Porsche has boosted its stake in EV hypercar maker Rimac from 15.5% to 24% with a €70 million (£60.4m) investment. 

The latest injection is Porsche’s third into the nascent Croatian manufacturer, following an initial acquisition of a 10% stake in 2018, before boosting that by more than half the following year. 

Since that first investment, Rimac has doubled its workforce to nearly 1000 people and readied its 1888bhp C_Two electric hypercar for production this year. 

In addition to Porsche, Rimac now has technical and strategic partnerships in place with Hyundai, Kia, Aston Martin, Automobili Pininfarina, Koenigsegg and others. 

Founder and CEO Mate Rimac said: “Porsche has been a big supporter of our company since 2018 and it has always been a privilege to have one of the world’s most iconic sports car brands be a part of Rimac. 

“We’re proud to work together on new exciting and electrified products and of the fact that Porsche’s trust in Rimac resulted in several rounds of investment, making Porsche an important shareholder of the company.”

Despite the increased backing from the German sports car maker, Rimac said his firm will “remain an entirely independent business” and its projects and shareholders will always be kept “entirely separate”. 

Porsche said it has already placed orders with Rimac for “the development of highly innovative series components” and the two firms will expand upon their existing collaborative relationship.

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Aston Martin will build an electric SUV and an electric sports car at its UK production facilities from 2025, according to the Financial Times. 

Speaking to the newspaper at the company’s Gaydon headquarters, chairman Lawrence Stroll confirmed: “The SUV will be built in Wales and the sports cars will be built here,” rather than by 20% stakeholder Mercedes-Benz in Germany.

However, the duo could still use batteries and motors supplied by the German firm, which already has a pair of electric series-production cars on sale, while Aston Martin has yet to market a bespoke EV drivetrain. 

Stroll told the FT: “We are way ahead of our rivals, and all because of our partnership with Mercedes.” 

His comments follow Aston Martin CEO Tobias Moers’ recent claim that the firm can obtain electric, hybrid and combustion powertrain components from Mercedes at “a reasonable cost situation”. 

The brand’s first electrified production vehicle will be a hybrid version of the new DBX SUV, due later this year, which can be expected to use a plug-in hybrid version of its 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8, in line with upcoming PHEV versions of Mercedes-AMG’s GT 4dr Coupé and S-Class performance saloons. 

Aston Martin’s mid-engined Valhalla supercar will also use hybrid technology but is now highly likely to forego the bespoke electrified V6 used by the 2019 concept in favour of an AMG-supplied unit.

A reworked version of the Ferrari SF90 Stradale rival will be shown in the coming months ahead of a market launch in 2023. Some customers, Aston Martin has confirmed, have already placed orders. 

Little is known of the electric models mentioned by Stroll, although he did confirm that the sports car will be a “front-engine version of a DB11/Vantage” and will be sold alongside “an SUV higher four-wheel-drive one”. 

The designs haven’t yet been finalised, he told the FT, and there remain question marks over whether electric Aston Martin models will use the 70-year-old DB name prefix. 

Giving clues as to how electric Aston Martins will be differentiated from the competition (and potentially their mechanically related Mercedes siblings), Stroll told the FT that they will have “our beautiful body, our suspension, our vehicle dynamics [and] our bespoke interiors”.

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Some cars just outstay their welcome, and the Volkswagen Passat CC was one. Launched in 2008, it was still with us in 2017. Still, it had given the company a toehold in the emerging four-door coupé class inspired by the Mercedes CLS of 2004, and we all know how important it was for Wolfsburg to bash Stuttgart (see VW Phaeton).

The letters ‘CC’ stand for ‘comfort coupé’, but if anyone thought they were code for a sporty drive, they were to be disappointed. Under those attractive, swoopy lines lurks the safe-as-houses Passat: reliable, comfortable and well screwed together but no barrel of laughs. However, the Passat CC was at least longer and lower for a sportier look, and it had classy frameless windows.

