This week on Chasing Cars: Mitsubishi Outlander confirmed, Toyota dominates sales charts, Isuzu MU-X reviewed

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Lockdown has been hard on everyone with production cycles pushed back and new-car launches delayed. Still, there have been plenty of stories worth writing about this week including the July sales figures. 

We also managed to keep reviewing new cars, and found out some big news about one of the oldest medium SUVs on sale in Australia.

The 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander

That vehicle, of course, is the Mitsubishi Outlander which debuted in its current form in 2012. And yet, despite its age, the Outlander managed to climb back into the top 10 overall sellers in July 2021 in a month that showed promise despite the Covid-19 pandemic continuing to wreak havoc.

But that’s not all for the Outlander, because Mitsubishi confirmed this week that the 2022 Outlander medium SUV would pack seven seats and a plug-in hybrid drivetrain when it arrives early next year.

The Outlander will also share CMFC platform within the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance with the new X-Trail when Nissan eventually brings that vehicle to Australia.

Toyota made plenty of noise this week

Toyota has been busy this week. We posted a report that the marque – famous for its hybrid powertrains since the Prius – could be developing a diesel-electric hybrid powertrain. 

It will likely utilise a 2.5L diesel engine combined with an electric motor that will likely be employed on the next-generation Land Cruiser Prado and HiLux ute. Sean Hanley, vice president sales and marketing at Toyota Australia confirmed that a diesel hybrid was  “clearly a direction (Toyota) would look to.” 

But Toyota’s biggest seller isn’t a hybrid (yet). The HiLux once again climbed to the top of the sales ladder in July, returning things to normal after the Ford Ranger was top dog last month.

Cars we reviewed this week

This week, we spent some time in the base model Volkswagen Golf to find out whether the German small car in eight-generation guise still offers value at the affordable end of the spectrum. 

We took a similar look to the Hyundai Kona range, which has now been split into N Line and ‘the rest’ for 2021. We tested the Elite to see how Hyundai’s second best-selling car is holding up. 

Of course, there is plenty more video content up on our YouTube channel, where we reviewed the new Isuzu MU-X, Jeep Gladiator, Alfa Romeo Giulia and the Toyota HiLux over the last seven days. 

We also wrapped up our long-term liaison with the Genesis GV80 SUV recapping what we liked, and what we didn’t. Finally, we pitched two Toyota Hybrid SUVs against each other: the C-HR and RAV4, to see which offers better value. 

Other car and SUV news we covered this week

• Audi’s AWD 294kW/500Nm RS3 sedan wrestled the small car Nurburgring Norschleife lap record from the Renault Megane with a 7:40.75 minute lap time. 
• The Toyota HiAce van and Granvia people mover range received some spec tweaks and a price bump while losing the V6 petrol engine from the option list.
• Volkswagen released the Taigo in Europe, though the T-Cross-sized coupe crossover won’t come to Australia.
• Honda is sending off the NSX supercar with a special edition Type S variant. The new grade should get to 100km/h in under three seconds, but is unlikely to hit Australian shores.
• Toyota is celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Land Cruiser nameplate with a special edition.   
• A very limited run of Abarth 595 Scorpioneoros (just 30 in fact) will arrive in Australia priced from $31,450 plus on-road costs.  
• The quintessential Japanese sports car will return next year, with Toyota confirming the GR 86 for Australia, though the pricing and on-sale date for the 173kW RWD sports car remain to be set.