Articles by Laura Berry

Chinese car giant GAC will launch its 1000km Trumpchi S7 plug-in hybrid within weeks in its home country and we have the vital specs on this large SUV ahead of the brand’s launch in Australia in 2025.

The Kia Carnival GT-Line Hybrid could be as close to perfect as big family cars come, the Berry family found after four months living together

The final Ram 1500 pick-up powered by a Hemi V8 rolled down the production line In Melbourne last Friday, ahead of the switchover to the new six-cylinder engine, Ram Trucks Australia has announced.The last of the 'Hemi' V8s found its way into a Ram 1500 limited with Granite Crystal paint, the 28,495th RAM pick-up to be remanufactured in Australia.The departure of that iconic V8 engine will be a sad goodbye for many fans of the Ram and Mopar brands in the United States, the 1500 has already made the switchover to the new 'Hurricane' six-cylinder powerplant due to emission regulations.This means the vehicles that arrive for remanufacturing from now on will have them, too. “All good things must come to an end and it’s time for us to farewell the iconic Hemi V8,” said Ram Trucks Australia General Manager Jeff Barber.“Australians love their utes and they love their V8s and the Ram 1500 delivered the best of both worlds.“Our customers – many of whom have come from traditional utes and four-wheel-drives – tell us they appreciate the extra space, the extra comfort, and the stronger towing performance, and clearly that’s why these vehicles are so popular.”The 5.7-litre petrol V8 Hemi makes 291kW and 556Nm, while the incoming 3.0-litre twin-turbo inline six makes 309kW and 470Nm.The good news is that there is stock remaining of V8 Hemi-powered Rami 1500s.“We have been overwhelmed by the response to the HEMI V8 runout, and we understand some buyers who want one of the last V8s may miss out,” said Mr Barber.“However, we hope to have enough stock to fulfil most orders.“We will have a very worthy successor next year powered by a new-generation turbocharged six-cylinder petrol engine, but we will have more to say about that closer to local showroom arrivals.”Ram Trucks Australia has been remanufacturing US pick-up trucks since 2018. In the case of the Ram 1500 once the production facility in Clayton Victoria takes delivery of a vehicle it’s converted from left to right-hand drive — using 400 locally made parts — in a process which takes 200 workers 14 hours to complete a single vehicle. The Ram 1500 has been a big success story for the brand in Australia with 2962 year-to-date sales. Whether the introduction of the six cylinder affects the appeal and popularity of the pick up remains to be seen. The Hemi isn't the first V8 to go, with key rivals including the Ford F-150 and Toyota Tundra both launching in Australia with turbo 'sixes. It leaves the Chevrolet Silverado as the only remaining big ute to pack a V8.    

The cat is out of the bag — an electric Kia Tasman ute is coming and it’s been confirmed in a surprisingly casual way by one of the company bosses. All that's been announced by Kia until now is that its Tasman ute will be offered only with a diesel engine in Australia at launch. A hybrid is tipped to follow.The latest confirmation of a fully electric version came while United States motoring website CarBuzz interviewed Kia South Africa's Head of Marketing Christo Valentyn at the Tasman ute launch recently."I'm probably not supposed to say this, but... an electric one is coming," Valentyn told the outlet.The casual manner in which such big news was delivered is surprising. This is the first confirmation from Kia that an electric version of the Tasman is coming and Valentyn may have landed himself in some very hot water for making an announcement that we would have expected to be revealed in a more official capacity.   Given Kia’s major electric vehicle push right now, it’s not surprising that an electric Tasman is coming. Various electric Kia utes have been spied testing (via The Korean Car Blog) in the wild, too.Still, this is big news because Kia might have managed to do what other established ute brands, such as Ford with its Ranger, Toyota with the HiLux and Mitsubishi with the Triton, have failed to do — bring an electric ute to market.LDV was the first company to bring an electric ute to Australia, but bring only two-wheel drive and having a limited range saw slow sales. It will be replaced by the brand's eTerron 9 next year.Kia revealed the Tasman ute's vital specification in late October. The ute will arrive with a 2.2-litre diesel engine making 154kW and 441Nm, and have an eight-speed transmission.A 3500kg braked towing capacity and impressive off-road capacity will make it a direct rival to the Ranger, HiLux, Isuzu D-Max and Triton. A petrol-electric hybrid variant has been all-but confirmed by Kia, with specifications yet to be fully disclosed.The big question now that the cat is indeed out, is when is the Tasman electric ute coming?CarsGuide put the question to Kia Australia General Manager of Product Planning Roland Rivero.“All I can confirm is that Tasman’s ladder frame platform is fairly modular and can underpin numerous powertrains,” Rivero said.  “For now, Australia will only introduce the R2.2 Turbo Diesel. However, Tasman like many light commercial vehicles will have a fairly long model life and as such we will continually look at other powertrain options in the future in light of NVES and market demand... There are no sacred cows.”To us it’s clear Kia will introduce an EV Tasman once the diesel variant has found a foothold in Australia.It’s been a big year for Kia with the brand bringing its fourth fully electric vehicle to Australia with the EV5 mid-sized SUV in October.Kia Australia year-to-date sales are sitting at 75,485, up by seven per cent on this time in 2023 and with a month left of the year that places the brand in fourth place ahead of its sibling Hyundai.  

