The motoring world is on fire: "Just when you think you've seen it all, Apple comes with CarPlay Ultra"

May 25
4 min read

Welcome to the seventh edition of Motoring World on Fire – a place where sarcasm is standard equipment and common sense is sold at an extra cost. Apple has finally revolutionized infotainment… but only if you drive an Aston Martin and your garage is bigger than your house. Volkswagen proves once again that software development is harder than landing on the moon, Renault kills its own legend with the phrase “it’s for your own good”, Fiat sends the Panda into automotive heaven and Toyota builds a tank that looks like it was designed by a former Boy Scout with a penchant for Swiss Army knives. In short, if you thought nothing could surprise you anymore in the automotive industry, hold on to the wheel. The surprises are just beginning.

📱 Apple CarPlay Ultra: Luxury infotainment for those who also buy a mirror on lease

Apple promised that the new CarPlay would rewrite the history of infotainment. And indeed – it is rewriting it , but only for a handful of Aston Martin owners who have a digital planetarium instead of a dashboard. This madness called CarPlay Ultra can display navigation, speed, temperature, revs and air conditioning right on the dashboard – and on top of that, the whole thing looks like a Tesla operating room after a redesign by Jony Ive (Apple's design boss).

The catch? It only works in America and only in select models like the DB12, Vantage or DBX. The whole world is currently wiping its saliva and waiting for Apple to decide whether its brand deserves an invitation to infotainment heaven.

💻 Volkswagen: We'll catch up with the Passat B8 by 2030... maybe.

VW has announced another delay to its software platforms. The Cariad is in chaos, the ID models still don't work as promised. But Volkswagen still believes in progress. But only if it comes late, doesn't work, and misses homologation.

Their subsidiary startup Cariad was supposed to be the brains of the new cars . Instead, it resembles a person who bought a 5,000-piece puzzle and discovered that they were all from IKEA. The result is that new VW cars will for a long time have software that looks like Windows XP after a lobotomy. And the ID.7? It might be able to park itself if its touchscreen hadn't gotten stuck on... "wait, loading."

🛞 Toyota Land Cruiser 250: A retro monster that looks like a monument to gasoline testosterone

At Toyota, employees apparently opened up their archives of old catalogs, had a shot of sake, and said, “Now let’s make something that looks retro, but with a price tag that will cause a micro-seizure in anyone who remembers when the LC cost under a million.” And the result? The Land Cruiser 250 , a colossal return to its roots—with a bodywork reminiscent of the Hummer H1, Jeep Wrangler, and Land Cruiser J70 , crammed into a digital world that looks modern but would rather go back to the woods.

The car has a frame. The car has a reduction gear. The car has sensors. And the car has the expression "I can drive through the Sahara, or even go shopping in Uhříněves, I don't give a damn." Under the hood is a hybrid 2.4 turbo and in the interior a design that will please anyone who starts to suffocate at the sight of touch-screen air conditioners. Displays? They are there, but only so as not to offend a Californian. Otherwise, sensors, matte plastic, handles, and the whole thing feels like a military exercise in the "glamping for an oil princess" version. A car that has a soul - and a body - from the time when "4x4" was still written and did not mean Wi-Fi.

In short: The Land Cruiser is back. Stronger, heavier, more angular. Only at the price of 2025...

🚙 Renault Espace: from a large-space visionary to an SUV-sniffler

Renault has confirmed the end of the classic MPV. The Espace is just a rebadged Austral with extra seats. It used to be the Espace – a pioneer of family mobility, the car that invented the MPV before we knew we needed one.

Today? Just a few centimeters longer Renault Austral, which looks like a seven-seat SUV, but the third row is suitable at most for children or dwarfs from ... simply dwarfs. Renault has killed its icon so elegantly. Why? Because SUVs sell better. Even if they are hollow like the speech of the French president.

🐼 Fiat Panda is gone. Long live Panda. Well… maybe.

Production of the Panda in its traditional form in Italy is definitively ending. The new model will be electric and manufactured in Serbia.

Panda – that cute little box with the soul of Italian espresso – is finally ending. And the new one? It will be electric, bigger, heavier, and not cheap at all . And most importantly: made in Serbia, because Italy is apparently too expensive to produce anything that costs less than 20 thousand euros these days.

Fiat is thus giving up the last meaning of its existence: a people's car for the masses . The charming shopping cart becomes a battery-powered attempt at a crossover that will entertain no one - except accountants.

And what about the conclusion? The days when you could tell a car apart by brand are over. Today, you can tell by how many displays it has, monthly subscriptions, and whether it can be paired with your fridge. Apple will finally show you the speed of your speedometer – but only if you have an Aston for eight balls. VW will give you new software – when Elon builds the Hyperloop. And if you want a reliable off-roader? Toyota will be happy to sell it to you… but wrapped in a retro tin and with a price tag that used to hang on a construction site.

Meanwhile, the Panda is disappearing, the Espace is being renamed, and everything you loved is either electric or made in Serbia.

But most importantly, we have widgets, ambient lighting, and an update that will turn your dashboard into a TikTok studio.

So long as progress is made, don't look too closely - it might be pre-paid.

Read us again next time with news in the Motoristické svět v flaměch!🚗💨🔥 To make sure you don't miss anything, subscribe and don't forget to like us on social media... that's in these days. 🚀

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