This week on Chasing Cars: Corvette Z06 and new Range Rover locked in for Australia, Tesla sales explode

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Tesla became a USD $1 trillion company by market capitalisation this week and while that is truly an admirable feat – they’re good, and they know it.

It’s the sort of benchmark you tend to hit when you sell 100,000 Model 3s in a single deal and almost double your overall sales in a year. Who knew getting decent cars with an industry-best charging network to market could lead to such good sales.

In other electric car news, we saw the next-generation Mitsubishi Outlander plug-in hybrid unveiled this week, boasting some seriously impressive statistics, with 87km of range – and even the Mazda MX-5 is slated to pick up a hybrid engine of sorts in a few years’ time.

And for those who like their sports car a little faster, the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 dropped this week with a howling flat-plane crank V8 and the Mercedes-AMG SL also made its debut. There’s lots more to cover so let’s jump into it.

New Range Rover breaks cover

After a previous leak that showed off the handsome new exterior, the Range Rover was fully unveiled this week and Chasing Cars covered it extensively across five articles.

With a starting price of $220,200 the fifth-generation ‘L460’ Range Rover ain’t cheap, but for those who can afford it, there will be 12 grades to pick from at launch with an expected delivery date in June 2022.

The Range Rover will be offered in a slew of straight-six petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid drivetrains, all of which are bloody quick, with a fully-electric version to follow in 2024.

Engineers have increased the level of refinement thanks to a new platform and cool new tech such as noise-cancelling speakers in the headrests. It’s one of seven cool things we’ve detailed in a separate article.

Chevrolet Corvette Z06 unveiled

Chevrolet unveiled the Corvette Z06 this week after much teasing and the first impressions were very good

The star of the Z06 show is the new naturally aspirated 5.5-litre V8 with a flat-plane crank design that allows this fire-breathing engine to rev out to 8600rpm. 

Maximum outputs are rated at 500kW of power at 8400rpm and 623Nm of torque at 6300rpm, Chevrolet claims the most powerful V8 ever produced, take that Ferrari.

Other highlight features include the sophisticated quad exhaust system, carbon-fibre wheels and a matching spoiler for more downforce in high-speed corners.

GMSV has confirmed to Chasing Cars that the Z06 will be coming to Australia, with the first allocation of the ‘regular’ Corvette set to touchdown on our shores before Chrstimas this year. 

Tesla sales explode

Tesla released its third-quarter financial results this week that marked 241,391 sales this year, a huge increase of the circa 140,000 sales listed at the same time in 2020.

A staggering 96 per cent of those sales were made up of Model 3 sedan and Model Y midsize SUV, the latter of which is set to arrive in Australia next year.

On top of these results, Hertz inked a deal to purchase 100,000 Model 3s globally, with 350 of those coming to Australia.

The achievements saw Tesla become a USD $1 trillion (AUD$1.3 trillion) company. Lets hope its new bound of confidence from the wider market can see some of its newer products such as the Cybertruck and Roaderster come sooner rather than later.

All the cars and SUVs we reviewed this week:

Over on the Chasing Cars YouTube channel we reviewed a few unique vehicles along with a few videos covering some of the biggest stories of the week in detail.

Kicking off the week was the Hyundai Ioniq 5, a fully-electric midsize SUV that is both futuristic and reassuringly normal despite its lack of a traditional engine, deputy editor Nathan Ponchard explains.

After that, it was time to review the Kia Carnival V6 that offers some stylish looks and real-world practicality benefits if you are willing to forgo the popular SUV form-factor.

We’ve already reviewed the Hyundai Tucson Elite Diesel and now editor Tom Baker has had a look at the N Line pack which, for just $2,000 more, throws in a lot more goodies and a tough appearance package.

The Mazda CX-5 has been a smash hit in Australia and that is partially due to the fact that it’s quite fun to drive and the turbo version is especially so, but should you actually buy one?

After a long hiatus our soon to be full-time staff member John Law returned to compare the Toyota Kluger and Kia Sorento in base model form to find out which offers the best deal right out the gate.

Other car and SUV news we covered this week:

• Mitsubishi unveiled the Outlander PHEV overnight which brings a huge step up in capability with up to 87km (WLTP) of electric-only range and a 40 per cent increase in power from the front and rear electric motors.

• The Toyota Hilux Sport made its debut in the Philippines (known as the GR-S), meaning it’s now available in Japan and Thailand but still no word yet for Australia.

• The Mazda CX-3 small SUV is now getting on in years and will soon be killed off in the US and European markets but will live on in Australia.

• Reports say the next-gen Mazda MX-5 ‘NE’ will use the sophisticated Skyactiv-X engine that contains a small supercharger and hybrid system that should provide more power and even better fuel efficiency.

• Meanwhile in Japan, however, Mazda has released a new grade of the current MX-5 known as the 990S Edition that is named after its kerb weight figure that is 117kg lighter than the regular model.

• General Motors’s flagship pickup truck the GMC Sierra was unveiled this week showing what is essentially a very plush Chevrolet Silverado and that is a very good thing.

• With Ford already producing an EV Mustang Mach-e SUV it’s no surprise that new reports say a hybrid version of the two-door sports car is set for a release in 2023.

• The Porsche 718 GT4 RS is not yet unveiled but a prototype smashed the Nürburgring in 7:04.5 minutes, a casual 26.3 seconds faster than the regular Cayman GT4.