It seems yet another year is coming to an end and at least if you ask me, it’s been one that’s passed quicker than most! I guess that may be a sign of our accelerating society, where everything seems to move at an ever increasing pace. Except for the adoptions of EV mobility that is, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. As usual, in expectation of a hopefully good 2024, I’ve compiled a few paragraphs of stuff that we’ve seen, may see, or is just interesting to think about, following the first letters of the 12 months of the year. Enjoy the reading and the holidays!

January

The J for January this year is for Japan, not because of the exciting cars they bring to market (they don’t), but rather because they’ve become the last bastion of some kind of realistic thinking around future electric mobility, continuing to largely ignore full EV’s in favour of various types of hybrids, and with a number of projects also in e-fuels. It’s actually a rather simple calculation to see that if for all the reasons we know, your battery producing capacity is limited, then splitting what you have between several cars and complementing it with a combustion engine is far more efficient than building a small number of full EV’s. Let’s hope Japan can export its thinking to other countries in 2024 – but I wouldn’t hold my breath…

February

The February F is for Ferrari, and the fact that the Maranello company is doing better than ever before. Looking over the last 10 years, production numbers have more than doubled, the product range receives praise from motor journalists and is up to date. and had you bought the stock five years ago, you would have tripled your money. Not only that, if you were one of the lucky few to get your hands on a Purosangue, the most elegant SUV (kind of…) on the market, you could re-sell it for around twice what you bought it for – if you find one. There’s currently not a single one for sale in Germany, as an example. In two words already used when I wrote about the FF a few weeks ago: Forza Ferrari!

March

We’ll take the March M to mean money, since no month starts with an E, in which case I would have said Euros. Because it’s largely in Europe that money is getting increasingly scarce, and nowhere more so than in Germany, where the government is trying to find enough money to fill a small EUR 17bn budget hole that was “discovered” a few weeks ago. One of the measures taken is an immediate scrapping of the EUR 4.500 cash premium for buying an EV, and I’ll let you guess how that will affect already slowing sales numbers. Things are getting harsher, or let’s say less subsidized for EV’s in many other countries as well, so at least for now, the party looks to be over before it even started. Except for Tesla that is, more on that in May…

April

Before May though we have April with A for Alfa Romeo, that returned to full form five-six years ago with both the Giulia and Stelvio Quadrifoglio, a 500hp sedan and mid-sized SUV that received praise all over, and to everyone’s surprise, saw Alfa all of a sudden being able to compete with cars like the BMW M3. Given many of us enthusiasts are Alfistis at heart, this looked like the new dawn we had been waiting for since the 80’s – but then nothing happened. No further exciting models, an ageing line-up, and with as latest addition the small SUV called Tonale, which is unexciting, uninteresting, and overpriced. C’mon Alfa, time to wake up before it’s too late!

May

Even though this is a blog for those of us favouring combustion engines, I’ll take the second M for the year to mean Musk, as I continue to be fascinated by the man. As mentioned last week when writing about the Cybertruck, it’s amazing what he has achieved with Tesla in only 10 years, and at the same time, it’s rather pitiful how the traditional industry still isn’t managing to produce good alternatives. This is something we’ll come back to next year, but looking at it now, the Model Y is the best-selling car this year in Europe, it ranks no 4 in the US, and the motoring press seems to agree on the Model 3 currently being the best EV out there. So was I wrong about e-mobility not taking off? No, but Tesla is the shining exception. I still don’t want one, but I’ll take my hat off for Elon!

June

J for June or a Jubilant Max Verstappen, who took his third consecutive F1 title in 2023 and by June of last year, had basically already settled the whole thing. Max is the best driver on the grid and also has the the best car from what is currently also the best team. He also has the aggressiveness and sometimes carelessness that can be irritating but, that almost every true champion has, and although the other teams came closer towards the end of the year, as discussed in the last round-up of the 20230 F1 season, it seems unlikely that he will not be on top again when we sum up 2024. Well done Max!

July

The second J is for Jaguar, that a bit like Alfa, I can’t really get my head around. Jaguar has all the tradition and brand name you can ask for, but currently a line-up which is not only small, but also pretty unexciting. In Europe as we end 2023, there’s only three models: the obligatory EV SUV called the I-Pace, a conventional one called the F-Pace, that is mildly exciting at best, and the F-Type sports coupé or convertible, that in V8 shape sounds really good, but is also getting rather old. The sedan called XF isn’t even on sale here anymore, neither is the smaller, E-type SUV. Given Land Rover has a fully up to date line-up, let’s hope it’s time for Jaguar in 2024, but it currently doesn’t look like it.

August

The second A of the year is for August and the auto shows, which are no longer the same, especially not in… you guessed it, Germany. The IAA used to be one of Europe’s largest auto salons, that would alternate with Paris every other year, and that has been at home in Frankfurt for longer than anyone can remember. In its old form it’s gone, replaced by a smaller event that will alternate between different German cities, and of course focus on EV’s. The show saw a 30% drop in visitors during Covid and somehow never recovered, at the same time as auto makers prefer invest the millions these events cost in more lucrative parts of the world, i.e. Asia and especially China. At least we still have the Auto Salon in Geneva – for now…

September

The only month with S in its name is September, that will here represent senses. This is something I’ve thought quite a lot about lately, and that became painfully obvious when re-acquainting myself with the wonderful Ferrari FF recently. Like most cars featured on this blog, it very much appeals to all your senses at once. But the EV’s we’re supposed to drive going forward don’t have much going for them in this regard. I think there’s very few people who would choose between accelerating to 100 km/h in sub-3 seconds in an EV, compared to doing it in sub 4 seconds in a V8, V12, or for that matter, turbo four-cylinder. And that’s before even looking at the car, since for efficiency reasons, every EV looks like a soap. How will our senses get any form of excitement from our future mobility? You tell me…

October

The O of October goes to Opel (Vauxhall in the UK), a brand that will never be a regular feature on the blog, as with very few exceptions, Opel builds practical cars of average looks, average quality and average size, that have absolutely zero attraction for anyone with an interest in cars. So what are the exceptions? I can think of three: the Speedster, a sister car to the Lotus Elise which was said to actually work, the Lotus Omega, an early kind of super-saloon from the 90’s that Lotus helped develop, and of the course the Opel Manta, that in certain circles in its native Germany has a very loyal following which has even been caught on film, as you may remember from the post back in the spring of 2022. So here’s to Opel, probably for the last time.

November

The N for November stands for Nio, one of the many new Chinese car brands, mostly electric, that sell literally millions of cars in China and that are now increasingly making it to Europe. Others include names such as BYD, Aiways and of course also MG, that has gone from a stylish UK builder of roadsters to a Chinese producer of basic EV SUV’s. Supported by their domestic market and rich on capital, many of these groups have now become a serious threat to especially European manufacturers, who still can’t get their act together when it comes to electrification and also can’t compete on price, something we’ll look closer at in 2024. The Chinese of course have the huge advantage of also controlling a lage part of the global battery market, which certainly helps!

December

We close out with a D for December and for the good old Defender, Land Rover that is, in the generation prior to the current one (that is also cool, but doesn’t quite have the same personality). Although becoming less frequent, you still see them more or less regularly, and they still have as much presence. These days, they also represent a simplicity that is otherwise long gone in a world where cars are judged by the size of their infotainment screens and the number of interior light colors. They still hold their value really well, even though you’d be forgiven for thinking that should no longer be the case. I have no idea where they will go, but I wouldn’t be surprised if people continue to be attracted to them, in our increasingly complex world. I’ll have a 90 version please, in dark green or black, with the optional Recaro seats!