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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.

The Porsche 911 Carrera will leave the factory on Hankook tyres for the first time, fitted with the Ventus S1 evo Z in 235/40 ZR19 at the front and 295/35 ZR20 at the rear. Both carry Porsche's NA2 sidewall marking, confirming they were developed specifically for the car. It follows around a decade of Hankook supplying Porsche as an OE partner.

Mansory has built a one-off Tesla Cybertruck called the Elongation for Jake Paul, adding a full forged carbon widebody kit, 26-inch wheels, a roof-mounted LED bar and a dual-split rear wing. Inside, Tesla's white cabin becomes a blue-and-white two-tone in leather and Alcantara. It was delivered by Mansory's US dealer Limited Spec in Miami, with the price undisclosed.