Articles by John Law

Genesis has unveiled an updated 2025 GV70 luxury SUV ahead of its global launch in May and Australian arrival in the second half of 2024. 

Living in a meta universe all to itself, the advertising campaign for the 2024 Kia Tasman ute has proven quite the success in bringing awareness to Aussie HiLux and Ranger buyers while getting those in the industry talking. 

Mazda has revealed a pair of concepts at the 2024 Beijing Motor Show including a Mazda 6 replacement that's unlikely for Australian release.

The revamped Citroen C3 range has been fully revealed, with the electric halo version now flanked by a hybrid hatch and rugged Aircross SUV variant.

Toyota’s electric vehicle strategy remains shrouded in mystery after the brand turned its attention to rapid development of BEVs last year.

Hints at Prado pricing in Japan give us an idea of where the 4x4 will kick off locally

The 2025 Nissan Qashqai facelift has been revealed in Europe with a bold new front end, new variant and technology improvements. Mechanically, Nissan’s small SUV remains unchanged with the offer of a compact turbo-petrol engine or e-Power hybrid system. Australian details are yet to be confirmed but a Nissan spokesperson told CarsGuide the local arm is “very excited by the facelifted Qashqai, which has just been unveiled. We anticipate arrivals towards the end of 2024.”The Qashqai’s grille has undergone quite the transformation. Gone is the petite V-Motion grille in favour of a more geometric look accented by comma-shaped LED daytime running lights. Nissan says the repetitive pattern is “inspired by the patterns of ancient Japanese armour scales”, while upper grades get a body-colour ‘chin strap’ detail encircling the bottom of the bumper.The new adaptive LED headlights are even smaller than before which Nissan says improves visibility in low light and foggy conditions.There are fresh alloy wheel designs across the range, with Australian cars likely to have 18-inch units as the smallest, where the UK may keep 17s on base trims. Nissan claims to offer the “widest range of wheels” in the small SUV segment in Europe.Three new colours – pearl white, pearl black and Deep Ocean – are added while the pictured Fuji red hue (or Fuji Sunset red locally) continues in Europe.The car shown here is Europe’s new N-Design halo variant featuring unique 20-inch alloy wheels, body-colour wheel arch and side skirt cladding.Inside, Nissan has implemented softer-touch cabin materials on the centre console while there’s new seat upholstery including ‘burnt umber’ accents on one trim’s upholstery. Native Google software is available with Google Maps and Voice Assistant. Connected services have been built on in Europe, with Nissan Australia yet to confirm local updates to these features for Qashqai. More views are available for the 360-degree camera system including a three-dimension screen and one that shows the location of the front wheels to minimise the likelihood of scratched alloys. Finally, there are updates to safety systems including recalibrated autonomous emergency braking. Lane-keep assist and speed limit monitoring default to on but there’s a configurable custom driver assist program that takes two clicks on the steering wheel buttons to access. Nissan Australia is yet to confirm local details of the Toyota Corolla Cross and Kia Seltos rival. Expect the 1.3-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder producing 113kW to continue alongside the 140kW e-Power hybrid powertrains.Pricing is likely to climb beyond the current line-ups $33,890-$51,590 (before on-road costs) range.

