Time will tell to what extent the author of this rendering was right.

At the recently held Paris Motor Show, Renault presented a modern reinterpretation of the famous "four", but for now only in the form of the 4EVER Trophy concept, which caused quite a stormy reaction from car lovers.

The new Renault 4 has an electric drive, and it is logical to conclude that the production version, when it arrives in showrooms one day, will look more reduced than the concept, which contains many extravagant details.

Speculative renderings by independent designers have already appeared on the Internet, predicting the appearance of the production model based on the concept version. Among them is the one published by the website Motor1.com, which seems to have anticipated the design of the new production "four" quite accurately.

Time will tell to what extent the author of this render was right...

The latest deadly challenge on the social network TikTok is named after a Korean car manufacturer, and not by accident. Kia and Hyundai owners across the US have been reporting the same challenge-related problem for months: their cars are being stolen by thieves using just a USB cable.

It's about a new, crazy TikTok challenge, and what kind of danger it is, is best evidenced by the traffic accident in which four teenagers died in a stolen Kia Sportage. This is not the first time the accident has been linked to the Kia/Hyundai challenge. Two months ago, two 14-year-olds were killed and a third seriously injured in a stolen Hyundai Sonata in Ohio.

An accident related to this challenge also happened in Buffalo, when a 14-year-old girl from a stolen car ended up in the hospital, and a 16-year-old driver was taken into custody.

The first reports of the new TikTok challenge emerged in July, when the first videos were released on the social network showing car thieves targeting unlocked Kia and Hyundai vehicles and using a USB cable to start the engine.

At the end of August, Los Angeles police announced on Twitter that the number of thefts of Kia and Hyundai vehicles increased by 7 percent compared to last year and that the cause was most likely a challenge from the social network TikTok.

As Auto Klub reports, criminals target vehicles equipped with an old, mechanical key, while newer models with "smart" keys are spared this challenge.

Hard times are coming for traditional European manufacturers.

The situation on the European market is changing. The key players are also changing, and one electric car made it onto the best-selling list.

September 2022 is the first month when a Tesla car was the best seller on the Old Continent. The honor went to the Model Y crossover.

A total of 29,000 Model Ys were delivered to customers in September, while the Peugeot 208 took second place with 19,000 units.

Tesla's Model Y and 3 combined sold 42,000 units, which is four times more than the sales of Volkswagen's electric models ID.3 and ID.4.

Hard times are coming for traditional European manufacturers. Although they still count on gasoline and diesel cars, which sell well, there is a danger that manufacturers like Tesla and Chinese competitors will erode their market share in the future.

Tesla strategically took root in the European market by opening a factory near Berlin, which produces the Model Y.

SUV with sports suspension, 19-inch wheels and 300 hp.

Opel is expanding its performance-focused electrified range with the Grandland GSe, following the recently introduced Astra GSe.

The new top-of-the-line trim doesn't give this compact SUV any extra power over the standard AWD PHEV drivetrain, which delivers 300 hp (220 kW / 300 hp), but it does bring a sportier suspension setup and minor visual enhancements that set it apart from the rest of the range.

The Grandland GSe also owes its athletic nature to a set of 19-inch wheels inspired by the Manta GSe concept, a new diffuser and a GSe emblem on the tailgate.

A black hood is optional, matching the gloss black details on the emblem, fender vents, mirror housings, roof, spoiler and alloy wheels.

Like the regular facelifted Grandland, the GSe also features LED lights and the signature Opel Visor front fascia.

Inside we find a pair of AGR-certified sports seats upholstered in Alcantara, adding more lateral support without sacrificing comfort.

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As already mentioned, the drive system is a plug-in hybrid that combines a 1.6 turbo gasoline engine with two electric motors, which gives a total of 300 hp.

As expected, it is equipped with e-AWD all-wheel drive, and acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h is achieved in 6.1 seconds. The maximum speed is 235 km/h (135 km/h if driving exclusively on electric drive).

According to the WLTP, the consumption is 1.3 l/100 km, of course provided that you regularly charge the battery.

The GSe signature also indicates some additional modifications. Opel's SUV thus has stiffer springs and shock absorbers with KONI FSD (frequency selective damping) technology, which enables different damping characteristics for handling versus comfort.

