Articles by Neil McDonald

It put the soft-roader under the microscope, trimming prices and aggressively repositioning the starting-price ST and luxury Ti.  Most importantly, it introduced a front-wheel drive model of the Dualis and pitched it as a grown-up hatch.Has it worked?  Well, so far this year Nissan Australia has sold 1472 Dualises, against the running total last year — all-wheel drive only, remember — of 2396. That's a slump of 38 per centThat's not an encouraging figure, even taking into account the impact of the economic crisis.  The Dualis remains a hard sell for Nissan and Carsguide does not really understand why, given the fact that it is a huge seller in Europe.It is a competent and roomy performer and the lower-cost front-drive model priced from $24,990 means it should be selling a lot better.  We suspect it's all in the name. Some buyers, swamped with the better- known compact off-roaders like the Subaru Forester, Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4, probably still think the Dualis is some type of kitchen appliance. Even the respected X-Trail SUV, for a few thousand more, overshadows the smaller Nissan.When Nissan Australia launched the all-wheel drive Dualis last year prices started at $28,990. Today the all-wheel drive ST is $2000 cheaper and the sharply priced front driver is in Corolla territory.You now can get an entry six-speed manual front-drive ST for $24,990 with the CVT auto adding $2500.  The all-wheel drive ST will set you back $26,990 while the luxury Ti front driver starts at $27,990.  The savings are even better on the AWD Ti with prices trimmed by $4000 for the manual and $3500 for the CVT.At $29,990 for the AWD manual, the Ti now undercuts its luxury competition.  For this money you get a comprehensively equipped crossover hatch with a 2.0-litre engine, five-star crash rating and loads of space.Nissan Australia's chief executive officer, Dan Thompson, says adding a front-wheel drive into the mix will lure hatchback buyers who want space and practicality but who do not need an all-wheel drive.  He is right but Nissan's approach is not new.Hyundai, Kia, Renault and Mazda all now have front-wheel drive versions of their crossovers.  You can get a Tucson, Sportage, Koleos and CX-7 without the heavy and expensive all-wheel-drive package.So the compact SUV segment is a cut-throat segment where buyers take no prisoners and Nissan is discovering this with the Dualis.  Despite the price cut, equipment levels remain unchanged, as does the engine lineup.The wagon's all-aluminium four-cylinder 2.0-litre petrol engine generates 102kW and 198Nm with acceptable rather than exceptional performance. With 188mm of ground clearance you're also less likely to crunch the bumper on high kerbs or gutters when parking.  For families, there is plenty of space in the back.The load area swallows 410 litres of luggage and with the 60/40 rear seats folded flat space grows to 1513-litres.  As the bread and butter version, the ST comes with cloth seats. The Ti gains leather upholstery and steering wheel, heated seats and six- stacker in-dash CD stereo.The Ti also gets steering wheel audio controls, Bluetooth, automatic headlights, rain sensing wipers, foglights, trip computer, front passenger under seat storage drawer, rear armrest and sliding front console armrest. When I first drove the updated Dualis I was impressed. The price was good, the package seemed right, and the car drove well on a brief sprint around the beachside suburbs in Sydney.  But ...Now I have driven it on home ground, as a Ti with CVT transmission, and I'm far less impressed. The Dualis wobbles around corners, the performance is dowdy, and I wonder how Nissan expects it to compete with a Toyota RAV4 or a Honda CR-V or the class leading Subaru Forester.For a start, it still maintains that it is a hatchback. And a car.  It's not, it's an SUV wagon and that means it has to compete with the other SUV wagons. And they are a tough crew with a lot of history and a lot of strengths.Looking deeper into the Dualis, the cabin is very roomy and - as tested at a bit over $30,000 - it has all the stuff you need. Leather trim, a punchy sound system, a reasonable-sized back end and space for three teenagers in the back.  It is easy to park, visibility is excellent and the weighting of the power steering, power of the aircon and function of the minor controls is all good. Just as you would expect in a Nissan.But it is very dozy when you pull away from a stop sign and, with the constantly-variable automatic transmission, the 2-litre engine never gets to show its best. It needs to be revved to get going but the gearbox works against you, even for highway overtaking.  I remember the manual being much better on the preview drive and it would be my gearbox choice.As for the front-drive package, no-one who drives the Dualis is going to miss the all-paw grip. It's never remotely challenged in corners and few owners will take it to the beach.So, overall, the Dualis is a solid contender but not a standout. There is enough good stuff about it to win people to the car, so perhaps the relative failure is down to the styling and name. I'm a bit confused by this car. It's supposed to be a small car but lots of the time the Dualis feels quite big.  When you stand beside the Dualis it doesn't seem that big, but when you get inside it's really roomy. There is plenty of space for five, or a couple of youngsters in the back with all their toys.The leather seats are nicely designed, and comfortable. But you can feel the cheapness as soon as you open the boot, just looking at the finish and smelling the cabin.When you start driving, particularly in a tight corner, it feels really big and that's not something I like in a small car.  When go around a corner you feel like you're driving a tank. But it has a really good turning circle because it is only a little car.  And I felt like I was driving it with the handbrake on the whole time. Maybe the turbo wasn't cutting in - but it doesn't have one - so it could be the slightly-strange CVT transmission thing.  I hate that the locking for the doors is in the centre console and what's with the seat heaters in Australia? Wouldn't it be better to have an automatic boot release or a latch to let the seats fold down from the boot instead?For me, it is actually quite a good car for the starting price. And versatile too. But I don't think it's as good as some of its opposition, including the Subaru Outback.THE BOTTOM LINE: Not a bad car, but not a threat to the class champions.