It was powered by a choice of petrol (1.8, 2.0 and 3.6 TSI) and diesel (2.0 TDI) engines. If the 1.8 and 2.0-litre petrols were irrelevant to the fleet market that was the model’s natural home, the 3.6 was doubly so – but a hoot nevertheless (see ‘One we found’). Not surprisingly, diesels dominate today’s classifieds.

There were two versions: one making 138bhp and another with 168bhp, the latter providing the best balance of power and economy. Both were offered with a choice of six-speed manual or DSG dual-clutch automatic gearboxes, today split 50/50. The autos can suffer mechatronic control issues and seem to thrive on 40,000-mile fluid and filter changes, but these things can be blown out of proportion. Just check it changes quietly and smoothly.

The Passat CC was more expensive than the Passat, but the extra cash bought a higher-quality cabin and more standard kit. Even base trim has sports suspension, 17in alloys and climate control. GT is the one to have, though, with 18in alloys, tinted windows and three-mode adaptive suspension, and from 2010 it gained nappa leather. Today, GT trim predominates in the classifieds.

That CC premium also bought one less rear seat. Doesn’t sound like much of a deal, does it? Most people didn’t think so either, although looking into the back of a Passat CC today, those separate chairs do seem more in keeping.

You may have noticed we keep saying ‘Passat CC’. That’s because in 2012 the model was revised and became known simply as the CC. You can tell new and old apart by the former version’s revised grille, incorporating bi-xenons and LED running lights, as well as by the fact that inside, the two rear seats were replaced by a three-seat bench (this had been an option from 2010, so maybe best to rely on that tweaked grille). The petrol line-up also gained a 1.4 TSI, although we could find no trace in the classifieds.

If you don’t need the extra practicality, the Passat CC or simply CC is a tempting alternative to a standard Passsat. It’s better value than a BMW or Audi, too, but feels just as special. Perhaps Volkswagen was onto something after all.

How to get one in your garage

On Brexit and its effects on the importation of luxury cars such as Ferraris and Lamborghinis, Choo said the manufacturers – and his own company – have all been well prepared with capable clearing agents standing by. “We were ready for trouble,” he said. “We’ve all read the horror stories, but so far we’re not experiencing many hiccups.”

HR Owen’s planned new Hatfield complex, its biggest dealership so far, will bring the firm’s UK luxury dealership portfolio to 17. It currently sells cars from 10 different brands: Aston Martin, BAC, Bentley, Bugatti, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Puritalia, Rimac and Rolls-Royce.

The buildings were designed by architects at Luton-based consultancy Louis de Soissons, which doubtless won admirers in 2018 when it completed a sensitive refurbishment of the Jack Barclay Bentley showroom in Mayfair, occupied continuously since 1927. The Hatfield building will be so modern and glassy, with separate wings for different marques, that Choo has christened it the Starship Enterprise.

Apart from the independent dealers and their associated service centres, HR Owen Hatfield will also offer storage for up to 500 customer cars over three floors. The firm has a large body of long-standing international clients; Choo deals with many personally, and he wants to cater better for their needs when they arrive at Heathrow airport requiring ready access to the cars that they keep here.

“Global clients love London,” said Choo, briskly dismissing recent pessimistic tabloid talk. “We have lots of customers abroad. Those from the Far East love it because they believe the UK is a very stable country and they can speak English here. Russians love it because they see it as a safe haven. Americans have always loved London. They ring me and say they can’t wait to get back here, so we want to give them what they will enjoy: space, greenery, fresh air, a nice view and good service. That’s the most important part of all.”

“The [Covid-19] situation last year made us realise that there are greater things in life, and we could feel very fortunate that we were able to race. May the best driver win. It’s not going to change my friendship with him: as long as we stay respectful with each other on the track, that’s all I ask from a team-mate.”

It might not sound like a love story between the two team-mates, but as long as the pair continue to coexist, it should enable DS Techeetah to keep its focus on ensuring DS’s Formula E love story continues. Not that Vergne expects the firm’s continued commitment to give it an edge over those manufacturers who have announced they will break up with the series at the end of this year.

