Put on your party hats people, the Commodore is now 30 years old. But - unlike most 30 year-olds - the Commodore isn’t wallowing in despair and regretting a wasted youth spent drinking beer and playing Galaga, for after three decades and 14 model variants, the Commodore nameplate is still fighting-fit and at the top [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

Mitsubishi Motors Australia has announced that the shapely 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback is now on sale throughout the country, expanding the Lancer range and giving Mitsubishi a direct competitor to the Lancer’s long time rival, the Subaru Impreza.

The Australian Sportback line-up consists of the base model ES, the mid-range VR and sporty-ish VRX. The ES [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

The word coming from one disgruntled American R35 GT-R owner is that Nissan has refused to replace a damaged GT-R transmission “due to abuse”. The unhappy owner has recently relayed his dealings with an American Nissan dealership as he attempts to have his destroyed GT-R transmission covered under warranty.

Nissan however claims that the black-box computer has [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

Renault has announced that its all-new Koleos will soon be available from Australian showrooms, bringing along its own unique Gallic flavour to the SUV segment.

The Koleos is Renault’s first 4×4 crossover vehicle and was developed jointly between Renault, Nissan and Samsung Motors, making the mid-size SUV French in name only. Still, if you were never [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

Mazda Australia has announced that the newly updated BT-50 utility is now on sale, with a number of revisions making the rugged workhorse more powerful, more versatile and more… attractive(?) for 2009.

The range has been bolstered by the addition of two new 2WD models and five new 4WD models, bringing the total number of BT-50 [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

BMW has announced that, come 2009, 6 Series customers will be able to tick the box for a new ‘Edition Sport’ package. Comprising both visual and performance components, BMW explained that the Edition Sport package is “aimed at enhancing driving dynamics and adding a more sporting appearance”.

For an additional £1500-2000 ($3200-$4300), buyers will receive a restyled [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

Mazda has announced this week that it will be extending the US-market warranty on the Renesis rotary engine—currently found in the RX-8—to eight years/100,000miles (whichever comes first, as usual).  Is this a symbol of Mazda’s faith in the engine, or are they loading up on good karma?  With the perception that rotary engines simply don’t [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

Kia Motors Australia CEO, Mr SK Lee believes that as larger volumes of Kia’s 2008 model range hit the streets, Kia resale values will begin to rise. This follows the recent announcement of a full five-year factory-backed warranty for all new Kia vehicles sold since 1 January 2008.

“Kia vehicles have rapidly been achieving greater [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

Nissan is using techno-wizardry in an effort to control the types of use and modifications made to their R35 GT-R – one would assume to enable Nissan to have some control when it comes to warranty claim time.

We’ve previously gone over the ‘smart’ GPS controlled speed-limiter that allows the mandatory Japanese 180kph limiter to [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

Mitsubishi Motors Australia Ltd (MMAL) together with its parent company Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) has confirmed that while it is committed to being a long-term participant in the Australian car market, regretfully its Tonsley Park production facility in Adelaide, which manufactures the 380 sedan, will cease operations.

Mitsubishi Motors Australia Ltd President and CEO Robert [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

Mitsubishi will be officially unveiling their refreshed 2009 Galant sedan at the Chicago Auto Show next week. Following the now requisite image leak, Mitsubishi have released the official images and press release to give us all a taste of what to expect. The North American Galant has mirrored our own Mitsubishi 380 in much of [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

JCW or John Cooper Works are to MINI much like HSV is to Holden. Although in the case of JCW and MINI the connection dates back almost 50 years and in 2006 culminated in BMW acquiring the JCW garage for the purpose of establishing the brand as the performance arm of MINI. This week has [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More