Get used to saying Nissan Qashqai (pronounced ‘Cash-kye’) – the new name for the Nissan Dualis – as the hot-selling crossover has been given a shot in the arm for this, its second generation.
Compared to Dualis, Qashqai is bigger, arguably more handsome with Nissan’s family nose that now adorns the front of everything from Micra through X-Trail, and is more efficient than its predecessor, too.
Tackling the likes of the Mazda CX-5, Hyundai ix35 and Kia Sportage, it’s been designed, engineered and is built in the UK, where the previous generation was the country’s sixth-best-seller in 2013 even after a staggering seven years on the market.
It hasn’t had the same level of success here, but Nissan’s had a healthy pile of cash to invest in the new model – we’ve driven it to see if it has spent the money wisely.
SMART’S next-generation city car faces a tough uphill battle to make it to Australia, the company behind the quirky concept admits.
With its innovative rear-engine and rear-drive architecture, high levels of safety technology, upbeat, high-class cabin fit-out and super versatile interior design, Smart’s new ForFour is the most intriguing city car to come along in years.
But a big question mark still hangs over whether the bigger brother to the ForTwo will come to Australia, with a local launch of even the two-seat version still about 18 months away.
Smart spent big money on the international reveal of its new ForTwo and ForFour in Berlin on Wednesday evening, flying in about 500 journalists from around the world for an elaborately staged presentation.
But the closely related two- and four-seat models may fail to add up in the case of Australia.
“The decision [to market the cars in Australia] is not made,” admits Smart spokesman David McCarthy. “We’re fighting for it.”
With sales limited to the existing ForTwo coupe and cabriolet, the Smart brand has struggled in Australia.
The Daimler-owned city-car specialist has sold only 3425 cars here in the last 12 years, and in the first half of this year, Australians bought only 38 ForTwos via the brand’s online salesroom.
Sales have not rebounded despite Smart reducing the price of the current ForTwo to $18,990 drive-away and trialling the virtual showroom – a model it hinted could one day extend to Mercedes-Benz products.
Before it dropped out of the Australian landscape in 2006, the Netherlands-made Smart ForFour range was priced from $23,900 for the entry-level model powered by a 1.3-litre four-cylinder engine, up to $39,900 for the borderline bonkers Brabus edition using a forced-induction 1.5-litre four-pot.
“It’s the pricing, for us, that is the challenge,” McCarthy says.
“The new ForFour, the first four-seat Smart since 2006, (and) has greater sales potential in Australia than the ForTwo.
“The market for that car is so much bigger,” he adds. “I think the ForFour would easily do 500 [sales] a year, if the price is right.”
Obviously, the ForFour is different from the budget-priced micro-cars Australia is used to.
But it must, McCarthy argues, make a persuasive value case against similar-size cars that lack the Smart’s engineering and design pedigree.
Many of these come from low-tariff countries, giving them an extra price advantage over the made-in-Europe Smart.
The ForFour also needs to be highly equipped to convince potential customers to pay more, McCarthy says.
“We do not intend to sell a bare-bones car; this is a product of (Mercedes-Benz parent company) Daimler.”
It will be a small tragedy if the business case cannot be made to add up for the ForFour, and closely related ForTwo, in Australia.
They’d bring a flash of unorthodox colour to an automotive landscape that’s mostly drab and conventional.
Ultimately, it’s the outcome of talks with Germany over pricing that will determine Smart’s future in Australia. Expect to learn the outcome late this year.
Volkswagen experimented with a premium compact city runabout in Australia, launching the tiny, feature-rich $13,990 Up in 2012.
However, the compact VW has been left languishing as buyers chase larger, less-premium city cars, with only the Chinese-made Chery J1 attracting fewer sales in the first six months of this year.
ALREADY own one of the fastest V12 road cars in the world, but you’re keen to experience the wind in what’s left of your hair and don’t know which way to turn? Well, hello there, Aston Martin V12 Vantage S Roadster.
Aston has removed the tin toupee from its most potent, fastest and quickest production coupe to create its most potent, fastest and quickest roadster yet, with the atmo 421kW 6.0-litre V12 under the Vantage’s sculpted and vented bonnet able to push the ragtop from rest to 100km/h in 4.1sec – 0.2sec slower than the lidded version.
“Providing the most visceral yet engaging open-top experience in Aston Martin’s current range, the new 12 Vantage S Roadster delivers characteristic sporting agility underpinned by an enviable sports soundtrack generated by its naturally aspirated V12 engine and expertly tuned sports exhaust,” Aston said in a statement announcing the Vantage S roadster’s arrival.
