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In 2021, Rolls-Royce delivered the most cars in its 117-year history

5,586 cars in a whole year might not sound like a particularly big number but for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, it’s a number that has never been recorded in the company’s 117-year history. While being at the topmost segment of the market does mean that the number of customers is significantly smaller, it also shows that demand for Rolls-Royce cars has grown in an unprecedented way globally.

2021 was another year of the COVID-19 pandemic and businesses worldwide were impacted, the auto industry not escaping as well. Yet Rolls-Royce was able to deliver 49% more cars than in 2020, with all-time record sales in most regions, including Greater China, the Americas and Asia-Pacific, and in multiple countries worldwide.

The phenomenal year was due to have an extremely strong product portfolio, supported by the continuing record demand for Bespoke personalisation. It was also the first full year of availability of the Ghost, with the launch of the Black Badge Ghost (pictured above).

The growth was, in fact, driven principally by the Ghost, with demand surging further when the launch of Black Badge Ghost in October. This, together with the continuing demand for the Cullinan SUV and the marque’s pinnacle product, the Phantom, saw order books are full well into the third quarter of 2022. The company’s Provenance (pre-owned) programme also enjoyed exceptional sales results in 2021, achieving an all-time record.

Not surprisingly, almost all customers make use of Bespoke services which remained at record levels. During the year, Rolls-Royce revealed individual examples such as the Phantom Oribe co-created with Hermes, alongside the Phantom Tempus, and Black Badge Wraith and Black Badge Dawn Landspeed Collection cars. The company signalled its commitment to leading a new contemporary coachbuilding movement with Rolls‑Royce Coachbuild becoming a permanent fixture in its future portfolio and, with it, the unveiling of its latest coachbuilt masterpiece, the Boat Tail (shown below).

Just as Rolls-Royce eventually added an SUV to its range, it will also have a fully electric car in the market as soon as the fourth quarter of 2023. That’s just about 22 months away and as with the Cullinan, the first all-electric Rolls-Royce – the be known as the Spectre – is undergoing the most punishing testing protocol ever conceived for a model of the marque. Prototypes will clock a total of 2.5 million kilometres in all four corners of the world, simulating more than 400 years of use for a Rolls‑Royce.

*One of the very few official images of the first all-electric Rolls-Royce, available from the fourth quarter of 2023.*

Reflecting on the results, CEO Torsten Muller-Otvos said: “This has been a truly historic year for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. In the past 12 months, we have recorded our highest-ever annual sales, launched the latest addition to our Black Badge family, stunned the world with our coachbuilding capabilities and made huge strides into our all-electric future.”

“While preparations are made for the marque’s all-electric future, Rolls-Royce continues to meet the surge in demand for its current portfolio through a flexible manufacturing process and the dedication of the over 2,000 people who work at the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, West Sussex and around the world. The Rolls-Royce factory at Goodwood is currently running at near-maximum capacity, on a two-shift pattern to fulfil orders from clients around the world,” he added.

Leading every Rolls-Royce for 110 years – the Spirit of Ecstasy

Cadillac InnerSpace concept reimagines the luxury experience of motoring in future

For those who have not followed the changes in Cadillac, the quintessential American automobile brand, their products are no longer the huge and heavy ‘aircraft carriers’ they once were. In fact, since the 1980s, the General Motors subsidiary has been ‘downsizing’ in response to energy concerns and the need to look for socially acceptable.

It now has to transform again for the electrified era and future personal mobility. With the vast resources of General Motors to draw on for development of entirely new electrically-powered models, Cadillac will soon be coming out with new cars that maintain its reputation of premium luxury travel.

Vision of personal autonomous future mobility
At CES 2022 this week, the company showed one vision of personal autonomous future mobility with the InnerSpace concept. This is a futuristic 2-passenger fully electric and autonomous luxury vehicle which is part of the brand’s Halo Concept Portfolio. This portfolio represents future possibilities with a range of personal autonomous options and advanced connected vehicle features. Leveraging cutting-edge technologies designed to enhance the passenger experience along with the increased personal time enabled by fully autonomous mobility, the InnerSpace grows the Halo Concept Portfolio.

