The jury for the 2024 edition of the prestigious Lugano Elegance Car Show & Concours d'Elegance classic car competition is made up of renowned experts. Under the direction of Chris Kramer (Germany) and Nigel Matthwes (Canada), a good dozen international classic car specialists will evaluate the classic vehicles.

Anniversaries of well-known brands

The event also includes special events such as the 100th anniversary of the Isotta Fraschini 8A, the 110th anniversary of Maserati and the 70th birthday of the Gullwing Mercedes. An auction of luxury automotive memorabilia will be held on May 18. Interested parties can register on the website.

Sponsors and partners

The organizers of Lugano Elegance can count on numerous sponsors and partners. The main sponsor is Wullschleger Martinenghi Manzini Group (WMM Group), other important sponsors and partners Reyl Intesa Sanpaolo, Imago Art Gallery Lugano, Lonville 1873Alessi, Genesis, Andre Maurice, Picasso Automotive, AG Tech, AG Event, Bizzozero & Partners, Cantieri Navali Classici and Boiler car.

luganoelegance.com

After Lamborghini was certified as Italy's Top Employer for the eleventh year in a row, the sports car manufacturer is now launching its new sustainability strategy. The development roadmap is called Direzione Cor Tauri and will be presented online by CEO Stephan Winkelmann on January 30 at 2 pm. Direzione Cor Tauri provides for the largest investment in research and development in the company's history and is intended to bring about a fundamental change by strengthening the company's core competencies and the planned recruitment of at least 500 employees by 2026.

Program in three stages

Direzione Cor Tauri shows Lamborghini the way to an electrified future that remains true to the heart and soul of the brand. Cor Tauri means bull's heart in Latin, but is also the name of a star. Direzione Cor Tauri is divided into three phases: Celebration of the combustion engine (2021-2022), transition to hybrid drive (by the end of 2024) and introduction of the first all-electric model in the second half of the decade.

lamborghini.com

The company has been successful at the Dubai Autodrome several times in the past. In 2023, the specialist team won the 992 Cup class and also took second place. In 2018, it took class victory in the 991 Pro class. The team from Sattel now wants to continue this success story with two strong driver pairings.

Michael Hinderer, Marc Devis, Yves Scemama, Christian Traber and Nico Verdonck will take the wheel of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup #961 entered in the 992-AM class. The sister car #962 in the 992 category will be driven by Paul Meijer, Jop Rappange, Ralph Poppelaars and Huub van Eijndhoven.

Postponement of the race

There are logistical reasons why the start of the season will not take place until the end of January instead of mid-January as usual. Due to the problems around the Bab el-Mandeb strait, the vehicles and team equipment did not reach Dubai in time, making a postponement of the event unavoidable.

Team Principal Alex Fach: "The race in Dubai traditionally opens the season for us. This time, however, the preparation was anything but easy, as the postponement threw a few things into disarray. Now we are all the more pleased to finally get started."

Friday first official session

The Starting signal for the long-distance race will take place on Saturday, January 27, at 1 p.m. local time, i.e. at 10 a.m. in Central Europe. The track action starts a day earlier. The first official session is scheduled for Friday with free practice at 10 a.m. local time (7 a.m. CET). All the action can be followed via livestream and live timing.

Alex Fach: "We have put together a strong line-up again this year to start the season with a success. Last year, we were able to celebrate a really strong result with the one-two victory, and of course we want to build on that."

specialistautotech.ch

Five Topolino models, whose paintwork is inspired by Mickey Mouse, are the new attraction at the Centro Commerciale Lingotto, the special shopping center in the former Fiat factory in Turin. AutoSprintCH reported.

The electrically powered light vehicles are exhibited at the edge of the spiral driveway to the roof of the building. The exhibition was created by Fiat together with the Pinacoteca Agnelli. It welcomes all visitors to the shopping center and the other attractions in the multifunctional building. These include La Pista 500, a test track for electric vehicles embedded in the roof garden, and the Casa 500, the multivision exhibition dedicated to the Fiat 500.

