Car news, 6th March ’25: Cost of living hits new-car sales hard, Ford’s plug-in saviour and more

With 430km claimed driving range, 700Nm of torque and 3.5T towing, is the MGU9 EV an electric AWD ute that can actually tow your boat on the weekend?

We've finally driven the all-new, fifth-generation Mitsubishi Pajero on Australian soil – literally! – in this first taste of what it's like off-road from behind the wheel of a range-topping GSR.

Ferrari has finally brought back the iconic gated manual gearbox. Except it hasn’t – not quite. The 12Cilindri Manuale is the first three-pedal Ferrari in The gated shifter and clutch pedal are back at Ferrari – but the conventional manual hasn’t made a full return. The distinction matters, but not as much as you’d think

Leapmotor has struggled to make its mark in a market swamped by affordable Chinese electric vehicles. At a time when rivals are experiencing explosive With lots of tech and a pricepoint to turn heads, is the new BO5 hatchback the car to firmly put China's Leapmotor on the map in a crowded EV market?

Swedish-branded, Chinese-built hyper GT is huge on style, manic in pace and reasonably priced. But can it seduce with enough charisma to find Aussie buyers?

Kia’s petrol-powered K4 hatch appears to be fighting a losing battle against the wave of sharply priced small Chinese EVs. But for the purists, there’s still plenty to like

Volvo puts itself in the key midsize electric luxury SUV buyers’ conversation with first electric equivalent of its best-seller

On the July morning that our newest long termer, the 2026 RAV4 GXL AWD, landed in the Chasing Cars garage, Toyota’s medium SUV was about to celebrate its Australia’s most popular SUV, in desirable yet affordable GXL trim, has rolled into the Chasing Cars garage for a proper long-term test. Can it live up to the hype?

Sharing its impressive all-new 800-volt architecture with the third-generation CLA, the new five-plus-two-seat GLB champions space efficiency, driving comfort, refinement and EV tech

Not quite the full-on, game-changing, low-cost EV we were promised, cut-back Model 3 RWD still delivers superb value

The Nissan X-Trail has never been a bundle of laughs … unless the original model’s dogged understeer and wobbly body shimmy over corrugations fuelled your With front-drive versions of hybrid medium SUVs making up more than half of sales, Nissan Australia has doubled its X-Trail e-Power line-up with three new FWD variants, lowering prices and fuel use.

In a twist for Mazda Australia, executives believe the brand’s new made-in-China CX-6e electric SUV could become its best-seller, displacing the Latest China-sourced Mazda shows potential, if falling short in execution — particularly the touchscreen

Polite indifference? Cautiously optimistic? We were somewhat kinder on Mercedes-AMG’s initial turbo-four-pot forays of the current-gen X254 GLC SUV (and Key mid-life update sees Affalterbach’s go-fast medium SUV backpedal to older-school turbo-six power: a rawer change, both good and bad

The phenomenon of a front-wheel-drive car switching to rear-wheel drive has been a rare occurrence over the past 60 years – starting with the FWD Triumph You wouldn’t know from looking at it but this Atto 3’s mildly updated appearance hides a dramatic uplift in electric architecture, chassis capability, performance, range and value

Despite its conservative styling and its image as yet another cookie-cutter Chinese EV, the BYD Atto 2 has so far impressed us in review with its painless BYD continues its quest to become the Chinese Toyota by launching Australia’s cheapest plug-in hybrid – the Atto 2 DM-i, offering 90km of electric-only range for under $30K.

Remember the diminutive, fuel-sipping Japanese ‘Kei’ cars that used to populate Aussie roads during decades past? They never sold in huge numbers but they Unlike everyone else, Honda’s new small EV happens to be a tiny Kei-car on steroids – an engineering-led marvel that prioritises urban agility, space utilisation and driving fun

Chery will launch yet another new brand in Australia in the middle of 2027, and this time it says it is targeting the likes of Zeekr and Denza. Exlantix –

Leapmotor’s Australian head Andy Hoang believes there will be casualties in the fight for the hearts of local car buyers. “This is my personal belief. I

In a dramatic shift for the Japanese carmaker, Mazda says the electric CX-6e could become its number one seller in Australia — providing regulatory and

Chinese car brands dominated the sales charts last month, making up more than a third of sales, largely due to the popularity of their electric and Ranger tops RAV4 and Tesla Model Y on the podium while Aussie appetites for BEVs continue to surge

Isuzu Ute Australia (IUA) has pledged to maintain its place in the local new car market for the foreseeable future despite increasing headwinds from

Electric vehicle sales may be rising quickly at long last, but many buyers are still not ready – or willing – to go all in on a battery-only car. The Plug-less or plug-in? We find out if HEV or PHEV is the best type of hybrid in this comparison of two versions of the RAV4 SUV

European new car sales hit the same tipping point as Australia in August, with electric cars and hybrids outselling petrol and diesel for the first time.

McLaren has refreshed its corporate look as it prepares to upend its line-up and end years of commercial headwinds. Flush with £500 million from Abu

Cadillac has just launched its first-ever fully electric model under its V-Series performance subbrand with the 2027 Lyriq-V, the American carmaker’s

It’s the end of an era: after 28 years, exotic French marque Bugatti is no longer a part of the Volkswagen Group. Reuters reports that Volkswagen

Chinese authorities are throttling its nation’s carmakers’ breakneck development speeds. With Chinese cars typically developed in two years, not the three

Ford Australia today announced it will extend its standard warranty period to seven years and unlimited kilometres from 1 September 2026. Like the

Australians bought a record number of electric vehicles last month, as Tesla’s Model Y outsold the Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux to become the country’s

The Toyota Prado and Ford Everest better watch their tails because Mitsubishi will reintroduce a flagship Pajero to its line-up in December – this time in

All-wheel drive is coming to the Geely Starray EM-i, with the new Inspire AWD variant. Chasing Cars exclusively reported last month that an AWD Starray

Sports cars aren’t for everyone. Or they may have been in our younger years before greater practical needs took priority – especially for parents. Coupes Meet the cars that put the ‘fun’ into functional in the latest video episode from Chasing Cars and Mamamia