Hyundai Santa Fe 2014 News

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has announced its latest round of national recalls, with models from Hyundai, Mitsubishi, Kia, Land Rover and Ram impacted.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has issued its latest round of recalls, with models from Hyundai, Jaguar, Kia and Volvo impacted by the recent safety notices.

New Honda Jazz sets new benchmark for rear view cameras: $14,990.

The seven seater four wheel drive will likely be named ‘Everest’. Like the Ranger ute it’s based on, it’s developed by Ford Australia, whose design, research and development capability is expected to continue operating locally beyond manufacturing close down in 2016.The Territory rear end on this production test mule disguises a shorter wheelbase than the Ranger, which should make the Everest more manoeuvrable and agile on and off road. Like its rival, the Holden Colorado 7, the Ford is expected to upgrade the Ranger’s leaf springs and drum brakes to a live axle coil suspension setup and rear disc brakes.This should make the ride more passenger friendly, with the possibility of Ford adopting an independent rear suspension setup also an option. This would make the development more costly, but would favour passenger comfort and handling on road.A passenger version of the previous generation Ford Ranger has been in production in Thailand for several years, carrying the Everest name in that local market. But this is the first time the Everest SUV, which will be assembled in Thailand, will feature a smaller wheelbase and the expected suspension, brake and cabin refinement and passenger safety updates to make the SUV a competitive product in the global Ford portfolio.Like the Ranger, the Everest will be sold in European, American and Asia-pacific countries. No details have been revealed about engine and powertrain options, but expect little or no change to Ford’s 147kW 3.2-litre 5 cylinder Turbo diesel unit and 6 speed manual and automatic transmissions for our market. Ford’s 110kW 2.2-litre Turbo diesel, and 122kW 2.5-litre petrol may also feature in overseas models, but both are unlikely to make it to Australian showrooms.Low range is almost certain to continue too, making the Everest the most off road capable passenger four wheel drive offered by Ford Australia since the late 80s Maverick. A rear wheel drive model may also be on the cards, lowering the entry level price for families who don’t need the extra off road capability.Expect the Everest to launch in the second half of 2014, when the new model will need to win over the hearts of families and off road enthusiasts alike. The segment is currently dominated by the Toyota Prado with over 1000 sales per month, but it’s the soft roaders like the Ford Territory, Toyota Kluger, Holden Captiva 7 and Hyundai Santa Fe that make up the majority of sales combined, making passenger accommodation an important success factor.However, it’s the other ute-based passenger SUVs that will feel the heat of increased rivalry, with the Holden Colorado 7, Isuzu MU-X and Mitsubishi Challenger squarely on Ford’s radar. Ford may gain some sales from Territory buyers too, once manufacturing of the local SUV stops in 2016. Territory’s likely replacement, the Ford Edge, is not available with a Diesel engine, meaning customers wishing to buy a diesel four wheel drive Ford will need to turn to the Everest. 