Several other companies are taking an interest in the homeless brand after last week's announcement that sportscar maker Koenigsegg had withdrawn its bid.  Swedish government officials and Saab CEO Jan Ake Jonsson have already met in Detroit ahead of the General Motors board meeting later today to determine Saab's future.Since Koenigsegg withdrew, other bidders have stepped up.  They include the Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Corp, US investment company Merbanco Inc and US private equity firm Renco Group, owned by US billionaire businessman Ira Rennert.It is the second time Beijing Auto has come to the Saab table.  It previously partnered with Koenigsegg in the latest deal that fell off the table.The Swedish Government is under pressure to rescue Saab but high level politicians say health care is more important than rescuing a car company, despite the fact that up to 8000 jobs are at risk.  Saab started life as an aircraft manufacturer and has built a solid reputation for high-quality, safe performance cars.GM bought 50 per cent of Saab in 1989 and acquired the rest in 2000.  However, it has struggled to make money from the quirky brand with many analysts suggesting GM did not understand the brand.

It seems the head of the Indian Tata Group, Ratan Tata, is keen to turn his low-cost Nano into hybrid with cutting edge stop-start technology.  He has confirmed in an interview with a South Korean newspaper that a hybrid is planned.The baby 24kW two-cylinder petrol Nano was developed for India initially with a target price of 100,000 rupees, or $2500.  Since it went on sale earlier this year, sales gone wild and the waiting list is now out to several months.It has no real competition in its home market, where most Indians ride motorcycles or bicycles.  The rear-engined car is still some way from being certified for sale in any countries outside India.But Tata, which also owns Jaguar and Land Rover, has subjected the Nano to a round of frontal-offset crashes at England's MIRA vehicle research centre.  The car passed under the supervision of Britain's Vehicle Certification Authority.The Tata Group plans a bigger engined Europa model for export markets, with more safety gear and equipment to compete against Western competition.

Forget voice activation, in another 20 years cars will use mind control to turn on things like the indicators, adjust the radio volume or move the seat. If that's not crazy enough, some cars will imprint your genetic DNA to become a part of you.Others will use high-tech polymers that change a car's shape and colour to accommodate the driver's needs. These far-out sci-fi ideas are being presented as part of the Design Challenge at this week's Los Angeles Motor Show.Called Youthmobile 2030, this year's challenge has attracted more than 30 young designers who have cut loose to create what they think we'll be driving in 2030. Youthmobile 2030 snared gifted young designers from Audi, Honda, General Motors, Mazda, Nissan and Toyota.Technology is a key component of the Youthmobile 2030 cars so the concepts connect with a new car buying generation aged between 16 and 23 raised on mobile phones, web cams and on-line communities.

Using next-generation vehicle control logic, the driver activates and drives the eSpira through small body movements or gestures. The eSpira's designers say that even most direct, fluid form of vehicle control like flicking the indicators or adjusting the seat "is only a thought away".Joining the eSpira is the sportier eOra. Distinctly small and agile, the eOra is pitched at young buyers looking for an agile sportscar with a small greenhouse gas footprint. It shares the same control logic as the eSpira.Like a downhill skier, the eOra carves the road with precision and is constantly reacting to the driver's movements and intentions. Audi says these vehicles encompass the brand's core experience - progressive, imaginative and visceral.