“The vehicles of the Cadillac Halo Concept Portfolio are designed to provide effortless travel through extraordinary means,” said Bryan Nesbitt, GM Executive Director, Global Advanced Design and Global Architecture Studio. “They are visions for the next decade and beyond, showing the possibilities enabled by General Motors’ comprehensive approach to autonomous drive technology with the goal of a world with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion.”

Cadillac Halo Concept Portfolio
Cadillac introduced the first two Halo concepts last year at CES: the PersonalSpace, a single-seat, personal vertical take-off and landing concept designed to literally move its passenger above the din and congestion of ground traffic; and the SocialSpace, a roomy, autonomous vehicle for up to six, designed to help passengers relax and recharge.

Conceptually, the portfolio repurposes how passengers use their time while traveling, providing a space for solace and respite. Full autonomy relinquishes the responsibility of vehicle control while dramatic design and advanced technologies maintain the sensation of arriving in a Cadillac.

In fact, technologies such as biometric input and AI machine learning are harnessed and complement Cadillac’s luxury environment to support unique wellness experiences. Through software-defined features and advanced vehicle connectivity, the Concept Halo Portfolio could offer each passenger a truly personalized experience made possible by GM’s Ultifi software platform. The experiences showcased within the Halo Portfolio demonstrate the potential as both Ultifi and autonomous technology continue to evolve.

“Electrification and autonomous driving will fundamentally change the role of vehicles and the experiences customers have with them,” said Nesbitt. “We’re exploring where that will go with these innovative concepts, envisioning mobility as an ally of wellness, giving customers the ultimate luxury, more personal time rather than taking it.”

Reimagining the luxury experience
Early in Cadillac’s history, compact and personal Runabout models enabled customers to explore new and wider horizons. The new InnerSpace concept reimagines that as a vision, with a fully autonomous experience that allows the two occupants to focus on their journey rather than driving.

The vehicle’s fully autonomous capability means they can give more attention to the world around them. Inside too, they will have more personal and tailored experiences that add new dimensions to motoring. AI-driven biometric input and interfaces, accessible via a large, immersive and panoramic SMD LED display, will allow passengers to select from Augmented Reality Engagement, Entertainment and Wellness Recovery themes for their drive. Thanks to Ultifi, Cadillac engineers and authorized third parties will be able to innovate additional themes and features that can be added over the air.

With the Ultium Platform’s wireless battery management system, the battery modules are spread about the concept vehicle, which allowed designers to optimize the cabin for spaciousness and serenity. This design freedom also allowed for a low-profile floor, providing an extremely low, sports car-like seating position.

The InnerSpace design features expansive, panoramic glass on the roof and part of the body sides for almost unimpeded views. The roof opens with the doors for more comfortable entry and egress, and the seats also pivot outward when the doors are opened, enhancing the effect.

Even the tyres are designed to contribute to its solace. Specially developed by Goodyear for electrified vehicles, they feature SoundComfort technology designed to help mitigate soundwave resonance within the tyre for a quiet ride, while soybean oil and rice husk-based silica replaces petroleum-based oil as a key ingredient in their construction. And because autonomous driving takes away some of the driver’s connection with the road, Goodyear SightLine, Goodyear’s tyre intelligence technology, conveys important information about pressure, temperature, load and other performance factors.

