MT CONFIDENTIAL

–a vehicle that combines some of the off-road capability of a Land Rover but is more focused on on-road comfort–is an idea Land Rover has been toying with since the early 1950s. It was the original crossover. Now it say sources close to the Japanese automaker. CEO Takahiro Hachigo is said to be increasingly concerned that the company has missed the pivot to BEVs and will have to scramble to catch up with Nissan, GM, and the European automakers that have invested heavily in EV R&D. Part of the problem, our source says, is structural; there’s very little interaction between the engineers and the folks in sales and marketing. Those pretty BEV concepts on the Honda stand at the Frankfurt, Tokyo, and Geneva shows are a long way from production. Virtually every automaker is working on electric vehicles, with 50 or more expected to be on sale by the mid-2020s. Now it appears even Ferrari is jumping on the BEV bandwagon. Hot rumor out of Maranello is Ferrari engineers are working on an all-electric, all-wheel-drive sports car that could have three motors and up to 1,000 hp. Sources say the new car could look a lot like the 488-based SP38 revealed in May. have wished they could sit behind the wheel of an Adrian Newey–designed car. Now some are getting the opportunity, though they’re paying heavily for the privilege. Newey, Red Bull F1’s chief technical officer, has revealed that among the 150 people handing over $3.2 million for the radical Valkyrie 001 hypercar (created in conjunction with Aston Martin) are “quite a few current and ex-F1 drivers.”