Are older cars less safe than new ones? Okay, let’s rephrase that — what if the older car was once considered very safe and the new one didn’t score so well, which is safer then?

Australians will once again be able to buy the Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series with a manual gearbox.

Volkswagen Australia has announced its new-generation Multivan people mover will arrive early in 2025 ready to compete with Kia’s segment-leading Carnival.Volkswagen said the new Multivan will land in Australia during Q2 next year.It will initially be available in one form: the TDI 350 Life, which can be had with a short wheelbase (SWB) for a list price $75,990 or long wheelbase (LWB) for $78,990.The difference in dimensions sees an increase of the SWB’s overall length from 4973mm to 5173mm in the LWB. Volkswagen said a Style grade will join it in 2025, along with another powertrain.The Multivan is powered by a 2.0-litre turbo diesel unit making 110kW and 360Nm. The Life is typically the entry grade into Volkswagen's ranges and Style often sits above that in the line-up and offers more premium touches and features.All new Multivans will be seven seaters, but unlike the competitors seating is extremely versatile with multiple combinations and layouts possible for passengers and cargo.Standard features on the TDI 350 Life include 17-inch alloy wheels, keyless entry, power tailgate, 10.0-inch media screen, a digital instrument cluster and leather-clad steering wheel. All new-generation models typically represent a significant change to the models they supersede, in the case of the Mutlivan this is especially true. The new vehicle has now been built on what is a car and SUV platform that also underpins Volkswagen’s Golf and Tiguan.“The Multivan has always been about offering amazing practicality and comfort, and the all-new generation further extends that approach on the same platform as a Golf or Tiguan,” said Volkswagen Commercial vehicles director Ryan Davies. “This vehicle is engineering led, loyal and new customers are buying into a level of refinement, packaging intelligence and seating versatility never before seen among people movers."Volkswagen will be hoping to steal some of the sales and limelight away from the Kia Carnival with Multivan, but won’t be able to beat it on price. Currently the Carnival starts at $50,150 for the entry grade petrol variant and extends up to $76,210 for the top-of-the-range hybrid version.It might not be able to go as low in price, but Volkswagen will compete with versatility and choice not just in the Multivan itself but in the more van-like models to come in the form of the Transporter cargo carrier and fully electric ID. Buzz retro Kombi coming soon.“Within 12 months we will also offer this seven seat Multivan alongside a five and seven-seat fully electric ID. Buzz and commercial ID. Buzz Cargo, plus the all new Transporter and Caravelle,” said Mr Davies. “No other brand will offer such powertrain choice, nor will they have such a new range to offer.” 

Like the Ram pick-up truck but wanted something a bit smaller? Like the size of a Ford Ranger or Toyota HiLux? Well, according to Ram’s United States boss so do they, and a ute similar in size to the Ranger or Hilux could be coming.

For quite a few years I commuted an hour-and-a-half from the NSW Central Coast to Sydney and, in that time, I saw people doing all kinds of reckless, stupid acts on the freeway while driving at 110km.

There’s no federal law against living in your car, but states and councils are able to legislate around the issue.