Articles by Paul Gover

It’s expected to pick up most of its mechanical package from the cute Fiat 500 but there are strong hints of a hybrid Panda for inner-city electric running.

Ssangyong is battling back from a near-death experience in Korea, but more than half of Ssangyong's local deliveries are now being done by the new-look Korando SUV. It is the company's first new model in more than three years and has a $27,990 driveaway starting price. It will be followed next year by a totally revised Actyon sports pickup that is expected to lift acceptance of the Korean brand in one of the toughest but fastest-growing showroom classes, thanks to accelerating backing from the company's new owners in India. Mahindra & Mahindra took control of Ssangyong late last year following bankruptcy protection proceedings in Korea and has injected extra cash and product-sharing plans with its existing models in India. "Yes, we've been through some difficult times over the past couple of years. But it was all sorted in March and we have the potential for growth," says Jeff Barber, general manager of Ssangyong Australia. "Korando is going quite well. It's progressing month-on-month in sales terms, and we've had good feedback. It's only been in the market for a couple of months but it's building." Barber says people are drawn to the Korando for a number of reasons, from the value pricetag - claimed to undercut its nearest direct rival by more than $5500 - to a turbodiesel engine and styling by the Italian team at Giugiaro. The motor makes 129kW/360Nm and, in typical SUV fashion, can be hooked to a front-drive price leader or an all- wheel drive hero car, with both manual and automatic gearboxes. Barber says the Korando is crucial to Ssangyong's future in Australia. "We've got to get volume. We've still got a long way to go but it gives us the potential to tap into a broader market. One in three vehicles bought in Australia are what we sell, either utes and SUVs," he says. He admits Ssangyong is pressured on both sides by cheaper Chinese rivals and benchmark vehicles from Japan, but believes the company has the right stuff to succeed in Australia. "They build very, very good vehicles. We get them to showrooms at a very affordable price," Barber says. "I think all Korean brands sit between the Chinese and the Japanese. The quality of what's coming from Korea is now on par with what's coming from Japan." Barber says he will learn more about the Mahindra & Mahindra plan next month at the Frankfurt Motor Show, although he is not expecting anything new from Ssangyong. "It's a good marriage of two large automotive manufacturers with potential. Over the next short while we should hear more about what that marriage will bring," he says. "The research and development that goes into a new vehicle does take quite some time. I'm expecting joint decisions on which ones they produce. The next new model we get is the new Actyon sports ute, that will be launched in Australia in late February or early March next year. While it's a facelift it is very substantial, and all the panels have been changed except for the cabin itself. It's a totally new vehicle to look at, and it has a new engine and a new transmission."

The Q7 — known as the QE7 because of its size — began Audi’s push into SUVs and the updated model is expected to set a new benchmark for the class. This exclusive Carparazzi computer generated illustration shows that Audi is sticking close to the current successful recipe for the new model.

...the coming split between the family-focused B-Class hatch and the new A-Class.Carparazzi has pictures of the five-door production car that will go head-to-head with the Audi A3 and BMW’s new 1 Series.

It has taken a caning in America for quality shortcomings.Carparazzi shots of the new-generation Honda Euro model point to a five-door hatch with more style than the current car.

It's tempting to dismiss the Range Rover Evoque as a piece of automotive jewellery for yummie mummies and bored Mini tragics looking for a new car trinket for the garage. After all, the Evoque is the first city-focussed Land Rover and puts design and fashion first - with everything else a long way back in second. It's also wearing a premium pricetag in Australia from $49,995 that puts it up above the utilitarian Freelander II that reflects the difference in Land Rover and Range Rover badges. But ...Halfway up a slimy, rain-sodden farmers track in northern Wales the temptation passed. The Evoque conquered the challenge as I expect of any true Land Rover and even made some of the worst drivers I have seen - a group of South Americans who needed all the help they could get - looks good on a tough road.So the Evoque is not just a front-wheel drive city showoff. It's also a four-wheel drive that can do the job, despite high-fashion trimmings and a diesel engine that's going to be the most popular choice for Australia. There is a lot to the Evoque, from a choice of three and five-door bodies to a parts roster that has almost nothing in common with the Freelander.The first day of driving in Wales proves it goes well, in conditions from deep muddy ruts to motorways, and is a nice place to travel.Visibility is pretty awful, the petrol engine lacks bottom-end punch, and the Dynamic model is a bit too aggressive in the suspension for my taste.Later today I'm driving the front-wheel drive Evoque around Liverpool - probably with Beatles classics in the background - and will be able to deliver a better verdict. But the first impression is good and the Evoque is shaping as a potential star for Land Rover, a hit with all sorts of Australian shoppers, and even a game-changer to rival the original BMW X5.

