by Stuart Livesey
Your parent company is bleeding money – $45 million dollars a day last year.
You claim you’re profitable but your cars aren’t selling – the Falcon came in sixth behind Commodore, a whole bunch of Toyota models and the Mazda 3
Your popular SUV is losing its popularity
Your competitor has the new VE – [...]
It certainly left us scratching our heads
by Stuart Livesey
Up here in this part of Queensland it’s a fine, hot, sunny day and there are plenty of people out and about enjoying the sun. So there we were, driving along the Esplanade admiring the view when we saw a convertible parked at the side of [...]
All I can say is Hmmm.
The Wheels Car of the Year has just been announced and it happens to be the VE Commodore – the modern vehicle that has a fuel consumption slightly worse than my seven year old Hyundai and a spare wheel that is not really designed for Australian conditions.
If I was the [...]
Australian Summer Cars 4
We’ve looked at some of the European convertibles in this series so far so perhaps it’s time to look at some of the American convertibles that are either here or are coming.
Let’s start with the Chrysler Sebring; it won’t be available in Australia till sometime after September but there should be [...]
Or don’t do as I do but do as I say
At least that’s what one New South Wales Police Officer seems to be saying. Channel 7 reports that the officer was found to be doing 245 km/h on the F6 freeway.
He wasn’t caught by radar or spotted by another police car, instead he was caught [...]
General Motors made quite a splash at the Detroit Auto Show with a brand-new electric car. It’s only in the concept stage right now but maybe one day we’ll see the Chevrolet Volt sold in Australia under the Holden brand.
And don’t be fooled into thinking that this car can’t travel long distances. General Motors suggests [...]
By Stuart Livesey
During the 2006 season the Indy cars ran on E10 – a fuel mixture with only 10% ethanol. But from January 31 the Honda 3.5 litre V8 engines used in all Indy cars will be fueled by 100% ethanol.
The Queensland Government today reaffirmed its support for ethanol blended fuels at Saab Australia’s launch of its revolutionary BioPower car at the Holden Performance Driving Centre on the Gold Coast.
The Saab BioPower car is the first ethanol production car in Australia that runs on 85% ethanol using its flex-fuel capability, giving motorists the ability to [...]
Saab will become the first ‘carbon neutral’ car brand in Australia in 2007 with the carbon emissions of every new Saab vehicle sold to be offset by the planting of new trees.
Beginning this year, Saab will purchase a one year ‘offset’ to Greenfleet for every new or demonstration Saab vehicle purchased, making Saab the first [...]
At the moment Mitsubishi is running a major ad campaign here in Queensland for one of their SUVs and one of the features that they really put a lot of emphasis on is the brand of sound system that’s fitted to the vehicle.
Perhaps I’m a Luddite but I’ve whenever I’ve been buying a new vehicle [...]
Mitsubishi showed the prototype for the 2008 Lancer for the first time at last week’s Detroit Motor Show. The next Lancer certainly has some mean looks and interesting mechanicals
The technical details can be found here
Boy do I ever have egg on my face – as one reader pointed out the images that made up most of this article were of the wrong vehicle.
My humble apologies for making such a fundamental mistake.
by Stuart Livesey
They might be concept cars this year but they will be the basis of models to be released in 2008.
Lexus unveiled their 2008 concept cars at the Detroit Motor Show this week and they certainly are stunning examples of a high-performance luxury sedan and a luxury sports car.
The IS-F luxury sports sedan has [...]
VW Touareg continues to lead at the end of stage 6
The Race Touareg continues Volkswagen’s domination at the head of the leader board after six of the Dakar Rally’s 15 stages: The Spaniard Carlos Sainz and his French co-driver Michel Périn lead the Dakar Rally now for the fourth day in succession.
On the extremely fast [...]
by Stuart Livesey
Another great vehicle we won’t see in Australia
The pickup truck is big business in the American automotive industry and it’s been dominated by Ford and General Motors for a very long time. However Toyota is now taking them on at their own game and the Toyota Tundra is taking over the pickup truck [...]
Only available in the United States … but maybe one day
Hyundai have now announced the release of their latest crossover vehicle in the United States. The 2007 Veracruz combines luxury and performance.
Inside, passengers are coddled in a rich, sophisticated environment that was inspired by boutique hotels. The result is an interior that could be found [...]
by Stuart Livesey
Fine lines and more comfort
Subaru released the latest version of their popular Outback at the Detroit Motor Show on Sunday.
The Subaru Outback debuts new front sheet metal and features a larger and more upright grille for a bolder appearance. Combined with the new grille and front fascia, the re-designed guards and hood deliver [...]
by Stuart Livesey
Imagine a Kia Rio with a 4.6 litre V8 under the bonnet
If you can stretch your imagination that far then you’re getting close to the Kia Kue. Sadly you’re not likely to ever see this in production but it is fun to let your imagination run wild with the latest Kia concept car.
It [...]
VW is very happy
The 2007 Dakar Rally has just completed it’s third stage and VW must be feeling rather pleased at the moment. At the end of the day Volkswagen factory driver Carlos Sainz has taken the lead of the Dakar Rally. The Spaniard and his French co-driver Michel Périn took second place in the [...]
That’s what the NRMA and the New South Wales Opposition would like to see happen
by Stuart Livesey
If a proposal put to the New South Wales’ Young Driver Advisory Panel by the NRMA and supported by the NSW Opposition is adopted P-plate drivers in New South Wales would lose their licence if they lost just one [...]
The BMW 3 Series convertible
Yesterday we looked at the Renault Megane Coupe Cabriolet – the only convertible on Australian road that comes with a glass roof. You will find a link to that article below. Today we’re going to look at a convertible that won’t be released until the Brisbane Motor Show next month – [...]
The top markets for the top of the range luxury car
Rolls-Royce exported cars to over 50 different countries in 2006 and interestingly those 50 countries included some of the world’s poorest. Angola is one name that stands out.
The three largest markets for Rolls-Royce are the USA, the UK and China while the five top [...]
Renault Megane Coupe Cabriolet
Yesterday we started this series with one of the cheapest way for someone to get into an open topped car in Australia – a 2000 Holden Barina Cabriolet. There’s no way today’s convertible could be called ‘cheap’ but it certainly is the most unusual of all the convertibles in the ones we [...]
New vehicle sales are down but not everywhere
In Western Australia new vehicle sales rose in 2006 by 10.2% – the only state to record an increase in new vehicle sales.
In Queensland – another state where the boom in mineral resources is keeping the economy afloat – new vehicle sales were down 1.7%
South Australia and Victoria [...]
The Australian automotive industry has posted its second highest annual sales total on record.
Despite being the second highest annual figures the number of vehicles sold in 2006 are down 2.06% compared with 2005.
Toyota was the best-selling brand in 2006 for the fourth year in a row with a 22.2 per cent share of the total [...]
A petrol head’s nightmare
A problem at the Shell refinery in Sydney has seen Canberra – and many other places – run out of Vpower, the premium fuel that powers many of the entrants in the Summer Nats.
With that even scheduled to start in Canberra later this week the lack of the premium fuel was going [...]
I was recently talking to a tourist from England who complained that the highways here in Queensland had no lighting and that made driving at night quite hazardous.
I was too polite to suggest that maybe she should try turning the car’s headlights on but I did wonder what she would have thought of roads [...]
One country copper’s answer
As I write this the holiday road toll stands at 42 and, while everyone is wringing their hands and wailing about how terrible the situation is, none of the experts seem to be able to come up with a solution.
Our kids are killing themselves at an ever increasing rate on our [...]
