Articles by Paul Gover

Overseas support for the Ford-against-Holden championship is running ahead of export demand for Australian-built cars, with America joining the Middle East and New Zealand on the upcoming calendar. Plans eventually call for six overseas races in the championship, although this is likely to be at the expense of Tasmania - likely to be dropped after this year - and perhaps Winton in rural Victoria in 2013. Singapore is also expected to join the touring car tussle from 2013 with Qatar targeted to take over the vacant date for a race in Bahrain, which ran for two years and created a double-header flyaway with Abu Dhabi. The V8 series is continuing to copy the expansion of Formula One and will even race on the same American track, at the all-new facility called the Cirucit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. F1 is set for Austin in 2012 with V8s to follow a year later with the first full championship race for any Australian category. The showdown in the Lone Star State could also include a cameo appearance by Marcos Ambrose, the two-time V8 champion now competing in Nascar races in the US. He had hoped to guest at the V8 finale in Sydney in 2009 and a special rule was passed as a result to allow high-profile guest drivers in the series. "This is a huge deal for V8 Supercars and one that all Australians should be proud of," says the head honcho of V8 Supercar racing, Tony Cochrane. "Our sport is delighted to have entered this partnership with Austin and the incredible Circuit of the Americas. This is a truly amazing place." Construction of the track at Austin - a sister city to Adelaide - is already underway and it will eventually run 5.5 kilometres with elevation changes of more than 30 metres. Apart from V8 Supercars and F1 it will host a round of the MotoGP world title in 2013.

That's one possible story reflected in a go-faster Mini lapping at the Nurburgring with the usual JCW upgrades to the body, engine and suspension. Carparazzi believes it could be a Challenge Edition, based on the lowered suspension, changes to the nose and the centre-mounted dual exhaust system.

The Broadmeadows-based brand has moved to capped-priced servicing on its showroom range, from the Fiesta through to the Ranger and Transit, and backdated the deal to everything made since 2007. It means a minor logbook service on a six-cylinder Falcon is $255, a price that includes 12 months of roadside assistance that would normally cost $90 on its own. The new deal could cover all the service requirements for a year, as many minor service intervals at Ford at now stretched to 15,000 kilometres or 12 months. Ford is hoping the service deal, which was pioneered in Australia by Toyota and has since been copied by other brands including Mitsubishi, will help it retain its existing customers and also boost 'back-door' sales through the service department. It is called 'capped price' servicing because a carmaker cannot force a dealer to a set price, although it can limit the price to customers with its incentive and marketing programs to dealers. "To reinforce the value of trust, customers now expect this level of certainty from our dealers," says Stephen Kruk of Ford Australia. "The service industry is changing at a rapid pace and more manufacturers are embracing the concept of capped price servicing." The new service deal comes as the updated Territory, now with an overdue and much-needed diesel engine choice, hits a four-year sales high. A total of 1635 Territorys were sold during June, the best result for the homegrown SUV since July, 2007. The boom month for Territory also comes off the back of a dismal start to the sales year for the Falcon, which has underperformed since January in a performance which created huge backlogs of unsold cars and raised doubts about the future of Ford Australia's factory at Broadmeadows. But if the Territory can maintain its current moment, with Falcon also doing better in June, Ford is more confident about funding the necessary investment in its local future. The new service program covers Ford vehicles for up to six years or 105,000 kilometres and is called myFord Capped Price Servicing. Ford says it will also benefit owners by providing a full and detailed service record for their vehicle, essential at trade-in or sale time. And it also allows the company to track vehicles. "If, for some reason, your vehicle requires upgrading because of an outstanding campaign or recall, only Ford dealers have the computer systems, equipment and training to complete and record this as part of the logbook service," says Kruk. Full details of the program and the vehicles involved - currently Fiesta, Focus, Mondeo, Falcon, Escape, Econovan, Territory, Ranger and Transit - are available at a new dedicated website: www.ford.com.au/myfordcps

...and now Carparazzi has updated pictures of the AMG 55 model.It definitely gets AMG's new 5.5-litre V8 engine as well as aggressive body bits that put a sharper image on the upmarket droptop.

