Articles by Laura Berry

The Chevrolet Corvette Z06 is an all-American supercar that doesn't have the price of a European rival, but with all the performance you need.

Ford really is serious about redirecting its energy away from EVs and into even more hardcore combustion vehicles. The company’s global boss revealed plans for a high-performance, ultra off-road capable Raptor supercar. Yes, one that you can buy - from a dealership.The revelation comes following a Top Gear interview with Ford CEO and president Jim Farley recently. “We’re in the middle of creating something, so we don’t have all the answers yet, but the question is should Ford make an off-road supercar?” he told Top Gear. “Not a version of a car, a standalone supercar,” Farley said.Ford’s intentions to pursue high-performance adventure vehicles came to light at the Detroit motor show early in 2025 when Farley told Automotive News he wanted the brand to be akin to Porsche but for off-road. “Ford wants to be the number one undisputed off-road brand in the world,” Farley said. “We want to be the Porsche of off-road.”Becoming the Porsche of off-road is ambitious and a tad confusing for consumers (and journalists), it’s clear Ford is serious about going hardcore at a high level.Ford recently finished on the podium of the Dakar Rally with its Raptor T1+. While this rally beast might have passing resemblance to a Ranger Raptor the Raptor T1+ is actually a ground-up build entirely designed for off-road racing. Powered by Ford’s 5.0-litre Coyote V8 with a dry-sump oil system, and featuring front and rear double wishbone suspension the Raptor T1+ uses a steel space frame and carbon fibre body panels.Could this the T1+ inspire a production vehicle people could buy? Surely it’s as hardcore and high performance as it gets?"Yes, the Raptor T1+ at Dakar represents the ultimate Raptor in many ways,” Farley told TopGear. “And we’re learning a lot from that both in terms of the competition but also in terms of feedback from customers, so all I can say is stay tuned…”The Ford Ranger has been the best-selling vehicle in Australia for the past two years. In 2024 Ford sold 62,953 Rangers and while the sales of Raptor versions aren’t reported by the car maker it’s clear the variant is also popular despite its entry price of $90,440.

Hyundai’s new plug-in hybrid Santa Fe is close to making its global debut with a prototype being caught testing ahead of its arrival this year.

Honda will build an electric vehicle in the United States and sell it for less than US$30,000 in response to the US government's import tariffs.

The Kia Stinger looks to be making a dramatic return with the company president admitting work has begun on a high-performance electric sedan to sit at the top of its global range.

Fiat will bring its Grande Panda electric SUV to the United Kingdom in right-hand drive within weeks, potentially paving the way for the electric car to enter Australia and battle Chinese rivals.

The new-generation Toyota Landcruiser Prado only landed about two months ago and already the mad scientists at custom engineering firm Artic Trucks have worked their magic creating a super capable glorious beast.Icelandic company Arctic Trucks is famous for taking off-road vehicles to the next level and we’ve reported on its marvellous creations such as the Isuzu D-Max AT35 and the Toyota HiLux AT35 in the past. Now meet the Toyota Prado AT37.Developed between Arctic Trucks International along with the United Kingdom division and Toyota Africa’s distributor, the AT37 has been modified enormously while adhering to OEM and government fit and functionality standards.There’s an extensive list of mods: a 10-piece wide body package; 17 x 10-inch Arctic Trucks ‘Heritage’ dual-valve forged alloy wheels in satin black, 38-inch (37 x12.50 R17) BF Goodrich All-Terrain T/A KO3 or Mud-Terrain T/A KM3 tyres; two-way adjustable suspension with longer travel front coil overs, rear dampers and springs with a lift of 40mm; wider and extended wheel base, aluminium side steps, discrete 2.0-inch rear multifunction reviver hitch and Arctic Trucks mud guards. Arctic Trucks UK Managing Director Peter Smith said the resulting monster Prado was more than just a combined group effort.  “This collaboration of teams across the Arctic Trucks group has resulted in a vehicle that is truly fit for use in any market. Combining our three decades of off-road expertise with technology and innovation from the UK supply chain has achieved outstanding results and reaffirms our ongoing commitment to delivering complete vehicle solutions for both work and play.”While Arctic Trucks hasn’t specified what will power the AT37 it’s likely that it will retain the stock 150kW/500Nm 2.8-litre four-cylinder diesel engine with high and low range four-wheel drive.Prices have also yet to be announced but don’t get your hopes up Aussies, the Prado AT37 will only be sold in Europe, North America, Africa and the Middle East.That means it won't arrive to tangle with hardcore off-roaders such as the Nissan Patrol Warrior, Ford Ranger Raptor and Land Rover Defender Octa.

