Car News

A rare 1985 Lancia Delta S4 Stradale is expected to fetch around AU$1 million when it goes under the hammer next week. Due to be auctioned by Bonhams on February 6, this example has only driven 3300 kilometres since new, and still has its original Alcantara seats and steering wheel – along with its original Italian documentation and books. The successful bidder will be the car’s third owner.

Sometimes the best-laid plans go awry, and I’d never want to discourage a car manufacturer from rolling the dice and having a crack. But when it comes to automotive miscalculations, the short life of Mercedes-Benz Vans’ X-Class pickup has to rate pretty highly on the list, and serve as a lesson to others. As revealed this week, the X-Class will be axed globally from May this year, less than three years after its global reveal and two after its introduction to the vital Australian market.

The Mercedes-Benz Vision EQS concept, revealed at last year’s Frankfurt motor show, was a dazzling, futuristic-looking concept car, as concept cars tend to be. If you were worried something would be lost in the transition to production EQS, Mercedes-Benz has released some official photographs of the concept and a pre-production prototype side-by-side to put your mind at ease.

Global automotive production may have already peaked and is likely to remain in a steady decline, the CEO of a top engineering company said this week. Volkmar Denner, CEO of German giant Bosch, shared his predictions during a news conference in Stuttgart while announcing plans to cut jobs in response to decreasing demand. "It could well be that we have passed the peak of automotive production," Denner told Automotive News.

Diesel engines used by Jeep Grand Cherokee and Suzuki Vitara models sold in the EU used "prohibited emissions strategies" to emit more oxides of nitrogen (NOx) during regular road driving than during emissions testing, according to the RDW, the road authority for the Netherlands. In a statement to Reuters, the RDW said Jeep has developed a software patch to the authority's satisfaction. The off-road brand will be ordered to recall affected Grand Cherokee models and apply the fix.