Carmakers spend up big on the annual Super Bowl commercials, with a 30-second in-game spot costing $3.7m and even slots at the start and end of the game commanding premium prices. It's money well spent if they can attract attention – and turn it into sales. And a good ad can go far beyond the game day, turning viral and getting millions of views. Volkswagen's Darth Vader from the 2011 Super Bowl and the hot Adriana Lima commercial from the 2012 Super Bowl are just two of the stars that went on to become global successes.So which were the big contenders this year? Mercedes-Benz was early out of the gates with a teaser featuring swimsuit model Kate Upton 'washing a car slowly'. The shapely Ms Upton didn't actually get her own hands wet – except to blow a bit of foam around – and her role seems to be mainly distracting the footballers who are doing all the hard work. Merc followed up with what must have been a costly exercise for the CLA, with a pact offered by Willem Dafoe as Satan, and the Rolling Stones 'Sympathy for the Devil' as the soundtrack.Watch the Mercedes-Benz Kate Upton car wash adWatch the Mercedes-Benz Soul adWe reckon Coke filched ideas from two top Aussie movies. Their Coke Chase ad featured a gang of Mad Max baddies and a crew of showgirls in a pink Priscilla bus, vying with a Great Escape motorbike, a posse of cowboys and a camel-leading Arabian sheik – all in a race to a giant Coke bottle. The ad was the key creative in an online campaign that lets viewers vote to let three of the teams reach the bottle first – or delay the other teams by watching linked 'sabotage' videos. Watch the Coke Chase adThe early teaser for Toyota's 'Wish' spot featured The Big Bang Theory's Kaley Cuoco – it looked like fun and was backed up with the 'Careful What You Wish For' full ad, which gained much from Cuoco's perky personality as Penny.Watch the Toyota Wish teaser ad Watch the Toyota RAV4 Wish adKia's Space Babies teaser shows some fantastic CGI, and an even more fantastic answer to kids asking where they come from. The ad works well nearly right to the slightly lame ending, but it's doubtful it stacks up as something to rival their viral stars, the Soul Hamsters.Watch the Kia Space Baby adBut the Kia ad that had everybody talking -- including motoring journos -- was 'Hotbots', where a robotic motor show stand attendant (we don't call them booth babes here) gets revenge on a grubby guy.Watch the Kia HotBot adHyundai went all-out for the Super Bowl with several spots. The 'Team' one for Santa Fe was an early favourite, with some great performances from child actors -- and a very scary mum.Watch the Hyundai Santa Fe Team adThe 'Playdate' took you on an extreme day out of having fun and upsetting security guards, bikies and police, with the Flaming Lips providing the soundtrack.Watch the Hyundai Playdate adThe Genesis was talked up in 'Excited' with Hyundai touting its advantages over high end, and particularly German, luxury cars.Watch the Hyundai Genesis Excited adAnd then there was the aversion therapy of 'Stuck', showing some of the worst vehicles you can be stuck behind in traffic -- unless you have a Hyundai Sonata to overtake them, of course.Watch the Hyundai Sonata Stuck adVolkswagen ditched the Star Wars theme, and instead drafted reggae legend Jimmy Cliff for their 'Get Happy' teaser – and then got into a little hot water with the full ad, which shows Caucasian men taking off Jamaican accents. Perhaps it's still a Star Wars link ... the movie franchise faced similar accusations of racial stereotyping with the Jamaican-sounding Jar Jar Binks.Watch the VW Get Happy adWatch the VW Jimmy Cliff adVW then followed up with a low-key but effective 'bad dog' ad, showing what to do when the dog eats your car keys.Watch the VW Bad Dog adAudi tapped into every adolescent boy's fantasy with a lad heading off to prom night alone being tossed the keys to his dad's Audi S6, kissing the football jock's girlfriend and generally making it a night to remember.Watch the Audi Prom adFiat has launched a trio of ads for the 500L, all aimed at emphasising how much larger it is than the garden variety 500. Date, Sisters and Wedding are all flavoured with Italian dressing and – while not as scorching at the Catrinel Menghia Abarth ads – still manage to be cheeky.Watch the Fiat 500L Date adWatch the Fiat 500L Sisters adWatch the Fiat 500L Wedding adThe Chrysler group turned on the patriotism for their slightly saccharine ode to a farmer and Whole Again ads.Watch the Dodge Ram Farmer adWatch the Jeep  Whole again adAnd even snack food Doritos has got in on the car act, with one of the finalists for its Crash the Super Bowl ad playoff featuring the perfect solution to a back seat dog problem.Watch the Doritos Road Chip ad 

A member of the 2013 Australia's Best Cars judging panel says motorists are spoilt for choice right now. Royal Automobile Club of Tasmania general manager of roadside and technical Darren Moody -- who sits on the panel with judges from motorist clubs around Australia -- says new car buyers have access to record low interest rates and are still getting great value for money, despite a recent dip in the value of the Australian dollar.He and the 11 other judges from around the country had been trying to make life even easier for buyers, testing 50 vehicles in 15 categories for the 2013 best car awards.The awards, run by the Australian Automobile Association, involved all the state auto clubs. In October Mr Moody and the other judges spent six days at the Australian Automobile Research Centre at Anglesea in Victoria testing all the vehicles.The judges' choice this year was the Mazda6 Touring, winner of the category for best medium car under $50,000. "It brings premium features to the category," Mr Moody said. There was no winner in the people mover category this year. AAA chief executive Andrew McKellar said it was the first time in the 13 years of the program that an award has been withheld."It's unfortunate that not one vehicle in that class meets the expectations of an Australia's Best Car," he said.Australia's Best Cars 2013Judges' choice: Mazda6 TouringBest light car: Renault Clio Expression TCe 120Best small car under $35,000: Hyundai i30 ActiveBest small car over $35,000: Audi A3 Sportback TFSI CoDBest medium car under $50,000: Mazda6 TouringBest medium car over $50,000: BMW 320iBest large car under $60,000: Holden Commodore VF SV6Best large car over $60,000: Lexus GS350 F SportBest people mover: Award withheldBest sports car under $50,000: Volkswagen Golf GTIBest sports car $50,000-$100,000: BMW M135iBest SUV under $45,000: Subaru Forester 2.5iBest SUV $45,000-$65,000: Hyundai Santa Fe Highlander CRDiBest Luxury SUV over $65,000: Volkswagen Touareg V6 TDIBest all-terrain 4WD under $100,000: Land Rover Discovery 4 TDV6Best 4x4 Dual Cab Ute: Ford Ranger XLRead the full story here.