Articles by Paul Gover

Toyota has made an early commitment to a range of TRD tweaks - performance and cosmetic - for the new coupe that should arrive from the USA in time for Christmas. Local deliveries of the 86 will not begin until June but hot-up work is already well underway in both Japan and America as TRD, the official tuning division for Toyota. TRD has even test run a tweak 86 in Japan as part of its work for the country's biggest annual tuner show, the Tokyo Auto Salon. Toyota had 15 display vehicles at the event with a range of tuner connections, including TRD, G Sports and Gazoo Racing, the company directed by Toyota's chairman Akio Toyoda. The 86 dominated the display area and among the cars was a prototype that race in last year's Nurburgring 24-hour race in Germany. The 86 hits the road in Australia in June and TRD parts will be available this year through dealerships, although the exact timing is not set. "We will have a range of TRD stuff, but it won't be available for about nine months," says Toyota spokesman, Mike Breen. "It's a very similar range to what TRD has shown in Japan. We're looking at dampers, strut braces, exhaust systems, those sorts of things." Breen says the decision to source parts from the USA was made for economic reasons, which should mean a better deal for owners. "The full range hasn't been decided yet, but we're hoping to take just about everything. TRD in the USA received their development cars a little late. So we're still waiting to hear. But the TRD parts will all be sold directly through Toyota Australia dealerships."

They are battling for the biggest prize in global motoring and head the 10-car field for the 2012 World Car of the Year award, which will be announced in April at the New York motor show. The top-10 lineup covers every area of motoring, from city runabouts to advanced hybrids, with a separate fast-car field competing for the World Performance Car award. The final field for the World COTY contest - which also includes a green award - will be set in March when three finalists are named in each category. The top-10 fields were set during voting by the 66 World COTY judges - including Carsguide - from Asia, Europe, North and South America. The results were tabulated by international accounting firm KPMG before being announced. Judges must now rate each vehicle based on their overall merit, value, safety, environmental responsibility, emotional appeal and significance. The World COTY award has been made since 2005, when the Audi A6 was the inaugural winner. It was followed by the BMW 3 Series, Lexus LS460, Mazda2, Volkswagen Golf, Volkswagen Polo and Nissan Leaf. The  Performance Car award has only been running since 2006 when the Porsche Cayman S took the prize. The full fields for the World COTY contests are:

Not only did the Mazda3 and Toyota Corolla finish first and second on sales for the month, but the Holden Cruze beat its big-brother Commodore for the first time and the compact Ford Focus also trumped the Falcon. January provided a solid start to the 2012 showroom sales race, with an overall lift of 4.3 per cent over 2010 powered mostly - as usual - by growing demand for SUVs.But Falcon had its worst year on record and even a claim that hundreds of cars were damaged by hail at Broadmeadows could not balance the bad news. The Focus victory over the Falcon is a tick for the compact, with a towering margin of 1576-931 cars, but also another cross against the long-term future of the locally made family car. "It was a shocking storm. They really took a hit," a spokesman for Ford Australia, Neil McDonald, says. Holden has admitted for nearly a year that the Cruze would eventually become its local hero, but no-one expected the switch from big to little to happen so quickly.It's unlikely to be sustained every month, as Commodore sales in January are traditionally down while fleet buyers are on holidays, but it's a pointer to a sea change in Australian carmaking."It's a good problem to have," says Holden's spokesperson, Emily Perry. Holden, like Ford with Falcon and Territory, is now also combining Commodore and Cruze totals each month so people get the correct picture of their total local production.And it's claiming strong early returns from a variety of sources. "Holden's product renaissance is really picking up pace and key models are notching up very pleasing performances in their respective segments. Our focus remains on building and selling the cars Australians want to buy and with a raft of new models due in the coming months, we're looking forward to an exciting year ahead," says Holden's director of sales, Philip Brook. The margin between Cruze and Commodore was much closer than Focus and Falcon at 2445 sales to 2170. But neither could come close to the overall winner in January, the Mazda3 with 4045, or the second-placed Toyota Corolla with 3383. The Mazda is still powering off the back of its number one run through 2011 and led the company to a January record of 8479 sales, and 11.0 per cent of the market. The result reflects an increase of 1279 cars, or 17.8 per cent, over the result in 2011. "We are both delighted and humbled by customer acceptance of our whole range during January. While we are quietly confident of a strong year, particularly with the imminent launch of our all-new CX-5, our primary focus will remain on looking after our customers," says the managing director of Mazda Australia, Doug Dickson. As usual, Toyota was Australia's favourite brand in January, ahead of Toyota and Mazda, with Hyundai in fourth after the best January in its local history.

