Articles by Matt Campbell

There will be a new seven-seat SUV in the SsangYong range that will bridge the gap between the all-new mid-sized Korando and the established Rexton large SUV.

The all-new SsangYong Korando mid-sized SUV will hit Aussie showrooms around August 2019, and within 18 months there will be a fully electric version on sale, too.

The SsangYong Tivoli XLV will be phased out globally as the brand rationalises its line-up in preparation for the arrival of the new Korando model.

You mightn't have heard of it, but the SsangYong Korando could be the brand's most important model ever. A perennial best seller for the company in Korea, this all-new fifth-generation model version is more accomplished and contemporary than any model that has come before it from SsangYong.

The Porsche 911 Carrera S will turn heads. It did when I drove it, wherever I drove it. That's just the sort of car the new 911 is. But in 992 guise, is the new model more than just a pretty face? I spent a bit over eight hours in one to find out. Poor, poor me.

The next-generation Mitsubishi Triton may still be years away, but there are already details leaking out about what to expect.It has been confirmed by the Japanese company’s chief operating officer, Trevor Mann, that the next-generation Triton ute will also form the basis for the next Nissan Navara and Renault Alaskan.Mr Mann told industry journal Automotive News that the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance has made the decision that Mitsubishi offers the best depth of knowledge and hardware for the next-gen versions of each of the brand’s pick-up trucks to be based on."Shortly after the Alliance, we did a detailed technical study between , and we found that Mitsubishi had many advantages over the Nissan platform," Mr Mann is quoted as saying. The announcement flies in the face of public statements made to the contrary by Nissan execs a few months ago, when it was suggested Mitsubishi had jumped the gun by asserting it would take the lead on development of the next-generation utes.The current-generation Triton architecture underpins that particular pick-up model, as well as the Pajero Sport off-road SUV. By contrast, Nissan’s current-generation Navara’s underpinnings are spread quite a bit further, being found beneath the Terra SUV from the same brand, plus the Renault Alaskan pick-up and the Mercedes-Benz X-Class ute. It’s too early to say what that could mean for the development of a second-generation version of the Mercedes-Benz X-Class - whether the brand will continue to form part of a commercial vehicle alliance with is unclear.  The next-generation version of the Triton is likely more than four years away.Existing alliance products produced for Renault-Nissan-Mercedes have fallen by the wayside - the Infiniti Q30/Mercedes A-Class mingling only lasted one life cycle, while the Renault Twingo/Smart alliance - the latter brand may be culled entirely within weeks.That said, commercial vehicle alliances are stronger in general - Renault-Mercedes has an existing agreement on small vans, producing the Kangoo/Citan as a result. That hasn’t been replicated in larger vans, though - Mercedes went on its own for the Vito and Sprinter. 

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has stated what we have all been thinking - the brand was close to death in 2018.At the reveal event for the new Model Y, Mr Musk stated the brand had to sort out its priorities in 2018, and it almost cost the company everything. “2018 felt like ageing five years in one,” said Mr Musk. “All of our resources went to Model 3 production, otherwise we were going to die. It was pretty tight, I’ve got to tell you.”It wasn’t just the cars side of the business that was suffering in 2018, Mr Musk said, stating that “Power Wall got cell-starved, basically”, though he said the brand will focus more energy on the Solar Roof and Power Wall products in 2019. Mr Musk admitted the brand underestimated the complexity of producing cars, stating that it is “100 times harder to design the manufacturing system for cars than it is for a rocket” from the Space X division. That’s a fair point, given the company is aiming for 6000 Model 3s per month alone.Seemingly admitting that the company had bitten off more than it could chew by diversifying into cars, home energy, solar panels and more, Mr Musk suggested that the brand had gotten “carried away” with some of its models in the lead up to 2018.“We kind of got carried away, honestly, with the Model X,” he said. “It’s like a faberge egg meets a spaceship. It was insanely difficult.”Mr Musk pointed to the brand’s plan to have the Shanghai Gigafactory completed by the end of 2019, while at the moment it is still a “very impressive large puddle”. He said the Chinese factory would be smarter than the previous strategy employed in the US because it will combine battery and vehicle manufacturing in the same place - making it “Fremont plus the Nevada Gigafactory combined”. Mr Musk stated that the increase in competition - from brands such as Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar and Hyundai - has made the electric car landscape more vibrant.“It’s extremely rewarding to see the rest of the industry is going electric,” Mr Musk said. “We have a fully sustainable future.”According to Mr Musk, the brand has produced 500,000 vehicles to date - and it’s 11 years to the day since the first Roadster model rolled off the production line. “Twelve months from now we will have made about a million vehicles,” he said. Further in the future? Mr Musk said that “Tesla will be on Mars in 10 years”. You’ve got to have goals, right?