The drop-top is expected to land in Australia late this year with a Toyota 86 GTS-sized jump in price over the $389,000 coupe on which it is based.
The latest Aston is capable of a top speed of 324km/h while tapping the engine’s full 620Nm of torque, delivered from 5750rpm.
But the British luxury marque also claims more than 510Nm of torque is available from just off idle – around 1000rpm – to give the roadster a ‘flatter’, yet ‘fatter’, torque curve for “exceptional driveability and strong pick-up through the gears”.
According to Aston, the V12 Vantage S Roadster borrows heavily from race-bred technology including 3D-printed combustion chambers and hollow camshafts.
Drive is sent to the rear wheels via a “Sportshift III” seven-speed automated manual gearbox equipped with hydraulic shifters to allow the driver to use paddles tucked in behind the steering wheel.
Aston says the new-generation ’box is 20kg lighter than the six-speed unit used in the previous version of the roadster, despite the extra gear.
Roadholding and cornering are enhanced using three-stage adaptive dampers, while a three-stage electronic stability control system rotating through Normal, Sport and Track settings as well as a two-stage traction control “allow the driver to more precisely tailor the car’s dynamic character”, which includes changes to the steering weight.
Vanquish-style carbon ceramic brakes are also pitched in as standard kit.
The V12 Vantage S Roadster uses a similar titanium exhaust system to that used on the One-77 supercar, and replaces the traditional Aston grille with a lightweight carbonfibre substitute to cut weight.
Just when you thought it had turned the corner and was serious about being an exciting brand again, Toyota has reverted back to its boring old ways. Incredibly, it’s managed to make the world’s most exciting racetrack, the Nürburgring Nordschleife, seem deathly dull by setting the world’s first fuel economy record for the 20.8km German circuit.
The ‘record’ was set during a regular tourist day by motoring journalist Joe Clifford driving a Toyota Prius TRD. He took 20min 59sec to complete the lap, recording an average full consumption of 0.4L/100km. Theoretically, the Prius could complete an entire lap on electric power alone, but the steep ascent up to the Karussell required additional petrol power to make the climb.
Interestingly, Toyota claims all circuit rules were adhered to during the test, including the minimum average speed of 60km/h. But completing a 20.8km lap at an average of exactly 60km/h should result in a lap time of 20min 49sec – Clifford’s effort equates to an average of 59.48km/h.
Let’s hope Toyota’s new achievement doesn’t inspire similar attempts, lest the iconic Green Hell be overrun by silent hybrids slipstreaming each other at 60.1km/h. If you have too much time on your hands, or find yourself struggling to fall asleep tonight, a video detailing the attempt can be found above.
CAR buyers expecting a windfall in the showroom after today’s repeal of the carbon tax had better take stock – they’re unlikely to see a single cent of benefit.
This is because Holden and Ford had not been subject to the tax in the first place, while Toyota Australia – the only car maker to be slugged with the extra cost – had absorbed it from the outset and therefore will not pass on the savings.
Toyota told Wheels today that the carbon tax had added $121 per car produced in Australia, but that had not been able to pass this on to consumers since the tax was introduced two years ago.
The carbon tax, introduced under the Julia Gillard-led Labor government in 2012, was officially repealed today with the support of Palmer United Party senators who had blocked an earlier attempt to pass the legislation.
The tax had scooped up almost 300 of Australia’s heaviest polluters, including Toyota.
The price of carbon was initially set at $23 a tonne, rising to $25.40, and was to have let market forces determine its levels from the 2015-16 financial year on. “The carbon tax added approximately $121 to the cost of each of our locally built vehicles,” Toyota Australia media and corporate affairs manager Beck Angel said. “However, given the competitive and price-sensitive nature of the Australian market, we did not pass the additional costs onto our customers.”
The extra burden of the carbon tax was one of a number of factors that forced the Australian arm of the Japanese car-making giant to pull out of manufacturing here in late 2017, following both Ford and Holden out the same door.
Facing pressure from soaring costs that included a high Australian dollar and strong wages, Toyota announced in October last year that it had to try and cut $3800 in overheads from the production of each Camry – a strong export earner for the company with up to 80,000 vehicles sent to Middle East markets each year – in order to remain viable.
However, in February this year it announced that it could not make a business case to keep building the four-cylinder Camry, petrol-electric Camry Hybrid and V6-engined Aurion beyond 2017.
MAZDA has unveiled the production version of its all-new Mazda 2, which will be tasked with turning the tables on the Hyundai i20 and the Toyota Yaris in the Australian light-car market segment.
