Porsche's Recovery Will Take Longer Than They Want to Admit

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By: Alex Oagana

In the first part of the 21st century, some established carmakers have already been through the worst crises imaginable, from Chapter 11 bankruptcies and restructuring like GM, to getting bought by a larger company just to survive, like Volvo.

While not being in the same situation as them, Porsche is also rapidly advancing toward its most difficult crisis in recent history. I’m talking about a brand that spent decades at the very top of automotive profitability, with margins close to Ferrari while selling 20 times more cars, almost as many as a mainstream carmaker.

Porsche managed to build a dynasty that somehow made most of its customers feel grateful for the privilege of overpaying for a rear-engined sports car that had no business to drive better than a supercar with a more traditional positioning of its powertrain. That said, the Zuffenhausen brand may have once again moved a little too fast in recent years, may have read the room too poorly and, ultimately, may have bet the house on a future that turned out to arrive on a very different timeline than what was foreseen by the spreadsheets.

To better understand where Porsche is sitting now you need to first understand where it was about four years ago. At the company’s IPO from 2022, which was arguably one of the most anticipated stock market listings in European automotive history, Porsche had an operating margin of about 20 percent, or about as high as niche supercar makers like the previously mentioned Ferrari. For a carmaker that was selling around 300,000 cars per year, those types of profits were simply a wet dream.

In layman terms, for every $200,000 of product, or what a fully loaded 911 Carrera 4S used to cost back then, Porsche was pocketing about $40,000 of pure profit. The entire mainstream automotive industry was watching with envy, and it is possible that some of its rivals may have put a hex on Porsche because of it.

In 2025, Porsche’s operating profit plunged by 98 percent to around 90 million Euros (about $105 million), while its margins plummeted to about 0.3%, down from the 14.5 percent in 2024 and the 20 percent in its IPO year. To put that in the same financial illiterate terms, for every $200,000 worth of product (which would no longer get you a fully loaded Carrera 4S because prices has since jumped), Porsche only managed to keep about $600 as profit. That’s about the cost of fully painting the exterior mirrors of a 911.

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

By: Dragos Chitulescu

At first, I wasn’t sure how I felt about the opportunity to test Milestone’s new MotoGP title. It’s not just because I prefer living in the real world, but also because Ride 6 felt like a letdown. I still believe games like these would be better off with yearly updates, instead of just having an “entirely new” title every year.

That’s the problem though: it’s never “entirely new”. It mostly feels like “barely anything new at all”. Of course, this is just my first impression, and I could be wrong about it as I wasn’t involved in the process of developing the game to know exactly what’s going on. And I’m probably nostalgic over the late ‘90s and early 2000s, when going from “Insert Game Name 1” to “Insert Game Name 2” felt like a huge leap forward (most of the time).

These days, I’m constantly under the impression that the 2026 version is just the same thing as the 2025, 2024 and even 2023. And I think Polyphony Digital’s way of doing things with Gran Turismo 7 is better for the gamers. I understand the line-up of tracks and drivers in MotoGP 26 can’t be identical to the one from the previous year, but I also dislike the idea of paying up to $70 for that kind of change. It doesn’t sound like “passion for racing” but more like “we need to please the shareholders”.

Anyway, I’m here for a review of MotoGP 26, not the current state of the industry, so let’s get on with it.

Arcade Mode Is Still Fun

I reckoned the game mode was set to “Arcade” as everything was butter-smooth despite me making some mistakes. The music in the game is as generic as it gets, and I get a feeling it’s generated artificially just like the voiceover in the trailer. I can’t say for sure if I’m correct on that statement, but I also know I wouldn’t listen to these tunes while riding a motorcycle in the real world either. The rotary-dial menu selector seems like a good option to switch between the game modes.

I went straight into a new career, opting for a Moto 3 start with Ai Ogura for some proper warm-up. The press conference cutscenes feel useless to me, and I just skipped through every one of them. I remember a time when cutscenes would keep us glued to our screens, even though the graphic quality was ancient by comparison. Also, I’m growing tired of the MotoGP Opening Titles.

I get that it’s a branding thing, but don’t see it as an “asset” for the game itself. I found myself facing a rainy qualifying session: the graphics and weather effects feel slightly better than the last time around, but I haven’t done a head-to-head comparison for maximum accuracy. I’ve learned my way around the Chang International Circuit by testing the past three MotoGP titles, although I don’t feel 100% at home here (not compared to Barcelona Catalunya).

