Tesla Is Disappearing Before Our Very Eyes

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PSA: This week we’re at EICMA 2026, navigating a sea of motorcycles, e-bikes and the occasional supercar. Make sure to check out our coverage in the EICMA 2026 news hub.

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By: Cristian Agatie

When Musk announced in January during the Q4 2025 earnings call that the Model S and Model X would be retired, I knew that was only the beginning. At the time, Musk's plan to merge his companies into one giant corporation under his control was already well known. The first step of this plan was completed in February, when SpaceX bailed the money-losing xAI. However, Tesla was a different beast.

The company had a solid market position, with a sane business, which Musk no longer controlled after selling shares to buy Twitter. Tesla was too big a fish to swallow even for SpaceX, which only recently posted its first profitable quarter. At the time, I argued that Musk doesn't want a strong Tesla; he'd be better served if it went into the ground. That's how I look at all the steps Musk and Tesla have been taking in 2026. And sure enough, he seems to be doing a remarkable job at making Tesla worthless.

In 2022, Tesla appeared to be on top of the world, with demand through the roof and prices that defied gravity. Sales were booming, and Musk thought selling 20 million cars per year by 2030 was a no-brainer. A year later, market conditions changed, and sales dropped. This apparently caused great distress, because Musk made some erratic business decisions.

First, he decided that the economy was crashing and started preparing Tesla for the impact. Budgets were cut, and employees were fired, sometimes indiscriminately. Those who refused to let enough people go, such as Supercharger chief Rebecca Tinucci, were fired themselves. Others, including Drew Baglino, Tesla's Senior VP of Powertrain and Energy, and Martin Viecha, VP of Investor Relations, left voluntarily.

Second, Musk decided that EVs were no longer cool enough, and doubled down on autonomous driving efforts. Tesla had already announced plans to develop a humanoid robot in 2022. By the time cars became uncool, the Tesla Optimus program showed some progress, and Musk thought that driverless cars and robots, or robots on wheels and robots on legs, were the new future.

The "not a carmaker" mantra originated in this bizarre strategic pivot. As vehicle sales started to disappoint, Musk and his minions declared that deliveries were irrelevant, because Tesla is now an artificial intelligence and robotics company, not a carmaker. The bad thing is that Musk started believing this himself, and the company started moving away from vehicle manufacturing. Even worse was that Tesla sucked at both robots and autonomous driving.

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

By: Sergiu Tudose

Back in May of this year, I wrote an op-ed regarding the possible fallout from Kimi Antonelli becoming a World Champion so early in his Formula 1 career. I argued that while he is obviously an extraordinary talent, I still wouldn't bet money on Formula 1 benefiting from crowning someone so young, so fast.

Well, here we are. Antonelli is officially the champ, and I suppose I owe the kid an apology. Or at least an explanation.

At just 20-years-old, Kimi shattered Sebastian Vettel's record as the youngest champion in F1 history. He's also the first Italian to win the title since Alberto Ascari did it in 1953, thus ending a 73-year drought. He's done all this in only his second season, which was about as unlikely as, I don't know... let’s just agree it was unlikely! I didn't think it would happen. Not this year, anyway.

Like most of you, I figured George Russell would eventually close the gap, or that Max would mount one of his ridiculous comebacks. But it wasn't to be. Antonelli wrapped up the title fight with four races still left to go.

Now, my original argument had nothing to do with Kimi's talent. I've never questioned his skills as a top F1 prospect. It was more about the way we perceive greatness in Formula 1, and how that perception often depends on the journey rather than the destination.

Look at the likes of Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, or Max Verstappen. All of them had to establish themselves against formidable opposition before becoming dominant.

They were never blessed with a title-winning car right off the bat. To be fair, Hamilton came really close to winning the title as a rookie in 2007, before claiming it the following year. His and Kimi's career look pretty similar from that standpoint, even though Kimi never even sniffed the title in his rookie season.

Still, he went from being a promising débutant to world champion in what feels like 5 minutes. It's almost unfair. We've barely had any time to appreciate him as a prospect and suddenly we're celebrating him as best-of-the-best. In 2026, at least.

Then again, we might just be witnessing something truly scary - a world champion who hasn't even hit his ceiling yet, which I think we all know is true.

And yet there's no escaping the fact that Mercedes entered the new regulatory era with by far the most competitive package. They've been on top for most of the season, I'd say, with Ferrari and Red Bull catching up after the summer break. So yes, Antonelli benefited greatly from that performance advantage, and pretending otherwise would be dishonest.

