Auto Express 1719

PHEW! How relieved I was to chat with Sean Carson and hear that the new Ferrari 296 GTB is everything we hoped it would be. This isn’t Ferrari’s first plug-in hybrid model, but the company’s first efforts fell short of the mark. Much as the SF90 was super-quick, to me it felt like technology for the sake of technology and it all overshadowed the driving experience. Not so the 296 GTB. I could hear the excitement in Sean’s voice when he told me how much fun he’d had behind the wheel of Ferrari’s latest model. And how he thought it bodes well for the first fully electric Ferrari, which we’ll see in just three years’ time. One of the biggest challenges we face on a weekly basis is balancing the…

John_McIlroy@autovia.co.uk @johnmcilroy ● Sports car concept based on running gear of upcoming Polestar 5 ● Coupé or convertible possible, but there’s no official plan POLESTAR has already showcased its forthcoming 5 flagship with a concept called Precept. Now the all-electric Swedish brand is previewing how it might introduce an emotional 2+2 convertible with this dramatic-looking creation, called O2. The show car is also designed to prove that the modular aluminium architecture that will be the base of the 5 can be adapted to support a more dynamic, focused sports car. And Polestar’s boss, Thomas Ingenlath, has already suggested that while there are no firm production plans, it would be “irresponsible” to not try to make it happen. The O2 is a 4.7-metre-long 2+2 – so it’s closer in length to…

Polestar CEO Q What does a car like the O2 mean for Polestar? A “On the one hand, it’s to help to define the perception of what the brand is about in the public eye. On the other hand are the energy and vision it gives inside the company.” QHow far is the O2 from becoming a production reality? A “The packaging and how it is constructed make it possible to put such a car into production. Our concept cars have that spirit of being tangible, being realistic. That being said, we have not put it into our business plan.” Q Was it hard to adjust the Polestar 5’s platform for this car? A “It’s good to prove we can do it. We already worked hard on the height of the Precept…

● Prototype proves Lotus’s last ICE car is fitting swan song THE Emira is a simultaneous first and last for Lotus: the first nose-to-tail product of the exciting and rejuvenating Geely era, but the last model to be powered by an internal combustion engine before the company morphs into an EV-only brand. As part of that transformation Lotus will soon launch an SUV, too, but before that, is the Emira a fitting sign-off for combustion engined Lotuses? We’re at the firm’s Hethel test track to find out, driving a V6-powered Emira (a four-cylinder turbo model using an AMG-sourced engine will follow). Our car is a development prototype that is 85 per cent representative of what we can expect. Firstly, it looks the part, with styling referencing Lotus’s back catalogue and…

INTERNATIONAL Women’s Day was celebrated this week (8 March), so how is the UK’s automotive industry faring in the gender equality fight? We polled some of the UK’s leading female movers and shakers for their views on the opportunities and obstacles faced by women working across the car industry. We’re also sharing figures from the Government’s gender pay gap database, to see how a variety of Britain’s biggest automotive employers measure up.…

WHILE there has been change, there’s no doubt the automotive industry is lagging behind other sectors as it seeks to redress its gender imbalance. Women have made inroads in marketing and sales, but they are less visible in engineering and manufacturing roles. An industry-wide report published by Deloitte just before the pandemic in 2020 showed only 20 per cent of the workforce and fewer than 10 per cent of executives identify as female. Society of Motor Manufacturer and Traders (SMMT) chief executive Mike Hawes told us: “Across the industry, companies have various initiatives to address imbalances and attract new talent in all areas of business. There is still a huge amount of work to be done, not just in terms of gender, but also in other areas of diversity, as…