Design by Giorgio Cavazzano

The five Topolinos were a symbolic gift for Disney's 100th birthday. Topolino is also the Italian name for Mickey Mouse. Inspired by creatives from Disney's studios, Centro Stile Fiat created a special design for four of the vehicles, each representing a comic book-style theme. The fifth Topolino was created in collaboration with Giorgio Cavazzano, one of the well-known illustrators from the Disney universe. The presentation of the five unique vehicles at the Centro Commerciale is intended as inspiration for residents and guests of the city of Turin.

fiat.ch

After a few weeks in the early access phase, the authorities in the States gave the green light for the tea-driven mobility service around the University of Nevada (UNLV) and in the Arts District. The German company is still waiting for approval today.

Background: At the beginning of May, Thomas von der Ohe took to the stage of the Tipi am Kanzleramt in a tuxedo. The head of the tele-driving startup Vay was named Founder of the Year by the German Startup Association - in front of a crowd of startup celebrities. His company is regarded as the European beacon of hope in autonomous driving.

Order a car via app

And this is how the system works: customers can order an electric vehicle at the touch of a button in the app and a teledriver drives the Kia forward - remotely controlled from the teledriving center. There, the drivers sit at a station with a car steering wheel and pedals as well as all the necessary controls. They have an overview of the traffic situation via several screens and headphones. The customers then drive themselves to their destination.

One kilometer costs 30 US cents

Once there, the teledriver takes over the vehicle again, drives it on or parks it. Stops at the supermarket, for example, are also possible via the app. As with the familiar sharing services, billing is based on a minute-by-minute basis. In the USA, 30 US cents are charged per minute driven and three cents per minute for stopovers.

Approval process underway

Vay co-founder and CEO Thomas von der Ohe: "We are delighted to be able to bring our vision to life so quickly in the USA. We are eagerly awaiting the end of the approval process in Germany. We have been developing our technology for five years and are ready for the launch."

Now the word just has to get around in the German bureaucracy.

vay.io

Lausanne-born Jérôme de Sadeleer finished the Dakar Rally in a sensational second place in the buggy class. The Gstaad resident from western Switzerland won the penultimate stage, finishing just 1:55 minutes behind the winner from France, Xavier de Soultrait, who drives for Sébastien Loeb's team, after more than 56 ½ hours of counted driving time.

Bad luck with a defective drive shaft

De Sadeeler had even taken the lead in the SSV class after the fifth stage, but lost it again due to a defective drive shaft. Together with co-driver Michael Metge, de Sadeeler then worked his way back up from fifth to second place. He told colleagues from sport-auto.ch at the halfway point that anything was still possible and that he would like to win one more stage. He succeeded in doing so on the penultimate day.

Carlos Sainz showed the master

Victory in the overall classification went to Carlos Sainz sr for the fourth time. The Spaniard thus gave Audi its first triumph at the Dakar. Second place went to the Belgian Guillaume de Mevius (Overdrive-Toyota, gallery right). Third place went to Sébastien Loeb (Prodrive, gallery left). For the Rebellion duo Alexandre Pesci and co-driver Stephan Kühni, the Dakar ended in 63rd place, while Cédric Goumaz finished 74th on his debut.

Success for alternative drives

Audi made history with the first victory for an electric drive with a high-voltage battery and energy converter. The two other driver teams from the Four Rings also recorded individual successes. Stéphane Peterhansel and his Swiss co-driver Edouard Boulanger achieved a stage victory, while Mattias Ekström/Emil Bergkvist won two stage classifications including the prologue.

Edouard Boulanger: "We all won as a team. That's the feeling we return home with from this rally. Everyone has contributed to this great result."

Photos: Archive de Sadelee, Red Bull, Toyota
Source: Car Sport Switzerland
motorsport.ch

Electromobility - or E-Performance, as it is called at Porsche - brings a lot of new things for drivers. It is very interesting, but sometimes not easy to understand. The Swiss Porsche Newsroom has therefore set out to explain everything important about e-mobility and Porsche in simple terms.

The little wiki has the answers

The new small Wiki is primarily made for Porsche drivers - but not only. After all, many questions arise regardless of brand: Which socket do I need to charge at home? What are the benefits of hybrids? Aren't they far too heavy?

Partially and fully electric cars have great potential for greater environmental friendliness, but also for a new kind of driving pleasure and comfort. And that doesn't just mean their impressive acceleration. The E-Performance Wiki is also aimed at those who understand little about electricity and e-mobility. Simple words and illustrative comparisons help to make technical processes and unwieldy terms easier to understand.