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

By: Florin Amariei

China is trying really hard to make electric vehicles (EVs) popular at home. Unfortunately for some automotive executives, the Asian country is already making a strong push toward exporting some of its newer cars in Europe and North America despite tariffs and other barriers. The Zeekr 9X is just one of those SUVs that might soon be seen everywhere.

Geely, BYD, CATL, and company are fighting each other over who gets to have the fastest-charging, longest-lasting high-voltage battery put in a zero-tailpipe emission car. The competition surely seems fierce from the outside, but we should not forget that it’s China we’re talking about. Some names will eventually be sacrificed because this battle cannot go on forever, but the big players will likely survive.

Until this ancestral soup-like industry figures itself out, the only thing we can do is look at what comes out of the country that appears to have it all, except cheap oil. One of those worthy-to-look-at vehicles is the Zeekr 9X, which looks like a sort of Asian Mercedes-Maybach GLS. It’s not a battery-powered SUV because it hides a four-pot under the hood, but it’s quite a thing to admire.

I still find it hard to compare a Chinese vehicle to something made in Germany or the UK, but I can’t say that the warnings about something like this happening weren’t there. I still remember when Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson and James May went to China and made fun of their quirky, poorly built vehicles, but also pondered somewhat seriously that we may all be driving their cars sometime in the future.

That episode aired in 2011. Since then, the number of car owners in China has quadrupled. Very soon, it will quintuple. Some of their buyers are still enamored with Western automakers, but the scales are increasingly tipping in the homegrown brands’ favor.

Honestly, it’s unsurprising that consumer preferences are changing in China. Their heavily subsidized auto industry benefits from short supply chains, cheap energy (most of which is soon going to be coming from renewables), and a strong domestic battery production capacity. Thus, all-electric cars can be very cheap.

As a direct and welcome consequence, a couple of large Chinese cities are slowly seeing their streets turn almost dead silent. Most road noise is generated by tires contacting the asphalt, not dirty, noisy exhausts.

But that doesn’t stop China’s biggest automakers from playing with conventional engines. The three-row Zeekr 9X, for example, is a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) that also doubles as an extended range electric vehicle (EREV). 

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

By: Alex Oagana

By default, whenever anyone talks about a cool Grand Tourer, there are only a few select car brands that pop up, and the coolest ones are generally from just a few countries. The UK and Italy are by far the two most prolific nations in this regard, with one of them being the actual originator of the term “Gran Turismo,” while the other one marketed the “Grand Tourer.”

With the coolest and most underrated GT legends from Great Britain, Germany and even France already having their own tributes on autoevolution, I figured it would be a good time to finally put the spotlight on the country that started it all. The country that gave us iconic car brands like Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati has a history filled with some of the most memorable gran turismos in history.

Almost all of them are now blue-chip investments that command six- or even seven-figure auction prices, mostly thanks to the visual and auditory drama that each of them sported. Let’s face it, Italians do it differently, and usually with a lot more theater. The original Gran Turismos were never track monsters, nor were they soft luxury barges, and there are plenty of people who believe that the exact recipe for a GT was invented in Italy.

Some of the most gorgeous sports cars proudly wear tailored suits by the likes of Bertone or Pininfarina, which have traditionally been among the best promoters of automotive beauty in history, so it’s no wonder that Italian GTs elicit the highest emotional responses. I want to ignore all the red-carpet elites that everyone knows and appreciates, though.

Oddly enough, some of them are even rarer than the usual suspects, making them rank even higher on the “special” ladder if there ever was one. A lot were built in tiny workshops by people who put more emphasis on a perfect silhouette over a corporate balance sheet. Most were designed by rebels, for rebels, which is why they often featured weird engineering choices, such as Lancia’s obsession with V6 engines when everyone else was switching to V8s or V12s, or DeTomaso’s cultural handshake between Modena and Detroit.

In other words, some of the things that the following underdogs and less-known Italian GTs have in common aren’t what you would expect. Things like a subtle instead of a shouty elegance or restrained aggression instead of going all-out on fender gills and exaggerated proportions are what makes them memorable and worthy of appreciation. Not least, these are the Italian gran turismos that didn’t chase headlines by relying on the same theatrics as the better-known ones. That doesn’t make them any less legendary.

Lancia Flaminia GT - The Forgotten Aristocrat

As mentioned above, not every Italian grand tourer needs to have its presence announced by the court jester, and they’re not all as flamboyant as people expect. The Lancia Flaminia GT is among the most unassuming cars on this list, but that might also make it one of the coolest. As a member of the Flaminia family, the two-seat coupe shared its technical bits with the rest of the lineup, albeit there were quite a few major differences.