“While it’s amazing for the team to know that DS is in it for the long-term, the other firms will be pushing to beat us,” he says. “Even if DS were leaving Formula E, it would still do everything to try to win. It’s going to be extremely tight again this year.”

Who will be strong this year?

While DS Techeetah starts the season as the team to beat, with its pair of champions, expect the competition to be even closer this year.

Stoffel Vandoorne finished runner-up in the points in Mercedes-Benz’s first full works campaign and, with experience, the German firm should fight at the front more consistently. The ever-present Nissan e.Dams squad, with its former champion Sébastien Buemi, will also likely figure strongly.

Up at the front, a 2.5-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine and an electric motor combine to drive the front wheels through an e-CVT, while further back, a smaller electric motor drives the rear axle. This mix of powerplants endows the Across with a system output of 302bhp – which is quite a bit more than the 178bhp made by the diesel Land Rover Discovery Sport I ran previously.

The baby Disco was certainly quiet enough at a cruise, but it wasn’t swift. In fact, its straight-line performance could be a bit tractor-like at times. The Toyo… I mean Suzuki, on the other hand, can hit 62mph from a standstill in 6.0sec, so it’s hot-hatch quick. This additional performance has been particularly handy in town driving, where the electric and petrol power sources combine to deliver not only greater thrust than was available in the Land Rover but also more immediate throttle response.

There’s an 18.1kWh battery beneath the floor, which is quite big by PHEV standards. It allows for an electric-only range of 46 miles on the WLTP test cycle (so it slots into the 6% BIK tax bracket), but I’m getting closer to 36 miles out in the real world. That’s not bad at all.

The charging time is 2.5 hours from a wallbox; I don’t have one of those at home, but a battery charge mode allows me to top up while I’m out driving. In fact, even when the battery has been flattened, the hybrid powertrain has still managed to tick over at around 45mpg. So far, it has proved to be impressively efficient.

I’m also a fan of the Across’s interior. It doesn’t look or feel as plush as that of the considerably more premium Discovery Sport, but it’s extremely functional and feels solidly built. There’s loads of passenger space, and the boot is big enough to swallow all of my photography kit with ease. The controls are all large, chunky and easy to find, which I far prefer to the occasionally fiddly touch-sensitive buttons found in the Land Rover and elsewhere. Usually it would be the British car that you would praise for having switches and dials that you could operate with gloves on, but here it’s the other way around. I really like that.

If a car on 20in rims is travelling at 300mph, the wheels will be spinning at roughly 3800rpm depending on the profile of the tyre. At that speed the centrifugal forces acting on the rim and in the tyre are huge, and the heavier the wheel and tyre assembly, the bigger they get. Think of those playground roundabouts. Hanging off the outside of one is fine when it’s rotating lazily, but when the big kids turn up and spin it like a top, it’s hard to hold on.

Wheels for ultra-fast cars, like the SSC Tuatara, which set a new world record for a production car of 282.9mph, need to be as light as possible. Specifically, the rims need to be light and strong. Back in the day, the material of choice for racing wheels was magnesium alloy, much lighter than the aluminium alloy used for conventional road-going wheels. A lighter wheel has less inertia, making it easier to change direction as well as reducing unsprung weight.

UK firm Dymag, which supplied the Tuatara’s 20in wheels, was founded in 1975 and became known for magnesium wheels on rally (the Group B MG Metro 6R4 was an early example), F1, Paris-Dakar, Le Mans and Indy 500 cars, to name a few. Its latest BX-E and BX-F wheels are a hybrid of magnesium or alloy hubs and spokes, which are developed by the company’s American partner, Forgeline, and Dymag’s rim or ‘barrel’, to which the centre sections are bolted. An advantage of hybrid wheels, as opposed to all-carbonfibre (monoblock) wheels, is that the alloy centres conduct away the heat generated by heavy braking.