It will arrive in local showrooms in October boasting Mazda’s Kodo design language and ‘SkyActiv’ tech that will improve fuel consumption by as much as 20 percent. The 2 is new from the ground up, with a longer wheelbase than its predecessor, and is wrapped in an edgy body previewed by the Hazumi concept car at the Geneva 2014 motor show.
The Kodo styling, which kicked off with the Mazda 6 in 2012 and followed with latest-gen Mazda 3, gives the mini Mazda a fresh look compared to conservative rivals such as the VW Polo, but still with clear visual links to its predecessor.
Of course, the showroom version has been toned down compared with the concept, with the smaller alloys softening the visual punch and details such as the wafey silver side mirrors, air intakes and chrome of the five-point Mazda family grille softened.
The headlight and tail-light clusters have also been simplified, again taking away some of the concept car’s impact.
A two-tone colour scheme has been applied to a neatly sanitised interior, but the showcar’s quirky lop-sided centre screen has been replaced by a more civilised rectangular display, while that brilliant deep-dish steering wheel now has a simpler, flat three-spoke version in its place.
There’s also a cleaner instrument cluster, as per the 6 and 3 models, and details such as the chrome-spoke vents are now black with silver surrounds.
Connectivity should take a big leap, with Mazda’s MZD Connect available, offering cloud-based music and apps.
Under the bonnet of Australian models will be a choice of two 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engines, with the new 2 benefitting from the SkyActiv tech that focuses on weight reduction and engine efficiency.
Further reducing fuel consumption is the i-Eloop regenerative braking system that first appeared on the 6, as did the i-Stop stop/start system that will also be standard in all Mazda 2s.
Mazda won’t provide any official figures yet, but company insiders have suggested a 20 percent improvement, which equates to a combined fuel figure of about 5.1L/100km, ahead of the i20’s 5.3L/100km.
Australia will not get the diesel engine offered in overseas markets.
Prices are expected to remain at about the $16K starting point of the current Mazda 2.
SMART’S new ForFour may be the smartest thing the Daimler-owned city-car specialist has ever done.
To be launched here in 2016, this small, tight-turning, four-seat, five-door hatchback will certainly expand the brand’s microscopic presence in Australia, where only 38 ForTwos were sold in the first half of 2014.
And it’s easy to imagine it having the same effect in other markets where supreme smallness isn’t such a big thing.
While the stumpy, two-seat ForTwo is popular in the squeezy cities of Germany, Italy and China, its appeal in less congested countries like Australia is as tiny as its dimensions.
With double the number of seats in an innovative and space-efficient package, the new ForFour will take Smart’s individual, youth-oriented design approach to a new audience.
Co-developed with Renault, the ForFour is closely related to the equally new Twingo.
Both cars have the same rear-engine and rear-drive layout used for the ForTwo right from Smart’s 1998 introduction.
And both Twingo and ForFour are to be produced at a Renault plant in Slovenia, while ForTwo production remains in France.
It’s not the first time the brand has launched a four-seat five-door. A decade ago, Smart teamed with Mitsubishi to produce its first ForFour, closely based on the 2003 front-engined and front-drive Colt, but it was a short-lived collaboration and the car was produced for only two years, from 2004 to 2006.
While that first ForFour had nothing in common with the first-generation ForTwo other than a superficial layer of Smart style, the company’s second attempt is different.
The two-seat and four-seat Smarts have the same engines, transmissions and chassis hardware.
The engines are transversely mounted, all-aluminium, petrol-burning triples, with their cylinders tilted 49 degrees from vertical to maximise cargo space.
From November, when the ForFour goes on sale in Europe, a choice of 52kW non-turbo 999cc and 66kW turbo 898cc engines will be offered. Both are likely for the Australian market, according to our Mercedes sources.
These will to be teamed with five-speed manual and six-speed double-clutch transmissions.
The new Smarts have wheel tracks 100mm wider than the current ForTwo and their front suspension adopts elements of the just superseded Mercedes C-Class, while the trademark De Dion rear suspension of all rear-engined Smarts has been redesigned for increased wheel travel.
One huge advantage of the rear-engine and rear-drive layout is that it permits larger steering angles at the front wheels. The ForFour’s turning circle, just 8.95 metres wall-to-wall, is outstanding.
And without an engine between the front wheels, there’s less need for steering assistance. Standard versions of the ForFour do without it, but a more direct, electric assist system will also be offered.