The Pinocchio nose on this prototype is proof that the next makeover of the Mini is a complete change for the British baby. The camouflaged Cooper is way longer from the windscreen to the bumper and it's not just for pedestrian protection.Carparazzi believes the change points to a bigger car with more cabin space, while Mini is also expected to ditch the car's centre-mounted speedo. The all-new Mini should be around in 2013 but is unlikely in Australia until early the following year, perhaps even with a three-cylinder TwinPower engine in the base model.

A bigger new air intake, AMG wheels and upgraded brakes, point to the next S63 but Carparazzi is uncertain if the speedy luxo car will get the new 5.5-litre V8 turbo or today's 6.2-litre V8.

Huge demand for the popular compact resulted in it outselling the benchmark Holden Commodore, Australia's favourite car for nearly two decades, with a record 4212 deliveries last month.

..has cleared some of the storm clouds swirling around Ford Australia. Dismal sales of the flagship Falcon and its SUV twin the Territory since the start of the year led to a backlog of more than 3000 unsold cars at Ford's Broadmeadows manufacturing facility, as well as questions about the future of the plant itself. But the newly updated family SUV is finally gaining traction, with official industry sales figures, due later today, expected to show that Ford sold more than 1500 Territorys in June. The Territory figure is the best in several years and well ahead of the 480 sold in May, while the Falcon sedan has also found renewed support with buyers. Overall, the official sales figures for June are expected to show the compact Mazda3 was Australia's favourite car, with an estimated 4000 deliveries enough to trump perennial sales leader the Holden Commodore for top spot. Mazda's June performance saw it recover much of the ground lost since the Japanese earthquake and tsunami in March, which disrupted supplied to many Japanese brands, including Mazda. But total sales are still down on the same time last year as a result of softer consumer confidence. The Ford effort will be trumpeted as a major success for the blue oval brand, which was relying on the updated Territory, with a much-needed diesel engine finally under its bonnet, to reverse the bad news since the start of the year, when sales slumped to just 1157 cars. Since then the Falcon has only averaged around 1250 sales, less than a third of the rival Commodore and below the number needed to keep Ford Australia's Broadmeadows car making plant viable. Company chiefs believe local sales could have bottomed in June with the Territory now on the upswing and many buyers going for high- profit top-end models, while Falcon numbers also rallied to more than 1750 cars. With a new LPG model back on the books for Falcon next month, and a visual freshen also coming in the third quarter, the local large car is also set to benefit from Ford's announcement of capped-price servicing from the start of July. Apart from Ford and Mazda, the showroom results for June will also show a significant improvement for Honda, which more than doubled sales of its baby Jazz model off the back of a price cut and value boost during June.

From a $12,000 Suzuki Alto to a Bentley Mulsanne at more than $650,000 is vying for attention as more than 150,000 people turn the 10 days of the show into the biggest shopping trip in the country.

…car makers at this year’s show are bringing out their brightest, biggest and newest to amaze and delight. Here are just some of the highlights: BMW VISION ED: The headliner at the show is a technology hero first, but is also a great looker that points to the future design direction at BMW. FORD TERRITORY: There are plenty of SUVs at the show, and Holden and Mazda have concept utes, but the Aussie wagon is the one to see. It shows Ford’s new design direction and brings an efficient diesel to local car making. HYUNDAI VELOSTER: Fun is returning to the Korean brand, thanks to a compact coupe that looks great and should be better to drive than earlier two-door Hyundais. LAMBORGHINI AVENTADOR: Outrageous, outrageous, outrageous. The new Italian stallion looks wicked and has the V12 engine and all-wheel drive to convert show to go. MERCEDES-BENZ SLK: A bright new convertible to wipe away the winter blues. The third-generation SLK is being previewed with the C-Class coupe. TOYOTA FT-86 II: The countdown to Toyota’s make-or-break sports car is into the final stages, with the FT-86 concept now in its second generation. It could wear Celica badges when it hits the road in 2012. SUBARU XV: It could be the next Forester but it’s not. Instead, the XV previews an all-new – and much more youthful – direction for a baby SUV that will be built from the basics of the new Impreza, also at the show. PORSCHE CAYMAN R: The lighter and faster pocket rocket in the Porsche family. The Cayman has been tweaked for speed and hogs the spotlight while Porsche prepares for its all-new 911 this year.