Mazda CX-60 Plug-In Hybrid Will Send 300+ HP (!) to Its Rear Wheels

The first car the Morgan Motor Company built 113 years ago was a three-wheeler; two wheels up front for steering and stability, and a single drive wheel at the rear. In fact, until 1936 Morgan built nothing but three-wheelers. Over a century later, the all-new 2023 Morgan three-wheeler might be the most important yet.Morgan ended three-wheeler production in 1952 as more affluent post-war customers switched to its four-wheeled sports cars. But the concept was revived in 2012 with the retro-styled 3 Wheeler, which was powered by an air-cooled, American-made S&S V-twin motorcycle engine mounted across the front end—just like the Morgan three-wheelers built until 1939.That car is now being replaced by an all-new three-wheeler that is arguably the single most important new Morgan in history. Unlike the 3 Wheeler, the all-new Morgan Super 3 has been designed from its three wheels up to meet global crash and emissions standards. And the U.S. is one of the car's key target markets.Old School Meets New SchoolPark your preconceptions: The Super 3 is not a Polaris Slingshot with a posh accent and debonair duds. Far from it. The Super 3 aims to capture the fun and free-wheeling spirit of the original Morgan Three Wheelers, light and sporty cars that frequently punched above their weight in motorsport events in the 1920s and '30s. It looks old school. But the clever and innovative engineering underneath is state-of-the-art.The Morgan Super 3 is powered by a naturally aspirated version of Ford's light and compact 1.5-liter, three-cylinder "Dragon" engine, used in turbocharged form in the Ford Bronco Sport, as well as the European-spec Ford Focus and Fiesta hatchbacks. The decision to switch to a car engine was driven by the fact that the previous car's S&S V-twin would struggle to meet future emission standards, and other similar motorcycle engines all had integrated sequential-shift transmissions. Still, there's history here: The F-Series Morgan Three-Wheeler built between 1933 and 1952 was powered by Ford side-valve engines.In the Super 3 the Ford Dragon engine, which drives the single rear wheel through a Mazda MX-5 sourced five-speed manual transmission connected to a bevel box and carbon-fiber reinforced drive belt, makes 118 horsepower at 6,500 rpm and 110 lb-ft of torque at 4,500 rpm. That doesn't sound like much. But as the Super 3 is expected to weigh not much more than 1,400 pounds, Morgan says that's enough grunt to shoot it to 60 mph in less than 7.0 seconds on to a top speed of 130 mph. And with no roof, no doors, optional aero screens, and the road rushing past just under your elbows, that's going to feel very fast.Monocoque Makes Its Morgan DebutThe core of the Super 3 chassis is a super-formed aluminum monocoque, making it the first monocoque Morgan in history. Bolted to the front of it is a large cast aluminum structure that cradles the engine and provides all the pickup points for the multi-link front suspension. The floorplan is a non-structural aluminum piece that's been designed to accommodate future powertrain upgrades, including full electric drive. The single rear wheel is located by a twin beam swingarm with coil-over shocks on either side, and the beetle-backed bodywork enveloping it is more super-formed aluminum.Though modern in its detailing and execution, the Super 3's layout is pure vintage Morgan. Ensuring the engine and cooling system sat no further forward than the front axle centerline while providing enough legroom for occupants drove the entire design.The vertical cast aluminum element at the center of the mesh grille is not for decoration: It connects to the top mount of the Dragon engine. "There's nothing on this car that doesn't need to be there," says Morgan design chief Jonathan Wells. The cast aluminum piece at the