Stellantis has showed its commitment to revitalising the neglected Lancia brand with the appointment of Jean-Pierre Ploué as its new design boss.

Already a chief design officer at the 14-brand-strong group, Ploué will supervise Lancia’s styling evolution from his head office at Torino Centro Stile, where he performs a similar role for other former Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) brands Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Fiat and Maserati.

This is the second time that Ploué has been charged with leading the rebirth of a marque through design. In 1999, he became Citroën’s styling chief and led a wide-reaching transformation of the brand’s image, launching boldly styled models including the C4, C5, C6 and DS3.

Ploué was then promoted to design director for the wider PSA Group in 2010, gaining recognition for the striking, range-defining Peugeot SR1 concept, among others.

Of his latest appointment, he said: “Lancia’s renaissance is a truly exciting challenge. Lancia is an iconic brand which will be restored to its central historical position in Europe, leveraging on its huge potential.’’ 

The Lancia design team is described as “lean and focused” and comprises mainly young designers. 

Lancia currently operates only in its Italian home market and offers just one model: the decade-old, Fiat 500-based Ypsilon supermini. Both the Ypsilon and the larger Delta were previously sold in the UK under the Chrysler brand but were withdrawn in 2017 to allow FCA to focus more keenly on expanding the Jeep brand. 

Specific plans for Lancia’s revival haven’t yet been made public, but it’s likely that the brand will lean heavily on platforms and powertrains used by Alfa Romeo. A low-volume premium focus is likely, meaning Lancia will become to Alfa Romeo what DS is to Citroën. 

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BMW has reworked the M5’s suspension pretty widely, adopting the dampers developed for the 2020 M8 Gran Coupé, which lower the car’s ride height by 7mm, and then picking new spring and anti-roll bar rates to match. It has also stiffened the engine mounts significantly, which has the effect of stiffening up the whole of the frontal structure.

What a difference that makes. Despite having less apparent wheel travel within its arches, the M5 CS rides twice as well as the M5 Competition. Comfort damping mode conjures up plenty of outright compliance and also a fluent, stable fast B-road ride that banishes the memory of the often fussy, reactive, camber-sensitive feel of the regular M5’s ride. On smoother surfaces, Sport damping makes the M5 CS tauter and a shade more composed over long-wave inputs; but even here, vertical body control never feels overbearing.

The steering shows a matching improvement. It has none of the muted, slightly rubbery feel of the regular M5’s rack and, on the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres of our test car, even filters a useful amount of contact patch feel back to the driver where the old rack managed so little.

And so, with a front-end so much more tactile and feelsome than the regular M5’s and a rear axle that feels so much better-connected to the road, the M5 CS is a significantly more effective driver’s car than its lesser relations. It shines a real spotlight on the predictability and feel that have been missing from the F90 M5’s dynamic recipe thus far. 

It has the same versatility and adaptability of the regular M5, but it’s capable of greater driver reward when you simplify its character, disengage its front driveshafts and start feeling for its limits. Those limits are high but not unbreachable on the road; and so the car can be really interactive and playful at road speeds, which is the last thing that you might expect a modern BMW Clubsport model to be. It’s not hardcore, but it is tactile and special; not particularly overblown or misguided and all about qualitative improvements to the driving experience rather than objectively measurable, quantitative ones. 

What’s more, when you get used to negotiating the car’s driving modes using the M1 and M2 quickfire shortcut buttons on the steering wheel (rather than by individually tweaking a suspension setting here or a steering mode there), you feel like you can get more out of the car as the road ahead of you changes. In this respect, the M5 CS isn’t any different from the M5 Competition or even an M3 or M4. But the way that BMW has learned to make the complexity of the driver-configurable systems in these cars so manageable of late really is impressive. For us, it’s beginning to lift the appeal of the cars above their rivals by a clear margin all on its own. 

Here’s a two-part story that I will deliver in reverse order. That’s because every year, I get involved in a bit of real-life data-mining from various MOT testing centres around the UK. It shines an inspection lamp on which cars failed their first MOT test, just three years after they were originally registered. It’s always great to see statistics that are based on real results and, in my experience, the MOT test doesn’t lie.

The Renault Mégane isn’t aspirational but a budget choice, and that partly explains its poor performance; and that’s even more true of its distant cousin, the Dacia Sandero. With an eye-widening 23% failure rate putting the Mégane at the very bottom of the pile, is it worth buying a middle-order Renault?

