Mercedes vs. BMW vs. Audi

A Perfectly Unscientific Ranking of German Car Design in 2026

Author

Sergiu Tudose
January 18th, 2026

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Mercedes vs. BMW vs. Audi: A Perfectly Unscientific Ranking of German Car Design in 2026

By: Sergiu Tudose

I’m sure most of you are aware of what has become of the German car industry in recent years, from a design standpoint. They’ve all mostly thrown in the towel, designing cars that are supposed to appeal to the Chinese market first and foremost, while also taking unnecessary risks by ditching tradition in favor of a future that has been misrepresented.

Mercedes no longer owns elegance by default. BMW no longer owns aggression. Audi no longer owns restraint.

Still, there’s value left in figuring out which of Germany’s big three premium carmakers is still pulling its weight when it comes to design and identity, and to do so, I thought I’d rank their offerings across several main segments. I didn’t do this for their entire range, because it would have made little sense – some cars can’t be mixed and matched, while others are simply too “low-volume” to matter.

I went instead with the C-segment, D-segment, Executive segment, midsize EV segment, luxury sedan segment, compact SUVs (regular and EVs), and midsize SUVs, the latter in both regular and coupe form. Let’s at least try to keep some semblance of tradition – that was my thought process.

Audi A3 vs. BMW 1 Series vs. Mercedes A-Class

While I was gathering images for this story, I genuinely thought the A-Class was going to take this category. It’s a beautiful design, yet perhaps somewhat too compressed and not particularly masculine. Not trying to hit a nerve here, but there is still value in simplicity when it comes to this segment, and the Audi to me looks the most sporty and crisp.

Audi A3 vs. BMW 1 Series vs. Mercedes A-Class

It looks like the quintessential compact hatchback. When people think about this segment, they don’t think about elegance. They want practicality, a sporty aesthetic and a design that doesn’t look like it’s trying too hard (like that of the 1 Series). By the way, I think the 1 Series was alright before this latest facelift, which completely butchered the front end.

Winner: Audi A3, 2nd Place: Mercedes A-Class, 3rd Place: BMW 1 Series

Audi A5 vs. BMW 3 Series vs. Mercedes C-Class

Even though crossovers top the sales charts, this core sedan segment is still the beating heart of the German car industry as far as I’m concerned. I like how the C-Class keeps leaning into the “mini S-Class" idea (I never had an issue with this), and I genuinely think that the G20 3 Series is a beautiful sports sedan.

Audi A5 vs. BMW 3 Series vs. Mercedes C-Class

The Bimmer is balanced, athletic, and still somewhat conservative. It also doesn’t take any risks with its proportions, which I like. The C-Class, while also a good-looking sedan, doesn’t grip your line of sight as well as the E-Class or the S-Class, while the A5 (formerly known as the A4) is fine. I still look at it and don’t see an Audi, and that’s a problem.

Winner: BMW 3 Series, 2nd Place: Mercedes C-Class, 3rd Place: Audi A5

Continued…

Note: There’s lots more coming up, for the full article please continue on our site. 

The Most Anticipated Electric Cars Launching in the US in 2026

By: Cristian Agatie

The electric vehicle market is going through a rough period right now across most territories, or so carmakers want us to believe. It's a paradox, actually: EV sales continue to grow worldwide, but most carmakers complain that customers no longer want to buy EVs. Even more puzzling, sales of combustion vehicles are on a clear downward trend, while EV sales continue to grow.

Statistics don't lie, and they consistently show that EV adoption is continuing unabated. More than 20 million EVs were sold worldwide last year, 3.6 million more than in 2024 (a 20% increase). That's a new record, though every year has been one, since EV sales never decreased from one year to the next. North America, however, has been the outlier, with a 4% year-over-year decrease to 1.8 million EVs in 2025. 

Much of this drop can be attributed to the cancellation of the EV tax credit and the emission credits that had pushed carmakers to incentivize EV sales. Without the pressure to offset emissions, carmakers saw no benefit in subsidizing EVs. On the contrary, they scrapped new projects entirely and were more than happy to sell combustion models.

This reflects a harsh reality for legacy carmakers. They never figured out how to build and, more importantly, sell EVs profitably. With high capital expenditure required to build new factories and supply chains, legacy carmakers had no chance competing with more agile and leaner EV startups, most notably Tesla. Besides that, their dealer sales model was an obstacle and a money pit, as they were already struggling to develop unfamiliar technologies.

This is why many new models were canceled, Li-ion battery factories were put on hold or scrapped, and the US automotive industry is now turning toward plug-in hybrids and extended-range vehicles. There's nothing wrong with that, but abandoning EVs would be a huge mistake that would haunt them in hindsight. Because EVs are here to stay, as proven by carmakers launching new and more capable models month after month.

It wasn't easy to pick 10 new EVs in previous years, and even those expected to enter production were paper-launched, delayed, or canceled by the time they were supposed to arrive. The Jeep Recon was on my list for 2024 and is again this year. The Chevrolet Bolt was also a highlight of last year's roundup. And the Ram 1500 REV, also on the 2024 list, has been canceled and replaced with an EREV that is still missing in action.

