Category: News

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BMW FOUR-CYLINDER BUILDING TRANSFORMED TO ‘BATTERY PACK’

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If you have ever been to Munich it’s likely you will have noticed the famed ‘Four-Cylinder Building’. This striking structure is the head office of the BMW Group. To celebrate the delivery of more than 100,000 electrified vehicles (pure-electric and hybrid) worldwide in 2017, BMW has transformed the Four-Cylinder Building to make it look like a gigantic battery. An 80-year-old man took delivery of his BMW i3, making him the 100,000th customer. Harald Kruger, the chairman of BMW, handed him the keys to the in Protonic Blue i3, and said,… Read more

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NEW AUDI STAR SINGS FROM A DIFFERENT SONG SHEET

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Vocally speaking, if the outgoing Audi RS 5 was a booming baritone, the latest version of the iconic sports coupe is a cocky, if at times shrill, tenor and, as has been suggested, maybe not to everyone’s liking. Blame the substitution of the sonorous sound of the ‘old’ V8 with a new-generation star-in-the-making twin-turbo V6 that works in a higher register. Traditionally, baritones can be packing a bit of beef, unlike tenors who, because they get the girl, are usually trim, taut and terrific. The same can be said about… Read more

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2018 FORD ECOSPORT UPGRADES

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The Ford EcoSport is the smallest vehicle in the company SUV range. Clever marketing means it has been restyled to tie in with the shape of its larger brothers, the Escape and Everest, as well as the big Endura which is coming in 2018. Pretty well everything forward of the windscreen looks different, with a sculpted bonnet featuring a central ‘power’ bulge a large trapezoidal grille and interesting angular headlights and foglight surrounds. EcoSport’s rear bumper and taillight designs have also received the sculpted look. Three colours have been added… Read more

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HOLDEN ANNOUNCES ZB COMMODORE PRICES

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The German-built next-generation ZB Holden Commodore won’t be here till February 2018, but GM-H has released its recommended prices as part of the build up to its new high-tech models. Though you get a fair bit more car for your money Holden has deliberated kept prices at similar levels to the outgoing VF II, even significantly lower in many cases. That’s to counteract the negativity about the German Commodore from some quarters. The negativity being that this isn’t really a Holden as it’s not “built tough for Australia”. That’s despite… Read more

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ALL-NEW JEEP WRANGLER: PREVIEW

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The all-new 2018 Jeep Wrangler looks like a Jeep, which might sound blindingly obvious. But some years back an idiot stylist decided Wrangler needed rectangular headlights – and all hell broke loose amongst lovers of what is arguably the most recognised vehicle in the world. “Don’t mess with our Jeep” was the clear message – and that near disaster has never happened since. New Jeep Wrangler has the legendary seven-slot grille with an updated look that has the outer grille slats intersecting with the headlights, thus paying homage to the… Read more

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MERCEDES CARS BEING TAUGHT TO DRIVE THE AUSSIE WAY

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Just about everyone I speak to wants to discuss self driving cars. Mercedes-Benz is one of the leaders in this field and its engineers and a special S-Class have just been flown Downunder from Stuttgart to look at some problems unique to our country. To start with there are the infamous Melbourne hook-turns that mystify interstate drivers. I know of some who simply refuse to drive in that city as the hooks scare them. Turning right from the left of the left-hand lane is something the autonomous Mercs will need… Read more

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STUTTERING START TO UPGRADED NISSAN SUV

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In one way or another, the Nissan Qashqai has been involved in ringing more changes than a crew of cathedral campanologists. Since its launch in 2007 the small sports utility vehicle has gone through a name change and a raft of iterations. It landed in Australia a year later under the name of Dualis as an all-wheel drive, added a seven-seat variant in 2010 and two years later had become this country’s most popular small SUV. The second generation Dualis reverted to the Qashqai moniker in 2014, at the same… Read more

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HOLDEN’S FAMILY FRIENDLY EQUINOX

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Extremely keen to take an all-new direction following the closure of its factory Holden has introduced an all-new vehicle, tagged Equinox, into the hotly contested SUV field in Australia. The timing couldn’t have been better as buyers are almost queueing up to get into these practical vehicles. Though the Equinox isn’t a direct successor to Holden Captiva, with continues in some variants for a yet-to-be-announced period, it comes pretty close. Equinox is a far more modern vehicle than Captiva in every way. Modern styling, larger interior, high-tech drivetrains and, possibly… Read more

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NEW MITSUBISHI ECLIPSE CROSS

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Determined to stay in tune with Australians love for SUVs Mitsubishi has added a third model to its range. Called Eclipse Cross it sits between the compact ASX and the medium-large Outlander. The Eclipse name does have some history for Mitsubishi having been used in a mid-sized sports coupe sold in overseas markets between 1990 and 2012. During much of that period a closely related model called Mitsubishi Galant was built at the company’s Tonsley Park plant in Adelaide. The timing of Mitsubishi’s early preview of the Eclipse Cross is… Read more

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STYLISH NEW TOYOTA CAMRY

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Out with the old, in with the new. New Toyota Camry is most certainly an eye opener when compared with its honourable ancestors. Sadly the Camry is no longer made in Australia, it now comes from Japan. The build quality on the ones we have seen to date is every bit as good as what we have seen coming out of the Altona, Melbourne factory for the past 20 years. Let us jump straight to style because, believe it or not, that’s what people will be talking about in the… Read more