From lifestyle turn to mini electric: what will the future of the car be?

La Mercedes-AMG SL 63 MANUFAKTUR Golden Coast special-edition mode, MERCEDES-BENZ (da 198.900 €).

The operation of Jaguar, a brand that has always been linked to a definition of British luxury, is different. The transformation of the brand identity, aimed at emphasising the transition to electric mobility, is a real change of skin, distancing itself from the world of cars and their origins and moving towards fashion: the heritage, the historical legacy with legendary connotations, remains in the background, amidst totem keys and colour customisation. A risky business model: the market and results will have the final say.

La BMW i7 M70 xDrive, full electric (da 126.500 €).

The lifestyle area also includes super niche projects such as Bugatti Tourbillon, produced in 250 units, sold at a base price of €3.8 million each, and the creative collaboration between Demna Gvasalia and the Sant'Agata Bolognese company, fashion and aerodynamics, iconic bags and supercars, in the partnership that unites Balenciaga and Lamborghini Temerario.

La nuova FIAT Topolino elettrica (7.543,68 €).

Vintage and analogue. The return to physical buttons is an openness to the past and the appreciation of heritage as a sign of exclusivity, but also a practical choice that, on certain occasions, reduces the possibility of distraction while driving. As is the return of analogue watches over digital ones. Technology can consciously give way to the aesthetic and structural qualities of what was and what is.

La MOBILIZE Duo (da6.853 €).

This is Porsche's choice inside the cockpit. Even if digital remains on some models, the hands cannot be missing, even if only as pixels on a screen, with a mix of past and present.

Rolls-Royce, a car manufacturer whose luxury is almost baroque, enhances vintage exclusivity with handcrafted watches mounted on its four-wheeled works of art. These are elements of absolute uniqueness, designed to the specifications of individual customers who, in this way, can convey something of themselves even in everyday objects.

La FERRARI 12 Cilindri Bianco Artico (da 395.000 €)

In the vein of otherworld car lovers, collectors of a vintage close in time, but not in rampant aesthetics, Hyundai Santa Fe, with its very Nineties square design, and Volvo EX90, an electric super suv, developed with the collaboration of big names in the hi-tech world such as Google, Qualcomm and Nvidia, all dressed in the traditional minimalist aesthetic of the interior and exterior, also fit right in. And again the Mazda CX-80 maxi family suv.

La HYUNDAI Santa Fe (da 50.100 €).

Total custom-made. Again with a view to customisation, true all-round corporate strategies have been developed, as in the case of Mercedes. It is a metamorphosis from premium to luxury that propels the brand into a new era that redefines both positioning and products. Hence the decision to re-launch Manufaktur, the atelier of the house of the three-pointed star, where customers can customise new models in greater detail, thanks to new paints, special leather interiors and rare finishes. This push for customisation is also shared by other car manufacturers, such as Porsche with its Exclusive line and, again, Ferrari with its renowned Atelier Ferrari.

La RENAULT 5 E-Tech electric (da 27.900 €).

Mercedes' Manufaktur programme is currently run by the same factory that produces the S-Class limousine and will be applied for the first time to the new luxury saloon model coming in 2025. In time, the programme will expand to cover other high-end models designed, for example, by AMG such as the SL and GT, but also the new G-Class which is operated at its production centre in Austria, the Steyr-Daimler-Puch location. The wide variety of painting solutions is based on an automated system that reduces the amount of man-hours even for complex, multi-colour options. The system, called PixelPaint, works like a giant three-dimensional inkjet printer. The colour range is expanded to include fashionable nuances such as pastel shades. Thus the more sinuous lines of the bodywork, combined with the new fashion shades, enhance the design of the car with light effects.

La SUZUKI Lapin (da 8.300 €).

Light is design. In the search for more attractive stylistic languages, in a world characterised by homologated and un-personal forms, colour ceases to be an ornamental element and recovers its role of identity and recognisability of brands and models. The deep yellow and green hues that characterise the new Renault 5 are reminiscent of the colours of the 1970s. Distinctive is Mazda's now iconic Soul Red Crystal, while Fiat has chosen to no longer produce grey cars.

If colour is light, the new-generation models play on light design with distinctive light signatures, realised with hi-tech solutions such as Oled panels, which can also communicate with other cars. Suffice it to mention the six-element Audi Q6 e-tron rear light clusters, which integrate a total of 360 segments capable of generating a new image every ten milliseconds. Even in the BMW i7 mega flagship, with a gigantic 'double kidney' grille and a monolithic line characterised by bold, square lines, the double front light clusters made of two overlapping elements stand out.

The pure heart of functionality. Luxury is not only synonymous with large dimensions. Given the complexity of urban traffic and parking problems, 'small is beautiful' is back in vogue. The smart phenomenon, now gone, is being replaced by the new electric quadricycles that increasingly populate cities. From the Mobilize Duo minicar to the Fiat Topolino to the Suzuki Alto Lapin kei car: space-saving and functional vehicles for short journeys, which therefore give credit to the electric. Here is the meaning of electric mobility, contextualised and enhanced in its identity qualities. Perhaps it will take years to fully understand it and then it will become a luxury heritage object. Or, from a sustainable perspective, we can expect that tomorrow the electric will lose attention and there will be a return to diesel for its technical qualities. Because in the end, history is cyclical.