Mercedes-AMG’s Project One promises blistering speed, but is slow to arrive
Our reporters empty their notebooks to round up this week’s gossip from across the automotive industry
This week, we’ve got the lowdown on the the delay in launching Mercedes-AMG‘s hypercar, Infiniti‘s next step, Seat‘s position in the VW Group, and more.
Affalterbach needs its filter back
Mercedes-AMG’s flagship hypercar, the One, has reportedly been delayed while the company works to fit a particulate filter – to ensure WLTP emissions certification – without dropping the power output below 1000bhp. AMG boss Tobias Moers admitted the problem to Autocar but said there has been “great progress” in implementing a fix. “We’re figuring out when the first customers will get their cars in the next few weeks,” Moers said.
Audi’s new ‘hot’ hatch
Audi reckons shared autonomous cars could revolutionise takeaways – by arriving with your food already on board. The firm’s AI:ME urban concept car features a food storage unit and subscribers can request a car and food using an app. The autonomous car stops at the restaurant and is loaded up with the food en route to arriving for use.
Infiniti looks eastwards
After announcing it will pull the plug on Europe later this year, Infiniti is betting the farm on China. At the Shanghai motor show, the brand said it will build its first electrified model in China, for China. Its target is to triple sales in China in the next five years with a number of locally made cars.
VW Group remains Seated
Seat may still be “very much a regional brand”, but a sale has never been on the table because it is so intertwined with the VW Group’s technology, according to group CEO Herbert Deiss. “It also makes sense within the group because it attracts a different kind of customer than anyone else.” That different kind of customer is a younger one – Seat owners are the youngest of any VW Group brand.
Read more
Mercedes-AMG One confirmed as hypercar’s production name
The Autocar guide to WLTP emissions testing
Futuristic Audi AI:ME concept hints at Volkswagen ID rival
Source: Autocar
