Tag: SUV

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IONIQ 9 CALLIGRAPHY A CRUISE-LINER ON DRY LAND

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Hyundai Heavy Industries is the largest shipbuilding company in the world, pumping out bulk carriers, street-length oil and gas tankers and Lego-like Leviathan container ships, so it’s not out of the question that its skills should translate to producing road-going vehicles of prodigious dimensions. Take, for example, the Korean company’s flagship Ioniq 9, a three-row all electric sports utility vehicle that delivers prestigious lounge-like space and comfort, plus a range of up to 600 kilometres on a single battery charge. At the pinnacle of EV technology, the Ioniq 9 is… Read more

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JIMNY, FUN AND GAMES BY ANY STRETCH

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Jimny: it’s all in the name. Since its get-go the quirky small Suzuki SUV has been on a ‘fun run’, on and off road. Last year the maker invested more in the three-door compact, which had become something of a cult, adding two more doors and extended cabin space. Release the brakes, start revving the motor, the new Jimny XL five-door, after a bump in the road, has finally been let out on to Aussie streets, following a hold-up on sales for ‘an investigation into the model’ by the maker…. Read more

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BIG AND BOLD, ISUZU UTE MU-X IS A VERSATILE FAMILY SUV

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Isuzu Ute MU-X is a seven-seat family SUV from a Japanese company that has a long history of producing hard working vehicles. Indeed, Isuzu has a history dating back for over 100 years in light commercial vehicles including a couple of decades when they sold here rebadged as Holdens. The MU-X is one of only two vehicles offered by the Isuzu Ute brand alongside the D- Max utility with which it shares the same chassis and numerous other components. MU-X has been a major success in Australia. Sitting on the… Read more

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BYD SEALION 7 PREMIUM

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Back in 2022, BYD was one of the first Chinese vehicles to enter the Australian EV market. It started as a one-car brand imported by the private company EV Direct with the Atto 3 compact SUV. Although popular with early EV adopters it didn’t make much of an impact on overall sales. Atto 3 was followed in 2023 by the Dolphin EV hatch and Seal EV sedan. The first BYD plug-in hybrid, the Sealion 6, arrived in 2024. A mid-sized SUV, it attracted strong sales and quickly became the top-selling… Read more

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JAECOO J7 – CHINA’S BEST YET?

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Another name to grapple with as the surge in Chinese imports gathers strength and they not only coming with quantity but also quality. This time we’re looking at Jaecoo which joins Omoda and Tiggo as sub-brands within the giant Chery group, the fourth-largest of China’s plethora of manufacturers and, along with SAIC one of its largest exporters Although Chery did make a brief and unsuccessful attempt to enter the Australian market about 10 years ago it has only just re-launched here and remains largely unknown. Which is a blessing in… Read more

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PATHFINDER HEADS OFF TRUMP TROUBLE

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There I was doing a stint of push-mower Pilates (grass cutting) in the back yard when it struck me how clever the people at Nissan had been coming up with a cut-price large wagon at this time. With large SUV prices pushing through six figures the new ST-L Pathfinder has lopped more than $12,000 off the previous entry-level model – this trip down the road less travelled all the more prescient at a time when tariff tyrant Donald Trump is upping the ante on the cost of motoring around the… Read more

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MAZDA CX-70: A MATTER OF GIVE AND TAKE

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As the Merlin of Mazda would say: Pick a number between 60 and 90, say 70. Now add CX and GT or Azami, then take away two seats and cap it off with a $10k-plus price advantage over its seven-seat twin. You now have the CX-70, the fourth SUV from the Japanese auto maker’s new rear/all-wheel drive ‘Large Product Group’ platform. It’s the same size as the ‘wide-body’ seven-seat CX-90 flagship, with the third row removed, Then there are the CX-60 and CX-80 twins, the latter riding on a wheelbase… Read more

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DEEPAL S07 TAKES TECH TO ANOTHER LEVEL

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Deepal is a sub-brand of Changan Automobile which is the fourth largest Chinese brand behind BYD, Geely and SAIC. It is imported here through Inchcape who also bring in Subaru and Peugeot vehicles. The first model to come here is the S07, a mid-sized SUV that will compete against EVs including the Tesla Model Y, Subaru Solterra, Toyota bZ4X, Ioniq 5 and Kia EV5, all of which are more expensive. But wait, there are more, less established Chinese EV brands either here already or on their way wit similar vehicles… Read more

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HONDA HR-V Vi X

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When it arrived here in 1999 it was one of the first compact SUVs around and at once set the standard for what has since become one of the fastest growing segments of the automobile market. Unfortunately, with its bland styling and three-door body, that original HR-V never really took off and it was subsequently discontinued in 2003. It remained off the Australian market until 2015 when the much more attractive five-door second-generation model arrived. The third generation of the HR-V arrived here in 2022 with sleeker styling, advanced safety… Read more

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NISSAN X-TRAIL N-TREK

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Meets Nissan’s latest and greatest X-Trail crossover, the N-Trek edition. Originally conceived as a limited edition of 500 vehicles, X-Trail joins the Navara and Pathfinder N-Trek editions. Based on the ST-L grade, back then it came with larger 19-inch alloys, built-in navigation, premium Bose eight-speaker audio, smoked coloured bonnet protector, slim line front and rear weather shields, front and rear kick plates and carpet mats in the five-seat version — all standard equipment. Now it rides on 18s and has six-speaker unbranded audio. Satnav remains but the other nick-nacks have… Read more