Awards

Whether you like him or hate him, there’s no ignoring him. And, if you thought you wouldn’t see more of him this year, well, we’ve got some news. Elon Musk has been named the ’Time Person of the Year’, and it doesn’t come as a surprise. The man has created news and controversies many times this year and is definitely one of the most influential people of 2021. Can you think of anyone else who deserved the honor instead?

The Pininfarina Battista needs no introduction. It officially made its debut at the Monterey Car Week a couple of months back with a price tag of $2.2 million. The photos of it on the winding roads of California right before the said event gave us an idea of how gorgeous this EV is. Now, it has officially received the award. The automaker announced that the Battista won the coveted Design Award at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este in Lake Como, Italy. Well, we couldn’t agree more.

GFG Style’s Vision 2030 Desert Raid was supposed to take the stage in Geneva, but a debut deep in the dunes of the Sahara desert would have been a more appropriate way to introduce this begging-to-be-hooned off-road hypercar.

Sure, it looks like the sort of car the likes of Dan Bilzerian would drive on Mars, but come to think of it, why not? We wouldn’t miss a chance to shoot up some sand in this bad boy, and we’re guessing most rich people out there think the same.

Mate Rimac is surely taking his time with the development of the road-legal car based on the stunning Rimac C_Two. The thing is, the Croatian upstart is also taking its time when it comes to finding a name for the all-electric hypercar. As it turns out, Mr. Rimac and his marketing staff will change the C_Two name into something else, but at this point, we don’t know what that might be. What’s more, they don’t have the slightest idea either.

Brabus, the famed German tuner that’s made a name for itself by extracting ludicrous amounts of power out of some already very potent V-8s and V-12s that were at the heart of Mercedes-Benz’s lineup of sedans and sports cars, brought to the Frankfurt Auto Show in 2019 a serving of re-heated stew. This is, by all intents and purposes, the Smart EQ Fortwo Ultimate E Shadow Edition Cabrio we’ve seen already earlier this year at Geneva, minus the Gunmetal Grey paint. It’s got just as much power, the same oversized rims, the same hunched widebody, and the same tacky details like the illuminated door sills. You may never see one with your own two eyes since Brabus only plans to sell 28 (fewer than the amount of Ferrari 250 GTOs in the world) but you can’t blame Brabus for only making a couple of dozen of these since it has already oversaturated the market with the 28 units of the Shadow Edition. Granted, this one is cheaper by a few grand although at €59,000 in Europe it’s not cheap in the grand scheme of things.

So, let’s say you’re in the market for an ultra-small city car that’s also 100% electric and features a folding roof. What does that say about you? Well, on paper, you’re a person who could do without the worries related with having to find a parking spot in the bustling downtown area of the city while also trying to do his or her part in reducing pollution - all with a dribble of fun added to the experience by the open-air feel of a cabriolet. What all this means is that the person that would be in the market for a Smart EQ Fortwo Cabriolet isn’t looking for what the Brabus Ultimate E is offering, i.e. big wheels, more power, and less practicality because of the lowered ride height and the fact that it doesn’t come with a bigger battery. In spite of all that, it exists and it’s not even the only Brabus-tuned Smart Fortwo on the European market, there tamer options in the German company’s portfolio if the widebody doesn’t necessarily float your boat.

Maserati didn’t have any new vehicles to showcase at the 2019 New York Auto Show, but it did display a Levante customized by its Centro Stile division through its new One of One program. This time around, the unique Levante was designed for Ray Allen, two-time NBA champion and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee. This One of One model follows the Levante that Maserati built for Allegra Antinori, the vice president of famous Italian wine producer Marchezi Antinori.

Alfa Romeo didn’t have a bombshell at the 2019 New York Auto Show. It didn’t even have a new concept to showcase. Instead, the Italian automaker brought with it a pair of special editions for its two workhorses: the Guilia Quadrifoglio sedan and the Stelvio Quadrifoglio SUV. The two models are called the Nring Editions, a loose reference to the Nurburgring where Alfa Romeo has a rich history of racing victories and record-setting lap times. Ironically, neither the Guilia Quadrifoglio Nring Edition nor its Stelvio counterpart boast any engine upgrades. The good news is that both special editions are loaded on exterior and interior upgrades, which is the point of their existence in the first place. The Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio Nring Edition costs $97,485 (including the $1,595 destination fee), while the Giulia Quadrifoglio Nring Edition sells for $91,485. Both special edition models will be on sale in the U.S. beginning in the second quarter of 2019.

Still upset that Volkswagen won’t sell the Amarok truck in the United States? Well, get ready to see yet another VW truck that you won’t be able to buy in the U.S. The Germans are bringing the Tarok to the New York Auto Show only to show you what the South American market will get soon. Just a concept for now, the Tarok will become a production model in 2020.

The Subaru Outback is one of the Six-Star brand’s most important models. Slotting into the ever-popular crossover segment as a tall-riding wagon soft-roader, it should come as no surprise the Outback is cleaning up in terms of sales, providing loads of practicality and all-wheel grip for not much outlay. Now, a fresh sixth-generation is heading down the pipeline for the 2020 model year, and while we’ll have to wait for next week’s debut at the New York Auto Show for all the official details, there’s plenty to speculate on at this point.

Mercedes-Benz’ PR team was probably tasked with producing the shortest teaser video in history, and they’ve come up with this: a three-second video showcasing the vertical bars of the gaping grille on an undisclosed AMG model. Cue the ’Mission Impossible’ theme as we try to find out what Mercedes-Benz is really telling us here.

The 2019 Chicago Auto is now in full swing, and the McCormick Place convention center is absolutely overflowing with new trucks, crossovers, and SUVs. Many of the models on the show floor offer some claim to off-road utility, but few can match the Toyota Land Cruiser Heritage Edition, which mates a long history of conquering trails with a variety of unique cosmetic updates.

Hyundai and Kia announced the commercialization of autonomous vehicles by 2021 and the full-scale production of autonomous vehicles by 2030. Yet, in a video about the future of electric and autonomous vehicles it published only days ago, Hyundai and Kia graphically showcased the features of the inductive charge system and proposed an autonomous valet service for its cars. The technology will land on Hyundai-Kia cars in the future, but it won’t reach mass production until electric vehicles reach Level 4 of autonomy. According to projections, this will happen around 2025.

Nevertheless, the system Hyundai-Kia proposes could noticeably improve the efficiency of the charge ports by automatically controlling the vehicles after the charge is complete. In short, the vehicles will move to a free parking spot after the recharge process.

Furthermore, the technology will probably solve the problem of jams in parking locations.

Byton will be participating at the Consumers Electronic Show next week and is showcasing what it calls the “world’s most intuitive automotive interface.” Byton has not revealed any details other than a teaser image that appears to show the production interior of the M-Byte. The image shows one large screen instead of multiple instrument clusters and displays, and a tablet mounted on the steering wheel. This will surely raise the tech-heads’ heartbeats.

Smart is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and it’s bringing the Foresee Tiny Speedster to the Paris Motor Show to commemorate the occasion. The Foresee is the latest concept in a long line of concepts to come out of smart, taking after other memorable creations like the Crossblade and the Forspeed. As it is, the Foresee is still a concept, and a production model is unlikely in the cards.