In this week’s automotive news you need to know: Rolls-Royce has made (what’s said to be) the most expensive car in the world, Rimac might upset its mighty shareholders, BMW thrashes all its ICE M cars with its first battery-electric ‘M car’ and Land Rover has set the base price of its cheapest Defender at R1 million.
Rolls Royce – Boat Tail – calling on oil money
2020 was, despite the crippling effects of a global pandemic, a great year for luxury car brands. While Porsche continued its sales ascent, Ferrari and Aston Martin had bumper years, largely underpinned by SUV variants and, in general, a good sense of what the world’s richest want. Rolls-Royce (RR) has either struggled (or been quietly reluctant) to modernise itself; not that it needs to win popularity contests.
Read more: Rolls-Royce’s R380m Boat Tail
Despite making at least some advancements, RR is tradition-bound, but will this be its downfall in years to come? It almost seems like suicide if you’re not fronting a concerted EV strategy or have SUVs (other than the Cullinan) to churn out – OEM bean-counters love those! Truth is, the Goodwood-based brand is not fussed; its clientele is way too niche to care about adhering to mainstream trends. They want the best of the best and RR plays to that rather well: the decadent coach-built Boat Tail is every bit a middle finger to the world of EVs (for now). You don’t see that type of confidence often these days.
Rimac – EV Hypercars and boardroom antics
If you remember the Youtube clips of Mate Rimac in his electrically-powered BMW E30 dominating drag-racing events in Eastern Europe all those years ago, you’ll know that this company was destined for greatness from the very beginning. Porsche and Hyundai recognised that and strategically acquired 24% and 14% stakes in the company respectively, as did Chinese battery supplier, Camel Group (14%).
Read more: Electric Rimac Nevera Revealed with 1 408 kW
Will Porsche allow the Croatian once-part-supplier-turned-novelty-brand to just do its thing and perhaps branch out of the hypercar space and eat into the market share of the future GT3 and GT2 models when the Zuffenhausen-based brand finally mothballs the flat-six – or ditches the internal-combustion engine entirely (sorry, Hans Mezger) – one day in the not-too-distant future?
That type of self-cannibalisation “moment” won’t sit well with Porsche’s management, I can assure you! I anticipate that Porsche may be keen to buy out Hyundai’s stake, because something has to give.
BMW i4 M50 – a clean slate
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It’s here, M people: the first M EV. Long gone are the days of the sonorous free-breathing E46 M3 (3.2-litre straight 6), E60 M5 (5.0-litre V10) and E92 M3 (4.0-litre V8), to name but a few of the Bavarian marque’s most celebrated powerplants; they incorporated incremental advancements that allowed BMW M cars to trim their 0-100-kph times to what seemed like impossibly low numbers. Several years of Herculean effort – the stuff of legend – has just been eclipsed by the specs of the latest ‘M car’; the eco-friendly M50. For traditionalists or sentimental petrolheads, it’s a sickening gut punch, isn’t it?
Read more: BMW i4 M50 Specs Confirm Huge Power
What’s more, if you were upset about that controversial grille treatment on the latest 4 Series and recently-launched G80 M3 and G82 M4, you’re not going to feel any better about the i4’s unmistakable schnoz. In fact, you probably cry yourself to sleep at night before getting up in the morning, all bleary-eyed and crestfallen, to scour the used-car classifieds in the hopes of hunting down the very last of the unfettered ICE-engined M cars. The truth is the future is here and OEMs are bringing the change, whether you like it or not. Fit in or get out is the message and well… if you can’t beat ’em, join “M”.
Land Rover Defender 90 – not cheap
Despite the myriad raving reviews motoring journos have given the new Defender, the model’s price positioning has put it out of the reach of most buyers, let alone the Defender faithful, which I find difficult to accept. Towards the end of the previous generation’s run, you could scroll through online ads for Defenders without batting an eyelid at the asking prices. They weren’t cheap, but they were within reach.
Read more: Land Rover Defender 90 (2021) Specs & Price in SA
The same, however, cannot be said about the new Defender 90; its base price is R1 million, which means you’ll need to be part of the senior management of a flourishing company, own your own successful business or be awarded a juicy government tender to afford one. And, if the new Landies are as good as they’re said to be, don’t expect the used market to offer many “affordable” examples anytime soon.