The price has not been announced yet, but Opel has announced that the Grandland GSe will arrive on the market soon.

Toyota embraces polemical design with the Avalon's tall four-door successor, the 2023 Crown.

Nobody ever argued about the Toyota Avalon, which was universally described as "perfectly nice." But Toyota, in case you haven't noticed, is no longer content with inoffensive competence. So it replaced the Avalon with the 2023 Crown, a jacked-up four-door coupe-roof sedan that looks like a 1999 Subaru Legacy SUS and a Local Motors Rally Fighter had a baby. The fact that this thing succeeds the Avalon reveals a lot about Toyota corporate culture right now, which we imagine as Rumspringa in Toyota City. What will it build next, and will it be the result of a dare?

The Crown—a nameplate that dates to 1955 in Japan—is 3.7 inches taller than a Camry and twice as extroverted. The high-riding stance is mostly posturing, given that the Crown's ground clearance is only 5.8 inches, just a tenth of an inch higher than the Camry's. But its optional 21-inch wheels look concept-car enormous on a vehicle this size, and the Platinum model's available two-tone paint brings some Maybach attitude to the near-luxury-sedan segment.

The Crown's two available hybrid powertrains differ in more than just power output. It's really like there are two Crowns—the base XLE and Limited for people who might actually be replacing an Avalon, as well as the Platinum Hybrid Max models that step brazenly into Lexus territory in terms of pricing and performance. All-wheel drive is standard either way, with the XLE and Limited using a naturally aspirated 2.5-liter four-cylinder paired with three electric motors to deliver a total of 236 horsepower through a continuously variable transmission. The rear axle is electric-only—there's no driveshaft—and its motor makes 54 horsepower and 89 pound-feet of torque. That's enough, Toyota tells us, to ensure that all-wheel drive remains available at all speeds, although we can't imagine the rear end is doing much if you boot it at 80 mph. This powertrain isn't the enthusiast choice, with Toyota claiming a safe and sane 7.6-second 60-mph time, but it does have an impressive EPA combined fuel-economy rating of 41 mpg. Curiously, while the revised 2023 Corolla Hybrid gets a lithium-ion high-voltage battery, the upmarket Crown sticks with nickel-metal hydride.

The optional Hybrid Max powertrain, available only in the Platinum, more closely aligns the Crown's performance with its bold sheetmetal. A turbocharged 2.4-liter four teams up with two electric motors to deliver 340 horsepower and 400 pound-feet of torque, while EPA combined fuel economy drops to 30 mpg. In the Max, the water-cooled rear motor makes 79 horsepower and 124 pound-feet and is always engaged (the base powertrain goes front-drive until the rear wheels need traction). Stacking the gains, Toyota bolts the turbo four to a six-speed automatic that uses a wet clutch instead of a torque converter. Hello, silky rev-matched downshifts. Intriguingly, the clutch will allow a high-rpm launch-control mode, which Toyota says is in the works and would likely drop the claimed 5.7-second 60-mph sprint even lower. The Platinum trim also gets adaptive dampers that make the Crown a surprisingly willing partner when the road gets twisty.

Inside, the Crown's cabin is reminiscent of the dearly departed Land Cruiser—not flashy but impeccably assembled with quality materials. It looks as if a scuffed driver's seat bolster might be the only tell when the odometer hits 200,000 miles. The Platinum's leather front seats are heated and ventilated, and the rear seats are also heated. The sleek climate control panel, immediately below the 12.3-inch touchscreen, would look perfectly at home in a $100,000 Lexus. The only letdown is the 11-speaker JBL audio system in the Limited and Premium (XLEs get a basic six-speaker system). The JBL sounds as if 10 of its 11 speakers might be tweeters, and yes, we checked the settings and tried different cars. Toyota says the system was "acoustically tuned for Toyota Crown to match unique vehicle characteristics," so maybe that means it expects the Crown demographic to listen to crime podcasts and NPR.

Like the old U.S.-market Land Cruiser, the Crown is built solely in Japan, at the Tsutsumi plant. And perhaps Toyota hopes that the Crown might capture a few orphan Land Cruiser owners in search of that signature anti-brand-snob Toyota luxury experience. Crown pricing starts at $41,045 for an XLE and ranges up to $53,445 for a Platinum. Is that too expensive for a Toyota sedan?

