Articles by Byron Mathioudakis

Fitting in between the smaller Q3 and larger Q5, the Q4 e-tron is Audi’s answer to the BMW iX1, Mercedes-Benz EQA, Polestar 4, Volvo EX40 and Tesla Model Y.The 45 comes in two body designs – an upright SUV wagon and swoopier Sportback coupe SUV so beloved by the German luxury brands.Equipment levels are sufficient if not spectacular, as the company wants to keep the entry-level Q4 e-tron under the Federal Government’s luxury car tax.Standard items on the 45 SUV include heated front seats, three-zone climate control, an electronic instrument display, LED headlights, an 11.6-inch touchscreen, full wireless multimedia connectivity, premium audio system, electric driver’s seat adjustment, navigation, folding/heated/kerb-side-view exterior mirrors, automatic parking, a gesture-controlled powered tailgate, roof rails and 19-inch alloy wheels.On the safety front you’ll also find AEB, blind-spot monitoring, lane-keep assist, rear cross-traffic alert, full stop/go adaptive cruise control and front, side and curtain airbags.Note that the Sportback 45 adopts the S-Line package, bringing with it 20-inch alloys. But it costs more. And still on wheels, there is no spare wheel, just a tyre-inflation kit.All Q4 e-trons feature a permanently excited synchronous motor, positioned on the rear axle and driving the back wheels via a single-speed transmission.The 45s produce 210kW of power and 545Nm of torque, for a 0-100km/h sprint of 6.7s, on the way to a top speed of 180km/h.A MacPherson-style strut sits up front, while a four-link independent rear suspension set-up is out back.Built on a 400V architecture, the Q4 e-tron uses an 82kWh Lithium-ion battery pack, offering a useable capacity of 77kWh. The combined average figures are 16.9kWh/100km (Sportback 45) and 17.4kWh/100km (45 SUV), while the former boasts a WLTP range of 540km, compared to 524km in the latter.Finally, Audi offers a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, with six years of roadside assistance and eight years/160,000km coverage for the battery. Service intervals are every 24 months or 30,000km.

If you're late to a party, make a splash. And that's what Audi wants to do with the endlessly-delayed Q4 e-tron - a luxury medium-sized EV alternative to the BMW iX1 and iX2, Polestar 4, Mercedes-Benz EQA, Volvo EX40 and more. The wait means Audi has improved the car, offering compelling range, refinement, drivability and safety, in a spacious and elegant package. This could be Audi's best buy.

The ST is the base version of the third-generation Qashqai launched in Australia right at the end of 2022, and facelifted in early 2025.

The 2025 Nissan Qashqai costs less than before, but all is not what it seems, and you need to be quick!

Hugely successful and wildly influential, the British-built Nissan Qashqai has set the pace in small SUVs globally since 2007, but is more of a niche player in Australia. This may change with the third-gen model's MY25 facelift, bringing fresh styling, cabin updates and more e-Power hybrid variants, as well as an industry-leading warranty. The improvements elevate an already premium proposition.

Nissan has taken the extraordinary step of addressing speculation that the company is teetering on the verge of closing down globally. Outlining specific details of its Australian-market strategy that has been nearly 12 months in the making, Nissan Oceania Vice President and Managing Director, Andrew Humberstone, announced that the brand is going nowhere but up.

Sometimes the best cars are amongst the worst sellers.

If you think Chinese car brands can't teach Toyota, Ford or GM anything about making vehicles better, think again!