2022 LYRIQ will be first model in Cadillac’s electric-only range moving forward

BMW iX M60 takes BMW M into electric era

For the brands that sell high-performance cars, going electric has added challenges. They need to not only ensure that the electrically-powered cars offer the same sort of performance levels their customers expect from their brand but also new requirements like charging times and range. The latter especially was not so important before as customers are okay with high fuel consumption and can refuel as needed. With an electric car, you cannot ‘refuel’ as easily and at this time, it still takes a while to recharge battery packs (although that time is getting shorter),

For a company like BMW M, which has built up a reputation producing cars with superlative performance, going electric meant that they had also to be able to offer the same kind of performance. Drawing on the BMW Group’s expertise in the field, BMW M also had its own specialized skills to develop electric cars worthy of the M badge.

3.8 seconds from 0 to 100 km/h
The first BMW M automobile designed for purely electric mobility from the outset – the new iX M60 – should provide reassurance to fans of M. With an output of 455 kW/619 ps and maximum torque of up to 1.015 Nm, it has a claimed standstill to 100 km/h time of 3.8 seconds and can go over 250 km/h but is limited to that top speed. With a fully charged battery pack, factory tests have shown it to be able to travel up to 566 kms.

The 111.5-kWh battery pack can be recharged using a DC fast-charger and add 150 kms of range within 10 minutes. Leave it connected to the charger longer and after 35 minutes, the energy content can be up to 80% from 10%.

The suspension technology of the iX M60 includes a double-wishbone front axle, a 5-link rear axle and electric steering with Servotronic function and variable ratio. In addition, there’s adaptive dual- axle air suspension with electronically-controlled shock absorbers. The dual axle air suspension ensures the optimum vehicle height at any speed, regardless of the load. The air supply to the suspension is regulated individually for each wheel and can thus also compensate for uneven loading.

The damper forces are adaptively controlled with an M-specific characteristic via continuously adjustable valves, which take into account longitudinal and lateral acceleration, road speed and steering angle as well as body and wheel acceleration on the front axle in order to activate the required damper force within a few milliseconds.

BMW IconicSounds Electric
Like all BMW i models, the iX M60 will have BMW IconicSounds Electric with specific characteristics for its M exclusivity. The emotional soundtrack that the occupants will hear was created in a collaboration between film music composer and Academy Award winner Hans Zimmer and BMW Group Creative Director Sound Renzo Vitale.

Even pressing the START/STOP button is acknowledged with an inspiring acoustic signal. While driving, the BMW IconicSounds Electric provide authentic feedback to every movement of the accelerator pedal. The sound of the drive is characterized by a particularly energy-charged sound development. The sound characteristics are based on the setting selected with the Driving Experience Control Switch.

Milestone for BMW M
The debut of the iX M60 marks a milestone in the history of BMW M, 50 years old this year, as it enters the segment of electrified performance cars. Like all recent BMW fully electric models, the architecture is completely new and designed for electric powertrains. So the full benefits are exploited and performance can be optimized. The iX M60’s performance, efficiency and range also benefit from its optimized aerodynamics which give it a Cd of 0.26 (in Sport Mode).

Lightweight construction principles
The vehicle concept of the iX provides an ideal basis for an all-electric SAV with high-performance characteristics. Both the body structure and the design principle as well as suspension set-up are geared towards combining ride comfort with sporty handling characteristics. The aluminium spaceframe concept and the carbonfibre cage with carbonfibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) in the roof, side and rear sections are an intelligent mix of materials that combines increased rigidity with optimized weight.

The use of CFRP to reduce weight has a long tradition at BMW M. The particularly lightweight high-tech material already achieved great results in combining engine performance and weight in the M3 CSL which was introduced in 2003. In fact, BMW M pioneered the use of CFRP in large-scale automotive production and today uses it in numerous current models as part of the intelligent lightweight construction principle.

The high-voltage battery is located deep down in the underbody, lowering the vehicle’s centre of gravity for agile handling as well as balanced axle load distribution. Like the other models, the iX M60 also has an extensive range of driver assistance systems. A new generation of sensors, a new software stack and a powerful computing platform also provide considerable potential for consistently advancing automated driving and parking functions – with level 3 functionality in the medium term.