While Smart claims to have paid great attention to achieving good ride comfort, the new platform’s wider tracks and traction-enhancing rear-engine layout should also mean the ForFour handles better than other micro cars.
Smart also claims locating the engine in the rear is good for interior space efficiency.
Although the ForFour is 800mm longer than the new ForTwo, its overall length is a fraction under 3.5 metres.
With its rear and front passenger seats folded, the Smart can accommodate objects more than 2.2 metres long. With only the rear seats folded, maximum to-the-roof cargo capacity is 975 litres.
The interior is also more colourfully adventurous than the micro-car norm, especially in high-grade cars with their bright accents. The only disappointment is the fitment in the ForFour of flip-out instead of wind-up windows in the rear doors.
Smart claims safety was a major concern in designing both new models.
Mercedes-Benz safety engineers were involved in the development process and testing included much more than government-mandated tests. The ForTwo, for example, was subjected to car-to-car crashes with the much larger Mercedes-Benz S-Class and C-Class.
Both new Smarts are also equipped with an impressive array of passive and active safety equipment.
Five airbags are standard, including a driver’s knee bag, and so are ABS, ESP and a Crosswind Assist system to aid high-speed stability. Other advanced driver aids will be optional in the European market.
In Europe the ForFour will cost about €600 ($A1000) more than the ForTwo, and if the same applies in Australia, it will do much to counter Smart’s existing reputation for poor value.
If it’s as clever, safe and different as it seems, the new ForFour seems set to rewrite micro-car class benchmarks.
HERE it is, Australia’s last-ever locally made Ford Territory.
Images obtained exclusively by Wheels leave no secrets about how the final Territory will look when it slips into showrooms towards the end of this year.
As our two images reveal, the Territory SZ Mk II is far from a major redesign. This high-specification Titanium model features a more slimline, slatted chrome grille than the current model, with brushed aluminium-look trim framing the daytime running lights.
The images also show that the Territory will not share the headlights revealed for the final Falcon last week, with the bonnet also carried across from the current model. However, the false grille directly under the bonnet gains a finer chrome strip that adds an air of refinement.
Below the grille, the Territory features a more rugged looking, notched splitter set at either end with more functional vents feeding air into the brakes.
Along the Territory’s flanks and down the rear, little has changed.
Wheels can also reveal some of the details of how the line-up will shape, with little changed from the current model.
Buyers will still be able to mix and choose from three separate models – an entry-level TX, mid-specification TS and high-end Titanium, in either rear- or all-wheel-drive layout.
The specifications seen by Wheels show the final Territory will sit on new-look 17- or 18-inch wheels depending on the model, while under the bonnet the longstanding, locally made 195kW in-line six-cylinder petrol engine will sell alongside the 140kW 2.7-litre diesel V6 borrowed from the Jaguar program and carried over to this generation.
The Territory is also expected to carry over the six-speed automatic gearbox that sits behind the V6 engines in the current line-up.
Importantly, though, the figures listed with these images show the final Territory has been on a weight-loss program.
The entry-level TX is expected to lose 16kg in weight, while at the top end of the range the Titanium sheds 24kg, although the details are not specific enough to say how these weight reductions have been achieved.
The shedded kilos are expected to result in marginal improvements to the Territory’s fuel use for both the petrol and diesel models. In the diesel, it could see the big SUV’s economy rating dip below 8.0L/100km.
Underneath, the final Territory sits on the same footprint as the model it replaces, and is identical in every other measurement.
As with the previous model, Ford will make a seven-seat version of the Territory optional for the entry-level TX, but both the TS and Titanium will come standard with all three rows, although buyers will able to step down to a five-seat version if requested.
TWO laps of a small circuit in a pre-production prototype with a drivetrain Australians will never see isn’t the ideal first-drive scenario.
This pre-production Mazda 2 wears camo over its Kodo design, and beneath the bonnet are a weedy 55kW Euro-market version of Mazda’s new 1.5-litre SkyActiv-G four and a five-speed manual gearbox. Nevertheless, one of the new 2’s strengths is obvious even before departing the Mine circuit’s pit lane.
The prototype’s interior plastics are mostly untextured, but the basics of the instrument panel design are there to see. Instead of the current 2’s Hello Kitty level of dashboard cuteness, the new one is attractive in a more mature manner. Circular air vents make it even a little more European-flavoured than the 3.
The new 2 – due in Australia in October – is significantly larger than the current model, which was built on the DE architecture jointly developed with Ford. The new 2’s Mazda-engineered platform has 80mm more wheelbase, and the car is 160mm longer and 25mm taller. Only width remains unchanged.
