Automotive News NZ

Dune buggy hits the beach – and it’s not from Volkswagen stable

August 15 | Comments Off
Jeep and Ram plead guilty in US for cheating on diesel emissions

August 4 | Comments Off
Toyota gives Subaru’s Eyesight safety system another name …

July 18 | Comments Off
Kia EV6: Aussie rare earth magnet for next-generation EVs

July 11 | Comments Off
590 Porsches among vehicles at the bottom of ocean

April 14 | Comments Off
New vehicle regos go through roof ahead of Gov’t tax axe

April 6 | Comments Off
Kia’s future plans include two electric utes by 2026

March 25 | Comments Off
$100,000 for go-fast Subaru that year ago sold new for $67,990

March 18 | Comments Off
Saying quiet part out loud: exhaust tax a double whammy

March 15 | Comments Off
Gone in 60 seconds … thieves cash in on precious exhaust metals

March 11 | Comments Off

Solid-state batteries the ‘holy grail’ for EVs …
NZ$7000 deposit for flying car with four seats …
Study into battery-electric ferries …
The shooting brake Porsche Taycan …
Volvo crash tests – from the air …
Solar cells in ute cover for work and play...
Meet Luca, the EV built from recycled trash
Lister’s go-faster Jaguar F-Pace …

Solid-state batteries the ‘holy grail’ for EVs …

November 5, 2021 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Toyota and Panasonic are among the front-runners in the race to deliver smaller batteries with a longer life and more range …...

NZ$7000 deposit for flying car with four seats …

May 6, 2021 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

A startup company in California is planning to build limited-edition models of a four-seater flying car, each one costing around NZ$1.1million, including pilot training...

Study into battery-electric ferries …

April 28, 2021 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

A computer-generated study in Germany imagines a time when commuters on the country’s Kiel Fjord waterway will be carried by zero-emissions ferries...

The shooting brake Porsche Taycan …

February 24, 2021 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Less than a year after going into production, and with over 20,000 units sold worldwide, the next version of Porsche’s Taycan EV is getting close to production. It is the Taycan Cross Turismo, a four-door with a shooting brake-style body, increased ride height, and revamped suspension and driving modes. In this video, Taycan model...

Volvo crash tests – from the air …

November 16, 2020 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Volvo Cars has dropped several new models from a height of 30m in a crash test first designed to help rescue services save lives. Volvo says the test helps to simulate forces that erupt in the most extreme crashes, beyond what can be simulated with traditional crash tests in controlled environments. Watch it here …...

Solar cells in ute cover for work and play …

November 2, 2020 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Canadian company Worksport has developed a folding tonneau cover for pick-up trucks that contains a cutting-edge solar charging and storage system...

Meet Luca, the EV built from recycled trash

October 20, 2020 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

It took 18 months to build and has a range of 220km …...

Lister’s go-faster Jaguar F-Pace …

August 28, 2020 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Former Fifth Gear motoring show host and Formula One driver Tiff Needell gets behind the wheel of the Stealth, Lister’s limited-edition version of the Jaguar F-Pace &#...

Dune buggy hits the beach – and it’s not...
Jeep and Ram plead guilty in US for cheating...
Toyota gives Subaru’s Eyesight safety system another name …
Kia EV6: Aussie rare earth magnet for next-generation EVs
590 Porsches among vehicles at the bottom of ocean
New vehicle regos go through roof ahead of Gov’t...
Kia’s future plans include two electric utes by 2026
$100,000 for go-fast Subaru that year ago sold new...

Dune buggy hits the beach – and it’s not from Volkswagen stable

August 15, 2022 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

The Volkswagen dune buggy is back, although Volkswagen itself has nothing to do with the revival of this particular model. The newcomer is called the Meyers Manx 2.0, after the two-seater dune buggy that American Bruce Meyers unleashed on the world almost 60 years ago. But whereas Meyers’ buggy was based on a VW Beetle [&hellip...

2015-jeep-grandcherokee-laredo-4wd-suv-angular-front

Jeep and Ram plead guilty in US for cheating on diesel emissions

August 4, 2022 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

The US division of car giant Stellantis NV has pleaded guilty and been fined US$300 million (NZ$476m) for cheating on government emissions testing for diesel versions of Jeep SUVs and Ram pick-up trucks. Federal prosecutors accused company officials of conspiring to deceive consumers about the fuel efficiency of more than 100,000 diesel...

Toyota gives Subaru’s Eyesight safety system another name …

July 18, 2022 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Hang on a sec! Seems there’s no place for Subaru’s trademark Eyesight safety system in the Solterra, the Japanese company’s first battery-electric vehicle (BEV). The only thing the people from Subaru NZ will say about Eyesight’s absence from the list of safety items in Solterra is that they can’t say anything about Eyesight’s...

Kia EV6: Aussie rare earth magnet for next-generation EVs

July 11, 2022 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

The Hyundai-Kia group has positioned itself for future electric vehicle (EV) production by getting from a mine site in Australia supplies of a rare earth critical to electric motors. The rare earth is Neodymium-Praseodymium (NdPr) oxide. It has a powerful magnetic quality and is a key ingredient in the manufacture of high-performance...

