Articles by Stephen Ottley

As modern performance cars have become faster and more complex, car companies have developed race track-specific driving modes as part of the search for the ultimate in speed and handling. 

The Federal Government’s announcement of a new National Vehicle Efficiency Standard has caused a rift in the local industry, as I’m sure it has amongst even you, our dear readers.

Is Tesla a luxury brand? It seems like a simple question on the surface, with many of you probably assuming it is based on its pricing, history and, arguably, its stock price. Indeed, in its home market, the USA, Tesla is often referred to as a ‘luxury brand’ and compared against the likes of Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

The good news for Mazda Australia, and the many satisfied CX-5 customers, is that a replacement for the popular CX-5 is confirmed. The bad news is Mazda HQ may change the name and there aren’t too many specific details on what form the new model will take.This is a very big deal for the local operation, with the CX-5 making up more than 23 per cent of the brand’s total sales in 2023. It was also the third best-selling mid-size SUV behind the Toyota RAV4 and Mitsubishi Outlander.While Mazda is trying to keep details under wraps, there’s plenty we do know about this crucial model.One of the biggest challenges for the CX-5 is finding space in a dramatically changing Mazda line-up. Mazda is making a global push to follow its successful ‘semi-premium’ philosophy in Australia, launching its ‘Large Product Family’ models that are designed to be more dynamic and more premium positioned. This has already seen the CX-8 and CX-9 replaced by the CX-80 and CX-90, with the CX-70 confirmed to arrive in the near-future too. This change has also seen the arrival of the two-row, mid-size CX-60, which crosses over with the CX-5 in the current range. In the USA and China there’s also a slightly smaller, but more rugged, CX-50 available and this gave rise to speculation that the CX-5 would simply be discontinued.That is categorically not the case though, with Mazda confirming the CX-5 will be replaced, but without saying what form the replacement will take. The biggest question surrounding the next-generation CX-5 is how big it will be. The current model measures 4550mm in total length, compared to 4740mm for the CX-60, making it slightly smaller. This leaves Mazda in a tricky position, with most models typically growing with each new generation, but with only 190mm to play with it will be challenging to ensure there is a meaningful size difference between the CX-5 replacement and the CX-60.It’s highly likely that the CX-5 successor will take styling influence from the new SUV models, as our renders show. This is part of a new era of design for the brand and part of the premium push.Not that Mazda is afraid of crossing over, as demonstrated by the similarities between the CX-70, CX-80 and CX-90 (the 70 and 90 appear to simply be five- and seven-seat versions of the same basic vehicle). So expect to have plenty of very similar choices in the Mazda showroom in the years to come.However, what is likely to be different is what underpins the new CX-5, with it expected to continue on the front- and all-wheel drive platform it currently has, rather than switch to the rear-biased all-wheel drive architecture of the new ‘Large Products’.This will be the biggest difference between the CX-5 and CX-60 and should allow for a significant price difference, in keeping with the current gap between the pair. At present the CX-5 range starts at $36,590 for a front-wheel drive Maxx model and tops out at $55,100 for the Akera all-wheel drive, beneath the entry-level CX-60 Evolve, which is priced from $60,550.Perhaps the most telling detail we don’t know about the new CX-5 is if it will even be known as the CX-5. Last June Mazda Australia Managing Director Vinesh Bhindi told CarsGuide that it isn’t clear whether the nameplate would remain globally.“I don’t know,” Bhindi said, when asked directly if it would change names. “Let’s not worry about the nameplate, but a replacement for CX-5 is confirmed. What it is, when it is, is not something that can be shared today.”As we wrote at the time, changing such a popular name would be a bold and highly questionable move from Mazda, at least in Australia where the CX-5 is so popular. But Bhindi is just happy that the model will be replaced with a like-for-like model rather than moving to the more expensive, premium strategy.“They would have to have a very good reason to ,” Bhindi said. “But we’re not going to get caught up in . As long as we have the product, we’ll be very, very happy.”Timing is still unclear for the new CX-5, but with the focus currently on the premium SUVs, expect the new CX-5 (or whatever it’s called) to be revealed by the end of this year or early in 2025, before going on sale before the end of next year.

Forget what you think you know about car racing computer games, because the world has changed dramatically since you were a kid playing Daytona USA or Test Drive.

I was wrong. Last December I wrote a piece examining the very difficult season the Australian (V8) Supercars championship went through in 2023, with angst from drivers, teams and, most importantly, the one manufacturer seriously committed to the sport.

NVES is the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard, the Federal Government's long-awaited and long-overdue move to bring Australia inline with the rest of the world. At present Australia and Russia are the only developed automotive markets in the world without any emissions reduction targets like the ones being proposed.

Ranking the best Formula 1 drivers across the championship’s 73 years is not a simple task. No matter which system we use, there will be upset, angst and lots and lots of discussion… and that’s great.

It's both a bold strategy and a logical next step for a brand with a loyal following and aspirational goals, but is Mazda's premium push working?

Make no mistake, the Australian car industry is one of the toughest in the world. More than 60 brands fight for space in a market of just over one million cars per year. Naturally that means not every brand can be riding high like Toyota, Mazda and Ford - someone has to come last. So, we scoured the sales data for 2023 and can reveal which brands are struggling to find buyers.