Welcome to My Car Week, a newsletter by Thomas Gigold. I’ve been writing about cars and mobility for 20 years now. Feel free to share & subscribe, helping me to keep it real. ✌️

Hello again.

This issue of my little newsletter smells a bit more like petrol than usual. But that shouldn't stop EV fans from consuming it - because in addition to some new models, there is also exciting news for them ;-)

– Thomas

In this email:

• The Best of Goodwood

• RedBull Hypercar Debuts

• Japan's Manufacturers Invest in new Combustion Engines

• Jaguar is Sending the Grim Reaper Through its own Model Range

ICYM: The Very Best of Goodwood

For petrolheads - or whatever ‘car nerds’ of any drivetrain-type will be named in the future - the Goodwood Festival of Speed is essentially their Mecca.

Once a year, the aristocracy of the automobile and the plebs meet here and, for a few days, are united in smoke and petrol-filled air, in a joyous frenzy between the sound and form of automotive art.

This year, Goodwood's theme was 'Horseless to Hybrid: Revolutions in Power' - and thousands of people, as well as every manufacturer with any sense of honour, tradition or interest in a potential buyer, were not kept waiting.

To list all the special models would go beyond the scope of this newsletter - so if you want to Google them yourself, here are some starting points: Polestar Concept BST, Genesis X Gran Racer VGT Concept, MG CyberGTS Coupé,… too long? Here are the 15 best premieres on video. And here’s a gallery.

The central element of a Goodwood weekend is the Hillclimb - and of course this is on video as well: the 10 fastest hillclimbs of 2024. / Youtube + Motor1

Oh My Dear, The RedBull Hypercar is Here!

Adrian Newey. If that name does not ring a bell in your head, you might want to stop reading here and google the guy. Just because it is one of few names in motorsports and automotive, you should know. Really. Go!

Ok, you know? Great.
Than we can go ahead.

As his last job for Red Bull, Adrian designed the RB17 Hypercar.

In a few words: Undeniable power, speed and beauty. 
A 1,200 horsepower, track-only supercar that weighs under 1,984 pounds and has an electrically assisted 4.5-liter naturally aspirated V-10 under its hood.

Does not sound extreme? Well, Red Bull is promising, it can lap any racing circuit as quick as their Formula 1 cars. Talk about extreme now.

There's no word on price for the RB17, though it's safe to assume it's well into the seven-figure range. Not that it matters, as all 50 examples have already been sold. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The Audi A4 Avant is Dead – Hail to the New Audi A5 Avant

Audi upgrades its "bread and butter" model – with not only a new generation, but also new name. The Audi A4 saloon and wagon becomes the new Audi A5 saloon and wagon. We hail Goodbye to A5 Coupé and Convertible.

The reason: Audi wants to electrify all of its even-numbered models, while the odd-numbered models will be equipped with combustion engines and mild hybrid versions. Will customers really understand that?

Audi is being really "bold" in two areas: The saloon will be a 'Sportback' - a large hatchback similar to the Skoda Octavia or BMW's Gran Coupé models.
And the interior. More screens are not possible. The main driver's screen consists of two 11.9-inch and 14.5-inch screens, with an optional 10.9-inch co-driver's screen to extend the cinema landscape. But buttons are nowhere to be found.

All the other new stuff is pretty much same-same: four- to six-cylinder engines, lots of fuss and light magic in the rear LED strip - a classic Audi playground - and prices starting at 45,000 euros. / Autozeitung (de)

🖥️ Just can’t get enough screens, and the Audi ones are too small?
Think bigger with the new Cadillac Escalade! / NetCarShow

Japan's Manufacturers Tinkering the Future of Combustion Engines

When it comes to electrification, Japan's manufacturers do not look too good compared to their Western competitors. Even Toyota, the sole pioneer, does not have a convincing EV on offer at the moment. And there’s a reason for that. Toyota president Akio Toyoda believes that the global share of electric cars will level off at no more than 30 %.

Instead, the Japanese are concentrating on new internal combustion engines, where it does not necessarily matter what actually will be burned. First in line is Toyota, now presenting a new generation of four-cylinder internal combustion engine, which will be produced in various configurations & from several manufacturers – Mazda and Subaru will also use it in future models.

While Toyota will deliver one naturally aspirated & two turbocharged engines in its development triumvirate, Subaru is developing a hybrid boxer engine and Mazda a Wankel engine as a power generator. / auto-motor-sport (de)

Volkswagen's Software Disaster Continues

Volkswagen continues to struggle with major problems in software development. The subsidiary responsible, Carida, has been making negative headlines for years.

Now the next bombshell: the software for the new SSP platform (Scalable System Platform), which is to form the basis for almost all new Volkswagen Group models from 2025, is not yet available.
This leads to a cascade. VW is now postponing the launch of numerous e-car models due to the new software disaster.

Among other things, the successor to the ID.4 will be launched 15 months later than planned. Completely new models have been hit even harder, with some being postponed until the next decade.

The new SSP platform sets high standards. It should be able to serve all vehicle types, from small city cars to premium SUVs or sports cars, and also support automated driving up to level 4. / manager magazin (de)

What Should an Electric Car Sound Like?

Nice little video from VOX. / Youtube

Jaguar is Sending the Grim Reaper Through its own Model Range.

With the grand plan to be an all-electric brand by 2025, the production lines for basically all models of Jaguar are coming to an end: XE, XF, F-Type, E-Pace and I-Pace will be history by the end of the year latest.
The F-Pace will remain the only vehicle available.

The new EV era is to be ushered in by a Gran Tourer for 130,000 euros - but this will not be presented as a concept car until the end of the year at the earliest.

Tata Motors-owned JLR wants the overhauled Jaguar marque to sell fewer than 50,000 cars annually, pushing it upmarket in a bid to go after Bentley.

Jaguar is making a huge bet by going all-in on EVs while others are having second thoughts about this type of strategy – with Mercedes struggling massively to sell luxury EVs and other luxury brands tapping only there toes into the waters, instead of jumping all in. / Automotive News

Mercedes Struggles With Weak Sales, BMW Leads the Premium-Market

Mercedes is struggling with massive sales problems in the first half of the year.
Against the backdrop of a weak global market, no manufacturer is likely to be spared sales losses. However, a direct comparison of the two German luxury/premium manufacturers, BMW and Mercedes, shows who is coping better with the current market situation.

While in the first six months of 2024 BMW has already passed the one million mark (1.09 million vehicles + 114,000 MINI), Mercedes has sold only 959,000 vehicles, including the Smart brand. At BMW, the MINI brand in particular is weakening.

The picture is even more dramatic for pure electric models. With 179k + 11k MINIs, BMW is clearly ahead of Mercedes including Smart (93k).

China remains the largest single market for both manufacturers, and here too Munich can be pleased with slightly better figures: while Mercedes sales fell by 9 per cent to 341,500 units, BMW reported a comparatively small decline of 4.2 per cent. / Bimmertoday

🪦Former Rolls Royce designer Ian Cameron has been murdered. The background is completely unclear, the perpetrator unknown. / n-tv (de)

That’s all.
– Thomas