Think Nissan’s out-there 2023 Hyper Force concept was all for show? Think again. The Japanese carmaker has revealed its work-in-progress solid state battery plant in Yokohama. The new technology is viewed by some as the silver bullet to electric car adoption, promising faster charge rates, lower fire risk and more than twice the energy density of current lithium-ion batteries – meaning 1000km driving range is not out of the question.Nissan is showing off the battery assembly line that could provide charge to next-generation electric vehicles from the Navara to GT-R. The expected timeline of solid-state production viability is Fiscal year 2028 (end of March 2029).Solid state batteries use solid electrolytes rather than the liquid or gel materials used in current battery technology.The hint for an electric Navara comes from the brand itself: “Nissan plans to use all-solid-state batteries in a wide range of vehicle segments, including pick-up trucks, making its EVs more competitive”, it said in a statement. Nissan’s existing Navara has been around since 2014 with a heavy facelift in 2020. In March, the company announced “The Arc” new model plan and teased what looks like a new-gen Navara ute in a shadowy video, before confirming a one-tonne pick-up truck is due for reveal later this year. The Navara is expected to use the same underpinnings as Mitsubishi’s new Triton which has reportedly been developed with electrification in mind, ranging from plugless hybrid to full battery-electric options. Initially, we expect the Navara to do without a battery option as, following MD Adam Paterson’s comments to CarsGuide, the brand won't settle for compromised driving range, towing capability or power with a quick turnaround electric ute.Much like the solid state battery plant, we probably won’t see production versions of an electric Navara running around until at least 2028.  If Nissan’s solid-state batteries are on line and delivering the promises of excellent energy density and fast charging by then, it could be the perfect time to reboot some other icons. A desert-bashing 1000kW electric Nissan Patrol off-roader? Yes please. And while we’re at it, Nissan’s Hyper Force concept (October 2023) gives a vision – albeit exaggerated – of what an R36 GT-R could look like, with promises of one megawatt outputs, active aerodynamics and torque vectoring all-wheel drive. Nissan’s current electric car line-up is fairly limited with only the ageing Leaf small car available in Australia. The Ariya medium SUV has been held up in Australia due to it not complying with Australian Design Rules (ADRs) but it's sold in other markets including Europe, while the Sakura is an electric kei car twinned with the Mitsubishi eK X EV. Another Japanese company that championed solid state battery tech was Toyota, though it appears to have revised its solid state plans further back into the future. Chinese brand IM  – which falls under the SAIC umbrella along with MG – will release a vehicle with semi-solid batteries using a mix of solid and gel electrolytes this year.Nissan continues to invest in and work on the new technology with an expected release of 2028-29 for production solid-state batteries. 

The next-gen BMW X3 will keep combustion-engined based powertrains as BMW retains a split strategy to keep market share on both electric and ICE fronts. The fourth-gen ‘G45’ X3 will replace the existing G01 later this year with a likely Australian launch in 2025. Like the third-gen BMW X5, the fourth-gen X3 will share most of its underpinnings with the existing car.That’s because BMW is pouring much of its development time into the Neue Klasse (or New Class, in english) electric platform which will underpin an all-new iX3 replacement in 2026.Pictured here in heavy camouflage, it’s obvious how the shape of BMW’s new X3 has changed – there’s a more imposing and wider grille, higher bonnet line and X1-like sloping roof for the Audi Q5, Lexus NX and Mercedes GLC rival.The car itself is 42mm longer (4755mm) and 23mm wider (1920mm) in body and track than the previous model. The new X3’s roof line is also a little lower, at 1660mm compared to 1676mm, though it rides on the same 2865mm wheelbase as before.That’s because the new X3's underpinnings are fundamentally the same, with double-wishbone front suspension and a multi-link configuration at the rear. More rigid front roll-bar and rear suspension mounting points have been engineered for the new model. There’s a new electric architecture, too, presumably improving the functionality of the mild-hybrid petrol and diesel four-cylinder xDrive20i and xDrive20d versions that will be offered in the UK – expect the petrol to arrive in Australia. A brace of plug-in hybrids, the four-cylinder based xDrive30e and six-pot M50 xDrive (likely to be the only option with the ‘B58’ engine), will be offered in the UK as well. The plug-in hybrids feature BMW’s newer 18.9kWh lithium-ion battery pack and tweaked gearbox-mounted motor. Expect improvements to the X3 PHEV’s 215kW power output and 60km electric-only driving range figure. Inside, the X3 will feature BMW’s latest Android-based multimedia system with 14.9-inch touchscreen and iDrive rotary controller retained. The steering wheel fitted to these prototypes is the same found in the latest 5 Series sedan and wagon. There’s no word yet on a full-fat M version of the new X3, but expect one soon.As for the new ‘iX3’, it’s likely BMW will adopt new naming conventions for the product versions of its Neue Klasse concepts to reduce future confusion. The fourth-gen X3 will launch globally in late 2024 with an Australian release likely to follow in 2025.

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