This week's snippets of automotive news include the chances of a Bentley rival to the Porsche 911, Nissan's 370Z replacement, Mazda's renewable fuel and Skoda's alternative car ownership schemes.
No Bentley 911 rival to come:
Bentley has no interest in creating a Porsche 911 rival, company boss Wolfgang Dürheimer has stated. Although Bentley’s Continental GT3 competes against the 911 GT3 R in race series such as the Blancpain GT Series to “underline that we do performance”, Dürheimer added that its model focus is elsewhere: “We don’t see any reason to create a 911 fighter. That would not be a good move for us.”
Nissan 370Z replacement:
Nissan design boss Alfonso Albaisa is all for a new Z car in the brand’s line-up to replace the 370Z. He admitted the sports car market was a challenging one, but said he was “personally advocating” a new Z car. “We haven’t given up on it,” he added.
Mazda's micro-algae fuel:
Mazda is working with the Tokyo Institute of Technology to develop a renewable liquid fuel made out of micro-algae, which could provide a sustainable and environmentally friendly fuel course. Kiyoshi Fujiwara, Mazda’s research boss, said they hoped to have a working fuel by around 2035-40. “Especially for the UK government,” he added.
Skoda alternate car ownership schemes:
Skoda is targeting younger customers who have little interest in actually owning a car with different user schemes, according to Jarmila Plachá, head of the Czech brand’s digital innovation facility. “Many youngsters do not even want to own a car – we want to make their lives easier and more friendly,” she said. Ride sharing and car-sharing schemes are seen as possible solutions to young customers less focused on ownership.
Related stories:
Nissan 370Z review
Skoda Superb review
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Nissan 370Z
I'm delighted to see that Nissan are considering building a new Z-Car,the current 370Z is and honest no frills proper sports car in the image of the Big Healey and TR6 mould. Couple that with peerless build quality and bullet proof reliability what more can you want???? did I mention that you can get one for less than £30K from your nearest Nissan dealer. I look forward to seeing this new vehicle which will continue Nissan's near fifty year heritage of building sports cars
The current one is 9 years
The current one is 9 years old. If Nissan are still just thinking about its replacement, that will be several years away...
in other news
Bentley are not going to produce a Skoda Rapide homage model
Excellent clickbait on the
Excellent clickbait on the Bentley 911 rival there, Autocar. Well done.