You see, the GT wasn’t the only two-door Flaminia, with several coupes and convertibles on the same platform being designed and/or built by coachbuilders like Touring, Pininfarina and Zagato. Oddly enough, it was the coupes that outsold the Flaminia sedan, despite all of them being coach built and costing a lot more money. 

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

By: Mircea Panait

Caught under thick camouflage at the Nurburgring Nordschleife, the 2027 BMW iX5 and the internal combustion model show iX3-like stylistic influences. The Neue Klasse design language seems to be a natural choice for these applications, especially when you remember that both the next X7 and the iX7 are keeping it safe with split headlights.

Very similar in footprint to the outgoing X5, the G65 flaunts winglet-style door handles that may be changed to pull-up door handles in China due to safety regulations. In the United States of America (where they'll be manufactured) and Europe, said winglets are likely to be standard.

Benefitting from iX3-inspired headlights and a wraparound rear bumper, the mid-sized twins appear unsettled by the challenges of the Green Hell. Even the incredibly heavy iX5 looks flat in the twisties, and that's despite its near-150-kWh battery pack.

A recent 2027 model year certification document lists the iX5 60 xDrive with 147.80 kilowatt-hours and 960 cylindrical battery cells, along with a dual-motor powertrain that outputs a total 569 horsepower and 594 pound-feet (805 Newton-meters). The X5 should comprise familiar I6 and V8 options, including a high-performance S68 engine for the X5 M Competition.

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Spied at the 'Ring as well, the first-ever GLA 45 with EQ Technology is much obliged to showcase the starry headlights introduced to Merc's lineup by the redesigned CLA. Based on the very same platform, the hottest GLA with EQ Technology of them all brings the point home with rectangular taillights featuring the star-motif lighting signature of the headlights.

Equipped with low-profile rubber that frames performance-oriented brakes, the compact-sized crossover is also equipped with the plasticky black cladding that you would expect from this kind of vehicle. Up front and at the rear, both bumpers are slightly different in design from what the carparazzi spotted on non-AMG versions of the full-electric GLA.

Hearsay suggests around 550 horsepower from a couple of drive units instead of three, and we don't know for certain if this fellow is getting axial-flux motors. In any case, peak torque matters a lot more in this context due to the increased weight over the outgoing GLA 45 S 4MATIC+.

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Remember when the Dodge Charger had a wagon-bodied sibling? Essentially an LX-generation Charger from the B-pillar forward, the Magnum was a sales flop that Chrysler produced for the 2005 through 2008 model years. That poorly-selling thing served as inspiration for Kelsonik's latest rendering, that being the STLA Large-based Dodge Charger Wagon.

Clearly derived from the SIXPACK internal combustion Charger, the rendered vehicle is all business up front as well due to a massive spoiler. Look closer, and you will further notice Hellcar Widebody-like wheel arches. Pretty sleek, for sure, but Stellantis North America won't revive the Magnum (or any wagon) anytime soon due to insufficient customer demand.

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Kelsonik is also behind this blacked-out Ford Mustang Wagon. As opposed to the Charger, the most popular of pony cars never offered this body style. You can't blame Ford for not doing it, though, because the Dearborn-based automaker did make two longroof concepts in the 1960s and the 1970s.

Both concepts shared parts with production models, those being the Falcon Wagon and the Pinto Wagon. Today, the closest thing to a family-sized Mustang is the Mustang Mach-E crossover. Produced in Mexico for North American markets, the Mustang Mach-E could move to the UEV platform for its next generation.

By: Bogdan Popa

We all know police also use Waze, but officers in a small American city found a way to make people slow down. They faked a Waze screenshot showing police on nearly every street in the city, triggering an instant reaction from the community. The police eventually came clean when residents asked for an audit on how law enforcement uses the city's resources. 

Apple's AirTag once again saved the day, and this time, it also saved a $300K custom Lamborghini Urus. Two thieves broke into a custom auto shop, stole the Lambo, and drove away, hoping nobody would see them. The little Apple gadget did its job brilliantly, revealing the thieves' location, likely as one of them was carrying an iPhone. 

Meanwhile, Google is cooking something big on the Android Auto front.

The company shipped Android Auto 16.8 to the first users, and this time, it has buried important evidence of upcoming updates.

Widgets are almost prepared for prime time, and as a bonus, it looks like users will finally get an option to manage their alarms without picking up their iPhones. This feature is 10 years late, by the way.

Congratulations for reaching the finish line!

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