Articles by Jack Quick

It’s been over five years now since COVID lockdowns started and in some way it feels like a lifetime ago. For a lot of people buying new cars during this period, however, there were long wait times. COVID lockdowns were a key reason for this, but another major reason for delays was the global shortage of semiconductors.

GWM Australia has confirmed the pricing and specifications of its new Haval H7 mid-size SUV ahead of deliveries starting in August. Positioned above the Haval H6 and H6 GT but below the Tank 300, the Haval H7 is exclusively being offered at launch in a single, range-topping Vanta trim with a hybrid powertrain. It’s priced from $46,990 drive-away, which is $3000 more than the Haval H6 Ultra Hybrid and $10,000 cheaper than the Tank 300 Ultra Hybrid. Despite the rugged looks, the Haval H7’s hybrid powertrain is only offered in front-wheel drive configuration. It features a 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine and an electric motor with total system outputs of 179kW of power and 530Nm of torque. GWM claims the Haval H7 has a combined fuel consumption of 5.7L/100km. For context, the H6 Hybrid with the same powertrain is claimed to consume 5.2L/100km. The Haval H7 measures in at 4705mm long, 1908mm wide and 1780mm tall, with a 2810mm wheelbase. This is slightly wider and taller than a Haval H6, also with a 72mm longer wheelbase. Despite the longer wheelbase, the Haval H7 has a smaller boot than the similarly sized Haval H6. It has 483L of boot space with the rear seats upright, compared to 560L. The Haval H7 has a braked towing capacity of 1500kg and an unbraked towing capacity of 750kg. On the outside the Haval H7 features 19-inch alloy wheels, automatic LED headlights, LED tail lights, heated side mirrors, a hands-free power tailgate, as well as a panoramic glass sunroof. Only four exterior colours are being offered at launch – Hamilton White, Dusk Orange, Moon Grey and Golden Black. All the colours apart from Hamilton White cost an additional $495. Inside there is a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster, 14.6-inch touchscreen multimedia system with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, head-up display, eight-speed sound system, wireless phone charger, dual-zone climate control, leather-accented upholstery, eight-way electrically adjustable driver’s seat, four-way electrically adjustable front passenger seat, as well as heated and ventilated front seats. On the safety front there are seven airbags, autonomous emergency braking (AEB), blind-spot monitoring, lane-keep assist, adaptive cruise control, traffic sign recognition, a surround-view camera system, as well as front and rear parking sensors. The GWM Haval H7 is covered by a seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, while the high-voltage battery pack is covered by an eight-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty. Additionally, there’s five years of roadside assistance and five years of capped-price servicing. At this stage GWM hasn’t disclosed how much servicing will be.

Long-wheelbase versions of cars are very popular in China and the latest to get this is the popular Tesla Model Y electric SUV. Imagery and initial specifications of the so-called Tesla Model Y L have surfaced on China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) as published by Car News China. The Tesla Model Y L measures in at 4976mm long, 1920mm wide and 1668mm tall, with a 3040mm wheelbase. This makes it around 180mm longer and 45mm taller than the regular Model Y, with a 150mm longer wheelbase. As a result of this extra length and the higher rear three-quarter section, Tesla has been able to fit a third row to the Model Y L. Car News China reports this car has a six-seat configuration, likely with second-row captain’s chairs. This isn’t the first time Tesla has fitted a third row of seating into the Model Y. In pre-update form, a seven-seat option with the standard wheelbase was offered in certain markets, including the US. It wasn’t offered in Australia. Power in the Model Y L will reportedly come from a dual-motor all-wheel drive set-up with a total system output of 340kW of power. This is 9kW more than the standard-wheelbase Long Range AWD. Thanks to the extra length the Model Y L reportedly has a kerb weight of 2088kg, which is around 100kg more than the standard Model Y Long Range. Car News China reports the Tesla Model Y L will be launching in China during its Autumn (September to November). It’s unclear if it will ever be offered outside of China, though it’s worth noting all versions of the Australian-specification Model Y are currently made in China. We’ve reached out to Tesla to see whether the Model Y L will be offered locally. We’ll update this story once we hear back. Despite the updated Model Y ‘Highland’ launching in Australia earlier this year, Tesla has been experiencing a big slump in sales locally. In the first six months of 2025 the company sold a total of 14,146 vehicles, which is down 38.8 per cent year-on-year. In June however, Tesla sold a total of 3457 Model Y examples, making it the third best-selling car for the month. It was behind only the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux.

So far in 2025, China’s GWM has been setting new sales records again and again despite the overall new car market cooling down. Momentum for the Chinese brand has been gaining slowly but surely and it’s now setting its sights on sustaining a top five placement by 2030. In order to do this it would likely see GWM topple brands like Mitsubishi and Hyundai, as well as another established Chinese brand in the shape of MG. Earlier this year the Chinese carmaker set a lofty target of selling at least 50,000 new cars in Australia during 2025. In the first six months of 2025, the brand has sold a total of 25,189 new vehicles, which puts it on track to achieve its target. This is helped by GWM achieving its best ever monthly sales in June. GWM is the seventh best-selling brand in Australia so far in 2025. It’s ahead of brands like MG (21,674 sales) and Isuzu Ute (21,883 sales) but still behind Mitsubishi (33,379 sales). BYD (23,335 sales) is catching up quickly, however, with astronomical year-on-year growth of 144.6 per cent. For context, GWM’s year-to-date sales are up 17 per cent year-on-year. Rounding out 2025, GWM plans to sell a total of around 8000 examples of the Haval H6 in the second half, bringing total annual sales to 15,000. A mid-life updated version of the Haval H6 just launched in Australia. Initially only hybrid variants are available, though petrol versions are arriving in August and new plug-in hybrid (PHEV) variants are launching in September. Beyond the Haval H6, GWM is launching a vast number of new vehicles in Australia. The Chinese carmaker has confirmed the Haval H7 is launching in August and the Tank 500 PHEV is arriving in October. Beyond these, GWM Australia and New Zealand Chief Operating Officer John Kett said the company is expecting to have a total of three electric vehicles (EVs) on sale by the end of September 2026. One of those will likely be the Ora hatchback, which is set to get an update soon. Another could be the Ora Sport liftback that’s been earmarked for a local launch for years now and the other could be a production version of the Haval Xiaolong SUV prototype.

