The hottest new cars revealed this week

Scout Motors, the Volkswagen-backed revival of American 4x4 brand International Harvester, has revealed its first two models.

The Traveler is an electric Land Rover Defender rival, while the Terra is an electric pick-up truck that will rival the likes of the Rivian R1T, Tesla Cybertruck and Chevrolet Silverado EV.

The two have been unveiled in near-production concept form, with both due to enter production in 2027.

They will be based on a body-on-frame platform that's said to be completely unrelated to the Volkswagen Group's MEB and PPE architectures for electric cars, with 800V electricals.

The batteries and electronics will be supplied by Canadian firm Magna.

Originally conceived as a pure-electric revival of the original Scout models, made between 1960 and 1980, the pair will now be offered with optional petrol range-extenders.

Michigan-based Scout said this is down to both a downturn in interest in EVs, coupled with buyers “expressing concerns about the ability to recharge while on the road”.

With the range-extender equipped, the Terra and Traveler will be capable of driving more than 500 miles between fill-ups, up from the standard 350 miles.

Scout has yet to confirm a battery size but has said its platform can support charging at rates of up to 350kW.

The Traveler and Terra offer a dual-motor, four-wheel-drive powertrain, putting out a combined 1000lb ft of torque, giving the SUV a 0-62mph sprint time of just 3.5sec.

Short overhangs, reinforced bumpers, skidplates and body-on-frame construction are said to make them “multi-use tools” and “helpful companions”.

Scout design chief Chris Benjamin said the brand's cars “should always enable the customer to do the things they want to do and make their experience easier, better, faster”. 

Inside, the two cars are said to be “reminiscent of the original Scout II” but with modern amenites. The central infotainment touchscreen is placed above an array of physical toggles and switches that control functions such as the climate control, for instance.

Prices for both cars are expected to start below $60,000 (£46,000), and incentives in the US will leave them closer to $50,000 (£38,500), Scout claimed.

Both the Traveler and Terra will be made at the firm’s new-build factory in South Carolina, with the Volkswagen Group planning to gradually ramp up output to 200,000 units per year.

Orders will soon be taken for Abarth’s new 600e hot electric crossover.

A reworked version of the Fiat 600e, it boats 278bhp in its most powerful form, borrowing its single-motor electric powertrain from the closely related Alfa Romeo Junior.

The range-topping Scorpionissima sends 278bhp and 254lb ft of torque through its front wheels via a Torsen limited-slip differential, allowing it to dispatch the 0-62mph sprint in a claimed 5.9sec.

The entry-level version packs 237bhp so takes 6.2sec to hit 62mph.

Both cars have a top speed of 124mph, although this is capped to 93mph in the road-focused Turismo driving mode.

The Abarth 600e uses the same 54kWh battery pack as the standard Fiat 600e, but its cooling has been upgraded to minimise derating (when the battery's ability to deliver power is diminished by its internal temperature) on track.

Due to the extra power and the fitting of wider and stickier Michelin Pilot Sport EV tyres, the Abarth's range is reduced by 45 miles compared with its Fiat counterpart, at 207 miles per charge.

The hotter 600e also gets larger 380mm brake discs supplied by Alcon and a stiffer suspension set-up developed by Stellantis Motorsport.

Lancia has released the first picture of the new Gamma, which will arrive as the Italian brand’s new flagship in 2026.

The crossover will be based on the STLA Medium platform - which underpins other Stellantis models including the new Peugeot 3008 - and offered with both combustion and electric powertrains.

The Gamma will be twinned with the upcoming successor to the DS 9 and the rebooted Vauxhall Insignia, both of which will share the Gamma’s production line at Melfi, Italy.

Rolls-Royce has brought James Bond nemesis Goldfinger’s Phantom III into the modern era with a special one-off to celebrate 60 years since the iconic film hit cinemas.

Created for a UK-based client – and avid Bond fan – as part of a three-and-a-half-year project, the one-of-one and fully driveable Phantom Goldfinger gives today’s Phantom VIII a 1937 makeover with “some of the most extensively engineered and hand-crafted features ever produced”, Rolls-Royce said.

Aside from the famous two-tone paint, all of the special features are found inside, from an 18-carat solid gold bar (cut in the shape of a Phantom Speedform) in the centre console to a gold golf putter fitted to the boot lid - a reference to Bond's first encounter with Auric Goldfinger at Stoke Park in the film. 

More touches can be found throughout, such as a pull-out picnic table with a map of Fort Knox engraved in 22-carat gold inlay.