What’s going on at Ford right now? Has the iconic motor company, the first in the world to bring cars to the masses, lost its way? Is it drowning in an incoming tide of Chinese electric vehicles it can’t compete against? Or does it know exactly what it’s doing and letting us live out our combustion engine dreams for now and giving us the car the electric brands can’t?In the past five years Ford has axed almost its entire line-up of vehicles in Australia. Those include the Puma and EcoSport small SUVs, the Escape mid-sized SUV, Focus and Fiesta hatches, Endura large SUV and Mondeo sedan. Today Ford’s range in Australia is tiny compared to most of its mainstream rivals such as Toyota and Kia. There’s the Ranger ute and its Everest SUV twin, the F-150 full-sized pick up truck, Mustang sportscar, electric Mustang Mach-E SUV and the Transit van and people movers.It was clear something was up at Ford about 10 years ago. In 2016 myself and several other motoring journalists were invited to Ford Australia’s head office in Broadmeadows Victoria for what was described as an informal chat. This meant leaving our phones in a plastic bucket at the door so we weren’t tempted to take photos of what was in the next room we were about to be led into. There was actually nothing in that next room apart some pastries, a coffee urn and waiting senior executives from the company, some of them from the United States. Actually there were more Ford people than journalists. They were very enthusiastic to tell us that there were lots of new Ford vehicles coming — especially SUVs."The days of having one SUV that is relevant to a whole bunch of people is over. It takes a proliferation of SUVs,” Ford Australia’s then Marketing Director Lew Echlin told me in that room.“The math is simple – the more SUVs that you have, the more customers that you have the opportunity to connect with… What we're attempting to get right now is shelf space. Edge we think will span several different consumer segments.”Edge was a large SUV about the same size as a Ford Territory and it was renamed the Endura for Australia. I went to the Endura’s launch in 2019, then the following year I covered it being axed from Australia. It was actually a really good SUV. But then so were many of the cars Ford axed — the Focus, the Fiesta, the Escape, the Mondeo, the Puma… but not the Ecosport.Ford would argue the reason was low sales and while that’s true it was because many of those models also being discontinued globally. Ford’s footprint was shrinking fast worldwide.The company’s global boss Jim Farley seemed to have a plan, actually he seemed to have many plans that he announced like New Year’s resolutions, only more frequently than just annually. “We aim to become the second biggest EV producer within the next couple of years,” Farley said on social media in 2021“... our ambition is for Ford to become the biggest EV maker in the world,” he continued.The tune had changed by 2024 when Farley told the Wall Street Journal that Chinese electric cars represented “an existential threat” and according to the same publication after he and Ford’s CFO John Lawler drove an electric vehicle in China, Lawler said “Jim this is nothing like before… these guys are ahead of us.” The latest Farley resolution came at the start of this year at the Detroit Motor show where he told industry website Automotive News that Ford was going to follow their own more exciting road.“Rule No.1 at Ford: no boring products,” Farley told Automotive News. “ We do not make shampoo.”It’s a bold statement, like they all were, but had Farley realised that Chinese EVs were too far ahead to catch right now and in the meantime the company would play to its strengths and make what it was good at like trucks and sportscars - the ones people actually bought?The Chinese aren’t making and selling V8 muscle cars or hardcore hi-performance off-road utes, and they weren't building anything that could threaten the F-Truck range.There would have been resistance from those high at Ford — the shelf-space executives — pointing out market share and losing a foothold. Ford lost A$2 billion in the first two months of 2024 trying to develop EVs through its electric Model E division without much success. Continuing down that road could just be an exercise in burning money.Ford’s presence in China is small. At the start of this year Farley announced the company earned A$958m in China 2024. This included exported vehicles.We’re also seeing Ford retract from the UK and European markets where strict emissions laws are putting pressure on the carmaker, which doesn’t have many vehicles that meet the tightening regulations.It appears then that Ford, while not completely walking away from EV development is putting most of its energy into models like the Mustang, Ranger and Everest, which last year accounted 90,552 sales between them in Australia. Just those three models puts Ford into the top 3 best selling brands in locally. There doesn’t seem to be a need for a Ford Focus or Mondeo, or even an electric car, not with numbers like this, not right now anyway.The same strategy appears to be used in the US where the line-up also includes the Bronco and Bronco Sport SUVs, along with the entire F-truck series, which has its high-performance models such as the F-150 Raptor R. The Mustang GTD is a racecar for-the-road version of the Mustang. The rest of the range is rounded out with the Explorer SUV and Edge with sporty ST variants. No sedans, not hatches and only three electric vehicles: the Mustang Mach-E, F-150 Lightning and E-Transit van.Farley’s Ford appears to be doubling down on no-boring combustion cars and it could well work in Australia’s favour where given our love of Rangers, Ranger Raptors and Mustangs might lead to more of the kind of cars we want.If we’re going down this road what else could Ford do? Another new Ford GT to take on Chevrolet’s Corvette? A modern Thunderbird? A Ranger Raptor with a V8? A hardcore off-road SUV Toyota LandCruiser or Land Rover Defender rival?Speaking of off-road that reminds me. Farley also made another bold claim this year at the Detroit motor show to Automotive News.“Ford wants to be the No. 1 undisputed off-road brand in the world,” he told Automotive News. “We want to be the Porsche of off-road.”

The new Subaru Forester equipped with the tough-looking Wilderness pack was revealed in a video online, sending fans of the brand into a frenzy.

If you’ve ever wondered what Ford wants to be then you’ll be happy to know the company’s global CEO and president Jim Farley has just told us — it’s Porsche.