The Fiat 500 has been morphed into a full-sized family car - provided the family is small and get on well. There is also a very good chance that the upcoming 500L will eventually be put to work on all sorts of European errands as the new five-door 500 wagon is boxed into a van. The 500L - which stands, predictably, for large - is being revealed next month at the Geneva motor show as Fiat grows the 500 family up from the hatch, Abarth and cabrio models. The company says is creation was inspired by the 600 Multipla from the 1960s, and not the cute little 500-based wagon - and delivery van - called the Giandinera. "The Multipla was a five-door car with six seats. The new Fiat 500L is along those lines," says Edward Rowe, spokesman for Fiat in Australia. The 500L replaces the Fiat Idea and moves into a crowded class of baby family wagons that includes the Citroen C3 Picasso, Ford B-Max and Opel Meriva. They have not worked in Australia, where SUVs are far more popular, but Fiat believes the 500L could work. "We'll wait and see what the prices and specifications will be. It won't be released for sale in mainland Europe until the fourth quarter of the year," says Rowe. "That indicates it won't be in right-hand drive until the middle of next year. We won't have final details for quite some time. But he knows Australians will not even consider the 500L without an automatic, and perhaps until there are rivals - perhaps including the C3 Picasso which would also be handed by the Fiat importer, Ateco. "Well need a self-shifting gearbox, suitable engine and suitable pricing. That market segement doesn't really exist in Australia. But by then the Citroen C3 Picasso could be available with an automatic gearbo," says Rowe. The 500L is 4.1 metres long and 1.66 metres high, will be built at the Fiat factory in Kragujevac, Serbia and will be available in Europe with TwinAir and 1.4-litre petrol engines, and a 1.3-litre JultiJet II turbodiesel.

By buying smaller and greener cars, Aussie motorists are on track to hit a national CO2 target set during the 2010 election campaign, following another 2.8 per cent reduction in pollution during 2011.The national average fell to 206.6 grams for every kilometre travelled last year, well down on the 252.4-gram average a decade ago and closing on the 190 grams/kilometre target set for 2015. The payoff for drivers is a fuel economy improvement that mirrors reduction of CO2 gas."We'll get to 190 well ahead of the government's information election campaign commitment. We are going to get there a long time before 2015," the chief executive of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, Ian Chalmers, said."We would have done it whether she was elected or not. The automotive industry is committed to reductions in emissions, regardless of which party is in government. That's the important issue."Chalmers said the accelerating move to smaller vehicles, and smaller engines in most size classes, was helping to drive the greening of Australia's fleet."There is no doubt that what's driving this is that people are choosing, in increasing numbers, smaller and more fuel efficient cars. This also has a pay-off in fuel economy," he said. The 2011 figures, which are weighted for the size of the Australian carpark, show cars led the CO2 improvement with a 4.5 per cent drop last year, as Toyota Camry-sized medium cars did the best with a 6.1 per cent improvement, although both passenger SUVs and trucks also recorded a fall.The only area to record an increase last year was upper large cars, described by Chalmers as "Maybach-type" ultra-luxury cars."What's also happening, right across the whole vehicle fleet, is steady, inexorable progress towards lower emissions and fuel economy. Almost every vehicle now is coming with reduced fuel economy. There is also increasing take-up of diesel as an engine option. In the past it was really reserved for heavy vehicles and trucks, not cars that mums and dads would drive."