We'd say not, but the Crown's value proposition is up for debate as much as its style. Toyota hopes to sell about 20,000 Crowns a year in the U.S., which is a healthy goal but not one that demands mainstream conformity. Maybe you hate the way the Crown looks—that's fine. Toyota is fully aware haters gonna hate, and it truly doesn't care. If we're bickering over the Crown, we're talking about the Crown.

To that point, you don't offer two-tone paint if you're looking for unanimous consensus. That option, only available on the Platinum, brings a gloss black hood, roof, and rear decklid, set against extroverted lower-body colors like "Bronze Age." The two-tone paint costs $550 extra, and we'd say it's mandatory. But we'd be happy to argue about it.

Source: caranddriver.com

Recently, Volkswagen's CEO and chairman of the board of Seat, Thomas Schaefer, told the UK's Autocar the following:

"We are not killing Seat. We just need to decide on its future. We are still working on plans for Seat. Everything is fine until 2028 or 2029. It is an entry-level brand for young buyers. It is really doing well in Europe, especially Spain, the UK and Austria."

It is interesting that despite the drop in sales of Seat, the CEO of Volkswagen reassures British journalists and says that they do not intend to kill Seat. This becomes even more interesting when it is known that a little later in the conversation for Autocar Schaefer adds that the Cupra is the future of Seat, that it is its new version.

It is she who must first undergo electrification.

But Schaefer claims that they are still working on the direction Seat will go. He also says that it may be a "mobility brand", but it is difficult to say what is hidden behind such a phrase. Seat fans suspect that it is no good.

Cupra instead of Seat?

Cupra is certainly a success of the VW group, writes the website Automobili.ba. From a name that stands for a package of equipment, they developed a new brand from scratch that hit the wallets of customers.

Although at first it was thought that it was just a rebranded Seat, after Cupra presented the Formentor - no one was laughing anymore.

If you don't believe that this is a sales hit, just look at the numbers - 50,000 units sold in 2021, and this year will be even better, because by the end of August alone, 57,000 vehicles have already found buyers.

Meanwhile, since the Cupra made its debut as a separate brand, Seat sales have started to fall month after month. In July 2022, they sold 45% less than in July 2021, and in August that drop was 42%.

According to information from the British Autocar, Seat has the lowest priority in the VW group in terms of semiconductor procurement, and it also does not offer any electric cars.

Cupra has Born. Some may not remember, but this car was presented in concept form in 2019 as the Seat El-Born, but then suddenly disappeared from Seat and reappeared under the Cupra logo. Coincidence or not?

VW realized that the Cupra hit the target group perfectly

Young people with money buy a car with emotions, eyes, and only then with calculations. Also, there is the Spanish temperament which is visible at first glance.

If Seat does not take the job seriously, its future will not be bright, because the Volkswagen group, like any large concern, is not too sentimental.

The Paris Motor Show brought many news, in the form of new models, but also stories about the future of certain brands. Alfa Romeo, an Italian company that has been in financial trouble for several years, still has a bright future, according to the main man of Stellantis.

Carlos Tavares talked to the media during the Paris Motor Show and talked about the legendary brand Alfa Romeo. On this occasion, he stated that the Italian brand will achieve record financial results this year.

"The most difficult times have definitely passed and Alfa is on the right track." Alfie is doing very well, we have turned the business around and it is now profitable. This brand is now in a situation where it can finance its own future," said Tavares. According to him, the turnaround was done even before the launch of the Tonale model.

Tavares guarantees that Alfa's future is secure, and for many years to come. "This will be a record year for the brand." Alpha is quiet for the next 10 years. "Since we created Stellantis, her turnaround has been spectacular," adds the Stellantis chief.

As a reminder, recently Alfa Romeo was in a hopeless situation with only two active models. Tonale was recently introduced, a compact SUV model that immediately won the place of the brand's best-selling model. At the same time, a number of novelties were announced for 2024, including a sedan positioned above the Giulia model.

As Index.hr writes, Carlos Tavares emphasized that Alfa Romeo, DS and Lancia are three premium brands in Stellantis and that as such they can now make a "limited contribution to the group compared to other brands". However, much more is expected from these brands in the future.