Skoda, so sensitive to the new Octavia using two totally different rear suspensions, didn’t mention the chassis in a detailed media briefing before journalists drove the cars at the press launch.

“We’re not trying to hide anything, it’s all in the press kit,” says Karl Gehling, VW’s communication boss. “We wanted journalists to drive the car to discover for themselves if there is any difference [between the torsion beam and multi-link rear suspensions]. If they’d been aware [of the torsion beam] beforehand some may have prejudged it negatively.”

Octavia versions with less than 110kW —the 103kW 1.4-litre petrol and 110kW 2.0-litre DTI — use a torsion bean rear suspension with coil springs and trailing arms, while those with more power — the 132kW 1.8-litre petrol and upcoming 162kW RS — employ the VW’s Group’s multi-link independent rear suspension. In Australia, all Golfs with 90kW or more — all models current on sale — employ the more sophisticated multi-link suspension. VW’s MQB architecture, that underpins both the Golf and the Octavia, has been designed to accommodate both systems; the idea is for cheaper models to offer the torsion beam set-up and more upmarket variants the independent suspension.

According to Gehling, after the test drive only one journalist mentioned the suspension and he presumed all cars use the torsion beam rear end.

After back-to-back testing of the two suspensions on a challenging section of launch roads, Wheels concluded that the multi-link offers a clear advantage in ride quality with superior compliance delivering improved initial bump harshness and more suppleness for the same relaxed road manners as the Golf. Not that the torsion beam cars ride badly, just that the driver is more aware of surface imperfections. Both cars handle well with mild understeer, plenty of grip and well weighted, and quick, electric power steering.

The compromise was an increase in tyre noise from the lower profile 225/40 R18 rubber fitted to the132kW Elegance, compared to the 225/45 R17 and 205/55 R16 tyres fitted to the Ambition and Ambition Plus variants.

The new Octavia is much bigger than the old car — wheelbase extended by 108mm to 2686mm (cars with the independent suspension are 2680mm, 50mm more than the new Golf) and length by 90mm to 4659mm — is now effectively a mid-sized car, though the entry level price of $21,690 is deep in small car territory. That’s $3300 cheaper than the RRP of the outgoing model and only $200 more than the notably smaller 90kW base Golf. Skoda offers both hatchback (it looks more like a sedan) and wagon variants of the Octavia in three trim levels, with the wagon adding $1300 to the price. The Ambition Plus begins at $24,490 and DSG-only Elegance at $32,190 for the 103kW version, $34,690 for the 132kW variant.

BMW has hit out at Euro NCAP calling the independent safety body “inconsistent” and “confusing” after its new i3 city car failed to score a five star rating.

The i3, in which BMW has invested millions, was awarded just four stars yesterday with Euro NCAP citing weak protection of the driver’s ribs, headrests that provided only marginal protection against whiplash and poor pedestrian protection for the sub-par score.

But while BMW revealed it was aware the i3 was unlikely to get five stars, BMW Australia’s general manager corporate communications Lenore Fletcher toldWheels the score proves the NCAP system needs an overhaul.

“There are ongoing issues with NCAP, definitely,” she said. “Recent years has seen big changes to NCAP requirements – what may have been a five star car two years ago is now a four star car.

“It just makes it confusing for the consumer, plus there’s a difference in the requirements between Europe and Australia which makes it even more difficult to understand. What is a four star car in Europe may be a five star car here.

“So what we need is a level playing field and parity not just across the world but from year to year.”

Fletcher added that despite its four star rating, BMW has no plans to challenge NCAP’s results.

“We’re confident in our safety record and we have no evidence that it won’t score a five star rating in Australia,” she said. “It’s got so much new technology we’re confident it’ll score well. Plus the i3 has safety functions NCAP testing doesn’t even take into consideration like our emergency call system and pedestrian warning with auto braking. So we’re completely confident in the i3, particularly with its carbonfibre monocoque chassis.”

Hyundai’s Genesis sedan has been launched in Korea, and it may not be too long before we see it on Australian roads — just as our home-grown rear-drive heroes commence their fall into oblivion.

Hyundai Australia spokesman Bill Thomas reconfirmed the local arm’s interest in the Euro-inspired Genesis, though he declined to comment on the effect the move away from large, local rear-drive sedans has on the business case. “We’re currently in several rounds of research on the Genesis Sedan…to establish where we should position the car, both in terms of branding/marketing and pricing/competition,” he said.

As previously reported, Wheels understands that Hyundai Oz will favour a pricing strategy that apes its North American counterpart, where the current Genesis has been on-sale since 2008. In the US, Genesis is priced as a 3 Series, C-Class and A4 rival, but has size and specification to rival 5 Series, E-Class and A6.