... of the world's favourite Jaguar is going to be disappointed. There is a new convertible cat for 2011 but it's a long way different from the lean, lithe, lovely of the 1960s. The car currently called the C-X16 concept - but most likely to wear XE badges for the road - is inspired by the E-Type but also reflects the vast number of safety regulations that have crimped the style of the world's car designers. So it's more like an XK convertible than an all-out E-Type revival. It will be unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show next month and the XE is more than 90 per cent likely to make full-scale production. Jaguar's inspirational design chief, is already talking big on the C- X16. "Great Jaguars have always been beautiful, innovative and have looked firmly to the future," Callum says. "The finished C-X16 concept has the potential to do those things while retaining the ability to surprise, to excite and to invigorate." There is no news yet on the mechanical package for the car, but it's likely to be shared with the XF to make it lighter, as well as easier and cheaper to build than the XK.

The Chery J1 only managed three stars and was criticised for a "considerable injury risk" in the latest test, which follows a previous two-star effort by the Great Wall ute at the end of 2009. The good news for consumers is that Chery has launched a recall program on the seats in the J1 in a follow-up program similar to the one by Great Wall, which eventually earned a four-start ANCAP tick with its X240 SUV after the problem with the V240 pickup. The seats in the J1 were criticised for their design and integrity, but ANCAP testing also revealed a structural weakness in the passenger compartment. Both Chinese brands are imported by Ateco Automotive, which is also the Australian agent for a range of makes including Ferrari and - following an appointment last week from Britain - Lotus. Chinese engineers were present for the ANCAP testing of the Chery and work on the J1 has produced an updated seat back which is being fitted to more than 700 cars already delivered in Australia in a national recall program. "We're replacing the backrests on both sides. 702 cars are involved," says Chery spokesman, Daniel Cotterill. "We have started the work. We have the parts and we're doing the change." He says Chery's quick reaction is typical of the company, which had previously changed the final-drive ratio in the J1 after complaints about the hill-start ability and general performance of the car. "It was a case of looking to find out why the car performed the way it did in the NCAP testing. We were impressed with the speed that Chery produced a solution. They have moved very quickly." Cotterill believes a re-test of the J1 would give a better ANCAP result, although he stops short of predicting a four-star rating to Carsguide after being slammed by ANCAP after an earlier suggestion of a one-star improvement. "These comments are clearly incorrect, as the modifications would not impact the overall crash test result, and the ATECO engineering staff should be aware of this," says Lachlan McIntosh, chair of ANCAP. "The Chery J1 performed poorly in the crash tests - the passenger compartment lost structural integrity in the frontal impact test, providing limited protection from serious chest injury for the driver." Still, Cotterill is confident Chery has learned from the ANCAP result. "I think Cherys will get better over time. I'm confident the J1 is significantly improved. That confidence is based on independently- conducted crash tests. Whether it gets another star is up to ANCAP." There is no confirmation from ANCAP yet on a test date for the other Chery model sold in Australia, the J11 SUV, or the Geely car from China that is currently only available in Western Australia.

Take this update of BMW’s flagship 7 Series, the latest in a flood of BMW shots from Carparazzi.The changes to the 7 are relatively minor, as it’s fairly fresh, but focus on a new eight-speed ZF gearbox and cosmetic tweaks at the front and rear end for an unveiling early in 2012.