Future modular system
The iX M60 combines its typical M performance characteristics with the exceptionally advanced technology of the BMW Group’s new future modular system in the areas of automated driving, operation, connectivity and digital services. This creates an experience of premium mobility that is unique in the competitive environment. The completely redeveloped interior architecture also contributes to this, creating an exceptionally generous feeling of space.

BMW Group Malaysia moves into next phase of electrification with new BMW i model range

This car doesn’t fly but it could replace the budget airline aircraft

Before 2020, flying had become commonplace with low-cost carriers making it possible for almost anyone to fly. For Malaysians, heading off the Penang or the East Coast for the weekend was replaced by quick trips to Phuket in Thailand or Bali in Indonesia. Then COVID-19 attacked the planet and that changed things. People are flying again but it’s no longer the same and with the strict procedures and quarantines in different countries, it is also not enjoyable.

So Car Design Research (CDR — a UK based agency) has come up with the idea of the Budget Airline Car. No, it’s not another flying car but it is aimed at providing alternative to flying, short-haul in particular, by using a large super-efficient low-cost electric car. Such a car might be appealing for people who don’t want to be close to hundreds of others in airports and aircraft cabins, or who want to help save the planet by not using the most environmentally damaging form of transport: the short-haul flight.

Conceived during the lock-down in Britain last year, the Budget Airline Car is a concept for a new type of car design that would produce only 2% of the emissions per passenger compared to a short-haul flight. The core concept was developed closely with CDR design associates Yichen Shu in China and Aditya Jangid in India, both of whom then designed subtly different exterior design themes.

Today, an increasing number of new cars are electrified, full of connected services, with increasing autonomous capabilities. But. in design. they are not so different to cars from 20, even 50, years ago. Almost all still seat the driver and passenger on separate seats up front, and two or three behind, with one separate space at the rear for luggage accessed from outside.

It’s a formula that works, so why change it? Well, there are two big reasons: because the way people live has changed since this design pattern was established 100 years ago; and because new technologies are unlocking the potential for design change. There’s a third and fourth reason to change too: because globally we are facing a climate emergency, and because we are in the midst of a pandemic — both huge imperatives for truly new types of car design.

The CDR team looked at this context of a fast-changing world and saw opportunities for car design. They came up with 6 new car types that would be enabled by new technologies, and that would be part of uniquely pertinent future scenarios. One of these focused on being an alternative to the short-haul flight — the form of transport most at the heart of today’s imperatives to change because it creates an increasingly untenable level of environmental damage. COVID-19 concerns also make being in airport queues and airplane cabins less desirable.

So, the core concept for the Budget Airline Car is for a shared super-efficient car to be offered by budget airlines or hire car brands as an alternative service to short-haul flights. A short-haul flight is defined as a journey of up to 3 hours, or up to 1,100 kms. That’s the flying distance from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok or Jakarta.

The car would seat 6 people in 3 rows and as passengers may not know each other (just as on a flight), each would have a dedicated seat with their cabin baggage securely stored within easy reach. This would have greater privacy and space than afforded by existing cars’ second and third row seats.

This three-seat row layout can be realised within an overall length of 5 metres, despite each seat space being equally large, because of the benefits of compact electric motors. The 2-person wide layout also contributes to a reduced frontal area compared to a car designed to seat three people side-by-side.

The electric powertrain would be developed for long-distance mid-speed cruising, rather than high performance, and the design would prioritise aerodynamics. The length of 5 metres would make the Budget Airline Car as long as a current Volvo XC90, but its 1.8-metre width and 1.5-metre height would give it 20% less frontal area. This, along with a more slippery shape/lower drag coefficient, would make it markedly more aerodynamic and thus more energy-efficient.

Passengers could share the driving, with good driving incentivised by the shared-economy digital platform that they access the service through (akin to eBay, Airbnb, and other shared service platforms). A suite of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) would aid safety, with fully autonomous drive also becoming available over time.

