1977 Holden Torana Reviews

Australia's new-car market plummeted by 18 per cent in March compared to the same month last year as the impacts of the coronavirus tightens its grip in Australia.

GM and Honda have announced a large scale tie-up on EV development, but don't hope to see an electric mid-size SUV hitting Australian streets any time soon...

Australia is one of the most competitive new-vehicle markets in the world, but not all of its models are created equal. In fact, some are just plain dominant in their segments

Japanese makes have to close the books on their financial year — get in for these deals before the end of the month.March is the second-biggest month of the year for new-car sales — as Japanese brands have one last sales push to close off their books for the end of the Japanese financial year.Almost every other brand in the Top 10 must also have a crack if they don't want to be left behind, which is why Holden and Hyundai and others are out there with sharp deals to lure buyers away from Japanese showrooms.A lot of the deals will seem similar to the January offers, as dealers are still trying to clear 2015-built stock. But prices and/or other bonuses have been sharpened even further on a few models.Here are the best deals as we see them.Small carsAmong the tiny tots, the Suzuki Celerio is still the cheapest in the business at $12,990 drive-away with automatic transmission, while the Mitsubishi Mirage is also sharp buying for $1000 more, at $13,990 drive-away with auto, including a standard five-year factory warranty.Need the next size up? The Suzuki Swift hatchback is still at an incredibly low $15,990 drive-away with auto. That's about $4000 off retail and $2000 less than the sharply discounted Toyota Yaris, which continues at an appealing $17,990 drive-away with auto ($3000 off RRP).With the popular Hyundai i20 all but sold out, Hyundai has now taken the knife to the Accent to help drive sales. It is $15,990 drive-away with auto (this offer isn't clear on the website, but that's the deal if you ask before the end of the month, a saving of $4500).Need something a little roomier? As anticipated, Hyundai is back with a super sharp price on the i30 hatch at $19,990 drive-away including automatic transmission, rear-view camera and five-year warranty. It's unbeatable at this price.Deals are usually rare on top-sellers. But Toyota has shifted its discount from the dearer Corolla Ascent Sport to the regular Ascent, which is $21,990 drive-away with CVT auto this month. That's $2000 less than the previous Corolla offer.SUVsOur eyes popped when we saw this deal. The updated Holden Captiva5 (with the new look and Apple CarPlay) is an astonishingly low $25,990 drive-away. The seven-seater Captiva7 is $29,990 drive-away. The Captiva may be overdue for replacement but this is the most metal for the money in the class.Need something smaller? The city-sized Holden Trax SUV is $23,990 drive-away with auto and free servicing until 2020. At that price, who cares what it looks like?The Mitsubishi ASX remains at $25,000 drive-away with auto, rear camera and five-year factory warranty. No wonder it's one of Mitsubishi's top sellers. This is $5000 off the original RRP but it's been this price for so long it's worth pointing out it's still $3000 less than its direct rivals.UtesNeed a cheap work ute? The Isuzu D-Max with dropside tray is still the sharpest tradies' diesel at $25,990 drive-away.Pay $1000 more ($26,990 drive-away) if you want a Mazda BT-50 diesel with a dropside tray or pay $2000 more ($27,990 drive-away) if you want the new Toyota HiLux with black wheels and a smaller tray but that bulletproof Toyota badge.Need a new four-door 4WD ute but don't want to wait three months for a top-of-the-range Ford Ranger or Toyota HiLux? Get the Toyota HiLux Workmate dual-cab 4WD at $43,990 drive-away. Dead set bargain. And with the money you save, you can afford to replace the ugly black wheels.Don't mind the gangly looks of the new Mitsubishi Triton? That $36,990 drive-away deal on the GLX four-door 4WD just got better for March. It includes free auto (as well as the camera and alloys), which is about $5000 off full freight. Decent.Honourable mentionIt's not a small car, an SUV or a ute (our biggest categories) but if you want a sedan, Toyota is trying to clear the 5300 Camrys it declared as sold in December 2015: it is still $27,990 drive-away, with zero interest. Red hot price on a solid car.

The end of financial year might be the best time to nab a deal on any new car, but the deals on a spanking-new ute can be absolutely stratospheric.

As much as we loved the brand and the vast majority of the cars it produced, like any carmaker, Holden was capable of getting it wrong.Hilariously wrong in some cases and hopelessly wrong in others.

With the impending implosion of the Holden brand, it’s worth having a look to see if any of the lion products will be worth hanging onto as investments in the longer term

New-vehicle sales were down for the 23rd consecutive month in February, with VFACTS data released today revealing an 8.2 per cent decrease month-on-month

It’s far from a done deal, but there are now hints that the Holden heritage collection of 70-odd cars will turn up as a permanent part of the National Motor Museum at Birdwood in South Australia.Paul Rees, director of the museum told CarsGuide that his preference would be for the collection to be publicly owned and that his museum was already in conversation with Holden over the future of the heritage collection.And while he would not reveal how those talks were progressing, he did claim that he believed his organisation was “in the best position to handle the collection going forward”.Mr Rees said he was pleased that Holden had publicly (as reported on CarsGuide earlier this week) said that the collection would remain in Australia.“Having the collection stay in Australia is good, but even better would be having it publicly owned,” (as it would be as part of a State or national museum’s inventory) he said.“Public ownership would allow the vehicles to be accessed by the general public.”The government, it seems, agrees with that view, with the federal minister for communications, cyber security and the arts Paul Fletcher suggesting that state and national museums would be an appropriate place for the collection to wind up.“The government expects to see a clear plan from GM about how this significant material is to be preserved and maintained in Australia – which could potentially include it being made available to institutions such as the National Museum of Australia, the National Library of Australia, state government museums or privately-owned museums,” Mr Fletcher said in a statement on Tuesday.In the past, the National Motor Museum – which forms part of the History Trust of South Australia – has hosted cars from the Holden collection, but only on a rotational basis (with other museums and exhibition spaces) and never as a single group of 70 cars.In fact, should the National Motor Museum be given the task of protecting and preserving the Holden collection, new infrastructure would be needed.“Seventy cars is not something that can just be dropped on any one museum,” Mr Rees admitted, “it would definitely mean new infrastructure and new investment in maintaining the collection into the future.“When somebody offers us (the museum) an object, we don’t just say `oh yes, we’ll have that’ because when it enters here, it’s forever. Museums do not deaccession (remove from their collection) items easily … it’s deliberately difficult to do so.“The important word for us is `significance’. That’s a scientific assessment of an object’s provenance and meaning. And we believe the Holden collection is, indeed, significant.”

It doesn’t take a marketing degree or masters in economics to see that one brand has out-performed the other since 2016/2017