News

Mercedes has launched the GLE L in China, a 3,115 mm wheelbase version built by BBAC in Beijing instead of being imported from Tuscaloosa. It comes as a 258 hp GLE 350 L and a 381 hp GLE 450 L, with Level 2++ assistance from Momenta and a Doubao-based voice assistant. Europe does not get it.

Toyota's Gazoo Racing arm has started selling the GR KART in Japan at 385,000 yen, about 2,150 euros, through 36 kart tracks and seven GR Garages. The 83 kg, 215 cc four-stroke kart was benchmarked at a quarter of a European-made kart's price, fits in a Toyota Noah without disassembly and adjusts for drivers from 135 to 185 cm. Twelve of them race on the streets of Gotsu on 13 September.

BMW M and BMW Motorrad have built a nine-model 100 Jahre Nürburgring edition for the circuit's 2027 centenary: the M2, M3 Sedan and Touring, M4 Coupé, M5 Sedan and Touring, plus the M 1000 RR, R and XR. Only the three motorcycles carry a number, 100 each worldwide.

Renault has revealed the Niagara in Argentina, the first compact pickup in its history and the first of the 14 models it promised for markets outside Europe by 2030. Santa Isabel in Córdoba will be the only plant building it, sales start in November, and Renault has ruled Europe out.

Bovensiepen has revealed its third model, a 99-car roadster built in Buchloe on the bones of the BMW Z4. The twin-scroll turbocharged straight six makes 435 hp and 580 Nm, enough for 4.2 seconds to 100 km/h and 295 km/h with the Performance Pack. It costs €115,500 in Germany, a third of what the Zagato did, and BMW stopped building the Z4 in May.

Ferrari spent the two days after the fifth round of the FIA WEC season testing at the Circuit of the Americas, running a camouflaged 499P that carries a full evolution package for 2027, effectively the 499P EVO. The point was data correlation: by testing on the same track it had just raced on, with the same drivers, Ferrari could match real race data against the new car. James Calado, Antonio Fuoco, Nicklas Nielsen and Yifei Ye drove both the EVO and their 2026 race cars.

BMW has moved the iX5 Hydrogen into its next pre-production phase, running prototypes through a full road-testing programme while simultaneously assembling the third-generation fuel cell system in Munich and preparing factories in Steyr, Austria. It will be the first hydrogen-powered BMW production model, targeting up to 750 km of range, sub-five-minute refuelling and 0 to 100 km/h in under five seconds. Testing the car and building the production line at the same time is the clearest sign yet that BMW means it.

At Automechanika Frankfurt, ZF Aftermarket has put more than 100 electric-axle repair kit variants into its catalogue, so an independent workshop can change the bearings inside an electric drive unit instead of scrapping the whole assembly. Three further kits cover hybrid versions of its 8HP gearbox. ZF's parts range already reaches 92 percent of Europe's 20 most common electric cars. Chinese brands are the hole in it.

Volvo has given the XC40, EX40 and EC40 their first serious styling update in nine years, along with a Matrix LED signature, an 11.2-inch screen and Google Gemini. The pricing is the surprise: on the Belgian list the electric EX40 now starts lower than before while the petrol XC40 climbs by more than 4,000 euros. In the United States, Volvo is deleting the EX40 altogether.