The car of the future is surprisingly normal. It still looks like a car - in this case, a Toyota Kluger - and it still has all the normal stuff you expect to find in a car, from the steering wheel to the aircon and sound system.But you don't have to dig too deeply to discover that the Toyota FCHV - advanced is very un-normal. For a start, the only thing that comes out the exhaust pipe is water. And you fill it up with hydrogen, not petrol. That's because the FCHV is a fuel cell car that makes onboard electricity that is used to turn an electric motor that spins the wheels. It also has a battery to store energy from the fuel cell 'stack'.It sounds simple and it is. Honda has had a similar future car on the road for more than 18 months, although only a handful are actually running in Japan and the USA in what amounts to a real-world labratory experiment. The FCHV is also a lab rat and, just like the Honda Clarity - which Carsguide first drove when it was still called the FCX fuel cell concept and there were only two cars - it is doing most of its work on the roads of Los Angeles, conveniently close to Toyota's advanced US research base.Carsguide has arrived for a quick preview drive, actually a refresher after an early tease two years ago, and to learn how things are going with the long-term plan to electrify motoring. "We're two years closer," jokes fuel cell development boss Craig Scott as we sit in what looks like a regulation Shell service station in the suburb of Torrance. Except there is no cash register, no sign of Red Bull or Tim Tams, and the only fuel coming out of the pumps is hydrogen.VALUEThe HFCV is a prototype and that means it would probably cost around $2 million to build a copy. But costs are coming down fast and Scott says the price of the fuel cell 'stack' - a combination of 400 individual cells that looks a little like a battery - is now one-hundredth of the price when development began."The target is $50,000 for a production vehicle," says Scott. Best of all, he is crunching running costs as the Fuel Cell Hydrogen Vehicle is refueled. "There are two ways of calculating the numbers, with tanked hydrogen or hydrogen from a pipeline. Right now this is the only piped station in the USA," Scott says. "If you look at the energy in the tanks compared to gasoline, we're getting about 5.4 litres/100km and that's about double the fuel economy of the petrol model. And the price of hydrogen is about one- fifth the cost of gasoline."So that means the HFCV is currently 10 times cheaper to run than a V6- powered Toyota Kluger. But that's before governments get involved with the inevitable energy taxes ... And there is another problem in using hydrogen for transport. "You cannot sell hydrogen legally for vehicle at the moment because there is no measurement, although we talk in terms of kilograms of fuel," says Scott.TECHNOLOGYAt its simplest, the FCHV is a Kluger with the running gear from a Prius and a fuel cell stack replacing the petrol engine. But that's a very simplistic way of looking at a car that's at the cutting edge of hydrogen power. The computer control systems are massively expensive and even the fuel tanks - designed to carry hydrogen at 10,000 pounds-per-square-inch of pressure, are aluminium wrapped around a complex plastic base. The FCHV has also been beefed-up to support the fuel tanks that sit below the floor and the technology is always changing as improvements come online. "Fuel cell stacks used to cost $2-3000 per kiloWatt hour. We need to get that down closer to $100 to make hydrogen power workable," says Scott.DESIGNThere is nothing remotely special about the FCHV. Even the giant graphics splashed down the side look as if they were done by an engineer, not a designer. But the Kluger does the job and that's the most important thing about its design. It has plenty of space for hydrogen tanks and there are no visible changes to either the external or internal design of the original Kluger. It would be good to see something more George Jetson, like the original Honda FCX, but that's not the Toyota way. Boring but effective works.SAFETYToyota has deliberately expanded its FCHV fleet in the past year to get more real-world experience - including crashes. And, no surprise, its evaluation drivers in New York have delivered."We've had three accidents this year, including two rear-enders. Everyone has walked away," says Scott. "That's great and we actually wanted to see how the car would perform. There are no hidden bugs." Of course, he's talking about the hydrogen tanks, which are the biggest worry. Otherwise, the Kluger is much as it originally came from the factory and the original is a five-star ANCAP car since 2008.DRIVINGAfter driving a bunch of electric cars over the past five years, there is nothing surprising in the FCHV. You turn the key and nothing happens, at least that you can see or hear, beyond a few dashboard lights. But, like the Prius, once it's lit you can push and go on the accelerator pedal. The FCHV feels more ponderous than a regular Kluger, which is not exactly the most nimble car, thanks mostly to the bulk of the tanks.It also rides lower in the rear, which could be the tanks or the members of the video crew who have joined Carsguide for the day. But heading into the Torrance traffic it gets along well, seems quiet and cushy, and the aircon works fine enough. It's no fireball, and there is no chance to push through corners or try and panic stop, but it is still a lab rat on a relatively short lead.It definitely provides a window with a clear view to the potential future of motoring, and that picture is fairly crisp, colourful and exciting. Now all we need is somewhere beyond a BOC Gases base to get the hydrogen in Australia.VERDICTThe FCHV is not for everyone, but for anyone who wants to taste the future it has a recipe that beats a Masterchef contestant. It's not the nicest drive, but that's no different to a petrol-powered Kluger. What it shows is that the world's biggest carmaker is committed to an electric car future, and one that stretches well beyond the Prius.TOYOTA FCHVPrice: Not for saleWarranty: NoneResale: Not for resaleService interval: OftenSafety: Claimed 5-star ANCAPEngine: fuel cell stack, 90kW; permanent magnet electric motor, 90kW/ 260NmBody: Five-door wagonWeight: 1880kgTransmission: Front-wheel driveFuel: high-pressure hydrogenTank: 156 litresRange: approximately 860kmTop speed: 155km/h.