Even though it hints - very strongly - about the future direction of the funky little Soul, Kia says there are no production plans for the Track'ster. Instead, the South Korean company says it's just a bit of fun to get people smiling at the Chicago auto show next week.  But it's almost certain that the Track'ster direction will be reflected in the replacement for today's Soul, which is coming in 2013. The company has done a bunch of concept cars in the past, including the Soul'ster convertible that is still being assessed for production.  "The Track'ster shows that Kia is still not afraid to push the boundaries. While there is no production schedule for this vehicle, Kia does not have a history of producing pure fantasy cars," says Kevin Hepworth, spokesman for Kia Australia.  The Track'ster was designed at Kia's design studio in California and is intended with a 186 kiloWatt petrol engine, most likely a turbo. The same American studio was also responsible for the Soul, which Kia describes as an 'urban crossover'.  Only 30 Souls were sold in Australia last month, although 431 were sold in 2011 to improve on the 387 in 2010. But Kia has had a smart start to the new year with a 24 per cent improvement over January 2011 and a three per cent share of the showroom action with 2276 deliveries.  "It is only one month but it is the first month and without a good start it would be difficult to obtain the targets we are determined to reach.  It is what we planned for and what we worked for," says the president of Kia Motors Australia, Charlie Kim. The Cerato was Kia's best seller in January with 655 cars, a 67 per cent jump over a year earlier, ahead of the five-door Rio with 644.

The new compact is the ninth generation of the once-dominant small car and lands in Australia in early March. It has just matched the upcoming Hyundai Veloster in crash tests and the basic VTi-L manual has a starting price of $20,990 - down from $22,490 on the superseded model. But the Civic will not have an easy run in Australia as even company chief Takanobu Ito admitted to Carsguide last year that Honda had underestimated the improved needed for the new Civic. The company is already embarking on improvements and, for Australia, will continue the price-cut policy that has driven most of its showroom action for the past six months. Honda Australia prefers to talk about value boosts, but the cuts have hit everything from the Odyssey people mover to the Insight hybrid and popular Accord Euro since last July. The plan for the new Civic opens with four versions of the good looking four-door sedan, with the Hybrid continuing to sit at the top of the range with a price as high as $36,465 with metallic paint. The automatic VTi-L starts at $23,290 and the Sport - with leather seats, electric sunroof, 17-inch alloys and automatic wipers - is priced from $27,990. There are expected to be three-door hatches at some time in the future, and Honda Australia will eventually get its cars from Thailand once full production is resumed there, but there is no firm news on the next-generation Type R hot hatch. Stephen Collins, Honda Australia director, touts advanced technology, improved handling and value as cornerstones for the new Civic. "We are confident our customers will agree that the Civic is a brilliant package and delivers exceptional value for money," Collins says. The car continues with a 1.8-litre engine making 104kW/174Nm in the base car, a 2-litre with 114/190 in the Sport - with improved economy - and a 1.5-litre petrol engine and upgraded IMA hybrid system making 82/172 in the Hybrid. Standard features include a multi-function display, auto aircon, cruise control, Bluetooth with audio streaming, iPod connectivity and steering wheel-mounted controls.

There will be three individual Prius models before the middle of the year as Brand T goes all-out on hybrids, but the bedrock car is only getting a facelift. The Toyota Prius V and Prius C are new and take the car in new directions, as well as forcing people adjust to a plural Prius future. Toyota USA even ran a competition to pick the plural of Prius - Prii and Priuses were two of the choices - but that will not influence Australia. "We're going with Prius. One Prius or 20 Prius," says Toyota Australia spokesman, Mike Breen. "In America they wanted people to start thinking about a bigger Prius family. They wanted them to get their heads around more than one Prius." The family expansion means more for families and less for younger singles. "We've got Prius V, with a third row of seats, and the Prius C, which is a Yaris-sized hybrid," says Breen.  He believes the explosion on the Prius front is just a coincidence, not a strategy to combat the growing success of frugal diesel cars in Australia. "It's just the period that it takes to develop the cars. It's just coincidence that they are all arriving at a similar time." The changes to the existing Prius - only 822 were sold last year, compared with 1611 in 2010 - are intended to give the car a freshen and more potential in showrooms. "We'll have it here, on sale, around early March," says Breen. The body structure is stiffer, but the biggest chances people will notice are a bolder nose with LED running lamps and a bigger grille opening to make the car a little less bland. Inside, there are new seats, new upholstery and soft-touch plastics in places where the car was previously hard and brittle. The body change is claimed to allow a firming of the suspension and changes to the steering column to give better road feel.

Changes coming to the four- door speed machine are minor, but there headlamps change shape and  pick up larger LED running lights.

But don't expect much change on the $1.5 million ultra-luxury car, apart from some LED running lights and new bumpers.But the Phantom could lose its giant round lamps, as the ones on the test car are stickers.