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

By: Daniel Patrascu

It's been ten years since a Honda adventure motorcycle was brought into the world under the name CRF1150L Africa Twin. A revival of a model that dates back four decades, when something called the XRV650 Africa Twin was introduced, the two-wheeler is now at the receiving end of the biggest refresh ever imagined for it.

As it turns ten years in its current form, the bike, which also happens to be the flagship adventure ride in the company's portfolio, gets a new chassis, a bigger and more powerful engine, and a styling refresh – to the point we can very well consider it a new generation.

The skeleton of the new Africa Twin is a new steel frame packing an aluminum swingarm, lighter than the previous version and offering a lower center of gravity. On top of it all, the frame packs a new fuel sub-tank that should give riders more range than ever before.

Inside the frame, Honda fitted a larger engine. From 1,084cc as fitted on the CRF1000L, the size of the twin-cylinder powerplant grew to 1,131cc, and, consequently, so did the power levels: the engine is rated at 117 hp and 119 Nm of torque. That's an increase of 16 hp and seven Nm of torque.

To go with the increase in size, Honda gifted the engine with a redesigned intake system, larger-diameter throttle bodies, a revised valvetrain and cylinder head, and a higher compression ratio.

Just like before, there are two transmission choices on the table for the adventure bike in this new form, the standard six-speed manual and a six-speed dual clutch. There are now six default riding modes the Africa Twin can adopt to serve various rider and terrain needs, namely Sport, Touring, Urban, Rain, Offroad, and Offroad+.

The suspension system that makes the bike capable of going on off-road adventures comprises 49 mm USD front forks and a Pro-Link rear monoshock. These tie into spoked wheels sized 21 and 18 inches, respectively,

Honda tampered a bit with the way the bike feels to the rider, and now delivers narrower handlebars, which are also located higher and further forward, the footpeg position has moved inwards and back, and the windscreen can now be operated electrically.

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

By: Dragos Chitulescu

A few weeks ago I stumbled across my old collection of motorcycle magazines. A German publisher had released them on the market over 20 years ago, and I’ve been happy to take good care of them since. I only took one out of the drawer, thinking I’d re-read them all within a few weeks. I’m still stuck in nostalgia mode since, and even took photos of the bikes inside to show them to my buddy Omar (who was probably still in kindergarten back in 2003).

One event led to another, and I somehow remembered one of my junior-high “sweethearts”: the Benelli Tornado Tre 900 (Novecento). It was my first time falling in love with a bike that had an inline-three cylinder engine. To me, it felt even more exclusive and exciting than a Ducati or an Aprilia, although the latter also commanded part of my attention with its V4 engines. Drifting shifted my focus from bikes to cars for a few years, and I had almost forgotten about he Tornado Tre 900 until last month.

Well, at least I haven’t thought about it for a long time. As I knew that my colleague, Cristian Curmei, would embark on his first-ever trip to EICMA in Italy, I asked him to keep me updated about the show and maybe even get in touch with a few of the top manufacturers for some test rides in 2027. He has been at it for a few days, but I just didn’t find the time to sit down and look through photos.

It all changed when I got a glimpse of what just happened at the Benelli stand. First of all, the Italian manufacturer used the show as a platform to reveal its new brand identity. But the main event had three motorcycles sitting under the covers, with Mr. Roberto Vitali (Europe Sales, Marketing and Communication Director, Benelli) and Mr. Marco Belluci (Technical and R&D Director, Benelli) walking us through the secrets inside.

Cristian was fortunate enough to also hear from Mr. Stefano Casanova (Chief Designer) during a short interview, and I genuinely didn’t expect Benelli to make such a bold move at EICMA this year. The Tornado 550 launched earlier this year seemed like an interesting proposition, but I tend to be highly wary of anything that’s powered by a parallel twin engine as I’m too nostalgic about the “good old days” to appreciate what these units can achieve.

Two of the motorcycles on the podium were the Tornado Naked Twin 700 and the TRK 602 X, and I might see what they’re like next year. However, the main star of the show was the Tornado Naked Tre 903 Concept which marks the return of Benelli’s three-cylinder motor. This all feels like a teaser for the future, and the manufacturer calls this bike a “test bed” for the ideas its currently developing.

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

By: Mircea Panait

Subaru recently brought a strange-looking WRX to the Nurburgring, and its rear end is what makes it peculiar. Extended rear quarter panels, a more serious-looking diffuser, and the new outline for its trunk lid spoiler give it a completely different character from the series-production WRX, be it the US-market specification or the one sold in the automaker's home market. 

