The Eight Dream Machines to Know
From a three-row Audi flagship to a hand-built Pagani built to mark its founder’s 70th birthday, here are the automotive launches worth your COE this season.
Singapore’s car market runs on a peculiar arithmetic. A Certificate of Entitlement can cost more than the car you’re actually buying, which means every purchase is, by definition, a considered one. It also means that when a marque unveils something genuinely new, that release will demand closer attention.
This season has delivered an unusually rich crop of debutantes: flagship SUVs from Germany, a Bushido-inspired one-off from Italy via Japan, a divisive electric Ferrari that sold out despite (or perhaps because of) the internet’s disapproval, and a Pagani built to celebrate its founder’s 70th year on earth. Here, a guide to what has caught our attention.
Audi Q9
Audi has finally built the full-size SUV its showroom has been missing. The Q9 is the largest model the marque has ever produced, riding on a wheelbase of over 3m and offering three rows with genuine adult-friendly space in the third.
Two versions are available: the standard Q9, powered by a 2.9-litre twin-turbocharged V6 producing 320kw, and the sportier SQ9, which swaps in a 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 good for 441kw and a 0-100 kmh sprint in the high three-second range. Inside sits Audi’s new Digital Stage, a trio of screens spanning driver display, central touchscreen and passenger display, alongside a 22-speaker Bang & Olufsen sound system for those who consider silence a waste of a good sound system.
Bentley Continental GT S and GTC S
This is Crewe’s answer to those who found the standard Continental GT a touch too restrained. I’m kidding of course! The new S and GTC S models borrow their chassis hardware from the range-topping Continental GT Speed, including an active all-wheel drive, an electronic limited-slip differential and all-wheel steering, technology previously reserved for Bentley’s most expensive offerings.
Power comes from a High Performance Hybrid powertrain combining a 4.0-litre crossplane V8 with an electric motor, delivering 500kw and 930 Nm, enough for 0-100 kmh in 3.5 seconds and a top speed of 306kmh. It can also cover up to 80km on electric power alone, a handy party trick for anyone whose commute runs through an ERP gantry. Blackline exterior detailing, 22-inch wheels and a two-tone Dinamica and leather cabin complete the sporting brief.
BMW X5
The fifth generation of BMW’s perennial bestseller has arrived with a properly dramatic redesign, borrowing its vertical kidney grille and Panoramic iDrive display, which stretches the width of the windscreen, from the brand’s newer Neue Klasse models.
Buyers will eventually choose between five powertrain types, including petrol, plug-in hybrid, fully electric and even hydrogen fuel cell variants, though the last will not arrive for some years yet. At launch, the range spans the petrol-powered X5 40, the plug-in hybrid X5 50e xDrive with 365kw, and the fully electric iX5 60 xDrive, which produces 431kw and offers a claimed range of around 700km.
Ferrari Luce
Ferrari’s first electric car has proven that controversy and commercial success are not mutually exclusive. Designed with input from former Apple design chief Jony Ive, the Luce’s unconventional silhouette drew fierce criticism on its debut, including public disapproval from a former Ferrari chairman, yet the marque sold out its entire first-year production run of roughly 500 units within two months, with strong demand reported from Chinese buyers in particular.
Pricing starts at around 550,000 euros, or roughly US$640,000, reflecting Ferrari’s usual approach to volume, which is to say (deliberately) not very much. Ferrari has set a longer-term target of around 2,500 units by 2030, or approximately 600 cars a year, a figure that will keep the Luce a rare sight even among the marque’s already rarefied clientele. Having said that, why have we included this oversubscribed car? Well, you can look, even if you can’t touch. Not yet anyway, but you never know what’s coming up from the galloping horse.
Lamborghini Revuelto Impavido
A limited-edition tribute exclusive to Japan, the Revuelto Impavido marks the 25th anniversary of Lamborghini’s Japanese division and draws its design language from the Bushido code of the samurai. Just 25 numbered examples will be built, each finished in one of four liveries referencing traditional Japanese materials, from jade green to the deep red associated with the historic Sanada clan.
Mechanically the Impavido is unchanged from the standard Revuelto, meaning a 4.4-litre twin-turbocharged V12 paired with three electric motors for a combined 746kw, enough to send the car from a standstill to 100kmh in 2.5 seconds and on to a top speed of 350kmh. The model is staggeringly beautiful, for key collectors, enthusiasts and the — dare we say — lucky? After all, the car is not officially available outside Japan, though history suggests examples will eventually surface on the wider collector market at a considerable premium.
McLaren 788HS
Woking’s first new model in nearly two years is the most focused evolution yet of the V8-powered supercar lineage that began with the 720S in 2017. Only 200 examples will be built, split evenly between the coupe and open-top spyder configurations.
Power comes from a familiar 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8, now tuned to 579kw, propelling the 788HS from 0-100 kmh in around two seconds flat and on to a top speed of 330kmh. Carbon-ceramic brakes borrowed from the track-only Senna, a reworked aerodynamic package producing meaningfully more downforce, and a lighter overall kerb weight round out the changes. Each car will be individually finished by McLaren Special Operations, so no two examples should look quite alike.
Mercedes-Maybach GLS 680
The most opulent way to arrive anywhere in a Mercedes-badged SUV just got more powerful. The GLS 680 pairs a next-generation 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8, now with a motorsport-derived flat-plane crankshaft, with a 48-volt mild hybrid system for a combined 450kw and 850 Nm of torque, an increase of over 37kw on the previous generation.
The cabin gains a full-width MBUX Superscreen spanning three 12.3-inch displays beneath a single pane of glass, along with a new massage function for the rear leg rests and an upgraded 710-watt Burmester sound system. A dedicated Maybach Drive Mode softens throttle response and rear suspension for maximum passenger serenity, which is, after all, the entire point of a Maybach. American pricing is expected to exceed US$180,000, with the SUV going on sale later this year.
Pagani Huayra 70 Derecho
Built to celebrate founder Horacio Pagani’s 70th birthday, the Huayra 70 Derecho is the second of three limited-run models produced by the marque’s Grandi Complicazioni division.
Finished in a two-tone Pearl Orange and Inky Blue livery translucent enough to reveal the carbon fibre weave beneath, the roadster pairs an AMG-sourced 6.0-litre twin-turbocharged V12 producing 635kw with a genuine seven-speed manual transmission, a rarity in an era of paddle shifters and simulated gear changes. Top speed is electronically limited to 349kmh.
Where to enquire in Singapore
- Audi — audi.com.sg
- Bentley — singapore.bentleymotors.com, through Wearnes Automotive
- BMW — bmw.com.sg
- Ferrari — singapore.ferraridealers.com, through Ital Auto
- Lamborghini — lamborghini.com/en-en/dealerships/lamborghini-singapore, through Eurosports Auto
- McLaren — singapore.mclaren.com, through Eurokars Supersports
- Mercedes-Maybach — mercedes-benz.com.sg
- Pagani — pagani.com, through Eurosports Auto
