Car news, 28 Feb ’24: Apple kills electric car project, MG4 could gain a wagon variant, and more

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Thanks for joining us this Wednesday February 28th 2024. 

Notably in car news today: Apple has reportedly killed its decade-long electric car project in favour of developing generative AI, and UK reports indicate that MG’s MG4 electric model could spawn a wagon variant in the future.

Browse this issue:

• The Apple car project reportedly gets axed
• MG4 could get wagon version in the near future 
• Upcoming Mercedes EQS to offer traditional S-Class look as option 
• Polestar 3 production begins, due in Australia by middle of 2024 

Apple car project reportedly axed 

• Tech giant Apple has reportedly axed its electric car known as Titan, which was being worked on by a team of approximately 2000 people.

• The project that has been in development for at least a decade will be no more, with staff told to move onto work on artificial intelligence (AI), instead. 

• Reuters reported back in 2020 that Apple had planned to release an electric vehicle, purported also autonomous capable, as soon as 2024 or 2025.

• The source also states that a slowdown in demand for pricier electric vehicles has forced several automakers to reduce EV production.

MG4 could gain an estate/wagon variant in 2025 

• According to reports by Autocar, MG could build a wagon version of its current MG4 electric car.

• The latest move by the Chinese automaker is likely to replace the existing MG5 SW EV which is available in markets such as the United Kingdom, but not Australia.

• The new UK reports out of the Geneva Motor Show indicate that it would be cheaper for the MG brand to extend the MG4 rather than build an entirely new model 

• If created, the MG4 Estate, or MG5 as it could be called, could spawn a performance version, using MG4 XPower running gear

• As for Australian possibilities, MG’s local arm told Chasing Cars that it is extremely unlikely that an MG wagon would come to Australia.

Mercedes-Benz to offer traditional styling for EQS to attract more sales 

• German automaker Mercedes-Benz will offer a traditional grille design for its EQS luxury electric car as sales begin to slump for the model.

• Two options will be available for buyers: a traditional grille with three-pointed star on the bonnet, or the current sleeker look with the star printed onto the surface.

• The EQS is also set to feature a larger battery pack – now a sizable 118kWh – and the new option of executive seats which is likely to remove the rear bench, replacing it with two separate seats for added comfort.
• Autocar reports that EQS sales have fallen by 17 percent in the UK, while in Europe sales have almost halved. 

• Last year, Mercedes-Benz Australia sold 67 EQS examples, besting BMW’s 63 units of its equivalent luxury electric sedan, the i7. 

Production begins for Polestar 3, due in Australia by mid-2024

• Polestar has officially begun production in Chengdu, China, for its upcoming all-electric 3 SUV.

• The Polestar 3 will also be manufactured in South Carolina, USA, with the model being the first of its kind in Polestar history to be produced on two continents.

• Australian-delivered Polestar 3s are expected to be produced at the Chinese facility, and will start from $132,900 before on-road costs for the long-range dual-motor variant. 

• The Polestar 3 will arrive in Australia around the middle of 2024, with interested customers encouraged by Polestar to sit in and experience the 3 SUV at one of the brand’s Spaces showrooms in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.  

The next issue of Car News Today will be published on Thursday 29th February at 4.30pm Sydney time.