However, with the 2026 lineup, the challenge was choosing the ten most anticipated models from a sea of new launches. This meant leaving aside exciting new models like the Porsche Cayenne or the Polestar 5, as they're unlikely to sell in significant numbers due to their high prices. Sony-Honda Afeela 1 is also slated for a 2026 launch, but I doubt anyone is excited to buy one. If you want to see who's in, continue on our website.

For the full article, please continue reading on our site.

Explaining Euro 7 Legislation So Everyone Can Understand The Death of Driving Joy

By: Alex Oagana

Joining the traditional New Year’s resolutions, like losing some weight and getting more sales, European carmakers are fast approaching a new timeline in 2026, one that will forever change the automotive landscape for decades to come.

Starting November, since that is the deadline, all new cars sold in Europe will need to comply with the Euro 7 emissions standards, forcing all carmakers into an engineering arms race. Things like better-enforced tailpipe emission caps, brake dust traps, tire wear limits and even cyber-locked ECUs will be the norm by the end of 2026, and not even EVs are fully exempt from some of these new European regulations.

In other words, we are talking about the largest attack on the way cars are not only developed, but also how they are built and driven, and it’s all done in the name of “saving the planet.” But is it, really? I’ve always been a George Carlin fan, and one of my favorite quotes from him has always been: “The planet is fine. The people are doomed.” Of course, he used an entirely different word instead of “doomed,” but we are a family friendly publication.

You see, I think it’s one thing when carmakers decide on their own to neuter their lineups with electronic nannies or some half-hearted electrification projects in order to greenwash some of their past mistakes, like GM launching what is effectively one of the dumbest vehicles ever, like the Hummer EV, Stellantis killing its best-selling V8 muscle cars for a weird-sounding EV, or Mercedes-AMG replacing its most potent V8 sledgehammer with an all-electric monster.

It’s another thing entirely when regulators overstep their boundaries with a massive regulatory change like Euro 7, which, in case it hasn’t been obvious by now, will force every last atom of fun out of the cars sold starting November 2026.

Before I begin to explain my point of view, which is different than what some people might believe at first glance, I should probably explain what the fuss is all about Euro 7, and why it should sound like the beginning of the end not only for driving fun, but also some cars, and potentially even entire carmakers.

Euro 7 shouldn’t be seen as just another regulation update like Euro 6 and co, since it will concern much more than just tailpipe emissions. Speaking of which, numbers for NOx, particulates and carbon monoxide will remain unchanged. You can also forget about the old days of smoke tricks performed in a lab, which also indirectly birthed the Dieselgate scandal, because the new regulations will mandate real-world compliance for up to 10 years or 200,000 km (124,000 miles) from the moment of sale.

From a technical point of view, the main financial victims of the new regulations will be carmakers that don’t invest in arguably pricier low-dust braking pads or the regenerative braking wizardry that’s already been developed for hybrids and EVs. Tire abrasion rates will also be taken into consideration once the UE cooks up a suitable test cycle, meaning that both tire makers and carmakers will need to work on making rubber compound tweaks and probably sidewall reinforcements to decrease microplastic particle shedding.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, because upcoming EU regulations will also concern on-board electronic systems, such as On-Board Monitoring (OBM) systems that continuously sniff for things like emissions and even battery health degradation in hybrids and EVs, and will snitch to the relevant authorities if your car fails its obligatory service checks. With that in mind, let me first (try) to explain how different future Euro 7 cars will be from a technical standpoint.

For the full article, please continue reading on our site.

The New Charger Is a Game Changer for Dodge, but Oh How I Miss the Old Challenger

By: Benny Kirk

As of right this second, I’ve got a 2026 Dodge Charger Six-Pack Scat Pack Plus sitting in my driveway on loan from Stellantis. Without spoiling too much from the proper review, it’s one of the most profound and dramatic transformations from one generation to the next as we’ve seen from one model in a very long time.

With the option of a coupe or a sedan, ICE or all-electric, the eight-generation Charger is a total paradigm shifter. But for all its good points, the new Charger platform feels somewhat “incomplete” to me. Not necessarily because of anything about the platform itself, but because not so long ago, wherever a Charger was, a Challenger was probably close by.

Now that the Challenger nameplate’s been dormant for a couple of years now, I feel like there’s a big, gaping hole in Dodge’s lineup. Well, a bigger one than the hole Dodge made when Tariffs forced them to stop making the Hornet. You really don’t realize how valuable a car is to a lineup until it’s gone sometimes. Now, the Charger and Durango have to do even more heavy lifting.

It’s a pretty jarring situation to be in after the Charger and Challenger spent the better part of the last two decades offering two of the most tempting American sports coupes built this century. Of course, sharing a common LX/LD/LC platform, Dodge gave themselves something of a head start offering two iconic Mopar nameplates for the price of one.

