VW’s Up to go down… Merc’s €35bn electric charge… Mini SUVs…
European-made budget minis are a doomed species. Next year’s update of VW’s Up/Mii/Citigo family – including electric versions – will be the last. Vauxhall won’t replace the Adam, and the Smart/ Renault Twingo co-operation hasn’t long to live, we’re told. Why? Emissions regulations make small cars disproportionately costly to develop and build – especially if batteries are involved. One answer is to team up with a Chinese partner – an option being explored for a new family of Smart cars.
The huge cost of moving into EVs is going to produce some strange couplings. VW and Ford have already announced they’re co-operating on vans, but Ford could also buy some VW electric car hardware.
Mercedes plans to o er 130 electrified cars by 2030, including EVs, PHEVs and full hybrids. The budget for this mammoth e ort is in the area of €35bn, which includes a €25bn investment in batteries.
Next year’s new Mercs include the GLE Coupe and a facelifted E-Class, which gets the latest edition of MBUX together with numerous styling changes and more choice of hybrids. On the exclusively electric side, the five-door EQA puts in an appearance in summer 2020. Good for a zero-emission range of up to 250 miles, the sleek EQA and the chunkier EQB will be o ered with three di erent battery sizes.
Merc’s next S-Class will get a fully digital cockpit, rear-wheel steering for much improved agility and a low-drag body with concealed door handles. An electric EQS variant will follow.
Expect the future Mini range to go big on crossovers. An insider suggests the clock is ticking for the five-door hatch, the cabriolet and the Clubman. Their departure will make room for the next Countryman to have two sister models. Expect them to be o ered in front- and all-wheel-drive guise, powered by a 2.0-litre four instead of the breathless 1.5-litre triple and available in di erent stages of electrification. One could be a dramatically dynamic and stylish coupe-like Sportsman (unlike the slow-selling three-door Paceman, this one has five doors), the other a rough and tough SUV version described as one-third Land Rover and two-thirds Range Rover; it may be badged Bushman.