Click here to buy your next used car from Autocar

Probably not, but I was still drawn to a 2000 Mégane 1.6 RT with 80,000 miles at £395 with a full MOT. Three previous owners, petrol power and a manual gearbox: perfect. I really should be looking at a more recent model, though, so how about a 2018 1.5 dCi Sport Tourer Dynamique? That’s a diesel estate in English. At 35,000 miles with a full history and, most importantly, an MOT, it will cost you £9995 and officially deliver a whopping 76mpg combined. It’s practical, smart and ready for work.

And that brings us to the Sandero, which is almost the epitome of the cheap and cheaply made cars that fail more often. It sounds like a cliché, but owners of cars built to a price expect them to go the extra mile. It’s always better to shop at a dealer for one that has been fully checked and prepared.

With that in mind, I came across a 2018 Sandero 1.0 SCe with 15,000 miles and a pukka warranty from a main dealer at £6300. That’s a petrol runabout that should exceed 50mpg.

Hard-used vehicles are the ones that can suffer at MOT time. This explains why medium and large people-carriers, such as the Seat Alhambra (with a 21% first-time failure rate) and the Ford Galaxy (19%) show up on the naughty list.

What surprised me was also seeing the Volkswagen Touran MPV (21.7%) and the Volkswagen Scirocco coupé (19.6%) listed. Indeed, the Touran was a miserable second-worst.

There does seem to have been a real dip in build quality from certain German manufacturers. Whereas it’s almost expected to see Renaults (the Clio has an 18.5% failure rate) and Citroëns (the C4 Grand Picasso scored 19.9% and the C3 18.3%) in the bottom 10, most wouldn’t expect to see any mainstream Volkswagens.

British engineering firm and Ferrari specialist GTO Engineering has released initial sketch images of the interior of its forthcoming 250 GTO-inspired Squalo production car. 

The images show a spacious cabin which the firm says majors on luggage capacity and visibility. Leather features prominently throughout, and will be available in several colours including brown and red. The steering wheel is shown to be be trimmed with a wood-like design, with four analogue dials and a clock at the centre of the dashboard nodding to 1960s-era sports cars. 

The company says pedal, steering wheel and gearstick positioning is still being mapped out, with further images detailing the hidden interior technology such as the sound system, smartphone integration, infotainment screen and cup holders, to be released in the coming months.

“Squalo drivers will spend more time inside the car than looking at it from the outside, so it was vital to us that we not only listened to our customers but also drew on our experience of driving sports cars to focus on what’s important within the cabin: simplicity and driver engagement,” said GTO Engineering founder Mark Lyon.

The ‘Squalo’ name, which means ‘shark’ in Italian, was chosen for the bespoke creation “due to its shark-like look, instincts and speed”. It was being developed under the codename Moderna, and recently became available to order.

It’s claimed to be a sub-1000kg, hand-built sports car “celebrating the best of 1960s motoring with modern and motorsport-derived engineering”. It follows up the firm’s new-build run of ’Ferrari’ 250 SWB Revival models, which Autocar recently sampled in a new video (below), and is said to be nearing the production stage, with new renders giving a closer look at its final, signed-off styling. 

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The new model, said to take learnings from GTO Engineering’s near three-decades of experience of building and looking after road and racing-spec Ferraris, uses a tubular steel chassis with aluminium subframes and an “F1-type-spec” carbonfibre body. The doors and bonnet will be aluminium, however. 

Styling inspiration will be taken from the iconic Ferrari 250 GTO racer. However, it doesn’t appear to be a straight-up recreation, rather a reimagined modern version of that car with some tweaks, including a unique ‘double-bubble’ roof design. Modern details include an exhaust and lights “modernised with updated electrics and internals”, as well as a set of bespoke 18in alloy wheels. 

The Moderna will be powered by a 4.0-litre quad-cam V12 engine – another ’60s Ferrari throwback – which is on the verge of being assembled for the first time. GTO has promised to “increase driver engagement” with a number of motorsport-inspired components, and will reveal full power specifications next month. 

Maserati is gearing up to launch the Grecale as its second SUV, and our spy photographers have snapped the clearest prototype shots yet, outside a manufacturer facility in Italy.

The Grecale is clearly a similar size to the Alfa Romeo Stelvio, with which it will share the bulk of its underpinnings, and despite heavy camouflaging and a fence obscuring most of the car’s final design, the influence of the larger Levante is evident.

The brand’s important second SUV is named Grecale after the “fierce north-east wind of the Mediterranean Sea”. The model forms a key part of Maserati’s bold revival plan that it launched last year with the reveal of the MC20 supercar. 

Destined to play “a key role in the brand’s development”, the Porsche Macan rival will be built on the same production line as the Alfa Romeo Stelvio in the FCA plant in Cassino, Italy. Maserati is planning an investment of around €800 million (£790m) in the plant.

