the rarest Bugatti collectibles of the year.

Bertone has revived its 1969 Runabout concept as a limited-production supercar called the Nero Aureo, with a supercharged V6 making 475 hp and a six-speed manual gearbox. Only 25 will be built, each individually configured through Bertone Centro Stile, at a starting price of 390,000 euro before VAT.

Zeekr Europe will unveil its newest model in a livestream on 29 July, a day after the five-seat 9X flagship SUV launches in China. It has not been named, but it is almost certainly a large luxury SUV, an 8X or a 9X. The Chinese 9X claims up to 1,250 km of range and around 1,400 hp, figures not yet confirmed for Europe.

Lance Stroll makes his 200th Formula 1 start at the Hungarian Grand Prix, becoming only the 25th driver in the sport's history to reach the figure and passing Alain Prost's number of starts. Across those 200 races the Canadian has three podiums, one pole and 325 points but no wins. At 27, and driving for a team his father owns, he still has years ahead.

Formula 1 will return to Malaysia's Sepang circuit on 2 to 4 October 2026, nine years after its last race there, but the round will be run as the Bahrain Grand Prix. Regional instability in the Middle East forced the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian rounds, and Sepang steps in to preserve the slot. Sepang last hosted F1 in 2017, won by Max Verstappen.

Porsche has provisionally secured the FIA Formula E Manufacturers' World Championship again at the Tokyo ePrix, where a third place for Jake Dennis sealed the title. It is a back-to-back manufacturers' win in Porsche's seventh straight Formula E season. The drivers' and teams' championships remain open and will be decided at the London finale on 15 and 16 August.

Mercedes has released a fresh teaser of an open-topped G-Class, its first convertible G since the old two-door Cabriolet. Unlike that car, the new one keeps the full four-door body and folds a fabric roof back over the rear. It is widely expected to be an AMG special using the twin-turbo V8, with a full reveal before the end of 2026. Mercedes has confirmed no specifications.

Volvo will give its electric cars access to more than 20,000 Tesla Superchargers across 29 European countries from the fourth quarter of 2026, using the Volvo Cars app to find a station, start a session and pay. Eligible models include the EX30, EX40, EC40, EX60, EX90 and ES90, all charging over the existing CCS connector. Japan and South Korea follow by 2029.

Apple's CarPlay Ultra takes over the full instrument cluster as well as the centre screen, drawing the dials, climate, radio and drive modes in Apple's own graphics. We tried it in the latest Aston Martin Vantage, the brand that launched it. More than a year on, Aston is still effectively the only carmaker shipping it, with Hyundai, Kia and Genesis due to follow later in 2026.

Liberty Walk founder Wataru Kato has wrapped Andretti's two Formula E cars in a mirror-chrome and blue livery based on an R34 Nissan Skyline GT-R for the Tokyo ePrix. Jake Dennis and Felipe Drugovich race the design at Formula E's first Japanese night race, in bespoke Liberty Walk suits. Formula E's rules ruled out an actual widebody, so Kato wrapped the cars instead.

Mercedes-AMG has launched a CLE 53 4Matic+ Coupe Edition R that adds blacked-out styling, 20-inch forged wheels, performance seats and a long list of equipment for roughly the same price as the standard car. The 449 hp straight-six powertrain is unchanged. It is exclusive to Australia, arriving in August 2026, and will not be sold in Europe.

Nissan has launched the Leaf Nismo in Japan with sports tyres, retuned suspension, Recaro seats and a ducktail spoiler, but no extra power over the standard car. The B5 keeps 174 hp and the B7 214 hp, unchanged from the regular Leaf. Prices run from around 38,000 to 42,000 euro converted, and there is no word yet on a European launch.

Some classics are trailer queens. This one is meant to be driven. Our AutoNext Car of the Week is a 1980 Porsche 911 SC 3.0 Targa, an ex-Swiss car in brown over beige and available at Auto's Van Beurden in Turnhout with 200,543 km, a full service book and 204 hp. Air-cooled, rear-driven and honestly documented, it is offered at a fitting €65,911.

Opel has confirmed the Corsa GSE for production as the most powerful production Corsa ever, with 280 hp, 345 Nm and a 0 to 100 km/h time of 5.5 seconds. The fully electric hot hatch gets a Torsen limited-slip differential, a bespoke sport chassis and four-piston brakes. It arrives later in 2026 with a public debut at the Paris Motor Show in October.

Chery has confirmed it will start selling under its own name in Belgium at the end of 2026, beginning with hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions of its Tiggo SUV range. A network of around twelve partner dealers is being prepared in and around Brussels, Antwerp, Liege and Namur. The group is already present here through Omoda and Jaecoo.

Bentley marked the Japanese debuts of the Continental GT S and the Supersports with a three-night takeover of Tokyo in June, lighting Tokyo Tower in Bentley green and putting the GT S on the LED screens above Shibuya Crossing. The Supersports also appeared at the Daikoku car meet on three consecutive nights. Over 100 guests attended the GT S unveiling beneath the tower.

Stellantis is about to build the Leapmotor B10 platform under four different badges, the Vauxhall Grandland, the Peugeot 3008, an Opel electric C-SUV and the Leapmotor B10 itself, all at its Zaragoza plant in Spain. A 4.1 billion euro CATL battery gigafactory is rising on the adjacent site, meaning the engineering and the cells behind all four cars now originate from the same Chinese partners. For buyers, the badge on the bonnet is starting to promise less about how the car was actually built.

Mulliner has created a Design Theme exclusive to the Bentley Continental GT Supersports, built around the first paint fade to run side to side across a Bentley rather than front to back. Three specifications are offered, each pairing a graduated exterior with a two-tone cabin. With the Supersports capped at 500 cars and production under way, it is a live configurator choice.

Leapmotor registered 48,261 cars in Europe in the first half of 2026, up 526.7 percent on the 7,701 of a year earlier, making it the fastest-growing brand in the EU according to ACEA figures. That puts it ahead of Porsche, Lexus, Honda, Alfa Romeo and Mitsubishi in absolute volume. Chery's Omoda and Jaecoo brands grew 268.7 percent over the same period.

German media report that Porsche plans to cut a further 5,000 to 6,000 jobs by 2035, mainly in administration, management and development in Germany, on top of reductions already agreed. It follows a 2025 in which net profit fell 91.4 percent to 310 million euro and the operating margin dropped to 1.1 percent. Porsche has not confirmed the figures.