Front seat room is good, and the driving position is fine. Rear seat room seems above average for a B-segment car, but with that big wheelbase stretch, it seems like there should be more. Perhaps Mazda spent the extra millimetres on cargo space because the boot appears spacious.
The Mine circuit in south-west Japan used to be a normal racetrack until Mazda bought it in 2006. It’s relatively tight, with only one long straight. In the pre-production 2, it feels very long indeed.
The car’s Euro-market 55kW/135Nm engine is nicely refined, but short on power. It really struggles to cover the gaps between the five-speed manual’s ratios. The Australian-market 2 will be a very different drive (see sidebar).
The new 2 seems more grown-up than the model it replaces. Refinement extends to the chassis, and tyre and wind noise are low for a light car. The handling is predictable and decently precise. The prototype’s 185/65R15 Michelin Energy Savers aren’t especially grippy, but the 2 feels nicely balanced through every phase of cornering at Mine.
If there’s a problem, it’s the steering; the electric system doesn’t seem as direct as we remember the current model’s being, and there’s also a shortage of feel.
Two laps is not nearly long enough to decide whether the Mazda 2 will be Australia’s next light-car class leader. But with its interior class, rolling refinement, promisingly high-tech drivetrains and seemingly flaw-free chassis, it’s certainly going to be at the pointy end of the field.
Model: Mazda 2 Engine: 1496cc in-line 4, dohc, 16v Max power: 79kW at 6000rpm* Max torque: 139Nm at 4000rpm* Transmission: 6-speed manual or auto Weight: Not available 0-100km/h: Not available Price: Not available On sale: October * Australian-market base engine, rpm guesstimated
HOLDEN’S Commodore-based 20th anniversary tribute to V8 Supercars driver Craig Lowndes has leaked online, months ahead of the car’s arrival in showrooms.
A West Australian Holden dealership broke a company-wide embargo overnight to reveal details of the limited-edition model, posting images on Facebook that have since been taken down.
However, the images showing the smiling race ace next to a badge on the bootlid bearing his name were posted online long enough to confirm a swirl of speculation that a special edition of the $48,690 6.0-litre V8-engined SS-V Redline was being lined up for release.
The Lowndes edition appears to be a heavily blacked-out version of the Commodore wearing a darkened grille, heavy track stripes on the bonnet, pinstripes running above the rocker panels, and a blacked-out spoiler bolted onto the bootlid.
It looks a lot like a bolder version of the Commodore SV6-based “Collingwood Edition” launched in April, and costing $3000 more than a standard SV6.
Holden this year re-signed as the major sponsor of AFL team Collingwood in a deal believed to be worth several million dollars.
The Lowndes-badged sedan and ute range is expected to dip into Bathurst nostalgia with a count of only 161 cars – the same number of laps as the annual 1000-kilometre endurance slugfest – and individual numbers for cars as they roll off the production line.
The WA dealership’s post gave clues as to the thinking behind the car’s release.
“Looking to own a piece of Holden Motorsport History? Holden is releasing a Limited (sic) edition Craig Lowndes VF SS-V to celebrate Craig’s first drive with Holden 20 Years ago,” the text accompanying the now-deleted image read.
According to the post, buyers will also have access to a “money can’t buy experience”, expected to be a hot lap with the V8 Supercars driver behind the wheel.
Holden confirmed it was working on a project with the V8 Supercars driver, although it was still a long way off appearing in showrooms.
“We’re currently working with Craig Lowndes on a very exciting special edition Commodore pack,” Holden product communications senior manager Kate Lonsdale told Wheels.
“We’re not in a position to officially announce any details as yet, but looking forward to launching what promises to be a very special car in the coming months.”
Lowndes, a three-time V8 Supercars champion, joined the Holden-backed HRT team in 1994, and claimed his first Bathurst title in 1996.
In 2001, he controversially switched loyalty to rival Australian car maker Ford, where in 2007 he added his name to a range of limited-run XR-badged utes.
Lowndes flopped back to Holden in 2010, adding a fifth Bathurst title to the trophy cabinet under his Vodafone team colours.
Earlier this year he also won the Bathurst 12 Hour in a Ferrari 458 GT3.
Holden has said it would release a number of limited-run Commodore models as it counts down towards shuttering its Australian car-making operations after more than 60 years of continuous production.
The idea behind the special editions is to keep the Commodore line-up fresh in the eyes of buyers ahead of a mild mid-life facelift due in about September next year, which among other things is expected to add steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters to six-speed automatic versions of the range.
