The French PSA Group’s acquisition of Germany’s Opel/Vauxhall from General Motors (GM) introduces more global guessing games, shown by two new SUVs under PSA management. The Citroen C5 Aircross (above) was unveiled at the Shanghai motor show and the Opel/Vauxhall Grandland X will go public at Frankfurt later in the year. Both sit on PSA’s EMP2 base, which also underpins … [Read more...] about Citroen shares new SUV with Peugeot, Opel, Vauxhall, Holden …
Pre-registrations: Who’s done what in the first quarter of 2017
New vehicle registrations in New Zealand after the first three months of 2017 are around 13 per cent up on the same period last year – but pre-registrations fluctuated. Pre-registrations, or first registrations, are those vehicles registered by distributors and/or dealers before they are actually sold to an end user. Of the leading nameplates in January-March, Toyota … [Read more...] about Pre-registrations: Who’s done what in the first quarter of 2017
Motoring media swallows story of Subaru’s ‘117.2% growth’ in NZ
Oh dear, motoring media continues to grope its way blindfolded into another day by continuing to parrot press releases, this time from Subaru NZ. The PR piece said Subaru NZ had received two awards from head office in Japan, one for a new sales record in 2016 and the other for outstanding sales growth – “117.2 per cent compared to 2015.” Wow! Subaru NZ managing director … [Read more...] about Motoring media swallows story of Subaru’s ‘117.2% growth’ in NZ
Go-fast future is petrol-electric and super batteries, says AMG chief
The glory days of naturally aspirated petrol engines, the big-banging V8s and V12s, are history – at least for go-fast house Mercedes-AMG. And it doesn’t matter that technology has made petrol engines so efficient … there is no place in the future for a return to naturally aspirated, even with an electric motor to help things along. That’s the word from Mercedes-AMG chief … [Read more...] about Go-fast future is petrol-electric and super batteries, says AMG chief
Update: FT-4X near-production ready, says Toyota design chief
The chief designer behind the Toyota FT-4X concept says the off-roader for city-slickers isn’t far off being ready for production. Ian Cartabiano (pictured below) told media after the FT-4X was officially unveiled at the New York motor show: “We always design to be at the 75 per cent stage. We can make this thing.” Cartabiano is head of design at Toyota’s Calty studio in … [Read more...] about Update: FT-4X near-production ready, says Toyota design chief