Retro car design is having a moment. Again.Massive around the turn of the millennium, few endure today from back then (namely BMW’s Mini and the Fiat 500), as most (including the Volkswagen New Beetle, Chrysler PT Cruiser and Toyota FJ Cruiser) enjoyed only fleeting success at best, before fading away.Today, we’re lucky enough to experience the overtly nostalgic Nissan Z and Ineos Grenadier, but there are others that we may never see.Here, then, is a list of desirable retro vehicles available overseas that could make it big in Australia if given a chance.Blocked from sale in Australia by Jeep owner Stellantis, the Thar is a descendent of the original Willys Jeep, dating back to 1947 when Mahindra started manufacturing it under licence.While the styling leans heavily into that ancestry, the current iteration, launched as a two-door hardtop in India in 2020, is a stylish body-on-frame recreational vehicle, offering four-cylinder turbo petrol or turbodiesel choices, modern comfort/convenience features and serious 4x4 off-roader capabilities. Just like its American doppelganger.Based on the Scorpio 4WD’s underpinnings, the four-door Roxx wagon offshoot, meanwhile, only debuted in July last year, and is considerably more practical, as well as civilised.Both versions would undercut their Wrangler OG cousin by tens of thousands of dollars, underscoring Stellantis’ desire to keep Mahindra’s ‘jeep’ out of Australia.We understand that an evolved version of today’s U725-series Bronco that broke loose in North America in 2021 is set for an Australian debut sometime in the future. The question is when.Ford’s global CEO, Jim Farley, recently confirmed right-hand-drive production for the T6 Ranger/Everest-based off-roader, which is a handsome and well-proportioned reimagining of the crisp 1966 original.Fun fact: the nameplate managed to evade Australia until the F-150-based Bronco III was actually assembled here in the 1980s, using Falcon engines.With China a nearby sourcing opportunity thanks to partner Jiangling Ford Auto, Ford locally would have a serious weapon against the coming, formidable BYD Denza B5 and much-rumoured Toyota LandCruiser FJ-style 4WD wagon.Bring the Bronco on.You might be surprised to learn that, like the earlier Bronco, the world’s first mass-produced hatchback, the original Renault 4 (1961-1994), was also built in Australia for a brief period.It was ultimately too kooky and utilitarian for our tastes back in the 1960s, but the eight-million-selling French front-drive family car germinated the seed for what we know as the modern small SUV today.The reinvented R4 for 2025 retains its beloved namesake’s upright stance, friendly face, chunky detailing, slanting rear doors and interior versatility, but with modern SUV proportions clothing an advanced all-electric architecture shared with the closely-related (but more diminutive) R5 E-Tech expected in Australia at some point.That the latter nabbed the most recent European Car of the Year gong bodes well for the 21 Century R4.Despite a long production run that saw it topple the Ford Mustang in the US at one point, the 2008-2023 Dodge Challenger never made it to Australia due to being left-hand-drive only.A pity, but some consolation could come in the unlikely event of specialist Japanese manufacturer Mitsuoka breaking completely from tradition by exporting one of its magnificent creations, the M55.No, not a motorway, but a current-gen Honda Civic with a Challenger nose and a Datsun C110/240K-esque posterior. Preposterous… or the automotive lovechild you never knew you pined for?Unconvinced? Then keep in mind that today’s Civic remains one of our favourite small cars on the planet, period, so at least the M55 would drive brilliantly. Especially as it uses a turbo/manual powertrain combination.The strange and wonderful wizards at Mitsuoka strike again with the Buddy, a current RAV4 topped and tailed by a ‘70s Chevrolet Blazer-inspired bodywork.Available in hybrid powertrains, the modifications meld uncannily well with the venerable Toyota SUV’s mid-section, especially when the retro wheel covers and period-evoking colour palette options are selected.Narrowly missing out being our bestselling vehicle outright in 2024, today’s fifth-gen RAV4 is popular enough to justify Mitsuoka importing the Buddy to Australia.

When mainstream brands decide to build supercars, magic happens: Ford with the GT40 in the 1960s; Honda's NSX of the '90s and now the Chevrolet C8 Corvette of the 20s. But the E-Ray - the fastest production version in the series' 72 years – ups the ante with hybrid tech, adding extra pace, efficiency and civility to a great American sports car. Wild yet worldly, the C8 E-Ray is something special.