It will also share much of its underpinnings with the Stelvio, and a fully electric version is also due to arrive by 2022. However, the combustion-engined models will use Maserati rather than Alfa-sourced engines, likely to include the mild-hybridised 2.0-litre turbo offered in the Ghibli and Levante, and a downtuned version of the MC20’s new Nettuno V6 for the most potent variant. 

Maserati global planning boss Francesco Tonon told Autocar the Grecale will be “the most practical in its class, but it will also be luxurious”, adding: “It will feature the best-in-class design and features. Of course, it’s still a Maserati but it will also offer best-in-class performance and handling.”

SUVs are expected to account for 70% of Maserati’s sales by 2025, with saloons reduced to 15% and sports cars, such as the newly launched MC20, making up 5%. 

The new SUV was first confirmed back in 2018 by former FCA boss Sergio Marchionne as part of a total overhaul of its product line-up. Also included are the MC20 in three variants: coupé, Spider convertible and fully electric, plus a new Granturismo and Grancabrio, due in both combustion and electric forms. 

By 2023/2024, the brand will also have a new-generation Levante and Quattroporte, also both available with an electric powertrain. In top-spec form, this will use an 800V electrical system and three motors. 

Hannah Denton, area fleet manager at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, has won Autocar’s Great Women: Rising Stars 2021 initiative, held in partnership with the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

See the full list of Autocar Great Women winners here  

Denton also came top of Autocar’s Sales category, alongside 10 other category winners from the list of Rising Stars, which recognises the very best up-and-coming talent in the British automotive industry. Outstanding individuals across the categories, which include Marketing, Sales, Design and Manufacturing, are celebrating their achievements today at a virtual live event. 

To sign up to the virtual event, please click here. 

In addition, an Apprentice category recognises the rising stars at the beginning of their careers in the automotive industry.

Great Women winner Denton started at Volkswagen in 2011 as an area sales development manager for VW’s Trade Parts Specialists in Leicester and progressed to a head office role as key account manager just 18 months later. She moved to her current role in 2015 where she acts as a bridge between van fleet customers and the VW Commercial Vehicles brand, matching customer requirements with products and services.

Autocar editor Mark Tisshaw said: “In a year of incredibly high-quality entries, it was really tough to pick a single winner. For the judges, Hannah stood out for her obvious drive and determination, coupled with superb results in her job as an area fleet manager at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. Even in 2020, Hannah’s area hit its overall sales target. She’s quite clearly an inspiration, both to current colleagues and in terms of nurturing other women in her area of the industry, and is a very worthy winner of our overall Rising Star 2021.”

Denton said: “To be nominated for the Autocar Great Women Rising Stars is, in itself, an accolade, but to win the category and the overall award is fantastic, and truly humbling given the competition this year. At Volkswagen Group and within the automotive industry, I’m surrounded by some incredible female role models, and I hope that in turn I can use this platform to inspire other women to consider a career in automotive sales.”

Chair of the judging panel and managing director of Autocar and Haymarket Automotive, Rachael Prasher, added: “We were delighted with the number of entries we received this year, a clear indicator that Autocar’s Great Women initiative is both well received within the industry and having a positive impact. The judging was one of the trickiest I’ve been involved in, with a remarkable talent pool of Rising Stars that bodes well for the future of the automotive industry.”

The Mercedes AMG GT 4-Door Coupé has gained ride comfort improvements, a wider equipment range and a customised edition as part of a 2021 update.

The changes are for now limited to 3.0-litre six-cylinder variants, which aren’t sold in the UK. We’re offered only the V8-powered GT 63, which will be facelifted later this year, gaining a raft of visual and dynamic tweaks. A new top-rung, 800bhp GT 73e plug-in hybrid model will be added, too.

The most obvious changes for the standard car include an updated selection of wheels and new upholstery, trim, exterior colours and retuned suspension for improved ride comfort. 

The changes include a reconfiguration of AMG’s Ride Control+ suspension set-up. The damping can be electronically adjusted via variable control valves, which the German firm says can be adapted to improve comfort or sporting dynamics.

The steering wheel has also been updated, gaining a ‘hands-on’ sensor that activates the emergency braking assistance function if the driver becomes unresponsive or inactive. 

AMG boss Philipp Schiemer said: “We constantly maintain our AMG GT 4-Door Coupé at an outstanding technical level. With the current update and the exclusive edition, we’re reaching out to the target groups that place the greatest value on individuality and an expressive lifestyle.