The rims are capable of withstanding a simulated kerb strike of 684kg as well as coping with the forces generated at warp speed. The complete wheel weighs just 9kg and is tremendously strong. The tyre well (the area around the centreline of the rim) is the most highly stressed area of any rim and where most stress fractures happen.

In a £10 million development programme over four years, Dymag worked with the National Composite Centre to analyse exactly where the load was carried. The final design spreads the load and means the rims can take a strike that might shatter conventional alloys. The outer edges of the rim, supporting the tyre bead, are hollow with a foam filling the void, creating a sacrificial area to protect the tyre and adding stiffness to the rim.

The rim is made using the resin transfer moulding process, where the carbonfibre is compressed in a mould and resin injected under high pressure. The carbonfibre itself is a triaxial (multi-directional) fibre, which drapes nicely in the mould. Dymag worked with partners to develop ultraviolet-stable resin systems and a clear, high-quality finish.

Both the resin systems and the finishes can withstand the high temperatures generated by brakes on track. The laying up of the carbonfibre in the mould is done by hand, but the process lends itself to automation. The cost is in supercar territory today, but Dymag expects that would bring the cost down through economy of scale, eventually allowing fitment to sports cars in the £40k-£50k bracket.

Of course, the Ignis is a cute car to drive. The tiny footprint means you take a line through every bend, which is novel, enjoyable and a bit old-school. The lightness means you could chuck it about without fearing any heavy-car, slow-recovery consequences – although none are likely anyway, because it’s a neat, neutral handler with plenty of grip. Despite the high seating, the Ignis loves roundabouts and contains its body roll well. I never really felt the limit, but it out-handled some pretty big-note cars even so.

The engine is quite puny – just 80bhp from 1.2 litres – so the assisting integrated starter-generator has an important role. But even so, the Ignis is far from quick. If you want to go briskly, you must regularly garner performance from the other side of 5000rpm (redline is 6500rpm) and use the sweet-shifting five-speed manual gearbox all the time. It’s fun, but you’ve still got to understand that you will regularly be shut down by impatient people in premium German saloons as soon as the road goes straight for more than 50 yards.

Suzuki calls the Ignis a city car, but I ended up doing something like 4500 miles in three months, many on enjoyable B-roads taken as briskly as was comfortable for the car, and quite a few on motorways. The ride is decent, too: not too firm and but well damped, although hardly sophisticated.

My most notable long haul was a 400-mile Cotswolds-to-Cornwall return dash to see Neil Yates, the bloke who is cooking up EV chassis systems for low-volume applications in his lair beside Newquay Airport. I set off around 6am, cruised at empty-motorway speeds and returned 50mpg (my own measurement, not that of the trip computer, which fibs a bit). When I stopped for fuel or comfort, the embarrassment, if that’s the right word, was never seeming to need to add more than 15-18 litres to a tank that holds just 30 to start with but which still allows a cruising range of 280-odd miles. The seats are pretty flat, but their sit-up-and-beg positioning makes them as comfortable as much pricier cars for up to three hours at a time.

Not many cars possess the capacity to really cheese me off, which is probably a good thing. But the first mid-engined Renault Clio V6, launched 20 years ago, managed exactly that.

It was like finally scoring your dream date, sitting down to dinner in a posh restaurant and then watching them launch into a stout defence of Donald Trump while casually picking their nose. Because of the enormous disparity between how you imagined the encounter might progress and how it actually did, you end up far more disappointed with your evening than had you just stopped off at the local for a swift half with a tedious colleague.

It was all there: an extraordinary appearance and a mid-mounted 3.0-litre V6 developed by TWR, the same bunch of people who had won two of three previous Le Mans races for Jaguar. How could they make a mess of that? Somehow they managed it.

