From Tesla to Porsche, New EVs Revealed at Germany’s International Motor Show
5 min
Roped off on the Volkswagen Group stand at the IAA Mobility auto show in Germany was perhaps the sexiest car present, the Porsche Mission X concept. The supercar is aimed at being the fastest road-legal vehicle at the Nürburgring race track’s Nordschleife loop. The inspiration, on Porsche’s 75th anniversary, was the legendary 1985 959, the fastest series-production car of its time, capable of traveling 196 miles per hour. A more modern ancestor was the 918 Spyder of 2013.
Of late, Porsche, Rimac, and Tesla have been battling back and forth over the electric record at the German track. Rimac took the title Aug. 18 via its Nevera, but the Tesla Model S Plaid Edition with Track Pack has also been a contender, beating Porsche’s Taycan Turbo S.
Despite its racing mission, the Mission X will be a production car and appears totally ready for road work, with a luxurious leather-clad interior. The steering wheel looks like a video game controller, though, and the passenger-side stopwatch is for timing events—with both an analog and digital display. The road version seems likely to become a limited-edition special edition, and if so it should sell out quickly—even at what is likely to be a pretty high price.
Jim Motavalli
Over at the Tesla booth was the revamped Model 3, which now has a much kinder and more aerodynamic built-to-be-electric nose. It no longer appears to be missing its grille.
Other Model 3 improvements in 2023 include new head and tail lamps, new wheels, fresh aluminium, and textile trim on the interior, customisable ambient lighting and ventilated seats, a quieter cabin thanks to sound-deadening materials and acoustic glass, dual wireless phone charging, available 17-speaker audio and, a somewhat dubious achievement, delete of the turn-signal stalk. Instead, in the name of decluttering the interior, there are a pair of touch-sensitive buttons on the steering wheel. Unfortunately, the wheel turns around so the buttons are not always in the same place. It seems confusing and unnecessary.
Jim Motavalli
BMW’s most striking exhibit was the Vision Neue Klasse sedan, reviving a name the company used to introduce its winning line of cars in the 1960s. The car sits on a new EV platform that will support six or seven Neue Klasse models between 2025 and 2027. Combining that platform with the sixth-generation BMW eDrive powertrain and more efficient batteries is said to yield a 30% range and 25% efficiency gain over previous models. The concept shown is striking and uncluttered, managing to be futuristic and slightly retro at the same time. The cabin on view was very airy, with large windows and a panoramic sunroof, an interior-dominating central screen, and seats with avocado inserts.
From Audi came the 2025 Q6 e-tron, which is slotted between the Q4 and Q8, and has been tested in 373 and 479 horsepower variants.
Volkswagen itself showcased another electric, the ID. GTI “hot hatch” concept based on the ID.2 (an entry-level EV we didn’t get in the U.S.) The GTI model has always been welcomed by American buyers, so this one could be too. The European price when it goes on sale in 2026 will be approximately US$32,000. VW also displayed the ID.7, a larger EV sedan aimed at executives with a 77-kilowatt-hour battery and a US$67,000 price as shown.
Chinese brands haven’t penetrated the American market yet, but they were out in force in Munich. BYD, the best0selling brand in China, has a large dealer network in Germany already, and showed off its marine mammal-themed Dolphin and Seal models. The Seal is an electric sedan, and its new Seal U variant is a small SUV that uses its technology. The Seal U will have both 71- and 87-kilowatt-hour battery options, and 218 horsepower. That’s not hugely impressive, but the affordable price ($48,000 in Europe) will be a convincer for many buyers. Both Seals had impressive fit and finish, auguring that—if the road performance matches the appearance—BYD is probably ready for U.S. competition.
Jim Motavalli
The venerable British sports car brand MG (an abbreviation of “Morris Garages”) is now Chinese-owned, like Volvo and Polestar. MG has been selling gas, hybrid, and electric SUVs in Europe (16 countries), but at Munich it showed the new Cyberster, a pretty two-seat roadster concept with an electric powertrain. It resembles a beefier Miata more than it does a classic MGB, but it’s definitely attractive. U.S. sales of what was once a popular brand could happen in five to eight years.
Many suppliers were at the show hoping to catch the attention of major automakers. Rimac, which makes its Nevera supercar in tiny numbers, had a stand offering its cutting-edge electric components to other manufacturers. Michigan-based Gentech, a leading maker of the world’s rear-view mirrors, was there showing how technology—from cameras to driver monitoring systems and back-seat kid detection—can be embedded in what was once a simple device. Gentech announced a stake in Israel’s Adasky, which makes tiny thermal cameras that fit just about anywhere.
MG
Israel-based Mobileye and Canadian parts supplier Magna International demonstrated their technology for automated driving. Massachusetts-based Nodar revealed its stereo cameras’ ability to see objects in the road at great distances. New York-based J.P. Morgan Chase’s offering was an all-in-one plan for mobility payments—loans, car subscriptions, parking, tolling, and electric vehicle charging. It debuts later this year. And SAE, the standards agency, announced a move into Europe and work on a Battery Passport that will trace the origins of minerals used in their production. “Just as we don’t want blood diamonds, we don’t want blood batteries,” said Fabian Koark, chief operating officer of SAE Europe.
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From making unpopular decisions to learning when to listen, leaders from five businesses reveal what nobody prepared them for — and how running a company has challenged their expectations.
Technology and semiconductor shares fell sharply as investors questioned the debt financing the AI infrastructure boom and confronted higher rates and Chinese competition.
