The way former Mazda NZ managing director Andrew Clearwater remembers it, the people at Ford never understood the relentless pursuit of quality that was at the core of Mazda philosophy. It was the late 1980s, early 1990s. Ford HQ in Detroit owned 25 per cent of Mazda; had done since 1979. Clearwater was a Ford NZ marketing man. In the same building in South Auckland were … [Read more...] about Former Mazda chief drives down memory lane in a new CX-5
Highlights
Type R flyer heads Honda NZ’s new line-up of Civic hatchbacks
The new Honda Civic Type R will land in New Zealand with an early go-fast notch in its belt, that of being the fastest front-drive production car around the Nurburgring race track in Germany. The hatchback has lapped the famous circuit in 7 minutes, 43.8 seconds, beating by almost six seconds the previous best of 7min:49.21sec by the Volkswagen GTi Clubsport S, known in NZ … [Read more...] about Type R flyer heads Honda NZ’s new line-up of Civic hatchbacks
2017 World car of Year sits No. 41 on the top 50 best of British
Jaguar design chief Ian Callum told one of the judges of the World Car of the Year (WCOTY) award that the win for the Jaguar F-Pace (above) was “priceless.” That was soon after the SUV had also won the design of the year, only the second car in the 13-year history of the WCOTY to win the double. Later, Callum sent judge Mike Rutherford a text: “I can’t exaggerate the buzz … [Read more...] about 2017 World car of Year sits No. 41 on the top 50 best of British
Volkswagen Polo GTi likely to get boosted 2.0-litre engine from Golf
The next-generation Volkswagen Polo GTi is likely to arrive in New Zealand next year with a 2.0-litre TSI engine and not a reworked version of the current 1.8-litre unit. Reports in Europe say VW insiders have confirmed that the turbocharged 2.0-litre from the fifth-generation Golf GTi will power the hot front-drive Polo. The Golf engine delivers 147kW/280Nm, whereas the … [Read more...] about Volkswagen Polo GTi likely to get boosted 2.0-litre engine from Golf
Citroen shares new SUV with Peugeot, Opel, Vauxhall, Holden …
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 …