Articles by Samuel Irvine

2025 is certainly shaping up as the year of electric car bargains with Hyundai the latest brand to announce a major limited-time offer.

Honda has announced a facelift for the CR-V will arrive in the US for the 2026 model year along with a more rugged TrailSport variant.

Honda has moved to cut the starting prices of its popular SUV range, with entry-level CR-V, ZR-V and HR-V grades welcoming reductions of up to $2800, along with a few extra sweeteners.

Just days after BYD's local division announced a new entry-level Atto 3 Essential grade, the brand has previewed a redesigned model in its home market.

BYD will launch a brand new sports car with Porsche 911-rivalling performance at the Shanghai auto show later this year under its luxury sub-brand Denza, according to CarNewsChina.

Australia clocked a record number of new-car sales in 2024, proving once again how diverse our new-car market really is.

If it weren’t for ongoing industrial action across Australia’s ports, there would be a lot more Shark 6 utes on the road, according to David Smitherman, CEO of Australia’s BYD distributor, EVDirect.Despite his two decades of experience in the automotive industry, including senior roles with Ateco Group – Australia’s Renault, RAM and Maserati distributor – Smitherman told CarsGuide he believes demand for the Shark 6 has been unprecedented.“I’ve never seen such a level of interest in a vehicle in my 25 years in the industry. It’s exceptional,” he said.“It just keeps going exceptionally well and exceeding expectations. We’re north of 5000 , closing in on 6000.”At last count, EVDirect confirmed more than 5500 eager customers had placed an order for a Shark 6 since orders for the ute opened in late-October last year. The process involves a fully-refundable $1000 deposit made in store or online.BYD still has its work cut out for it, though, with well-established rivals in the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux selling 62,593 and 53,499 units apiece last year. The incoming Kia Tasman, meanwhile, has already clocked a claimed 20,000 expressions of interest.Then for reference, there's the Toyota Prado, arguably Australia's biggest car release of 2024, which arrived with a staggering 25,000 orders in the bank.But Smitherman said the Shark 6's order tally was all the more impressive when you consider very few Australians have been able to get themselves inside one for a test drive, let alone spot one on the road. Plus, BYD is still a new brand in the Australian market.A pay dispute between the Maritime Union Association and Qube Holdings, which operates some 29 ports across Australia responsible for processing imported vehicles, has prevented thousands of vehicles from docking in Australia, including thousands of Shark 6 utes.“The interest is incredible...we’ve had a very small amount of vehicles available for test drive, so we’re just being inundated with test drives. It's incredible,” said Smitherman.The BYD website currently lists 41 ‘Experience Centres’ in Australia, with EVDirect stating that the Shark 6 is available to test drive across its dealer network.Even with an optimistic estimate of a single Shark 6 example at each dealership — or 41 total vehicles — that suggests hundreds, if not thousands, of buyers could have ordered one without even hopping inside.That’s why BYD were only able to announce on January 13, nearly three months after launch, that the first Shark 6 ute had been delivered to a customer in Queensland.Despite the delay, the Chinese newcomer still beat the the upcoming Ford Ranger PHEV and GWM Cannon Alpha PHEV to the plate as Australia’s first plug-in hybrid ute, with both rivals readying for arrival between now and the middle of the year.Neither Ford of GWM has opened order books on their upcoming PHEV utes yet, although Ford Australia's General Manager of Electric Vehicles Myles Hartley told CarsGuide last September that expressions of interest for the Ranger PHEV had been strong."We recently had a dealer meeting and there's been extremely good feedback on the amount of interest of people coming into dealers today and looking for more information," said Hartley.Whether that translates to an order sheet that matches the BYD remains to be seen, though as Australians increasingly look for greater value (the Shark 6 is priced at $57,900, before on-road costs), Smitherman remains confident in its sales prospects.So much so, had the industrial action at the ports not occurred and BYD had more stock on hand, Smitherman believes BYD's overall sales tally of 20,458 vehicles last year would have been even higher."Had I had the Shark 6 and Sealion 7 earlier, which I would have expected, I would have easily had double the 2023 number ," said Smitherman.“Once somebody test drives our product, our rate of conversion — because our dealers and our products are so good — is exceptionally high."

GWM is continuing its march as a top-ten car brand in Australia, with the Chinese automaker announcing key upgrades for its most popular ute.

As the 2025 release of Hyundai’s next-generation Nexo SUV edges closer, fresh digital renders have given us the best idea yet of how the new hydrogen-powered model will take shape.

Subaru has previewed a new WRX STI prototype to be sold in a limited run of just 500 units, but is it worthy of the STI badge?Well, that depends on who you ask. According to Subaru, this is a legitimate STI vehicle, hence the ‘STI’ branding. But to a STI purist? Maybe not so much.Dubbed the WRX STI S210, the prototype is based on the WRX S4 STI Sport R EX limited-edition released in 2023 and its 2.4-litre turbocharged petrol engine welcomes a 19kW/25Nm boost from the standard model’s 202kW/350Nm.That means it matches the WRX STI EJ25 ‘Final Edition’ – the last STI to be sold in Australia – on power, though it's still 32Nm short on torque.The bump in power comes thanks to an upgraded exhaust system, new air intake ducts and a re-tuned ECU unit, which all sounds great, until you factor in one major caveat: a continuously variable transmission replaces the WRX STI’s signature six-speed manual.That’s right, the now gear-less transmission will send less torque to the wheels than previous models.Perhaps that explains why Subaru isn’t marketing this as a global model, with the vast majority of units expected to be sold in Japan – a fellow right-hand drive market.That said, Subaru Australia has expressed interest in the possibility of the the special-edition variant arriving locally, with a Subaru Australia spokesperson telling CarsGuide:“The latest model unveiled by Subaru Technica International (STI) is incredibly exciting and it is a clear indication of Subaru’s dedication to the continued evolution of the STI brand and its rich legacy of performance vehicle engineering.“We are very interested in the possibilities of another S edition model for the Australian market,” the spokesperson said.Other features on the S210 include 19-inch BBS forged-wheels wrapped in 255/35R19 Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres, 18-inch Brembo front disc brakes, electronically-controlled dampers and a Subaru Performance transmission fluid cooler.There’s also an aerodynamic body kit which adds carbon-fibre rear wing, a front lip spoiler, while black and red accents, including on the S210’s unique front grille, adorn the exterior.Inside, there are power-adjustable carbon-fibre Recaro front seats, microsuede and piano black trims, as well as prominent S210 badging.Pricing is unclear, but should it come to Australia it is likely to exceed the $62,440, before on-road costs, price tag of the EJ25 Final Edition.