590 Porsches among vehicles at the bottom of ocean

April 14, 2022 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Here is the list of vehicles that sank with the ship the Felicity Ace off the coast of Portugal in February. Read it and weep. The ship was carrying thousands of new and privately owned used vehicles from Germany to the United States when it caught fire. The 20-strong crew battled for days to contain [&hellip...

2019 Honda Pilots sports utility vehicles,2019 Honda Pilots

New vehicle regos go through roof ahead of Gov’t tax axe

April 6, 2022 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

The record 21,044 new vehicles registered with the NZ Transport Agency in March was the end result of a motoring industry move to avoid the first stage of the Coalition Government’s tax axe on petrol and diesel engines. It was driven largely by distributors and dealers first registering vehicles to themselves. Nothing new in that,...

Kia’s future plans include two electric utes by 2026

March 25, 2022 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Rarely has a car that’s days away from being launched in New Zealand come with such a glowing collection of international awards as the Kia EV6, the 2022 European Car of the Year. Aside from the prestigious Euro gong, the all-electric crossover (above) won Germany’s 2022 Red Dot Design (RDD) award for what the 50-strong [&hellip...

$100,000 for go-fast Subaru that year ago sold new for $67,990

March 18, 2022 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

The collectors’ market for the few petrol-powered performance cars that don’t cost the earth is heating up as ever tightening emissions regulations move automotive companies towards an electric future. One such recent example is the limited edition Subaru Saigo WRX STI, 20 of which landed in New Zealand last year. Saigo can mean both...

Ultimate boys’ toy – submarine about as big as...
Car of the year? Has to be the Toyota...
Numbers game: the real story behind record 2017 sales...
HSV lines up flash Colorado ute, Chev Camaro, Silverado...
Land Rover responds to clean air critic that ‘diesel...
Kia and Isuzu the go-getters in 2013-2017 sales figures
At the wheel: an open and shut case in...
Holden Astra – European flavour blended with a ‘taste...

Ultimate boys’ toy – submarine about as big as two jet skis

April 23, 2020 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

The jet ski might indeed be one of the best watersport toys going round, but it has nothing on the lightweight Nemo submersible from U-Boat Worx, a specialist company in The Netherlands. Both craft do have one thing in common, however – they can be towed by the family station wagon or SUV, although Nemo [&hellip...

Car of the year? Has to be the Toyota ZR Hybrid Corolla

January 2, 2019 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

The new Toyota Corolla didn’t make the cut in mainstream 2018 car of the year awards in New Zealand, mainly because it arrived late in the year and didn’t meet judging deadlines. But I spent enough time behind the wheel of both the 2.0-litre petrol and 1.8-litre petrol-electric Corollas to choose the ZR Hybrid Corolla [&hellip...

Numbers game: the real story behind record 2017 sales year

January 18, 2018 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

If you believe the public relations guff, every distributor in New Zealand last year sold record numbers of new vehicles. But that wasn’t the case. Okay, it was an overall record year, with 159,871 new vehicle registrations. But quite a few brands didn’t do as well as the PR people claim. Press releases saying this [&hellip...

HSV lines up flash Colorado ute, Chev Camaro, Silverado truck

December 8, 2017 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

The Chevrolet badge returns to New Zealand next year on the bonnet of the all-American Camaro sports car and Silverado pick-up truck. Both vehicles will be converted to right-hand drive by Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) at its new 28,000 square-metre plant in Melbourne. It’s where HSV will also prepare two versions of the Holden...

Land Rover responds to clean air critic that ‘diesel is the devil’

September 13, 2017 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Jaguar Land Rover has defended its diesel engine technology after criticism of the fuel from the founder and director of Clean Air London, Simon Birkett. “Diesel is the devil, and we do need to ban it,” Birkett told a panel of automotive experts at the inaugural Jaguar Land Rover Tech Fest, a three-day event in [&hellip...

Kia and Isuzu the go-getters in 2013-2017 sales figures

September 6, 2017 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Registrations of traditional passenger sedans and hatchbacks have tumbled over the past five years, as New Zealanders move towards SUVs and utes. In August 2013, for instance, the Holden Commodore sat at No. 5 on the top 15 list. Last month it was No. 10. A month earlier it was No. 11. Five years ago [&hellip...

At the wheel: an open and shut case in top-down Merc

May 29, 2017 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Hard-charging Kiwi motorcycle great Graeme Crosby tells the story of racing in the Isle of Man TT for the first time in 1979. He sort of ‘smelled’ his way round the 48km circuit. “It’s such a long way that it’s hard sometimes to remember exactly where your are,” he once told me. “There is one [&hellip...

Holden New Zealand - Astra RSV 2017, 15 February 2017

Holden Astra – European flavour blended with a ‘taste of Kiwi’

March 3, 2017 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Holden has tasked its award-winning advertising agency, Special Group, to change how Holden is perceived in New Zealand. It wants the agency to help transform the brand, give it a taste of Kiwi, point it more towards premium space. It’s not that Holden has gone away; just that, over time, the brand has lost its [&hellip...

September 26, 2015 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

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