Articles by Chris Thompson

The Audi Q7 is still in its second generation, but an update to its design and some tech tweaks are aimed at keeping it in line with rivals, even as it nears a decade on sale. Is it up to the task?

Audi’s rival to swoopy ‘coupe’ SUV veterans like the BMW X6 has been given a refresh and it's already on sale in Australia.It’s the more style-focused sibling to the Q7, forgoing the third row of seats, and is available with a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) variant for even more differentiation.Given the opportunity to sample the updated large SUV coupe at its Australian launch, we’re checking in with the near seven-year old model to see if its updates can keep it competitive with rivals.

The Japanese sports car rumour mill never rests, and the latest to emerge from the Land of the Rising Sun involves the future of two sports car icons: the Toyota Supra and Mazda’s rotary engine.

Mitsubishi has updated the petrol version of the Outlander SUV, joining the earlier update applied to the plug-in hybrid version last year.

MG India has revealed a new seven-seat SUV, which could rival popular ladder-frame-based models as a facelift to one of its Indian-market offerings.

Australia’s new car market rose very slightly in volume in 2024 compared to 2023 - but it wasn’t good news across the board.

Chery has a new sub-brand on the way to take on rivals such as the GWM Tank 700 and premium off-roaders from the likes of Land Rover.Or, rather, it's a sub-sub-brand, as Chery’s existing Jetour sub-brand is set to spawn another badge called ‘Jetour Zhongheng’.According to CarNewsChina, the brand will target premium off-roaders like the GWM Tank 700 and products from Land Rover, while using hybrid and electrified powertrains to do so.The brand will hold a conference later in January to divulge more details about the launch, but whether Australia will see any of these products is yet to be seen.So far, it seems like Chery isn’t planning to bring the Jetour sub-brand Down Under, instead focusing on luxe Jaecoo models.“Jetour is not in the plans at this stage. They’re cool looking cars, but they’re not an international export at this point,” Chery’s local boss Lucas Harris told CarsGuide in 2024.“There’s gotta be a business case,” he said. “It’s not a cheap exercise to redevelop from left-hand drive to right-hand drive.”The Jetour Traveller — powered by a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine — would have been a cut-price rival to the Land Rover Defender if it had been available here, though the new Jetour Zhongheng offshoot would have likely seen a similar vehicle available with a hybrid drivetrain.

A sneaky photo of a camouflaged SUV in a US carpark appears to be the new Mazda CX-5 undergoing testing, according to the photographer.

Toyota has shown off a new concept sports car at the 2025 Tokyo Auto Salon, but it’s the vehicle's powertrain that could signal a new era for the brand.

Renault’s fourth-generation Twingo light car has been shown off in a close-to-production form at the 2025 Brussels Motor Show, with a seriously competitive target price.The true-to-original styling for the electric car should have fans of the original Renault Twingo excited, but the announcement that its entry price will still be below the originally promised €20,000 (A$33,100) means there’s potential for the Twingo to be more than a niche Euro offering.For reference, some of the most affordable electric cars on sale in Australia are the BYD Dolphin (currently $29,990 before on-roads), the GWM Ora ($35,990 drive-away) and the MG4 ($39,990 DA).Part of the plan, and the reason for its expected low entry price, is that Renault is partnering with a Chinese manufacturer (so far unnamed) to develop and build the new Twingo. As such, it could debut as early as next year thanks to the speed and resources of the assisting OEM.Of course, the Renault Twingo isn’t confirmed for Australia — and it might never be.According to CAR magazine in the UK, the Twingo isn’t locked in for right-hand drive production as it’s set to cost around £1 million (A$1,974,700) to engineer it and so it might not make it to the UK where the model has a bit of a cult following.Given Australia shares its driving side of the road with the UK (but not so much its excitement for small French cars) the chances of the Twingo EV landing in Oz are slim.Still, Renault’s Ampere electric sub-brand is developing the new electric Nissan Micra and another model for Mitsubishi — which will both be related to electric Renaults.The Twingo is to be the third electric retro Renault reboot after the Renault 4 and 5 — both likely for Australia — and the engineering underneath it could be used in models that do eventually hit our shores under any cars from the Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance in the future.Renault says the Twingo will have a “best-in class” power consumption efficiency of 10kWh/100km, though its technical specifications are yet to be finalised as the model is still not production-ready.To give context on the efficiency, if Renault can achieve that number the Twingo would be able to travel 450km from the same 44.9kWh battery capacity that take a BYD Dolphin 350km in the WLTP combined cycle.In terms of design, quirky features inside and out that could make it to the finalised model include three small air intake scoops on the bonnet, magnets on the back of the headrests for rear passengers to mount devices, and colourful trims and shapes inside that nod to the original Twingo.