Holden Captiva 2012 News

New car buyers have turned to Sport Utility Vehicles in record numbers, according to the official sales figures released yesterday by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.So far this year the small SUV brigade – including such popular vehicles as the Nissan Dualis, Mitsubishi ASX, Volkswagen's Tiguan and Hyundai ix35 – has grown at an unprecedented rate of 31 per cent. Australians bought 23,845 SUVs of all types last month.Small SUV sales have not come at the expense of the larger models - the medium, large and upper large SUVs all continue to record twenty-plus per cent growth.SUVs have sold 177,100 units this year – or just 20,000 vehicles short of the SUV tally for 2007, which was the record year for vehicle sales. The segment is on track to top 305,000 sales.The FCAI also says SUVs are being bought by both private and business customers. Diesel engines are the powerplant of choice.The sales data shows a 59.9 per cent growth in private diesel SUVs and a 36.3 per cent in non-private sales.One brand that has strong SUV sales to thank is Toyota - Australia's executive director sales and marketing Matthew Callachor said strong performances from Toyota's SUVs helped lift Toyota's sales tally by 26.2 per cent this year."Toyota SUVs sales rose by a massive 58 per cent July-on-July, led by Prado which more than doubled its year-ago result,'' he says.     

There's been no change to the asking price for the upgrades, which are headlined by a claim of 10 per cent fuel economy improvements and the introduction of "flex-fuel" capability to the four-cylinder and V6 petrol engines, giving the option of running on E85 ethanol-blend fuel.Holden says the 10 per cent fuel economy improvement result was achieved on 95RON premium unleaded fuel, not E85 - the latter burns at a greater rate, as much as 30 per cent quicker, but Holden claims E85 is cleaner-burning fuel and reduces CO2 emissions by 40 per cent compared to ULP.The features list has been improved on the entry-level 7-seater SX with the addition of rear parking sensors, while the flagship LX now has heated front seats and front parking sensors added to the existing rear sensors.Unchanged pricing starts from $27,990 drive-away for the Captiva 5 2.4 manual and $33,990 drive-away for the Captiva 7 SX 2.4 litre petrol auto - the local car maker has also put special offers (a sunroof and 18in alloys on the 5 or a sunroof and side steps on the 7).Holden sales, marketing and aftersales executive director John Elsworth said the new updates would increase the appeal of the Holden SUV offerings. "We're constantly looking to improve our products whenever possible, responding to customer feedback and market changes to ensure our vehicles remain highly competitive and relevant to modern Australian families," he says.So far this year, the Captiva range remains ahead overall - just when it comes to Captiva 7 - despite SUV sales running at 46 per cent up on last June and 33 per cent ahead year-to-date. Holden Captiva 5 was - funnily enough -  5th in the segment last month, being down 3 per cent month-on-month but up 51.8 per cent year to date.The seven-seater Holden Captiva 7 had an even-worse June - down by 23.2 per cent on June last year - but is still up 2.5 per cent in year-to-date terms. The 5's 2.4 litre petrol engine has dropped its claimed combined fuel consumption figure from 9.1 to 8.8 litres per 100km, while the 2.2-litre diesel model has reduced its thirst by 0.3 to 8.2 litres per 100km.The Captiva 7 range has been equipped with a USB input and full iPod connectivity across the range and the petrol V6 now has been rated for a 2000kg braked towing capacity. The 2.4-litre petrol four in the Captiva 7 now claims 9l/100km (a drop of 0.1), while the petrol V6 engine has reduced its thirst from 11.3 to 10.1l/100km.The 2.2-litre turbodiesel in the SX base-model now claims 7.6 litres per 100km (down from 8.1), while in the CX and LX models the number has shrunk a little, from 8.3 to 8.1l/100km.