Aussie Motoring

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 - but you won’t have anything new till 2008.

The full story in today’s Courier-Mail makes interesting reading.

You get brand-name tools at the lowest prices.

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 the road.

Nothing odd about that really … and nothing odd about the sun shade that was stretched across the windscreen either. What was odd about the whole scene was that there was the convertible parked on the side of the road with the sun shade in place … and the roof down.

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 other two finalists I’d be feeling rather pissed off about now.

Does Wheels honestly expect us to believe that Holden is better than BMW? Or that a poor fuel consumption figure in this day of high fuel prices is something that should somehow be overlooked, forgotten or considered to be of little consequence?

As I said, it just makes me go Hmmmm.

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 plenty of interest in this one.

The Australian specifications are yet to be released but in the US this front-wheel drive car comes with a 4 cylinder 2.4 litre motor and the base model retails for $26790.

The Australian version is expected to retail for something less than $A57,000 which suggests that we won’t be seeing the US base model out here.

Whichever version we end up seeing here in Australia it will be interesting to see what the critics think of it. The latest version of the Chrysler Sebring - as seen at the Detroit Motor Show - did not attract much favourable comment from American motor journalists.

Australian Summer Cars
2000 Holden Barina Cabriolet - the cheapest convertible

Renault Megane Coupe Cabriolet - it’s French so expect the ususual.

BMW Series 3 Convertible - making it’s debut at the Brisbane Motor Show

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 when someone checked the car’s computer system. Channel 7 reports that his day in court will come on February 7.

The moral of that story is exactly what my old Sunday School teacher used to tell me and all the others in her class - beware, your sins will find you out.

Perhaps this guy missed that class.

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 that the Chevrolet Volt can handle 640 miles/1024 kilometres in one trip.

You can read more about the Chevrolet Volt here.

Save heaps on brand-name tools

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 swap between normal unleaded petrol, E10 (10% ethanol and 90% petrol blend) and E85 (85% ethanol 15% petrol blend) when it becomes available.

Minister for State Development John Mickel is delighted that the Queensland Government has been asked to trial the Saab BioPower car, Australia’s first ethanol production car, under local conditions in the coming month.

“Saab Australia has recognised the Queensland Government’s commitment to promoting the use of ethanol blended fuels among motorists and our leadership in building up this burgeoning industry,” Mr Mickel said.

“Presently most motor vehicles in Australia are compatible with ethanol blended fuels up to 10%. However, blended fuels are here to stay and based on overseas trends E85 will be the next step.

“The Beattie Government is championing +e fuels in Queensland and the opportunity to partner with Saab Australia will demonstrate to the automotive industry and the community that this is a fuel for the future.”

At its launch today, Saab Australia presented one of its revolutionary BioPower cars to Minister Mickel beginning a one month trial driving on local Queensland roads.

“The Saab BioPower vehicle will be driven alongside conventional QFleet vehicles to assess how it performs against fossil fuelled vehicles,” Mr Mickel said.

The Director of Saab Australia, Mr Parveen Batish, said Saab was committed to bringing BioPower to market locally as soon as possible.

“If the QFleet trial is a success and we get positive feedback on the BioPower program we would like to move quickly to launch BioPower for sale in Australia.”

“With Saab BioPower we hope we can play a role in stimulating demand for renewable fuels, such as E85. This would be an important step towards breaking the current ‘chicken and egg’ situation we face as a community in relation to introducing alternative fuels,” Mr Batish said.

And if you’re wondering why Saab would choose a Holden facility for this launch then we can tell you that Saab is marketed in Australia by Holden.

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 brand to offset its entire range.

Under the agreement Greenfleet will plant 17 native trees for each vehicle, which will absorb the greenhouse gas emissions produced by a car in one year.

The trees will also help tackle salinity, improve water quality and provide essential habitat for native species.

Director Saab Australia and New Zealand, Parveen Batish, says Saab’s Greenfleet program is an important part of the brand’s environmental leadership.

“Saab has a clear commitment to ‘performance with responsibility’,” Mr Batish said.

“The partnership with Greenfleet is another way for the Saab community to drive with a green conscience irrespective of which vehicle they choose.”

Specialising in reducing the environmental impacts of transport, Greenfleet Australia began in 1997 and has planted nearly three million native trees to create permanent forests on behalf of motorists to sequester carbon emissions.

“It is really terrific that Saab has taken this very practical step to offset the carbon emissions from their whole range of cars,” said Greenfleet acting CEO Sara Gipton.

“It is so important that we all reduce our impact on the planet and Saab’s initiative demonstrates how easy it is to make a positive difference. Transport is the fastest-growing source of carbon emissions in Australia - just imagine what we could achieve if all car manufacturers were to follow Saab’s example.”

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 the sound system is definitely not one of the items I even vaguely consider. But what about you? Is the brand of sound system fitted to the car an important consideration when you deciding which vehicle you’re going to buy?

Here is a chance for you to have your say. You will find a simple poll over on the right hand side of the front page. If this post has slipped off the front page then you will find it here

The poll will run till the end of January and I’ll publish the results the first week in February.