Our reporters empty their notebooks to round up a week in gossip from across the automotive industry
In this week’s gathering of gossip from the meeting rooms of motoring, we hear why Nissan didn’t reinvent the Juke, how Mercedes’ two very different EVs are very similar underneath, and more.
Marchionne’s V12-powered legacy
A chance chat between former Ferrari boss Sergio Marchionne, who died last year, and the design team led to the creation of the Monza speedster. Marchionne and the design team shared their love of speedsters of the past and “during this conversation, we said why not make one as a concept?” said Ferrari design boss Flavio Manzoni. “The project started like this.”
Off the buses
Citroen boss Linda Jackson has said it’s up to car makers to prove that the personal freedom cars can offer has a vital role in the future. “I think people have a bad view of the car industry,” Jackson said. “Everybody is knocking the car and saying it’s going to be impossible to get around in cities without everybody going to public transport… We want to say: ‘Hold on. People want freedom, liberty and mobility’.”
Merc’s skin-deep differences
Although the new Mercedes-Benz EQV sits in a different segment from the EQC, development of the two was not entirely separate. “We’re working really close together,” said EQV engineer Volker Scheinhütte of the two engineering teams. “We share the same software, but for the van features, we are branching out a bit.”
Rejuventating the Juke
Nissan designers considered reinventing the Juke for its second generation. “We wondered whether we should come with a completely different angle, but there was so much material from the first generation that we could improve, that’s the way we felt it should go,” said Nissan Europe design boss Matt Weaver.
Read more
Mercedes-Benz EQV: electric MPV makes debut at Frankfurt
New Nissan Juke is bigger, cleaner, more ‘grown up’
Ferrari SP2 Monza: First ride in ultra-rare speedster
Source: Autocar
