RUMOUR HAS IT...
But these are not the only new models that are on their way. Porsche has also announced the return of the Carrera T name for its 911, with the T standing for Touring. Aimed at purists, it drops 20kg over the regular Carrera through the use of morelightweight materials and includes a manual gearbox as standard. It is expected in SA in February 2018.
BRINGING SPORTY BACK
Audi has revealed the second generation of its A7 Sportback. It will feature much more dynamic-looking styling when it arrives in SA in the fourth quarter of 2018.
Due to be shown publicly for the first time at November’s Los Angeles motor show, the A7 continues as a five-door lift-back, but adding new A8sourced features such as allwheel steering and a radical new interior.
It will also join the A8 as the first production cars to graduate to 48V mild-hybrid electrical systems.
A STONIC ATTITUDE
Kia has released its Stonic crossover in international markets. Boasting some pseudo-SUV cladding and styling the Stonic takes Kia into a new segment, while showing that many of the cool styling attributes generally only seen on the Soul can also make it to other models.
A spokesperson for Kia SA confirmed that the company aimed to bring the car to our market in the second quarter of 2018, but is negotiating with Kia in Korea on pricing and specification. market? Well, now Toyota looks set to do the same, revealing a luxury concept that it plans to launch in 2025 to take on the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. Rather than badging it a Lexus, Toyota is jumping into the luxury segment, but it will not be just about luxury.
The so-called Fine-Comfort Ride (Toyota has eight years to come up with a proper name), it will be the brand’s second fuel-cell vehicle after the Mirai sedan. The company is promising “a new form of the premium saloon” with a luxurious and flexible interior, although saloon is stretching it a little given that it looks rather like a MPV to us.
RUMOUR CONFIRMED
A few weeks ago we brought you spy pics of a more trackoriented McLaren. Now the company has confirmed the model, saying its “mission is to be the most extreme, trackconcentrated road car McLaren has yet designed”. Codenamed the BP23, the company will unveil the model in the second quarter of 2018.
WHY DON’T THEY LEARN?
You would think that after Dieselgate, Takata airbags and the recent Kobe steel scandal car makers would be cautious about quality nowadays to the point of being a little OCD.
Not so at Nissan, which had to stop all production in Japan after it was discovered that unqualified personnel were doing the final quality checks on the vehicles at the end of the production lines.
About 34,000 vehicles emerging from three of Nissan’s four Japanese plants are affected, all of which have to be recalled for new quality inspections.
The good news is that none of the vehicles were destined for SA.