While the idea may not be as useful in Malaysia, other than going from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok (and places in between), the design would still offer possibilities for domestic travel around the peninsular. The highway network is already quite well developed so journeys can be smooth and quick. Perhaps instead of being positioned in comparison the a ‘budget airline’, the car could be a premium form of transport that is an alternative to a bus or taxi.

The power of touchscreens and dashboards of the future

New Turkish technology company, Togg, aims to produce a million electric vehicles by 2030

In the 20^th century, becoming a significant player in the auto industry required experience and staying power to withstand the cyclical nature of the industry. From the time of the world’s first car by Karl Benz, hundreds of individuals and companies have come and gone in their attempts to establish themselves, only the fittest and strongest making it through the decades to today.

But in the 21^st century, the game has changed and long experience is not necessarily required. The products are changing and instead of ‘transport’, ‘mobility’ is the catchword today. Numerous start-ups have appeared in the industry in the past 20 years, offering a new generation of vehicles, mostly running on electricity. Though fragmented in one sense, they pose a challenge to the established brands which have resources but are hampered by their size when it comes to charting new courses forward.

The best example of these newcomers is Tesla, just 17 years old and, in 2021, Kantar BrandZ found it to be the most valuable and fastest growing auto brand on the planet, more than trebling its value from 2020. And its co-founder, Elon Musk, became the richest person in the world with a US$278 billion net worth at the end of 2021.

Others are obviously inspired by such success and in Turkey, M. Gurcan Karakas has started a company that is not a traditional automobile manufacturer but will enter the auto industry with differentiated approach as a technology brand focused on mobility. Introducing his 3-year old company, Togg, at CES 2022 this week, Gurcan Karakas said: “The transformation that occurred in the mobilephone industry in response to changing user expectations is occurring in the automotive industry today. More agile, creative, collaborative, user-centric organizations, not necessarily the big and established brands, will be the most successful in the near future. The race in this field is just beginning, and we are in this race. Moreover, we have a significant advantage because we were born into this world.”

Togg aims to serve as the backbone of the Turkish mobility ecosystem with 100% Turkish intellectual and industrial property. It will be Europe’s first non-classical born electric SUV manufacturer when it begins production in Gemlik later this year, rolling out electric and connected next-generation vehicles and a mobility ecosystem to support them. By the end of this decade, the company expects to be producing a million vehicles in 5 different segments.

“By the end of 2022, we will launch our first mass production vehicle,” said Gurkan Karakas. “Our first vehicle in the C-segment, an SUV, will be launched in the first quarter of 2023 following the completion of homologation tests. It will be the first electric SUV produced in continental Europe by a non-traditional manufacturer. A C-segment sedan and a C-segment hatchback will then enter production. With the addition of the B-SUV and C-MPV to the family in the coming years, our product range will be completed with 5 models sharing the same DNA and same platform.”

Referring to its model shown at CES 2022 as a ‘smart device’, the car has a dynamic fastback form that introduces Togg’s styling DNA. The basis of the car’s styling concept is the muscular rear design and the shoulderline that extends from the headlights to the rear, presenting a strong side profile.

Togg’s team sought to retain the company’s Turkish origins while creating a global brand. The car’s illuminated Togg logo is said to represent the unification of Eastern and Western cultures. “The two arrows in the logo design represent the fusion of East and West, forming a gemstone in the center. The duality theme in our logo encourages us to strive for a rational and emotional balance between East and West in both exterior and interior design. Additionally, our logo emphasizes that Togg is a technology company that connects technology and people at the juncture of today and tomorrow through its life-improving mobility solutions,” Gurkan Karakas explained.

