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KIA EV4 GT-LINE GOES THE DISTANCE

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  Don’t mention the war: It’s hard to ignore these words from that other comedian Basil Fawlty with the electric vehicle light burning brightly over a Middle East farrago of Trumpian intensity. Fossil fuel is flagging in the power play for car sales with the Strait of Hormuz on drip feed to oil tankers and cargo carriers, leaving EVs with an inside run against the internal combustion engine mob. How prescient then that Kia has added a sedan to an already diverse line-up of non-ICE vehicles. The EV4 Sedan joins… Read more

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SUZUKI VITARA TURBO HYBRID ALLGRIP

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With the imminent arrival of Suzuki’s first fully electric vehicle the e Vitara, it’s easy to see why the company didn’t invest much in the hybrid version. Forgive us for saying so, but it’s a shortsighted approach because the company is likely to sell many more hybrids than it will EVs, just look at the experience of other brands. Really, the hybrid deserved better, because apart from the welcome transition to hybrid power — the changes have been minimal to say the least. STYLING If you think the latest Vitara… Read more

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BYD SEALION 5 IS AUSTRALIA’S BEST VALUE PLUG-IN ELECTRIC HYBRID

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In what is a major milestone, monthly sales figures released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries have shown that, in February, China became Australia’s largest source of new vehicles overtaking Japan for the first time since 1998. The data also showed four Chinese brands now sit in the top ten positions led by BYD, now the sixth biggest seller, ahead of GWM (7th), Chery (9th) and MG (10th). Almost half of BYD sales are of its four-model Sealion SUV range, with either fully electric or plug-in hybrid drivetrains. The… Read more

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MITSUBISHI OUTLANDER EXCEED TOURER

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You can understand why Japanese and Korean car makers continue to rollout petrol- only models. Not all buyers want or can afford the cost of an electric vehicle, although that is the way the market is ultimately heading. With a barrage of competition from cheaper Chinese rivals, anything they can do to pick up a few extra sales is fast becoming essential. And so, we have the top of the range Outlander Exceed Tourer, powered by a 2.5- litre naturally aspirated petrol engine, with all the bells and whistles to… Read more

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LEXUS LBX – MORE THAN A LITTLE LUXURY

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Yaris by Lexus: an automotive oxymoron? Nothing could be further from the truth. The new Lexus LBX luxury compact is built on the Toyota Yaris Cross platform (GA-B). The LBX is the smallest model in the Lexus range and the brand’s first B-segment SUV. Enter the progeny of the Yaris Cross. Imbued with the Lexus philosophy of Kaizen (continuous improvement) across all its brands. Now it is bringing this to the small SUV segment with the LBX. Lexus sees the need for the LBX to meet the demand for signature… Read more

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MG IM6 PERFORMANCE REVIEW

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  Another week, another new brand name, although in this case it’s actually a new sub- brand. It’s called IM and it’s the new premium electric division of MG. Think Lexus to Toyota, Genesis to Hyundai, etc. And just to confuse matters further we’re told that its complete name is ‘IM Presented by MG’. Good luck with anyone actually adhering to that. To keep things simple, we’ll just stick with the IM nametag here. The two first models are the IM5 and IM6, not to be confused with MI5 and… Read more

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LEXUS LETS LOOSE WITH HYBRID SUVS

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At the turn of the last century, Toyota, with the full electric auto era fast approaching, made a commitment to go with hybrid petrol/electric vehicles, rather than full electric product. The result was the Prius. The second modern hybrid vehicle to be sold in Australia, following on from the original Honda Insight released six months previously. While the Insight fell by the wayside, the ubiquitous Prius went on to conquer the world. Since then, the hybrid technology has been taken up by mainstream Toyotas such as the Camry, Corolla RAV4… Read more

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CHERY TIGGO 4 HYBRID ULTIMATE

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It’s cheap and it’s a hybrid, that’s what it is. In fact, Chery reckons the Tiggo 4 is Australia’s cheapest hybrid SUV as well as Chery’s best-selling SUV. It’s powered by a 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine together with the help of an electric motor, that combine to offer budget-friendly fuel consumption of 5.4L/100km. The Tiggo feels cheap . . . but let’s find out. STYLING Tiggo 4 Hybrid is available in two grades: Urban and top-of-the-range Ultimate. Urban is priced from $29,990 driveaway, the Ultimate from $34,990 – both prices… Read more

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HYUNDAI PALISADE CALLIGRAPHY 7-SEAT

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Released here in 2020, Palisade is the largest of Hyundai’s SUVs — not counting the electric Ioniq 9. Palisade is targeted at buyers of large SUVs who want a more car-like driving experience than that offered by traditional 4WDs. It’s available in seven and eight-seat configuration, with two standalone “captain’s chairs” occupying the second row in the seven-seat version. That leaves three people to squeeze in to the split-fold third row of seats, making it more of a six-seater but six-seaters have never done well in Australia. The Kia equivalent… Read more

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K4 HATCHES NEW LINE IN PASSENGER COMPACT

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After more than two decades and more than 200,000 sales in Australia the Cerato was fast running out of legs. The Kia self-styled much loved small passenger car could have kept up with design and technical developments in the segment but Kia had other ideas. The new K4 kicked down the door in sedan format with four trimlines – S, Sport, Sport+, GT-Line – and two petrol engines before later being joined by hatchback for MY26 models, aligning them with Kia’s global naming convention. Both sedan and hatches score an… Read more