Thomas is confident the Genesis would compete with the prestige establishment locally, as it has in the US. “It’s worth noting that of all Santa Fe SUV sales in Australia, 42 percent consist of the most expensive Highlander version [$49,990 MLP], so people are prepared to pay fifty grand for a Hyundai at a price that they consider good value,” he explained.

Responding to speculation that Genesis could come to Australia as a luxury standalone brand — as Infiniti has for Nissan — Thomas was adamant: “No. As in other markets, Genesis is a Hyundai and would be sold in Hyundai dealerships. The car has been very successful in the United States, with more people turning to the brand as time goes on.”

The figures bear this out. Full-year US Genesis sales grew from a full-year 21,889 in 2009 (both Sedan and Coupe models) to 33,973 by 2012.

Four engines were announced at the Korean launch, ranging from a 3.0-litre direct-injection V6 to a 313kW 5.0-litre V8. An eight-speed auto is standard across the board. Rear and all-wheel drive options are offered, with the AWD versions getting a sport mode to divert more drive to the rear.

What Australia gets — if anything — remains to be seen.

Alfa Romeo’s rear-drive renaissance will rely on an all-new platform under development by a team of engineers working in Maserati’s Modena headquarters. But the first Alfa to use the architecture will not be ready for production until sometime in the second half of 2015, a Fiat Group source has toldWheels.

The executive confirmed the platform will be the basis for the Giulia, which will take the place of the out-of-production 159, an unnamed 5 Series/E-Class rival, plus a mid-size SUV. The Italian-designed hardware will also serve as the basis for Chrysler-badged products, the source said, allowing costs to be spread more widely.

Back in 2010, Fiat Group planned to launch both sedan and wagon versions of the Giulia in 2012. But Fiat Chrysler chief executive Sergio Marchionne, dissatisfied with its styling, ordered a redesign. Despite the program being well advanced, the decision was subsequently taken to scrap all the work on the front-drive Giulia.

Development of the new rear-drive architecture also spells the end of a scheme to create a flagship Alfa sedan based on Maserati’s Ghibli. While the idea was investigated in detail, the Maserati platform was judged too expensive, according to Italian auto industry media.

The architecture will also be able to accommodate all-wheel-drive drivetrains. It’s obvious the Alfa SUV will need it, but the availability of such a system in the Giulia and the flagship sedan would increase their appeal and sales in the snow states of the USA and Europe’s Alpine nations.

Heading the team developing the new platform in Modena is French-born Phillippe Krieff. The engineer began his career with Michelin, moved to Fiat’s chassis and dynamics department in the late 1990s, and was made Ferrari’s vehicle development chief early in 2012.

Alfa’s global sales are predicted to be below 100,000 this year. The last time the brand sold so few cars was the late 1960s. This isn’t so surprising, as Alfa currently offers a stunted line-up. The brand’s newest car, the 4C, is a low-volume niche model. Alfa’s volume cars are both front-drive; the small Giulietta hatch, now more than three years old, and the smaller, older Mito, which hasn’t been given a redesign scheduled for 2013. The rebody would have turned it from a three-door to a five-door car, the format that’s more popular both inside and outside Europe.

Krieff’s crew need to work both hard and fast if Alfa Romeo’s fortunes are to be reversed.

It’s here! Ford has just ripped the covers off its new Mustang – the all-new muscle car that’ll be tearing up Aussie roads in 2015.

As previously reported by Wheels, Australia will receive two engine choices – a thumping 313kW/528Nm 5.0-litre V8 and a new direct-injection, turbocharged 2.3-litre four-cylinder producing in excess of 227kW and 407Nm. Aussie buyers won’t be getting the 3.7-litre V6 offered in the US.

Designed from a “clean sheet”, Ford says the new-generation Mustang is lower, leaner and much sportier, with headline changes including an all-new platform and an independent rear end.

Ford also claims the new Mustang will finally deliver the handling ability promised by its fantastic styling.

But enough talk – with Ford finally revealing images of the new car, enjoy the new Mustang from every angle in the above gallery. And you can read about every detail in the next issue of Wheels magazine – on sale Monday December 16.

We wouldn’t want to be a BMW PR man right now. After guarding the mechanical details and look of the all-new BMW M3/M4 duo for months, shots of both cars have just leaked onto the internet.

And they’re not graining teaser images either – they’re bloody good.

But while their premature release is a PR man’s worst nightmare (both cars weren’t scheduled to be unveiled until the Detroit Motor Show in January), the leak is good news for us.

So sit back and revel in BMW’s discomfort as you take in their newest turbo-powered tyre shredders – the M3/M4.

Unless of course all of this was a ‘planned leak’ by BMW…

In any case, be sure to pick up the January issue ofWheels which goes on sale December 16 for our exclusive first drive with all the technical details.

Subaru’s cult coupe, the BRZ, enters Subaru dealerships for the first time in 2014.