Gemlik, the home of Togg located 128 kms south of Istanbul, is a world leader in olive production. By establishing what is claimed to be Europe’s cleanest production facility, Togg aims to ensure that the centuries-old olive trees in the city continue to thrive for thousands of years. This ambition was presented at CES by a real olive tree – with a lifespan of over 1,000 years – planted alongside a 3D-printed olive tree made from recycled plastic, created in 1001 hours.

Volvo will introduce unsupervised motoring in California first

Carmakers wanting to enter the US market have often found that the west coast state of California is a good place to start. It seems that consumers there are receptive to new trends and new cars, so Volvo Cars will introduce its unsupervised autonomous driving feature, Ride Pilot, to customers in the state of California first.

‘Unsupervised’ would mean that Ride Pilot offers the highest level of autonomous motoring where humans do not have to be involved at all. It’s the stuff of science fiction movies and will free up more time for the occupants to do other things. Whether we can call it ‘driving’ any longer is something that will need to be debated.

In tandem with the introduction of Ride Pilot, the company is also setting a new standard for safety, with over-the-air (OTA) software updates in combination with a state-of-the-art sensor set-up. The software is developed by autonomous driving software company Zenseact, together with Volvo Cars’ in-house team of developers, and developers from Luminar, one of its technology partners.

The sensor set-up consists of more than 2 dozen sensors, including Luminar’s cutting-edge Iris LiDAR sensor, which will be tightly integrated with the developed software. Luminar’s LiDAR sensor will complement 5 radars, 8 cameras and 16 ultrasonic sensors in Volvo Cars’ upcoming fully electric SUV. This standard sensor set-up provides excellent vision and perception reliability. Together with continuous, over-the-air software rollouts, the system will ensure full redundancy and enable Volvo Cars to achieve safe autonomous driving with Ride Pilot.

For autonomous motoring to be safe with no supervision by humans, the vehicle will have to be able to scan all round with various sensors to detect other vehicles and hazards. The sensors will include cameras mounted in the windscreen like the ones shown below.

Rigorous testing and verification
While this software-sensor combination, and the safety it enables, will be standard, available from day one on the new SUV and improved over time, Ride Pilot will be made available to customers only once it has gone through Volvo Cars’ rigorous verification and testing protocol. This includes validation of the technology as safe for use on highways in a number of varying conditions. This new flagship for the company will be revealed later this year.

As part of this verification process, Volvo Cars is already testing autonomous driving functionalities on roads in Sweden together with Zenseact, and collecting data across Europe and the USA. By the middle of this year, the company intends to begin testing on roads in California (pending approvals from relevant authorities), where the climate, traffic conditions and regulatory framework provide a favourable environment for the introduction of autonomous driving.

But where and how far autonomous driving will be permitted is not known yet. In some countries where autonomous vehicles are permitted to operate, only limited sections of public roads can be used. On such roads, the surrounding environment is properly prepared to ensure that the imagery systems can correctly function to detect and identify road hazards and signage.

More free time on a journey
The name ‘Ride Pilot’ implies what the driver can expect: when the car is driving on its own, Volvo Cars takes responsibility for the driving, offering the driver comfort and peace of mind. By using Ride Pilot, drivers will be able to free up time while driving, and spend it on secondary activities such as reading, writing, working or socialising. The feature can also help drivers arrive at their destination rested and recharged, by reducing the mental strain that may come with driving, especially in traffic jams or heavy traffic.

Without the need to supervise what the car is doing, the driver will be able to do other things like read or even talk on a phone without breaking any law. Perhaps the occupants could even sleep on the journey – but can it be called ‘driving’ then?

“We are proud to announce the planned US launch of our first truly unsupervised autonomous driving feature, as we look to set a new industry standard for autonomy without compromising safety,” said Mats Moberg, Head of Research and Development at Volvo Cars. “Having Zenseact’s brand-new AD software and Luminar’s LiDAR standard in our new fully electric SUV is a game-changer for Volvo Cars, as well as for automotive safety and autonomous driving.”

Human drivers use two eyes, autonomous cars need three eyes

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