“We continue to develop our profile as a ‘performance luxury’ brand and go on to substantiate this with tailor-made products and options.

“In addition, we will soon be presenting our first E Performance hybrids in this model, thereby driving forward the electrification of the powertrain.” 

The exclusive new Edition model is geared towards luxury and comfort. It’s available for all engine options and gets the V8 styling package, Rubellite Red exterior paint, high-gloss chrome and new 21in wheels.

The exterior styling of the GT 4-Door Coupé remains unchanged, although customers can now choose to adapt look of the front of the car on eight-cylinder models. Three new exterior colours have been added to all models: Spectral Blue metallic, Spectral Blue matt and Cashmere White matt. 

The updated car will begin to arrive in European dealerships from August this year, likely commanding a small premium over the outgoing variant.

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Lex Kerssemakers, Daksh Gupta and Michelle Wells join us for the next instalment of Autocar Business Live, looking at the future of retail in the automotive industry. As with most things in life, recent events have forced both OEMs and car dealers to examine their businesses and analyse the most efficient ways to operate them.

The free webinar takes place on Thursday 1 July at 10am-11am. You can sign up to the webinar by clicking here.

The pandemic led to big shifts in the car buying world, as retailers adapted to click and collect services to keep their business ticking over. But is the future really a digital one, or will we still be visiting a physical showroom to buy our cars? Are subscription models the way forward? Do local retailers still offer the best connection to the customer? We’ll dig into all this and much more during our free-to-join webinar, getting the latest insight from our three experts.

Lex Kerssemakers is the senior vice-president of global commercial operations at Volvo Cars.

Daksh Gupta is the CEO of Marshall Motor Holdings.

Michelle Wells is the marketing and communications director at Keyloop.

The webinar will be hosted by Autocar’s Jim Holder and Mark Tisshaw, as we look to discover how we’ll all be buying our cars in the years to come.

Audience members will also be able to submit questions during the event, which will be addressed during the webinar, time-permitting.

Autocar Business is our industry-focused brand, which provides news and insight into the business of the automotive world.

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Korean firm Ssangyong has started production of the Korando e-Motion, its first electric car, as it accelerates its new model development programme to secure its future. 

The Korando e-Motion is heavily based on the existing combustion-fuelled Korando, with subtle bespoke styling details hinting at its underpinnings.

Ssangyong will also speed up development of its second EV, a medium-sized SUV under the project name J100 that’s set to launch in 2022 – seemingly as a spiritual successor to the long-defunct Musso large SUV.   

European deliveries of the Korando e-Motion will begin in August, with UK deliveries expected later this year, due to the ongoing global shortage of semiconductors.

Ssangyong has struggled financially even after Indian manufacturing giant Mahindra rescued the SUV specialist in 2010, and it filed for bankruptcy in Korea last year. It says a renewed focus on eco-friendly mobility will be central to its rehabilitation procedures as it looks for a new investor that will commit to continuous future investment.

Ssangyong receiver Yong-won Chung said: “We’re establishing a strong foothold for corporate rehabilitation through a successful merger and acquisition and putting our very best efforts into new car development by addressing the rapidly changing automotive trends.

“We’re expanding the line-up of eco-cars, discovering future growth opportunities, such as new business models, and preparing for renewed competitiveness.”

Ssangyong said that it will aim to become the driving force of its own self-rescue plan, with a full-scale move towards meeting the future demands of the international automotive market.

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In this week’s round-up of automotive gossip, Volvo backs SUVs to remain popular and become efficient, Tavares reveals that if opportunities arise in China the Stellantis group could add more brands and more

Volvo: SUVs can be efficient

Volvo sales boss Lex Kerssemakers believes SUVs will remain a popular choice with buyers in the future – and he says they can be efficient if used in the right way. “It’s still more efficient to drive in one car with six people than two cars with three people each,” he said. “We continue to see a market for bigger cars and SUVs. We just need to ensure they are properly powered with a range of batteries to ensure proper journeys.”

Tavares eyes new brands

Stellantis boss Carlos Tavares is open to adding more brands to the 13 already in the group, if an opportunity arises in China. He expects the market to open up from next January to allow foreign investment and ownership of Chinese domestic brands. “But right now,” he said, “I have enough on my plate.”

Skoda sticks on entry level models

Skoda still plans to offer stripped-out entry-level models, but sales boss Martin Jahn said they won’t appear until the firm can increase production. Skoda has struggled to meet buyer demand in recent years and that’s been exacerbated by delays relating to the semiconductor crisis. Jahn said: “When we have a situation when production is bigger, we’re committed to these models.”