Experience the premiere of the E-Macan

The topic of e-performance will undoubtedly become even more topical with the launch of the new Macan generation. On Thursday, January 25, 2024, you can follow the world premiere of the new all-electric Macan in Singapore from 12:30 p.m. (CET) in the Porsche Newsroom.

Shortly before the world premiere, Michael Mauer, Head of Style Porsche (center gallery), describes the challenge of further developing the familiar design of the SUV: "The new Macan is the first model that we are electrifying from an existing, established product identity. For us, every new sports car must be clearly recognizable as part of the Porsche product family and the respective model, but must also be perceived as the new one."

It will be interesting to see the result.

porsche.ch
e-performance-wiki

Hyundai also offers all drive variants of the Kona series as a sporty N Line. The new Kona Electric N Line combines a particularly sporty design with the qualities of the standard model. For example, the interior space remains the same with a trunk capacity of 466 liters, which can be increased up to 1300 liters by folding down the rear seat backrests.

Exterior mirrors in high-gloss black

The dynamic appearance is characterized by sporty bumpers at the front and rear, side sills and 19-inch wheels in an exclusive design. The exterior mirrors in high-gloss black and the optional contrasting black roof paintwork are also typical of the new model.

Inside, the distinctive, sporty ambience is striking - with red details on the steering wheel, dashboard and seats. There are also exclusive N-Line metal pedals and a black headliner. The Kona Electric N Line will be available from dealers in the second quarter of the year.

hyundai.ch

With a noticeable increase in the number of vehicles traded, the car market is showing further signs of recovery in 2023. The online marketplace AutoScout24 recorded a total of nine percent more vehicle advertisements than in the previous year. Purely electrically powered new cars stand out with an increase of almost 60 percent.

Around twelve percent more new car registrations compared to 2022, together with more than 750,000 changes of owner, will lead to a marginal increase in the number of passenger cars in Switzerland. Even though the industry is lagging behind the record years of 2019 and before in terms of owner changes, new registrations and used car offers, these figures are an indication of the recovery of the Swiss automotive market.

New car offers grow

Although the supply bottleneck situation has eased and more vehicles are available on the market again, average asking prices will continue to rise moderately across almost all vehicle categories in 2023. For the first time since 2019, the year-on-year comparison of new cars advertised on AutoScout24 shows a positive trend again. The supply will grow by 13% compared to 2022. SUV models and minivans are growing the most.

Alberto Sanz de Lama, Managing Director of AutoScout24: "The increase in new car listings on our platforms is a clear indication that the situation for car buyers is changing for the better. The improved availability could also indicate that prices will ease in the coming months."

Estate cars and SUVs are on trend

The market for used cars has grown by eight percent compared to 2022, closing at more than 700,000 listings on AutoScout24 for the first time since 2020. The effects of a longer-lasting trend towards larger cars are also evident here. Although all vehicle categories are increasing across the board, estate cars and SUVs are nominally the most popular vehicles on the used car market in 2023. Although vehicle prices will rise less sharply than in 2022, they will increase by five percent for new cars and four percent for used cars on the supply market over the whole of 2023.

autoscout24.ch

As part of the first dealer conference of the year, Astara Ital presented awards to the best partner companies of the past year. In addition to sales, the most important criteria for the award were aftersales and customer satisfaction.

Daniel Fuchs, Brand Director of Astara Ital: "It makes us proud that we have such competent, committed and reliable partners at our side who, despite the numerous challenges, do not let themselves be diverted from their course and give their best every day."

A company rich in tradition

Garage Klaus from Düdingen was presented with the Dealer Award 2023 for exceptional performance in all areas last year. The family business, which has been operating since 1976, sells the Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Fiat and Jeep brands - and is now managed by the second generation of the family.

Sascha Klaus: "I could hardly believe it and immediately called my father to tell him the good news. My father still works in the business today as a sales consultant and provides the Garage Klaus team with advice and support."

Awards also for these companies

In addition to Garage Klaus, the following Astara-Ital partner companies also received awards:

• Häusermann Automobile AG
• Garage Zimmerli AG
• Garage Bardill AG
• Garage Alizé SA
• Gräfler Garage Gasser AG
• Garage Baechler and Fils SA
• Rigacker Garage Hoffmann GmbH
• Annerturgi Commercial Vehicles AG
• Y & E Chevalley Automobiles SA

astara.com