First released in July 2012, the BRZ has until this point only been available via an online portal, which famously crashed upon inception thanks to massive demand.

Subaru Australia has benefitted from ‘increased production efficiencies’ at Fuji Heavy Industries (Subaru’s parent company) which has enabled the retail dealership roll-out.

“We continue to work closely with Fuji to keep Australian waiting lists to a minimum,” Subaru spokesman David Rowley toldWheels. “We always said we’d roll-out BRZ to our dealer network, once sufficient production was assured and that’s now proved to be the case.”

BRZ will be offered through all authorised Subaru dealers and will be priced at a National Driveaway rate to match what is offered online, making the six-speed manial $37,150 and the six-speed automatic $39,730. The online portal will also continue.

Subaru has sold 1800 BRZs in Australia since launch in July 2012.

BMW has used the 2014 Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show (CES) to showcase a possible future in performance driving. And it’s not all good news for driving purists.

Under its ConnectedDrive banner, BMW has developed a ‘research prototype for highly automated driving’.

Built into a 235i coupe, the ActiveAssist technology is designed to ‘demonstrate maximum safety up to the car’s dynamic limit’ and was displayed to CES attendees at the nearby LAs Vegan Motor Speedway.

Impressively, the new tech is designed to actively control the vehicle through brakes, steering and engine power, rather than ‘reacting’ to grip loss at either axle as per current-generation systems.

In practice, this means the car can control itself up to and beyond the limits of grip, using processing power in favour of driver skill to gain the ultimate lap time. And yes, it will perform oversteer slides where appropriate.

If you’re a technology buff, it’s great news – but are the days of the driving enthusiast now officially numbered?

HOLDEN will be limited to exporting just 3000 VF Commodore SS models as the Chevrolet SS annually, as the bow tie brand struggles to keep its fleet’s collective fuel consumption down to a predetermined government controlled level.

This is according to executive vice president of General Motors in North America, Alan Batey, who added that American customer response to the Australian-built performance sedan has been very encouraging so far.

It had been previously reported in some publications that Chevrolet purposely limited the number of SS imports in order to maximize profitability through pent-up demand.

“Here in the US we have CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) requirements that we have to meet,” he told the Australian press in Detroit today.

“So this is going to be a niche for us – we’re talking around 3000 units – so we’re not going to grow it. But there is strong demand and everybody’s excited about it.”

Meanwhile, asked if there is scope for Holden to import a rear-drive V8-powered Cadillac model to Australia as the eventual Commodore SS replacement after 2017, Mr. Batey said it would depend on which models General Motors elects to engineer for right-hand drive.

“Cadillac in the US currently has a huge number of performance vehicles, but nothing currently with RHD in the portfolio – so it’s nothing I can see in the short term.

The President of GM, Mark Reuss, later added that he would evaluate the potential for RHD engineering on an individual model basis.

“Every vehicle we do in the future we will consider RHD for,” he said. “That’s all I’m saying.”

Mazda has upped the ante on the customer service front and finally added capped priced servicing to its arsenal.

Called ‘Mazda Service Selection’, the new scheme drops mandatory six month services in favour of a more flexible schedule where prices are capped for the life of the vehicle and not restricted by kilometres or time.

The move, which Mazda says is the result of customer feedback, leaves Subaru as the only top 10-selling brand in Australia without capped servicing costs.

Mazda’s new scheme will be rolled out to coincide with the launch of its all-new, and hugely anticipated 3, which is available from February 1.

The remainder of Mazda’s fleet will be covered by mid-year.

Fed up with Mazda’s ‘one size fits all’ servicing policy, Mazda Australia MD Martin Benders challenged his team to develop a more user-friendly and flexible service schedule 12 months ago.

The result is a system that replaces the existing mandatory 6-month, 10,000km service requirement with one that reflects how buyers actually use their car.

The 10,000km cap still remains, but with the average driver travelling 13,000km annually, Mazda says the typical owner will now only need to service their car every nine months.

Drive less kilometres, and this stretches to once a year.

Put this into dollar terms, and Mazda says the average buyer will need to service their car just four times, not the current six, during their first three years of ownership.

As an added bonus, the capped costs apply to the life of the vehicle and are transferrable, which should give second-hand buyers added peace of mind.

How Mazda’s new servicing costs stack up:

All-New Mazda3 Neo 2.0 Auto $5,971

VW Golf VII 1.4 90TSI DSG $6,098

Hyundai i30 Active 1.8 Auto $5,325

Ford Focus LW2 2.0 Auto $6,700

Toyota Corolla Ascent 1.8 CVT $6,850

Holden Cruze Equipe 1.8 Auto $6,823

* Includes fuel, based on average usage of 13,000kms per year, Mazda serviced at 9 months, others vehicles serviced as per maintenance schedule.