Autocar confidential: Mercedes A-Class design, McLaren's naming system, Jaguar I-Pace sales & more

McLaren Senna

Our reporters empty their notebooks to round up this week's gossip from across the automotive industry

This week’s snippets of automotive news includes Mercedes-Benz A-Class design, McLaren's car naming system, the Citroën C5 Aircross's arrival and predictions for Jaguar I-Pace sales.

Mercedes-Benz A-Class: 

Underbody aerodynamic refinements on the new Mercedes-Benz A-Class have improved its fuel efficiency “to the equivalent of shaving 100kg from its weight”, according to Teddy Woll, the car’s head of aerodynamics. “Better still, when you improve the underbody, you don’t have arguments with the stylists every day,” he said. “They don’t care so much about what the underneath looks like.”

McLaren Senna: 

The McLaren Senna will be followed by more models from Woking with names rather than an alphanumeric designation. Chief executive Mike Flewitt said he’d like to use names for the firm’s Ultimate Series cars. Sports and Super Series models will continue to be identified by combinations of letters and numbers.

Citroën C5 Aircross: 

Citroën's C5 Aircross mid-size SUV, due later this year, will differ from the Chinese version unveiled last year. Product boss Xavier Peugeot said there would be tweaks for the specific needs of European customers – a practice that will be applied in future across Citroën’s line-up. “Our models will be more international than before but with the flexibility to adapt to local needs,” he added.

Jaguar I-Pace:

Jaguar Land Rover sales boss Andy Goss believes 80% of buyers for its upcoming electric I-Pace will be conquest customers from other brands. He said it was important that Jaguar dealers didn’t put buyers in the wrong car for their needs, but he hoped the I-Pace “will talk people out of buying Teslas”.

Read more 

Jaguar F-Pace review 

Citroen C5 Aircross review 

McLaren Senna revealed