China’s GWM has had a cracking start to the year in Australia and it’s not slowing down anytime soon.

Suzuki is reportedly readying a safety upgrade to its Jimny three-door off-roader that’ll launch in August. As reported by Japanese blog Creative311, this will bring the Jimny three-door’s safety equipment in line with the longer Jimny XL five-door. All Jimny three-door examples will reportedly receive a dual camera brake support system for the autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system. This will replace the single-camera set-up that’s currently fitted to the Jimny three-door. There will also reportedly be a pause function added to the traffic sign recognition system. This system isn’t offered on any Jimny model in Australia. Additionally, automatic Jimny three-door models will reportedly receive adaptive cruise control, reverse brake support, as well as a backward false start prevention function. No other changes are reportedly made to the Jimny three-door as part of this update, though Creative311 notes there will be a “significant price increase”. We’ve reached out to Suzuki Australia regarding when the upgraded Jimny three-door will come to Australia. When we hear back we’ll update this story. The current Jimny three-door, along with a number of other Suzuki models, currently doesn’t comply with a new Australian Design Rule (ADR), ADR 98/00, stipulating specific requirements for AEB systems. It’s understood Suzuki stockpiled examples of the Jimny three-door before ADR 98/00 came into effect from March 1, 2025. It’s unclear how much stock Suzuki has left. The Japanese-built Suzuki Jimny three-door doesn’t comply with this ADR, but the Indian-built Jimny XL receives the more sophisticated dual-camera AEB system that does comply, allowing it to still be sold locally. The Suzuki Jimny remains the Japanese carmaker’s best-selling vehicle in Australia. In the first six months of 2025 a total of 4365 examples of the Jimny were sold, which is down 7.3 per cent year-on-year. The current, fourth-generation Suzuki Jimny was first unveiled in 2018. Although there’s a kei car version sold in Japan with 660cc turbocharged three-cylinder engine, all versions sold in Australia are powered by a 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine. Suzuki previously teased that an electric version of the Jimny was in the works, but it’s unclear if this is still part of the carmaker’s plans. Locally, Suzuki is planning to introduce the Baleno-replacing Fronx small SUV in September. It’s going to be backing this up with the Vitara Hybrid and the e Vitara in the first quarter of 2026. The latter will be the brand’s first electric vehicle (EV).

Ram has been teasing a new mid-size pick-up for years now and it’s still yet to come to fruition. Speculatively called the Dakota, which revives a name previously used by the US pick-up company, this mid-size pick-up (what we would call a ute) was initially teased in 2021 with the unibody STLA Large platform set to underpin it. However, Mopar Insiders now reports the Ram Dakota will be based on a body-on-frame platform. This makes it a more direct rival to the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux, among other North American mid-size pickups like the Chevrolet Colorado, Toyota Tacoma and Nissan Frontier. It’s unclear what type of body-on-frame platform the Dakota will receive. It could have a shrunken version of the body-on-frame architecture that underpins the larger Ram 1500, or perhaps a version of the Jeep Gladiator’s body-on-frame platform. Another option is the STLA Frame architecture which will underpin the Ram 1500 Ramcharger range-extender (REEV) and 1500 REV electric pick-up will be scaled down for the mid-sized Dakota. Mopar Insiders indicates production of the new Ram Dakota will begin in 2027 at the company’s production plant in Belvidere, Illinois. It’ll only be made as a dual-cab. As previously reported, a Ram spokesperson told US outlet Hagerty that the Dakota will “take full advantage” of the company’s “multi-energy strategy”. This means it’ll likely offer internal-combustion (ICE), plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and battery electric (BEV) powertrain options. At this stage the company hasn’t publicly disclosed any technical information, but Ram no longer offers diesel powertrains, which likely rules this out for the Dakota. Also, the potential of a petrol-electric hybrid powertrain could see it go up against the BYD Shark 6, GWM Cannon Alpha PHEV and Ford Ranger PHEV. We’re yet to see what this Ram mid-size pick-up will actually look like. It’s expected spied prototypes will be on the road soon, but in the meantime digital renders give us an indication of what to expect. The Dakota will likely only be produced in left-hand drive from the factory, though it could be remanufactured to right-hand drive for the Australian market through its partnership with Walkinshaw. “A mid-size ute is on our wish list for Ram in Australia,” said Ram Trucks Australia General Manager Jeff Barber earlier this year. “We think it would be a great fit for Australia.”

XPeng attended this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed and in addition to showing off some new cars, it detailed some technical details about the forthcoming updated G6 electric mid-size SUV.

Mahindra has snatched the title of Australia's cheapest SUV with its new XUV 3XO. Priced from $23,490 drive-away, is there more to like than just an appealing price tag?

Mazda has globally revealed its new third-generation CX-5 mid-size SUV ahead of it arriving in Australia in 2026.