Sunday, 29 January 2012
Holden calls its five- door Cruze a hatchback, and if you're counting doors, I suppose it is. However, so subtle has been the transformation from a handsome but conservative-looking sedan into a sporty, almost sexy five- door, that I think it needs to be labelled a fastback,... Read more
Sunday, 29 January 2012
After the collapse and sale of MG Rover, we thought we would never see new MGs here again. So it is good news that we will be seeing the brand in showrooms in the next month or so, as the MGB celebrates its 50th birthday. Read more
Sunday, 22 January 2012
The station wagon as we know it has rather taken a backseat to the crossover and SUV in recent years, as people try, however artificially, to 'ruggedize' their lifestyles even if most of their off- roading means turning into a driveway or negotiating the hazards of a supermarket carpark. Read more
Sunday, 22 January 2012
Cadillac tried and failed to secure some market share in the compact executive class more than 25 years ago, with the abysmally bad J-car derived model, and had another go in recent years with the Saab 9-3-based BLS, which was designed for the European market. One of the reasons they both failed was because the offerings were front-drive cars, while the main rival from BMW was rear-driven. Another was the cars' quality, or rather, lack of it. Read more
Sunday, 22 January 2012
Badged as a Buick Encore at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit Auto Show, which ends this weekend, General Motor's new mini sport utility vehicle, or compact crossover design, will appear at March's Geneva Motor Show as the Opel and Vauxhall Mokka, and bearing in mind the success of its larger Captiva model, there's no reason why the car won't receive a Holden badge by next year. Read more
Sunday, 22 January 2012
We Kiwis generally embrace the things that make our lives more convenient. We love using our automatic garage door openers, electricity-guzzling dishwashers, and cars that shift their own gears. However, motorcycles with automatic gearboxes appear to be totally off our radar. There have been several attempts to bring auto- shift bikes to market here, and the response of bike buyers has always been the same: near-total indifference. Read more
Sunday, 22 January 2012
While some people think that owning a Boxster is admitting you couldn't afford a 911, Porsche's sales trends prove there's room for both models in the world. For me, being able to have 97 per cent of the fun with fewer risks, while spending less than 60 per cent of the outlay is worth noting too, plus you get a power roof thrown in. Read more
Sunday, 08 January 2012
Mercedes-Benz stunned the luxury car business six years ago when its first CLS came on the scene. I recall driving what must have been the first model in the city, parking it next to a twice-as- expensive Bentley Continental while shopping. Read more
Sunday, 08 January 2012
Until Mazda's MX-5 came along, the MGB was the most popular sports car in the world. However, since then, both the Mazda and the Chevrolet Corvette have passed the handsome Englishman, while Nissan/Datsun's Z-car has also gained on "the B", as it is often known when you're already talking MGs. Read more
Sunday, 08 January 2012
What car company enjoyed one of the biggest increases in new vehicle sales on the New Zealand market during 2011? Almost unbelievably, it was Chrysler, which has now hit the comeback trail with a vengeance since the Obama administrations corporate welfare prevented it from going under in 2009. Read more
Sunday, 08 January 2012
The Hyundai Accent slips into the Korean marque's fleet in between the i20 and the i30 as a hatchback, and under the Elantra as a sedan. Read more
Saturday, 31 December 2011
Show car of the Year: Land Rover DC100 Created to show the potential of a proposed new Defender model, the DC100 took the Frankfurt, Los Angeles and Tokyo cars shows by storm, far outshining supercar offerings. The Defender brand is to be launched for the first time officially in the US when the model is signed off, and judging by the rave response in California, it looks as if they have this one right. Read more
Content written by Dave Moore and The Press. Additional content by Trade Me's Mike O'Donnell ("MOD").
