Thanks for joining us this Friday May 16th 2025. Notably in car news today: confirmation that Volkswagen Golf GTI and R will be going electric by decade’s end, and Toyota unveils its most powerful (and electric) SUV yet.
Browse this issue:
- Electric Golf GTI will be “a monster car” says Volkswagen boss
- BZ4X Touring will be the most-powerful SUV ever from Toyota
- GWM rolling changes to Tank 300 bring three-tonne braked towing
- Maserati to return manufacturing to Modena
- …
- Reviewed: 2025 Lexus LBX Morizo RR
Electric Golf GTI and R confirmed says Volkswagen boss
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Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schafer has confirmed that development is well underway for the much rumoured fully-electric front-drive Golf GTI and all-wheel-drive R models, according to a report by the UK outlet Autoexpress.
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“At the end of the decade we will bring an electric Golf [GTI] and it will be a monster of a car,” Autoexpress quotes Schafer as explaining. “It has to be exciting. It has to be authentic. If we bring a GTI, it has to be a [true] GTI”.
Pictured: ID.2 GTI concept
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It’s expected that the electric Golf GTI will follow on from the (smaller) ID.2 GTI, which is set for 2026 release and has already been unveiled in concept form. What separates the electric Golf GTI from its closest kin, the existing (Golf-sized) ID.3 GTX, is that the former will be front-drive while the latter is rear-drive only.
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Unlike the MEB underpinned ID.3, it’s expected that the future-generation “e-Golf”, in regular and go-fast guises, will be based on Volkswagen’s all-new SSP architecture.
READ: Link to extended coverage
Toyota’s most-powerful SUV yet, the BZ4X Touring, arriving 2026
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Toyota has unveiled an extended wagon version of its electric crossover, the BZ4X Touring, and it’s slated for release in Australian showrooms in 2026.
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With its quasi-off-road styling, the BZ4X Touring is 14cm longer – and with a 30-percent-larger 560L boot space – than the regular crossover SUV, which itself will be treated to “significant updates” in Q4 this year.
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The single Touring variant to be offered features a dual-motor all-wheel-drive powertrain with 280kW of combined output, with Toyota Australia claiming that it’s the marque’s most-powerful SUV to date.
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The Touring will feature the same 74.7kWh battery as the regular BZ4X, which itself will cop a power hike of 92kW (to 252kW) in its forthcoming MY26 guise.
READ: Link to extended coverage
GWM updates Tank 300 range with braked towing now 3000kg
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GWM Australia has updated its petrol and hybrid versions of the Tank 300 to integrate ‘tougher’ engineering upgrades that recently debuted on the Tank 300 diesel, as running upgrades.
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The key highlight is that Tank 300 petrol and hybrid are now rated to tow 3000kg braked, up from the prior 2500kg limit. Payload is now 600kg capable across the board bar the sole Petrol variant (610kg).
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Some 20 new engineering changes introduced in the recently launched diesel variants now feature in other powertrain versions. These include larger front brake discs and calipers, strengthened front suspension knuckles, upgraded wheel bearings and a reinforced prop shaft.
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Another change is the consolidation from six to four Tank 300 variants, with the Lux grade petrol and hybrid now discontinued. The range now includes Lux Diesel ($47,990), Ultra Petrol ($49,990), Ultra Diesel ($51,990) and Ultra Hybrid ($56,990), all price driveaway. Pricing has not risen over that of the outgoing specifications.
Maserati model production returning to ‘hometown’ Modena
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Stellantis has announced that production of Maserati sports car models will return to the fabled marque’s historical hometown of Modena, Italy, by the end of this year.
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According to a report in Reuters, both the GranTurismo and GranCabrio models will now be built in Modena, also known as Italy’s Motor Valley, a stone’s throw from the headquarters of other Italian exotics makers Ferrari and Lamborghini.
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Both the GranTurismo coupe and related GranCabrio have recently been assembled at Stellantis’s Mirafiori plant in Turin. The Maserati move is in part due to freeing up production capacity for (Stellantis-owned) Fiat’s forthcoming hybrid version of the Fiat 500 city car.
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The Modena production move arrives under the cloud of Stellantis’ revision of the Maserati business plan that, according to Reuters, has been paused since last year, including confirmation of new models outside of the Maserati’s current portfolio.
2025 Lexus LBX Morizo RR reviewed
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Chasing Cars contributor Iain Curry’s road test of the 2025 Lexus LBX Morizo RR was published, including his thoughts on the driving experience and the practicality of the Japanese brand’s compact crossover rocketship.
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Curry found the go-fast LBX’s engine to be “a cracker,” while adding superb handling and plush seating wrapped in typical Lexus luxury and core comfort.
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On the downsides, Curry laments the absence of a manual transmission option, its firm ride, tiny rear seats and the general expense up front and in the ownership experience.
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It’s “compromised and expensive but that almost makes you love it more,” says Curry, though the order bank already stretches out to over a year.
READ: Link to written review
The next issue of Car News Today will be published on Monday 19th May at 4.30pm Sydney time.
