Articles by Neil Dowling

Neil Dowling
Contributing Journalist

GoAutoMedia

Cars have been the corner stone to Neil’s passion, beginning at pre-school age, through school but then pushed sideways while he studied accounting.

It was rekindled when he started contributing to magazines including Bushdriver and then when he started a motoring section in Perth’s The Western Mail.

He was then appointed as a finance writer for the evening Daily News, supplemented by writing its motoring column. He moved to The Sunday Times as finance editor and after a nine-year term, finally drove back into motoring when in 1998 he was asked to rebrand and restyle the newspaper’s motoring section, expanding it over 12 years from a two-page section to a 36-page lift-out.

In 2010 he was selected to join News Ltd’s national motoring group Carsguide and covered national and international events, launches, news conferences and Car of the Year awards until November 2014 when he moved into freelancing, working for GoAuto, The West Australian, Western 4WDriver magazine, Bauer Media and as an online content writer for one of Australia’s biggest car groups.

He has involved himself in all aspects including motorsport where he has competed in everything from motocross to motorkhanas and rallies including Targa West and the ARC Forest Rally.

He loves all facets of the car industry, from design, manufacture, testing, marketing and even business structures and believes cars are one of the few high-volume consumables to combine a very high degree of engineering enlivened with an even higher degree of emotion from its consumers.

Korean-made Holden Astra on sale mid-year
By Neil Dowling · 03 Mar 2017
Meat pies, kangaroos and, er, Holden (Astra) cars, are now as Aussie as Uluru at sunset.
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VW takes its ageing Touareg on an Adventure
By Tim Robson · 02 Mar 2017
Volkswagen has announced an adventure-focused limited-edition variant of its large SUV, the Touareg, that offers compelling value for money.
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VW accused of issuing customer waivers
By Tim Nicholson · 02 Mar 2017
A once-simmering relationship is now bubbling between Australia's consumer watchdog and the head of Volkswagen Group Australia over legal action surrounding the recall of diesel vehicles.
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Peugeot's mobile personal assistant concept
By Neil Dowling · 28 Feb 2017
Peugeot has moderated its traditionally wild show-car styling with its Geneva-bound autonomous Instinct concept that includes a raft of cloud-based information technology.
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Escape to succeed after slow Kuga sales
By Neil Dowling · 28 Feb 2017
Ford Australia has cut the price, improved fuel economy and will double its marketing effort to promote its latest mid-size SUV, the Escape, as a more worthy successor to the outgoing Kuga.
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Hyundai expands motorsport interests to TCR
By Neil Dowling · 21 Feb 2017
Hyundai is screaming into the global touring car racing arena this year with plans for a bespoke competition version of its next-generation i30 hatchback.
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GM-PSA talks may impact Holden new model plan
By Ron Hammerton · 15 Feb 2017
PSA and GM have collaborated on projects in the past, as seen most recently with the Peugeot 2008-based Opel Crossland X.
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Industry hits back at cheap insurance repairs
By Neil Dowling · 14 Feb 2017
According to the FCAI, the fake parts used on a VF Commodore test car suffered “catastrophic failures or sustained wear”.
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BMW to expand SUV range with X2, X7
By Robbie Wallis · 13 Feb 2017
BMW plans to capture a wider audience by adding more SUVs to its range, confirming its seven-seat X7 and the smaller, coupe-styled X2 crossover, will be on sale Down Under within two years.
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Next Commodore Sportwagon revealed
By Neil Dowling · 07 Feb 2017
Holden has followed up on the recent appearance of its new Commodore liftback by unveiling its feature-packed, next-generation, Opel-based Commodore Sportwagon.
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