rear of the bodywork, for example, not only ties the body structure together, but also provides the hinge for the rear wheel cover, the lower mounting point for the optional CNC-machined luggage rack, a license plate mount, and the location for the fog and reversing lights.The desire to keep the Super 3 as compact as possible—though it measures 72.4 inches across the front wheels, it's only 141.0-inches long overall, just 4.0-inches longer than the 3 Wheeler—meant locating the cooling radiators on either side of the engine. That, in turn, required placing large, rectangular "barge boards" along the side of the car to manage the air flow through them.At first glance they are perhaps the most controversial elements of the design, but Morgan has embraced their presence. A patented clip system—Morgan's first ever patent—allows specially designed hard cases, waterproofed soft bags, or racks to be attached to the side of the car. The clips and the hardware that attaches to them can carry as much as 44 pounds.Clever Design AboundsThe Super 3 has no roof. But the interior has been designed to cope with the elements. The seats can be trimmed in water-resistant leather, or a new vegan technical fabric that is 100 percent waterproof and can be cleaned with bleach. The digital instruments, located in cast aluminum pods at the center of the dash, and all the switchgear are not just waterproof, but will withstand a quick blast from a jetwash.The seats are fixed, both to reduce weight and complexity, but also to ensure the mass of the occupants remains in the same place in the chassis, critical in a three-wheeler. The steering column is reach and rake adjustable, and the floor-hinged pedals can be moved fore-and-aft to accommodate drivers of different sizes, however. The steering wheel is by Moto-Lita, the boutique British manufacturer that supplied everyone from Aston Martin and Austin Healey to Carroll Shelby and Saab in the 1960s and '70s and is still doing business today.The closer you look at the Super 3, the cleverer it is. The two round headlights and horseshoe cowl are vintage Morgan design cues; the cowl's radius is the same as on Morgan's four-wheeled models. But the air intakes at its trailing edge are functional, feeding air into the engine intake. The small structures protruding from each headlight—nicknamed "snail's eyes" by Wells' team—enable the lights to meet global standards for height and side visibility while retaining their vintage-era location low and close to the front axle centerline.The front wheels are flush-face 20-inch alloys shod with 130/90 Avon Speedmaster tires specially developed for the Super 3 by the British specialist tiremaker. Though vintage in appearance right down to the tread pattern, they are radials with a modern rubber compound and are speed rated to 130 mph. The single rear wheel is a 15-inch steel car rim, shod with a 195/65 winter tire to deliver slightly more initial compliance on turn in, and less overall grip to reduce understeer.How Much Is the Custom Built Super 3?As you'd expect of a Morgan, the hand-built Super 3 will be highly customizable, with more than 200 available options. To make life easier for buyers, the company will offer three "character" themes at launch: Contemporary, which combines brighter exterior colors with the dark finish on the wheels and other cast aluminum parts, plus the textile interior; Classic, which has silver wheels and aluminum bits and leather trim in the cockpit; and Touring, which comes with the aero screens, rear luggage rack. and side panniers.Super 3 production is scheduled to start at Morgan's factory on Pickersleigh Road in Malvern, England, in April, and will ramp up to a maximum of 15 cars per week within four to six weeks. The first cars will arrive in the U.S. in the third quarter of this year, priced at about $70,000 to start.