The all-new Tesla Model Y SUV has been revealed at an event in the US, with the more compact crossover variant mimicking the design of the larger Model X.The long-awaited Model Y is essentially a pumped-up, more practical version of the Model 3 hatch, with a taller body and higher ride height, along with model-unique styling features, setting it apart.It is still offered with all-wheel drive, but the entry level models will be rear-wheel drive. There are set to be four variants offered.The most affordable version is known as the Standard Range, with 370 kilometres and capable of doing 0-60mph (0-96km/h) of 5.9 seconds and a top speed of 200km/h. It will be on sale in Spring 2021, at a price of US$39,000 ($55,000)Next up is the Long Range, with 483km of battery range, a top speed of 210km/h, a 0-96km/h claim of 5.5sec, and a price tag of US$47,000 ($66,350). Deliveries for it, and the models above it (listed below) will start in the Northern Hemisphere autumn of 2020, so any time from September next year.The Dual Motor AWD model is the next model up, with a US$51,000 asking price ($72,000). That model is set to be capable of running 0-96km/h in 4.8sec, a top speed of 217km/h, and it will have a range of 450km.The top of the range Performance version is said to be capable of a 0-60mph or 0-96km/h of 3.5sec. Its top speed will be capped at 240km/h. It will have an electric range of 450km, and will cost US$60,000 ($84,700).Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the Model Y will be available with seven seats (more of a 5+2 seat layout than the larger Model X), and that it will focus on function and fun.“It will have the functionality of an SUV but will ride like a sports car,” Mr Musk said, stating the model will have the option of a panoramic glass roof, a slippery drag coefficient of 0.23Cd, and up to 1900 litres of cargo space.He claims the Model Y “will be the safest midsize SUV in the world by far”, and that the car is aimed at family customers. “Safety is the number one goal. Performance, sure - but safety first. This is the most important thing.”Mr Musk stated that the brand will have full “self driving sometime later this year”, and that it will be “safe enough to not pay attention”, before adding that the brand would enable it and then “get the regulatory approval after that”. The aspirations are high for the Model Y. Mr Musk said that he feels the company will eventually “do more Model Y than Model X and 3 combined”. Mr Musk said the company has come along way in a few years, suggesting that people “take electric cars for granted”. “There was a time when electric cars seemed very stupid,” Mr Musk said. “Making an electric car company was like stupidity squared.”The addition of the Model Y gives the brand’s eccentric leader, Elon Musk, his much desired “S3XY" range. Tesla was unable to do a Model E, as that trademark is owned by Ford.Australian buyers will have to wait and see what happens - CarsGuide contacted Tesla Australia for comment on timing and pricing for the all-new model, but the company had nothing to say at this point in time.Australian customers seem to be low on the priority list, with the Model 3 still not yet arriving here almost a year after the first examples hit roads in the US. Customers can reserve a Model 3 by paying a deposit, but the actual pricing and specification levels are unknown, and the wait time is lengthy.

This is a story of being in the wrong place at the right time.

Electric pick-up truck startup Rivian has come up with what could be the cleverest approach to utes in history - modular tray designs.The company has patented five different designs for the tray of its R1T dual-cab pick-up, each of which suits a specific user case.There’s a removable recreation module which allows you to secure dirt bikes on the back, a removable delivery module with a canopy, a removable open box which is just a traditional tub, a flat bed, and a smaller side rail setup. Rivian Forums teamsters have come up with a series of images to depict how the modular trays will look, should they make it to production. Indeed, the company hasn’t yet made a production version of the R1T ute.But there is huge interest and investment, with US$700 million injected from the likes of Amazon. Rivian says that its R1T will have the choice of 105kWh, 135kWh and 180kWh battery packs. Claimed range will be between 370 kilometres and 643km. The Rivian R1T is set to be launched in the US in late 2020.