More or less a longtail conversion, this vehicle raises more questions than it answers. Could it be a next-gen mule? What about the STI? Also worth remembering, Subaru is working on a Japanese-market WRX equipped with the heavy-duty TY85 manual in lieu of the current TY75. Problem is, nobody except a few peeps at Subaru knows what this car actually previews. 

If you ask me, the safest answer would be a serious update for the outgoing VB-series WRX. There is a slim chance that Subaru will market it as the next generation, but under the skin, there is no denying that Subaru could not make a case for anything other than small updates to the SGP architecture. The big news, therefore, is the switchover to the rod-linked TY85 as the replacement for the cable-operated TY75 manual transmission.

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Still camouflaged like there's no tomorrow, the Life Cycle Impulse of the M5 shows a visor-like front end with smaller kidney grille openings between the slimmer headlight units. Due for the 2028 model year, the facelifted M5 clearly takes visual inspiration from the new 3 Series and i3.

As far as the lower front bumper area is concerned, revised openings and slightly different outer corners are visible. While it may not look too different from the side profile, look forward to new wheel designs. Out back, this prototype is rocking a different bumper, diffuser, and taillights. Just as you'd expect from a V8-powered M high-performance model, the quad-piped exhaust arrangement carries over.

Neue Klasse influences will also make the interior feel completely different from the outgoing 2027 model. The latest version of iDrive and Panoramic Vision represent the biggest changes, and this change is best described as a love-or-hate affair. So far, internal combustion models that have borrowed these Neue Klasse elements include the 2027 model year 3 Series and X5.

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Four exhaust outlets may be the norm if we're talking about German plug-in hybrid V8 sedans, but four pipes on a Tiguan? Obviously enough, the Tiguan R is anything but your usual front-biased crossover. In fact, you can think of it as the Volkswagen Golf R Variant on stilts. Given that Volkswagen sells the hatchback stateside, chances are the next Tiguan R could very well be offered in North America.

A lot more than just an R-Line package with extra visual pizzazz, the R also rides lower and sports different bumpers. While subtle, all these updates come together to deliver a more purposeful aesthetic. Based on the intakes and grille pattern up front, Volkswagen's upcoming performance crossover needs plenty of cool air to keep its 2.0-liter turbo I4 happy under load.

Just like the Golf R, the culprit here is an iron-block four that is connected to a quick-shifting DSG box. The final piece of the puzzle is the spicy kind of 4MOTION all-wheel drive, namely a dual-clutch rear drive unit developed alongside Magna. Referred to as 4MOTION with R Performance Torque Vectoring, said rear axle can send up to 100 percent of the available torque to either wheel for better rotation into the corner.

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Everyone and their dog is still daydreaming about a convertible version of the Z, yet Nissan isn't budging. Over in the world of all things Photoshop, digital artist Nikita Chuicko imagined the Japanese sports car as something way cooler than a canvas top or a targa top. Instead of going the conventional route, he imagined the Z as a shooting brake.

And it's not just any shooting brake, oh no! Big-lipped copper wheels are on the menu as well, and the visual drama is cranked up to 11 by the widebody kit. All in all, this is an extremely different interpretation of the RZ34-series Z compared to most renderings we've seen to date. Most tastefully, its elongated roof produces a far more stately profile.

More compact performance wagon than just another sports coupe, said rendering is all the more interesting due to the black-over-yellow paint job.  Considering how little demand there is for shooting brakes in 2026, it goes without saying that Nissan will never even consider such a body style for the Z. A convertible, however, could happen if the ailing Japanese automaker hits its corporate sales targets over the next few years.

By: Bogdan Popa

Ford won’t sell your data, but if you want the full connected experience, you must keep almost everything on. That’s what the company explains in its new Privacy Promise, explaining that once you block the data sharing, you can end up driving a dumb car.

Meanwhile, Google Maps and Waze are getting new features. I recently came across a new Google patent that describes a way to improve navigation guidance using 360-degree landmarks. This means Gemini, the AI-powered assistant that keeps wreaking havoc on Android Auto, will look around you for ways to make navigation more straightforward.

Waze could soon start showing alerts for cyclists based on data powered by Garmin smartwatches. Garmin wants LiveTrack data to be used for Waze alerts that would appear on the map whenever a cyclist is on the road. Nearby drivers could see an icon on the map or a notification on the screen, depending on the final version of this unannounced feature.

Finally, if you bought a Samsung Galaxy S26 and didn’t already upgrade it to One UI 9, you’d better not do it. Android Auto doesn’t play nice with this update, with the infamous broken connection bug now haunting devices.

Congratulations for reaching the finish line!

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