Elon Musk is exploring a potential merger between Tesla and SpaceX, a deal that could reshape the future of AI, robotics, autonomous vehicles and space technology. With a combined valuation potentially reaching $3.5 trillion, the move could bring Musk’s vision of an interconnected technology ecosystem closer to reality, although a deal remains uncertain.
5 min
Elon Musk has engineered ties between Tesla TSLA 3.41%increase; up pointing triangle and SpaceX SPCX 7.79%increase; up pointing triangle that are hard to break, and now he wants to fuse them together permanently.
Musk has run both Tesla and SpaceX concurrently over the past two decades, using a schedule that dictated which days he spent focused on each business.
The companies have often shared resources and personnel, signaling their close ties. Last year, SpaceX looked into creating a spacesuit for Tesla’s humanoid robot Optimus, a person familiar with the matter said. Tesla last week showed off its new Roadster, a vehicle featuring SpaceX rocket thrusters that it hopes to soon bring to market.
And in recent months, Musk has repositioned both companies by expanding beyond their core operations toward a shared mission centered on artificial intelligence.
The world’s richest man on Tuesday signaled his interest in tying up SpaceX and Tesla, marking what would be the biggest corporate merger of all time. Because he serves as chief executive of SpaceX and Tesla, Musk said committees of independent directors at both companies are evaluating a possible deal, adding that a transaction might not come to fruition.
The committees will likely evaluate, with lawyers and bankers, how each company would fare in a potential deal and how a deal might best be structured. They then present their conclusions to their respective boards, who typically vote on whether to proceed.
“It’s an odd Kabuki dance where two groups of people are talking and I can’t be in the conversation,” Musk told SpaceX investors on Tuesday in response to an analyst’s question about a potential deal.
For Musk, the merger supports his vision of a world full of autonomous cars, humanoid robots and weekly rocket launches, as well as the data centers and satellites required to keep the whole thing running.
Some investors and analysts said they expect a transaction would be structured as an all-stock deal, with SpaceX potentially paying a modest premium for Tesla shares.
SpaceX, which has a market value of about $2 trillion, said it is seeing sharp growth in revenue across its businesses, which include operating data centers, launching rockets and operating satellite networks such as the internet service Starlink. Tesla is valued at about $1.5 trillion and is expanding its operations beyond its automotive and energy business. Shares in both companies traded higher following the news Tuesday.
Musk’s substantial ownership stakes in both companies, along with voting control at SpaceX, has enabled him to set the deal in motion. Analysts and investors said the deal will probably face regulatory scrutiny internationally, though some see Musk’s close relationship with the Trump administration as an asset to getting approval.
Blurred lines
The companies haven’t said which directors are on the special committees evaluating a potential deal. Several SpaceX and Tesla board members have either personal or business ties to Musk. And like Musk, venture capitalist Ira Ehrenpreis sits on both boards.
In a filing this week, Tesla outlined millions of dollars in business agreements with SpaceX and its subsidiaries last year, including $143 million in car sales to SpaceX, $3.3 million in advertising that it bought on the social-media platform X and $430 million in revenue from the sale of Megapack batteries for SpaceX’s data centers.
The companies also split the cost of resources including the use of Musk’s SpaceX jet and the bill for his personal security, which he runs through a private company.
Employees at both companies routinely move between companies to work on special projects, and some executives have dual roles, including Charles Kuehmann, vice president of materials engineering at both SpaceX and Tesla, and Ashok Elluswamy, the vice president of AI software at Tesla who runs a joint venture with SpaceX called Digital Optimus.
Over the years, Musk has launched new startups within his empire, including brain-implant company Neuralink, underground-tunnel developer the Boring Company and xAI, the AI startup that merged with SpaceX in February.
It is that AI business that Musk thinks can serve a market worth tens of trillions of dollars, justifying the need for a merger.
The business case goes like this: Tesla is developing robotaxis and robots, which it calls “physical AI.” SpaceX is working on the back end of physical AI: the data-center capacity and internet connection required for those robotaxis and robots to operate continuously.
“I don’t see what the value of Tesla is if it’s not merged with SpaceX,” said investment adviser Ross Gerber, a former Tesla bull turned critic invested in both companies. “If they don’t merge, the brains of everything that runs Tesla is owned by another company.”
On top of it all, both companies face constraints on the supply chains they need to make this world a reality, particularly when it comes to chips. To address this, Musk earlier this year announced a joint venture between Tesla, SpaceX and Intel to design and manufacture chips in Texas. “The most epic chip-building exercise by far,” he has said.
Musk at the wheel
For Musk, a merger would also solve two problems: demands on his attention and his lack of control at Tesla.
Tesla for years was Musk’s only public company, a status that came with greater scrutiny. There, Musk reports to a public board, as well as individual investors who make up around 30% of Tesla’s voting power, according to FactSet.
The question of Musk’s attention became a particular focus for investors and the board in recent years after he acquired Twitter in 2022 and launched xAI in 2023, and again in 2025 as he spent time in Washington, D.C., running the Department of Government Efficiency in the early months of President Trump’s second term.
As Tesla’s car business suffered in 2025, Musk threatened to take his AI ambitions outside the company if he wasn’t granted 25% voting control. Last November, Tesla shareholders approved a new pay package for Musk, which created a path for him to vastly expand his stake.
As of Sept. 30, Musk owned a roughly 20% stake in Tesla, according to the company’s proxy filing.
The SpaceX IPO gave Musk a different path. When SpaceX went public in June, the deal’s structure enabled him to have more than 80% voting power at the company—so much that he can’t be fired and decisions can’t be made without his support.
If SpaceX acquires Tesla, he will likely stay in control.
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