This week on Chasing Cars: Model 3 price drop, i30 N Sedan unveiled and Volvo V60 Cross Country priced

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For all the bickering around the price of new cars being too expensive, quite frankly it all pales in comparison to the used market which has been utterly broken by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The situation peaked this week when Tesla dropped the price of an entry-level Model 3 sedan to around $65,000 driveaway and yet there are still an absolute glut of people selling their two-year old models for upwards of $70,000 – no I’m genuinely serious.

Even your average Mazda CX-5 midsize SUV with 100,000 hard kilometres and a defiant vomit stain in the back seat seems enough to trade for a private island and a jet to get there, and yet Subaru just announced the facelifted Forester will start at $35,990 before on-road costs.

All this nonsense leads me to a conclusion you want to hear: there has rarely been a better time to sell the old junker and snap up a shiny new toy you’ve always wanted, and boy did we get some nice new options to choose from this week. 

Hyundai i30 Sedan N revealed:

It’s not often a company gets to call a new project its quickest car yet but Hyundai has done exactly that with the i30 Sedan N, a model which was previously known as the Elantra.

Don’t be fooled, this isn’t just a regular i30 N hatch with a weird boot, it actually sits on a whole new – and possibly even better – chassis.

It carries over the same turbocharged 2.0L four-cylinder from the i30 hatch and produces 206kW of power (or 213kW briefly) and 392Nm of torque matched with a limited slip differential up front.

Hyundai have also fitted super wide 245mm Pilot Sport 4S tyres which helps it get from 0-100km/h in 5.3 seconds. It’s not been priced yet but it will arrive in Australia later this year.

Volvo V60 Cross Country priced for Australia.

Swedish people have never been known for being particularly outgoing, so it should be somewhat expected that they would release pricing details on a gem like the V60 Cross Country for Australia without much fuss.

After culling their wagon range earlier this year the V60 Cross Country will arrive in Australia next month with a single grade priced at $64,990 before on-road costs, or around $71,000 driveaway.

One engine will be available, a turbocharged 2.0L four-cylinder engine mated to a 48-volt hybrid system sending a total of 184kW of power and 350Nm of torque to the all wheel drive system.

Tesla drops Model 3 price below $60,000

In the wake of moving manufacturing of Australian-delivered cars to China, Tesla decided to drop the price of the Model 3’s entire range with the entry-level variant costing $59,990 before on-road costs.

It represents a huge $14,000 drop compared to its 2020 specification, similarly the mid-spec Model 3 Long Range is now $73,400 and the Performance is $84,900.

What’s more, states such as NSW have several incentives for electric cars that include $3,000 off the outright purchase price and waiving of stamp duty. Meaning you could genuinely snag an entry-level Model 3 for around $59,473 driveaway.

Other car and SUV news we covered this week:

• Nissan announced the Navara Pro-4X Warrior by Premcar would cost $67,490 before on-road costs or a little bit more for the automatic option, it goes on sale from September 1.

• The recently facelifted Subaru Forester midsize SUV has been priced from $35,990 before on-road costs and in exchange buyers get a new design, enhanced safety features and better tech in the lower grades.

• The new BMW 2 Series has been priced from $59,900 before on-road costs. We’ll get two grades in Australia, with a rear and all wheel drive option and both should be a blast.

• Tesla has stopped advertising their cars with extremely generous NEDC range figures and instead uses the more conservative WLTP standard – however we’ve found in testing that even those numbers are exaggerated somewhat.

• Hyundai confirmed the Kona N small SUV would go on sale before October this year with a price tag of $47,500 (before on-road costs) set to viciously undercut performance SUV rivals.

• The punchy Hyundai i20 N hatch will come a bit later in the fourth quarter of this year with its price of $32,490 putting it just above the Ford Fiesta ST $32,290 (both before on-road costs).

• Automotive giant Stellantis outlined a €30 billion (AUD$49.9 billion) investment in electric vehicles across all 14 of its brands with four core platforms and three drivetrains set to cover everything from hatchback to full-size ute.

• Mazda slipped us the goss that they were considering bringing the Mazda 3 Turbo to Australia which packs a huge 186kW/434Nm wallap and is fed to all wheel drive.

• In some pretty big news Volvo launched the first medium duty electric truck in Australia. It can haul eight tonnes, drive 250km and could be the key to better air quality in urban areas.

• The one and only Goodwood Festival of Speed took place this week and we wrote a quick wrap up of all the highlights including the Toyota GR86 and Lotus Emira making their debut. 

• Chevrolet confirmed the Silverado 1500 LT Trail Boss would launch in  Australian this month with a price of  $106,990 plus on-road costs, actually making it the most affordable model.

• Audi officially priced the facelifted Q5 Sportback for Australia which starts at $77,700 with a choice of two grades with petrol or diesel engines.