It will also challenge your skills against the car's autonomous drive systems. Its designers say the concept will actually teach a beginner to drive or challenge the experienced driver to improve their skills. Getting started is easy.Drivers can enter their destination into the navigation application on a smart phone and the car takes care of the rest. It will let you ‘play along’ and try to match the skill level of the system. As you become more proficient, the Car Hero ‘unlocks’ vehicle controls to the point where the autonomous system is overridden and the driver is in complete control.This is where things start to get interesting. As the Car Hero gamer demonstrates skill and mastery, the car's ‘transmorphable’ architecture turns up the intensity by creating a more challenging driving experience.Car Hero's configuration will reward a driver's increasing skills by gradually changing from a four seater, to three seats and then the ultimate challenge, a single-wheeler. Car Hero also has peer-to-peer applications like ‘friends drive’ where anyone can come along for a digital joyride.GM likens the experience to having a Twitter with wheels. For those bored and stuck in peak hour traffic, ‘fantasy drive’ gives the driver access to insane environments such as running with the bulls in Pamplona or taking on ace US rally driver Ken Block in a drifting contest.

It looks like an RX8 of the future yet boast some cutting edge technology that will keep tech-savvy youngsters happy.By 2030 Mazda expects Los Angeles to be a centre for young entrepreneurs. They expect car buyers to be able to customise their own vehicles straight from the factory. Mazda's young designers have made the Souga compatible with new-age thinking.They propose a high-tech virtual world called VMazda so young people can experiment, build, and share their automotive dreams in a virtual world at no cost.With the help of a virtual design mentor, an owner's individual design can then be rapidly manufactured at one of Mazda's sustainable direct digital manufacturing plants, using the Souga as the base.The Souga designers believe the whole car will cost $2000, with a monthly bill for the energy the electric car uses. The Souga is minimalist and lightweight with experimental shapes, ornate detailing, and a dramatically proportioned exterior.Mazda's designers believe most digital communication and information devices will be integrated into our clothes, eliminating the need to include these systems into the car.

For that reason they have come up with their own creation of a new ultra-efficient, high-speed network called the ‘Grid’. Nissan's Grid-compliant car for 2030 is the V2G - for Vehicle-to-Grid.With the Nissan Leaf leading the company's electric car push, the designers think EVs like the V2G will be very popular with consumers thanks to their low cost and dynamic styling.Nissan proposes that the V2G will be sold like mobile phone plans, making it affordable for everyone and allowing customisation. The designers also expect tech-savvy buyers to be able to hack into the Grid system and untap the V2G's performance potential off-line in a completely different vehicle segment.They have already configured a name for that model, the V2G Unlimited.

However, they will still be cash poor and that's where the eco-friendly Toyota Link comes in. The Link is an affordable customised, mass transit vehicle for students with high social networking demands. With little-to-no disposable income, students will be able to pick up a Link via various inter-connected transport Hubs.Once on board, the Link seamlessly links on to a transportation social network, allowing connections with other drivers to share the commute, trade music, or compare diaries. Made with Toyota's newly patented electro-fibre technology, the designers see different in-car applications.Drivers will be able to download applications like the ‘Link Skinz’ to digitally transform the car's shape into a personalised exterior design. In place of traditional wheels, the Link drives on spheres made of an electro-conductive material. This converts friction into energy and recharges the on-board batteries.

By then Honda's young designers believe we will have emerging technologies, such as genetic integration and advanced adaptive polymers. These polymers will be capable of shifting shape, colour or even material properties.When mated with the driver's DNA genetic code, it will allow a vehicle to be an extension of the owner, evolving in parallel with them throughout their life. The Helix will have three distinct physical shapes - A, B and Z.A is short and wide for cities with crowded roads, where agility and speed allow it to more easily navigate peak hour chaos. B is long and low for high-speed country drives over longer distances. Z is tall and thin for congested cities, allowing the occupants sit vertically on two levels to lessen the car's footprint on streets.The Helix will also be able to adapt to the different needs of the occupants by changing the orientation of the cabin and individualising its controls.Bio-receptors will allow the vehicle to micro-adjust even further to meet the drivers' demands. The Helix will be a global car designed to adapt, evolve and conform to user needs anywhere in the world. It will use insight gained from the human genome, biotechnology, and environmental forecasting, to conform to the driver and environment.