Articles by Laura Berry

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.

Bugatti is looking to develop a production car capable of hitting 500km/h and its new V16 powered Tourbillon could be the hypercar to do it — it’s just the tyres they need to get right according to the brand’s boss.

Fiat’s high-performance division Abarth will no longer use combustion engines in its cars and switch entirely to electric motors, the Italian brand’s boss has announced.

Nissan is about to launch its new N7 electric car in China, which it hopes will attract some of the attention away from the country's local brands.Australia appears to be off the cards for the new EV, despite there being plenty of enthusiasm here for electric cars.Nissan and joint-venture partner Dongfeng revealed the sleek-looking N7 at the Guangzhou motor show over the weekend, showcasing the first model to be built on the JV’s new modular architecture. The N7 is a large sedan 4930mm long, 1896mm wide and 1487mm tall, with smooth lines and a fastback profile. The N7 will have interactive exterior LED lights. At the front are 710 LEDs, while at the rear are 882 OLED units.Inside, the cabin will feature a next-gen media system, which promises to offer outstanding connectivity thanks to the higher-powered Qualcomm Snapdragon 8295P processor.The N7 will also have an advanced form of autonomous technology with Nissan teaming up with self-driving company Momenta.Nissan hasn’t revealed any further details regarding motor outputs, battery capacity or driving ranges. We expect to know more soon due to Chinese government regulations which require all car manufacturers to submit specifications that are published ahead of the vehicle going on sale.In Australia the only electric car sold by Nissan is the Leaf, but this second-generation model arrived in 2017 and production ceased in March this year, leaving Australia to rely on the dwindling stock remaining in the country.We’ve seen spy images of the third-generation Leaf, but the new EV won’t enter production until 2025 and even then it might not be available to buy in Australia for up to two years.Australia is also still waiting on Nissan’s all electric Ariya SUV, which according to the Japanese brand was due here this year but was held up from going on sale due to it not meeting Australian Design Rules (ADRs) for a child seat anchor point.Nissan told us the ADR issue has now been resolved and the Ariya will be available to buy in the second half of 2025. China is far and away the biggest market for electric cars and business for EVs is booming with year to date sales for electrified vehicles up by 35 per cent.Australia is also experiencing its own EV boom with 69,962 fully electric vehicles sold this year, compared to 65,743 this time last year. That’s a 6.5 per cent increase.The sales are fuelled by the arrival of affordable electric Chinese cars from BYD and MG. BYD’s year-to-date result has increased by 74.4 per cent with the brands Seal proving particularly popular with 5308 sold so far in first full year on sale in Australia.