Back in those days, all Chrysler had to do to differentiate between its two biggest performance nameplates was shorten the LX platform for the Challenger and design a bespoke coupe body shell that looked distinct from the Charger sedan. Under the hood they used the same engines, the same transmissions, and shared an extreme degree of parts commonality between them.

For Dodge, it was effectively a license to print money while other models, like the Journey and the Avenger, fizzled into laughing stocks. But it also meant that depending on whether you wanted a two-door coupe or a four-door sedan, you had to buy one or the other. Even if Chargers and Challengers of these years were effectively the same underneath, save for a couple of minor differences, the illusion of a larger lineup paid real dividends for Dodge.

Heck, almost everything Stellantis sold in North American with mass appeal since they took over in 2021 shared something with the Charger and Challenger. With Ram 1500s, Jeep Cherokees and Wranglers galore, and all their ridiculous performance counterparts, somehow, Stellantis offered some real bangers in the midst of considerable financial hardships.

If you think about it, Chrysler’s been doing this sort of thing since the K-car years in the ‘80s. Effectively, the more models you can squeeze out of the same powertrains, parts catalog, and vehicle platforms, the less you have to spend collectively developing each offering.

It’s how Chrysler’s dearly departed ex-shot caller Lee Iacoca pulled the company out of bankruptcy and pay back government loans it’d taken to stay afloat back well ahead of schedule. In more ways than one, the recently departed Challenger and Charger was this practice in its ultimate form. 

Note: please continue reading the full article on our site.

Spy Shots and Renderings of the Week

By: Mircea Panait

Rolls-Royce has the Spectre, but going forward, more battery-electric vehicles will be introduced by the BMW-controlled British automaker. The first of many comes in the form of a Cullinan-styled electric SUV that will be offered in tandem with the Cullinan for a few short years.

Very similar to the V12-powered model from the B-pillars back, the yet-unnamed model reinterprets the Cullinan's front end with square headlights and very thin running lights. A centrally-mounted light bar may also be happening. This lighting motif would surely help the automaker differentiate its full-electric lineup from the V12 bruisers we all know and love.

Believed to ride on an evolution of the aluminum-intensive Architecture of Luxury, the Cullinan's electric alternative could be unveiled as a concept or in near-production guise as soon as the 2026 Goodwood Festival of Speed. Rather than a rehash of the Spectre's electric bits and pieces, look forward to BMW iX3-derived battery cells, inverters, and drive units.

—

Speaking of the second-generation iX3, the M division's take on the first member of the Neue Klasse family has been recently spied both inside and out. As expected from a high-performance M vehicle, M buttons on the steering wheel and M stitching are featured.

The camouflaged interior of the latest prototype snapped by autoevolution's diligent carparazzi also shows aggressively bolstered front seats in leather and Alcantara, seats that understandably pride themselves on the M logo. Confirmed with over 100 kilowatt-hours of juice, the iX3 M will further wow the crowd with four electric motors.

Going with four drive units may seem like overkill, but millisecond torque vectoring makes a world of difference in a performance driving scenario. The quad-motor powertrain further benefits from a front-axle decoupling system, rendering the iX3 M a tail-happy machine.

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Over in the fantasy world, our favorite rendering of the week comes from Jake of j.b.cars on Instagram, whose latest creation is a reinterpretation of the Shelby GT500-replacing Ford Mustang Dark Horse SC. A rather disappointing moniker for a vehicle that promises improved driving dynamics over the Shelby GT500, but nevertheless, Ford has finally delivered a supercharged Mustang that doesn't cost over $320,000 before taxes.

While a shooting brake Mustang Dark Horse SC makes car nuts like you and me feel warm inside, there simply isn't a market for such a body style when Ford continues to struggle moving the fastback coupe and the rag-top convertible. The internal combustion line sold 45,333 units last year in the US market, whereas the Mustang Mach-E sold 51,620 units.

And with Ford currently investing tremendous money into its next iteration of the Mustang GTD, the Le Mans challenger for 2027, and Red Bull's Formula 1 hybrid power unit for 2026, chances are that Ford will never give this rendering a chance. As the one and only Frank Sinatra once said, that's life.

No More “Driver Data Collecting & Sharing” for You, GM!

By: Bogdan Popa

General Motors got slapped with a five-year ban on collecting and sharing driver data. The decision comes after The General used OnStar to get its hands on precise geolocation data and other driver details that it shared with third parties.

Google Maps may be the world's number one navigation app, but rivals make fantastic progress. Mapbox is the best example, as the company that provides the necessary resources for carmakers to power their integrated vehicle navigation software announced new features. 

3D lanes make it easier to figure out which lane you must use to continue on the suggested route. BMW is the first big name that looked into this feature and participated in its development.

Magic Earth is another Google Maps rival that continues to impress. This week, the company shipped a new major update aimed at CarPlay users, adding intersection priority signs and a traffic jam bar with additional information.

Otherwise, the Forza Horizon 6 release date has seemingly been revealed "by accident," while Google started the rollout of a new Android Auto update, bringing the app to version 16.0.

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