The car was grossly overweight and therefore little quicker in a straight line than the Clio 172 hatch. But the real problem was its handling, or rather its absence thereof. On the limit, it was probably the trickiest new road car I’ve come across, and that includes the Ferrari 348, which would at least let you slide it a bit before making Pininfarina-shaped holes in the nearest hedge. The Clio V6 wouldn’t even allow that. Its approach to corners went grip, grip, grip, grip, gone. And that was that. At the time, I described it as “at its absolute best when parked”.

Whether Renault was surprised by the resulting hail of criticism isn’t remembered, but it certainly moved fast to sort it out. The entire car was, in effect, redesigned in two years, with the result you see before you. The entire suspension set-up alone was all-new, with different springs, dampers and geometry, plus revised kinematics, bespoke tyres and – get this – even a longer wheelbase. The fact that it had a little more power and shorter gearing was really neither here nor there.

And guess what? This is still not a good car by any conventional definition. It’s still not very fast, the interior is still rubbish, the turning circle remains a joke, the steering feels rather odd and – I had forgotten this – the gearlever is about a foot further forward than you would either expect or desire.

Except two things are now significantly different. First, I’m looking back at it as a recreational and probably a ‘classic’ car, not with the gimlet eye of the contemporary road tester. Allowances can and indeed should be made. Second, the car may be poor in many and varied respects, but it no longer wants to kill me. I’m not saying it would be above a little light mugging from time to time, were its mood and your disrespectful driving style to warrant it, but you no longer tip it into a corner wondering through which window you’ll be regarding the world by the time the exit arrives – if it arrives at all.

Here’s something else: there’s nothing like no longer being terrified for clearing the mind. If you’re being charged down by a bad-tempered rhinoceros, you don’t tend to take in the view as you flee; similarly, now that I was commanding a rather more compliant Clio, charms that might otherwise have gone if not unnoticed then certainly under-appreciated take centre stage.

Finally, then, the newbie of the group. The GR Yaris has created a huge amount of fuss: rave reviews from every publication and Twitter full of people gloating about having ordered one. It’s hard to remember a car that struck such a chord so quickly, save perhaps for the A110.

And no wonder. You will notice that the car here is a three-door. Students of the Yaris will know that every other model has five doors. Toyota’s engineers built an entirely unique hot hatch on an entirely unique platform. Cost? I’m not sure they know the meaning of the word.

In fact, Toyota’s expense has arguably gone even further than the engineering behind this incredibly complex hot hatch. The Japanese firm created an entire new motorsport division and a top-level rallying programme to apply the knowledge into its road cars that it would make itself. Not for Toyota a limited-run homologation special built by an outside supplier: it has flipped the whole thing on its head. As far as market strategies go, it’s bold.

Suddenly the cost of the GR Yaris starts to become understandable. Still, a unique platform reinforced all over the place, aluminium and carbonfibre composite body panels, all-independent suspension and the most powerful three-pot engine in the world doesn’t come cheap.

The aerodynamics were developed with help from Toyota’s World Rally Championship team, and it even has a four-wheel drive system with proper Torsen limited-slip diffs and a manual ’box. It’s everyone’s wish list of what a hot hatch should have.

As soon as you set off, it’s obvious that the GR Yaris is about more than the sum of its parts. Even though the A110 has the sunniest disposition of our three cars, you still treat it with slight kid gloves, especially in soaking weather. Rear-wheel-drive, mid-engined: that needs a little bit of building up to. The GR Yaris, on the other hand, is a hoot from the get-go.

Nothing will ever stop you having a laugh in this car. The A110 is the pure one, the middle-aged yoga instructor, whereas the Toyota is the teenager. It’s going to have fun and to hell with the consequences.

There’s a wonderful thrum from the three-pot that rewards through the rev range as the sound ebbs and flows. It’s not the most responsive from lower down (blame the single, relatively large single-scroll turbo for that), but once it’s singing above 2500rpm, it pulls cleanly right to the redline. It’s not quite the manic boost dump from Subaru Impreza WRXs of old, but it’s no less addictive or fun for it. It’s certainly fast enough to make any B-road a hoot.