Grab a soda and your new car wish list and start shopping: More semiconductor chips are coming in 2022 and slowly but surely the chip-shortage horror movie will fade to black.That does not mean 2022 will necessarily be a blockbuster year for inventory, but the global microchip shortage is expected to continue to improve which should mean less or no downtime for automakers desperate to build more vehicles to fill orders and depressingly empty dealer lots. Bottom lines have also taken a hit with billions in lost revenue, and automakers affected the most have also grappled with lost market share.The industry is holding its collective breath that things won't backslide, and while shortages are projected to last into 2023 or longer—and may prove to be endemic—the hope is they will be more manageable as chipmakers increase capacity and automakers find ways to make cars with fewer chips or use more of the higher-tech wafers that are more plentiful.Consumers also need a break—from high prices, few incentives, empty showrooms, long delivery times, and delayed vehicle launches.Huge Losses and CostsThe industry has also shined a light on what appears to be a systemic flaw in the supply chain. Companies and governments are looking to plug this hole for the future. They can't afford not to. The shortage cost the global auto industry about $210 billion in lost revenue in 2021, according to AlixPartners.The auto industry's rebound during the pandemic had been fairly orderly until the chip crisis prolonged and threatened the expected recovery cycle, says Colin Couchman, executive director of Global Automotive Sales Forecasting at IHS Markit. "The chip crisis was wider and deeper than we thought."The world will have lost 11.3 million units of production in 2021 because of the chip shortage, according to AutoForecast Solutions. Drive by any almost empty dealer lot to see what this looks like on the ground. The impact could be another 7 million units in 2022 and 1.6 million in 2023, IHS forecasts.  Economists at Cox Automotive do not expect the wholesale car market to reach pre-pandemic and pre-chip crisis levels until at least 2025.A car dealership stands empty in Laurel, Maryland on May 27, 2021. (Photo by Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)How Did This Happen?The crisis dates to March 2020 when the pandemic forced automakers to shut down plants and temporarily halt orders from suppliers. At the same time, the electronics industry faced increased demand for cell phones, televisions, computers, games, and home appliances from customers abiding by stay-at-home orders. Chipmakers rerouted their supply to the electronics industry, which also showed a willingness to pay more for the silicon wafers.When the auto industry came back online faster than expected in the summer of 2020, it found the chips needed weren't available and suppliers were content to keep their more lucrative contracts with others. Big orders can't be met quickly; it takes about three months to make even the simplest of semiconductors. The auto industry only represents five percent of the chip industry, so it lacked much clout to get what it needs.Cars use a lot of older, lower-tech "legacy" chips that cost only a few dollars each and have lower profit margins so there is less incentive for chipmakers to invest in more capacity. The low cost of legacy chips belies their importance. Vehicles rely on such chips for everything from door locks and infotainment to brakes and advanced driver assist systems. Advanced wafers that incorporate more chips are more plentiful; suppliers would rather make more sophisticated chips, made with newer technology that can put more chips on a single silicon wafer, and yield a better return.More Setbacks From Fire and COVIDThe road to recovery has been bumpy. A fire at the Renesas Electronics chipmaking plant in Japan in March brought production to a halt and it was half a year before it was fully ramped up again. Ford was among the automakers heavily dependent on the Renesas plant for its chip supply. COVID-19 outbreaks and lockdowns in the fall in sparsely vaccinated southeast Asian countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam where the chips are tested and packaged further disrupted production.General Motors chair and CEO Mary Barra said she is cautiously optimistic that the situation will improve in 2022, with the second half of the year better than the first six months in terms of supply. But she expressed concerns that the Omicron variant will cause a repeat of the Delta spread that forced the shutdown of the plants in southeast Asia.Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said his order books are through the roof, but he expects the next few years to continue to be distorted by the chip shortage.Automakers Take Emergency MeasuresAutomakers prioritized, putting what precious semiconductors they had in their most profitable vehicles such as full-size trucks and SUVs, as well as luxury vehicles. As the shortage became more acute, idling plants making vehicles with the lowest demand wasn't enough. Every week there were fresh lists from automakers of which plants were being shut down around the world. When the shortage was at its peak, Ford was forced to stop making F-Series trucks and GM idled plants making its large trucks and SUVs.Necessity forced automakers to get creative. They ran vehicles down the line, skipping some components, and parking the almost finished vehicles until the missing part and/or features could be added and the vehicle delivered to the dealer. When factory lots overflowed with partially finished models and dealership lots emptied out with little available inventory, automakers starting sending the unfinished vehicles to dealers to await chips and components.Another tactic: shipping vehicles without specific features such as wireless charging, lumbar support in the passenger seat, automatic start-stop, or extra key fobs to save chips. And going forward, automakers are working to reduce the number of chips needed in each part. "Historically, we've made decisions as if chips were nearly infinite so each and every module required a chip, every window lift, every modulator," Volkswagen of America CEO Scott Keogh said at a recent Reuters Automotive Summit. He said VW is looking at whether cars can be developed with more modules and fewer chips.Impact on ConsumersBuying a vehicle, new or used, became more difficult. Pre-crisis, automakers carried 70 to 80 days' supply of many models so buyers could make a deal and drive away in their new car. U.S. inventories fell to as low as 10 days' worth, hitting levels not seen since the global financial crisis.New car buyers, or those turning in a lease, found few vehicles to choose from. Consumers found themselves ordering their new car and in some cases waiting months for delivery. They also experienced sticker shock. The average transaction price for a vehicle now exceeds $45,000, according to J.D. Power, and the average incentive is down to about $1,600.Fewer trade-ins meant fewer used cars, which saw even larger increases in prices. New-vehicle prices rose about 12 percent over the year while used-car prices jumped more than 42 percent, according to a white paper released by KPMG just before Christmas. This suggests used car prices could correct and experience a big drop in 2022.Some anticipated new vehicle launches were delayed, including the Nissan Ariya, Rivian R1T and R1S, and the Tesla Cybertruck. Many, including GM, prioritized their electric vehicles, with that automaker making sure its new family of EVs using the Ultium platform remained on schedule, starting with the recent timely launch of the 2022 GMC Hummer EV pickup.The good news: stockpiles of new vehicles continue to improve. In December the U.S. had a monthly supply of more than 1 million vehicles for sale for the first time since July, according to J.D. Power. But December sales were still tracking about 3.5 million lower than in 2020, a year ravaged by the pandemic.Evaluating the Supply ChainThe crisis has the industry rethinking the just-in-time delivery of parts approach for key components such as chips, which might warrant stockpiling. Toyota was not hit as hard as other automakers initially because it had stockpiled chips to avert exactly this kind of crisis, having learned hard lessons from supply issues following past earthquakes and tsunamis."For 2022, the battleground will be chip allocation," Couchman of IHS says. "Demand is not driving the industry. It is the supply shortage that is driving it."Global auto sales are expected to be just shy of 80 million in 2021 and forecast to reach 82.4 million in 2022, growing to 90.1 million in 2023 and 96.4 million in 2024. The U.S. was expected to end the year about 15 million, up from 14.6 million in 2020. IHS expects 2022 to grow slightly to 15.5  million and reach 16.8 million in 2023.Being in the Chip BusinessSemiconductors are a $450 billion global industry. U.S. capacity accounted for only 12 percent of the world's semiconductor chip production in 2020, down from 37 percent capacity in 1990, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association. China, Taiwan, and South Korea are bigger players when it comes to these tiny silicon transistors.The crisis has focused national attention on the need to remedy this and spur domestic production. A bill was introduced to increase R&D and chip production in the U.S. In June, the Senate approved $52 billion in funding to boost the semiconductor industry. It has not yet passed in the House. And only $2 billion is earmarked for supporting the production of legacy chips.Solutions will take time; plants can cost up to $20 billion and take years to reach full production.More Capacity On the WayThe world has realized the need to expand global production. In 2021 global chip suppliers committed to spending about $146 billion, up about a third from 2020, according to research firm Gartner. Unfortunately, less than one-sixth will be used to manufacture the older legacy chips most in demand. In addition to being less lucrative, investing to make low-tech chips is riskier because they are in danger of being phased out which would mean less return on the investment.Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. plans to spend $100 billion to build new chip plants over the next three years. TSMC and Sony are partnering to build a new plant in Japan to make the older legacy chips most in demand. But it won't be ready for mass production until 2024. Taiwan Semiconductor is also adding a new plant in the U.S. and expanding production in China and at its $12 billion factory in Arizona.Samsung Electronics announced it will build a $17 billion chip-making plant in Taylor, Texas, but production is not expected to start until later in 2024. Samsung has one U.S plant now, in Austin, Texas. Taylor is about 30 miles from Austin. The new plant will make advanced chips.Intel Corporation has plans to complete factories in the U.S. and Europe over the next decade.Will Take TimeEarly in 2021 automakers hoped the crisis would be short-lived and they would make up for lost production later in the year. Those hopes were dashed. KPMG says it could take until October 2023 for vehicle supply to meet projected demand. Some researchers project the global supply of legacy chips won't catch up with projected demand until 2025.Volkswagen executives have said that after the initial crisis dies down, they still expect a 10 percent shortage over the long term because adding production capacity takes up to two years. VW was among the automakers harder hit by the shortage.Companies are making deals to ensure continuous supply in the future. In December, BMW said it had secured direct supply contracts with chip maker INOVA Semiconductors and GlobalFoundries, ensuring long-term supply of chips. Ford and GM also have worked to secure direct contracts with semiconductor suppliers.Stellantis has a deal with Foxconn owner Hon Hai Technology Group to design four new families of chips that will meet 80 percent of the automaker's chip needs, starting in 2024. CEO Tavares says the crisis has damaged the relationship between automakers and top tier suppliers who have failed to fix the situation. Automakers "are supposed to be protected by our Tier 1s from this kind of situation," Tavares said during a recent trip to Detroit.In the end, all the finger pointing does little to fix a problem that has hurt suppliers, automakers, and consumers alike. All parties have a vested interest in filling car lots again. The good news is the situation continues to improve. It is not happening as quickly as people would like, and there could be more setbacks, but steps are being taken to avert a similar crisis in the future involving not only semiconductors but also other key components needed for the electric and advanced vehicles on the way.Lead photo: Narumon Bowonkitwanchai/Getty Images

Like it or not, it was hard to miss the 2023 Acura Integra Prototype that debuted last year in its Yellow Pearl paint job. That prototype is now going into production—and being revealed soon in salable form— though it might not get that striking yellow color as an option immediately, according to alleged leaked details on the IntegraTalk forums.Details gathered from screenshots of a dealer ordering guide—if accurate—may reveal the upcoming Integra's trim and specifications ahead of orders opening later this week, on March 10. Here's what the forum-leaked order guide shows:The 2023 Integra will come in base, A-Spec, and A-Spec Tech trim levels, with a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT) listed as standard and a six-speed manual option only listed as available for the top-of-the-line A-Spec Tech trim, according to the screenshots. It doesn't appear that the company's available 10-speed automatic transmission will be an option on launch, either.The CVT is here because in all likelihood it's the very same transmission utilized in the mechanically related Honda Civic. It's even paired with the Honda's same 1.5-liter turbocharged I-4 engine. Power figures for the new Integra have yet to be announced, but we anticipate an output of at least around 200 horsepower, meaning the Acura will use the the 200-ish hp version of the 1.5-liter turbo four used by the sportier Civic Si.The forum posts also offer a look at the upcoming Integra's paint options, and sadly there doesn't appear to be any yellow option (yet), despite the Integra prototype debuting in a bright yellow color. The paint options that are listed include Platinum White, Lunar Silver, Performance Red, Liquid Carbon, Majestic Black, and Apex Blue.We may just be looking at partial information and there could be more options at launch, or it's plausible that Acura is holding back the yellow for an upcoming Integra Type S model that surely will follow the regular-grade version. The company recently trademarked the name and has been Type S'ing numerous nameplates in its lineup, including the TLX sedan, MDX SUV, and NSX supercar.If this order guide is accurate, you can't quite order the car that Acura debuted in prototype guise last year. You can order something close, in another color. Oh, and you will also have to upgrade to the highest available trim level if do not want the CVT.That may not be what Acura fans had hoped for—a second coming of the brands' premium sport compact formula distinct from a regular Honda—but at the end of the day, there's still a new turbocharged, manual-transmission Integra just around the corner that isn't a crossover or an EV. Maybe that's something. We'll be able to confirm full details on the Integra's available options when ordering begins March 10.