Elsewhere, the 007 logo is projected into the boot whenever the lid is open. The car also features two red, blue, green and yellow harlequin-patterned umbrellas fitted into the rear doors, in a nod to the design used by Goldfinger.

“It could have just been black and yellow, but we wanted to do more,” said Nick Rhodes, lead Rolls-Royce Bespoke designer on the project.

AC Cars has unveiled an electric version of its Ace roadster that tips the scales at just 1134kg, making it one of the lightest open-top EVs on sale.

The single-motor MG Cyberster weighs 1885kg and the Wiesmann Project Thunderball is said to be just above 1700kg. The combustion-engined Ace, meanwhile, is 1100kg.

The Ace Classic Electric uses gearbox maker Tremec’s ‘413 e-crate’ powertrain, designed as a drop-in replacement for traditional American V8s.

It packages a 26kWh battery pack, a 300bhp motor and the control electronics into a ‘block’ said to fit within the footprint of Chevrolet’s ubiquitous LS engine.

Carbonfibre bodywork, as used by the petrol Ace, helps to keep the EV’s weight down. 

AC has yet to announce performance figures for the Ace Classic Electric, but it should comfortably shade the petrol Ace, whose turbocharged 276bhp four-pot yields a 0-62mph sprint time of 4.6sec. It may even nudge the V8-powered Cobra GT, which hits 62mph in 3.4sec.

The EV will be offered with the same two bodystyles as the petrol car, drawing on the Bristol- and Ford-engined versions of the roadster from the 1950s and 1960s. 

Prices will start at $275,000 (the equivalent of £212,000) before tax or personalisation, and deliveries are scheduled to begin in spring next year.

The car will make its debut at the SEMA show Las Vegas on 5 November.

The third-generation Nissan Leaf has been spotted testing for the first time ahead of production getting under way in Sunderland next year. 

Morphing from hatchback to crossover, the next Leaf is one of three electric SUVs – alongside replacements for the Nissan Juke and Qashqai – due to start running down the lines at Nissan’s UK factory by the end of the decade.

The Volkswagen works council has outlined cost-cutting plans that threaten to reshape the company's operations in Germany.

In a meeting today, council chair Daniela Cavallo told workers the company’s board plans to shutter at least three of Volkswagen’s 10 German production facilities, while reducing capacity at the others, asserting: "None are safe!"

The closure of any plant would be a first for Volkswagen in its 87-year history.

Together with the plant closures, the plans put forward by the board include significant workforce reductions, salary cuts and the outsourcing of various departments abroad, Cavallo said.

The proposed restructuring includes a 10% salary reduction for remaining employees, a pay freeze for the next two years and the elimination of the monthly tariff allowance of €167, resulting in an estimated total pay reduction of around 18%.

This figure, produced by the Freevoy Super Hybrid Battery, beats some fully electric cars such as the Peugeot e-208 and new Skoda Elroq.

Developed specifically for PHEVs, the pack also increases charging capability and cold weather efficiency compared with packs fitted to current cars, says CATL (Contemporary Amprex Technology Limited).

It will be launched next year and give hybrid owners a “BEV-like” experience, the Chinese firm claims. The first models to use it will be from Li Auto and Changan’s Avatr and Nevo brands, with other manufacturers set to follow, according to CATL.

It is the third pack launched by the tech firm, the other two being for fully electric vehicles. Clients include Volvo, BMW, Ford, MG and, its biggest customer, Tesla. 

CATL’s latest creation uses a sodium-lithium chemical compound to balance energy density. This allows it achieve a maximum range of 249 miles, the firm claims, although it has yet to provide details of the size or energy capacity of the new pack used in its example. 

Morgan will end production of its Plus Six, the higher-powered, six-cylinder version of its two-tier ‘Plus’ range, early next year and replace it with a new flagship that ushers in a fresh design language for the British brand.

The Plus Six’s departure will be marked by the Plus Six Pinnacle, which will be limited to just 30 examples and adopts design cues from the striking Pininfarina-styled Midsummer that was unveiled earlier this year.

Morgan will also use the £96,995, 3.0-litre straight-six-powered Pinnacle to demonstrate its expanding bespoke programme, which will offer what Morgan calls “almost limitless” options.

The replacement for the Plus Six, insiders have revealed to Autocar, will arrive late next year as a two-seat sports car that will not use the traditional ‘wing silhouette’ of today’s four-wheeled Morgans.

The best-selling four-cylinder Plus Four – which has recently been outselling the Plus Six by roughly two to one – will be left to continue the brand’s traditional vintage styling, which started with the 4/4 back in 1936.