There has to be no greater moment in the process of motoring journalism than when after months (or even years) of hype and ambitious declarations, we get to finally push the marketing nonsense aside and see if a highly-anticipated car or SUV lives up to its claim.
Chasing Cars had the opportunity to do just that on two very important cars this week – the Toyota GR86 and the Lexus LX – and you can read more about those down below.
This week we drove the Toyota GR86 for the first time
Away from reviews, we saw confirmation that an electrified Corvette was on the way and our team nailed down some release dates on Mercedes-Benz’s growing arsenal of electric vehicles.
New car launches are coming in hard and fast right now and we’ve got a lot to cover, so let’s just jump straight into it.
Volkswagen Amarok to arrive in 2023
Volkswagen Australia is determined to bring the second-generation Amarok to Australia before the year’s end – even if it will do so initially in small numbers.
Although it shares the same platform and engines as the new Ford Ranger, the Amarok will have its own flavour thanks to its Australian development team, who are expected to implement a radically different interior and exterior design language to the Blue Oval-badged ute.
Volkswagen has confirmed the new-generation Amarok will arrive in 2023
Four grades have been confirmed: the base Amarok, followed by the Style, off-road focused Panamericana and the Aventura. Pricing and specs remain under wraps.
The new-generation Amarok will be unveiled in July following the launch of the Ranger, with the Volkswagen ute set to touch down here in either November or December this year.
Ford Everest range confirmed
Following hot on the heels of the Ranger is the closely-related Everest SUV, which will be sold in Australia with a choice of four grades, Ford confirmed this week.
The entry-level Everest Ambiente and Trend will be powered exclusively by a 154kW/500Nm 2.0-litre twin-turbo-diesel four-cylinder engine while the upper-spec Sport and Platinum will score a new 184kW/600Nm 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6.
Ford Australia confirmed the specifications for each grade, with the Ambiente set to offer a range of standard features including LED headlights, a 10.0-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay, and modern safety features such as rear AEB and blind-spot monitoring.
Ford Everest 2022 Sport front
Travelling up through the range adds leather seats in the Trend, while the Sport is the first to net Ford’s new permanent four-wheel-drive system. The Platinum makes its intention as a luxury SUV clear with features such as quilted leather seats and a 12-speaker B&O Play stereo.
Pricing has not been announced as of yet but we expect those details to follow shortly since Ford Australia has already done so for the Ranger.
Mercedes-AMG C43 revealed
After extensive rumours and teasing, Stuttgart’s performance division ripped the covers off the new-gen C43 this week, with the former V6 replaced with a 300kW/500Nm 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder from the A45 hot hatch.
Mercedes-AMG continues to use a rear-biased ‘4Matic’ all-wheel-drive system that hooks up on the tarmac to provide a 0-100km/h sprint time of just 4.6 seconds.
The new C43 uses the 2.0-litre engine from the A45 hot hatch
Adaptive dampers and four-wheel steering will be fitted as standard, and the C43 will be sold in both sedan and wagon forms – though the latter will not be available in Australia.
The C43 will arrive here during the first half of 2023, with the full-fat C63 set to follow later on sporting the same engine paired to a plug-in hybrid system.
All the cars and SUVs we reviewed this week:
Deputy editor Nathan Ponchard scored a brief first drive of the new-generation Toyota GR86 and quickly admired its lovely handling and generous ESC tuning, as well as its subtle but worthwhile differences compared to the Subaru BRZ. Read or watch our review.
Is the Lexus LX just a tarted-up Land Cruiser 300 Series, or is it a vehicle that takes things to the next level in its own right? We test drove the LX in F-Sport guise to find out.
BMW’s fully-electric i4 is an impressive and sophisticated sedan
The BMW i4 is effectively a fully electric 3 Series sedan (in 4 Series Gran Coupe drag), which means it has huge shoes to fill and editor Tom Baker was overall pleased with the results – and gave his recommendation on which one you should buy.
The Cupra performance brand will soon launch in Australia and the Formentor midsize SUV is expected to be the volume-selling model, so is it any good?
Mazda is reportedly bringing a new MX-30 to market with a rotary engine
Other car and SUV news we covered this week:
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Reports say that Mazda will finally resurrect the rotary engine as a range extender in the electric MX-30 small SUV – and the brand’s Australian arm is keen to adopt it locally.
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Ampol, one of Australia’s biggest providers of churned-up dinosaur go-go juice, has confirmed it will roll out a network of 150kW fast chargers across the country, starting in June.
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Chevrolet is dead-keen on electrifying its entire line-up and confirmed this week that a hybrid version of the Corvette will arrive in 2023, with a fully-electric version set to follow within the decade.
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Mercedes-Benz Australia has confirmed that both the ‘regular’ and AMG versions of the fully-electric EQE sedan will arrive in Australia between October and December this year.
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However, the Mercedes-Benz EQB seven-seat midsize SUV will beat it to the punch and arrive between July and September, bringing ample practicality to the marque’s electric line-up.
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Toyota is said to be cooking up an enlarged version of the Kluger – likely to be known as the Grand Kluger – which will primarily serve the US market but could also come to Australia.
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This large SUV will spawn a Lexus version as well, which will be known as the TX, to suit buyers looking for something bigger than an RX-L who don’t want a body-on-frame LX.
