SUV News

Nissan is set to invite Chery to build cars at its UK factory as part of its Re:Nissan project to downsize its manufacturing footprint, and take advantage of its spare factory capacity.This will give Nissan a boost by allowing it to cut costs at its Sunderland factory, while for Chery it means establishing a manufacturing footprint just across the channel from the European heartland.The agreement is just a Memorandum of Understanding for the time being, and also comes just after Nissan announced it had cancelled plans to manufacture electric powertrains at the factory.Nissan’s Sunderland plant in the UK may seem a world away from Australia, but the Nissan Qashqai sold here is built there, as was the just-discontinued Juke.The company said it would retain 100 per cent ownership of the factory, while re-tooling one of its production lines to manufacture Chery vehicles. While the announcement said little else for the time being, it has been reported that, if all goes to plan, Chery would start building cars at the factory in the 2027 financial year.The factory has a capacity of 500,000 units, but has been operating at just over half that for some time.Chery is understood to be planning to build right-hand drive vehicles at the factory to satisfy exploding demand for its vehicles in the UK with Omoda Jaecoo capturing up to a six per cent market share despite being on sale for barely 24 months.The runaway success of the Chery sub-brands in the UK market has made the Omoda/Jaecoo operation bullish in Australia, with the company’s global boss Shawn Xu telling CarsGuide last year that it’s not really a surprise how well the products have been received in Australia.“We’ve always looked at global markets, not just the traditional left-hand drive markets - and from this global vision, we want to build up and be a famous brand for the world,” he said.Most Chinese cars sold in Australia are sourced from either Thailand or China itself, but high tariffs and protectionist policies have a role to play in protecting companies like Volkswagen, Renault and Stellantis in Europe.Many Chinese marques are finding a way into the space by purchasing whole factories or signing deals to take up under-utilised production capacity in active factories on the continent.Whether any Euro-built models from Chinese brands make it to Australia remains to be seen, but seems less likely in the medium term as our island is a convenient way to soak up supply from increasingly under-utilised factories on the Chinese mainland as the domestic market there experiences a contraction.

Australia will have an EV from the maker of the iPhone by the end of the year, this could be it.Foxtron is a joint venture between iPhone maker Foxconn and car manufacturer Yulong, and it will build electric cars for Mitsubishi for markets including Australia.Mitsubishi Australia General Manager Product Strategy and Product Public Relations Bruce Hampel told CarsGuide in April, “We’re on track for having our BEV [Battery Electric Vehicle] in market by the end of the year.”Mitsubishi hasn’t revealed the Foxtron model its electric car will be based on, but the new mid-size Cavira SUV would be the perfect fit.Mid-size SUVs are the most popular on the market, and would give Mitsubishi a genuine rival to the strong selling Tesla Model Y, Zeekr 7X and BYD Sealion 7.In Taiwan there are two variants of the Cavira, a single rear motor version that makes 186kW and 350Nm. It is paired with an circa-82kWh Lithium-Ferro-Phosphate (LFP) battery that delivers a driving range of up to 578km via the more lenient WLTC testing regime.A dual motor version ups the ante with 349kW and 700Nm, which drops the 0-100km/h sprint time to 3.8 seconds from 6.9 seconds.It uses the same battery to deliver a driving range of up to 538km.Both can accept a max DC charge rate of 175kW, and an AC charging rate of 11kW.It has a big boot and a front cargo area under the bonnet, which add up to almost 700-litres.The interior features a minimalist design like most new electric cars. There is a big 15.6-inch tablet-style central display and a medium-sized 12.3-inch digital driver display.It is capable of over-the-air updates, which applies software improvements to the car in the same way your smartphone updates.It starts at the equivalent of about $55,000 in Taiwan, and it would be very competitive at a similar price in Australia.Another option of a Foxtron-sourced car for Mitsubishi is the Bria compact SUV. It is smaller than the Cavira, but has plenty going for it.The Bria is offered in two variants, both with a 57.7kWh LFP battery delivering a claimed range of up to 516km.One version is powered by a single, rear-mounted electric motor that produces 171kW. The other has a dual-motor all-wheel drive set-up with a total system output of 299kW. The latter can do the 0-100km/h sprint in a claimed 3.9 seconds.We’ll know more about Mitsubishi’s first Foxtron-based model in the coming months.

Thousands of Toyota Prado large SUVs have been subject to an urgent recall in Australia due to a digital driver display software error as per a notice from the Department of Infrastructure. It affects 13,042 Prado 4WDs from the 2024 to 2025 model years. “Due to a software error, the instrument cluster may fail to illuminate the visual engine oil pressure light, engine coolant temperature, electrical charge, and other critical safety information,” the notice read.“Failure of the instrument cluster to display critical safety information or warning indicators may increase the risk of an accident causing injury or death to vehicle occupants and/or other road users.”Toyota Australia has been contacted for comment to see if there are any reported incidents of the issue occurring in Australia.The notice went on to say affected owners will be contacted by Toyota to make an appointment at a dealership, where the issue will be rectified free of charge. The software update will also be available via an over-the-air (OTA) update, which can be completed through the multimedia head unit.This issue also affects nearly 2600 Lexus SUVs models, which are the GX 550 and UX 300h.The Prado remains one of Toyota’s best-selling models in Australia, trailing only the HiLux ute and RAV4 SUV. 

Fiat is preparing a new rival in the popular small SUV segment with global ambitions called the Grizzly, hunting down the BYD Atto 3.It has confirmed these models will be targeting global consumers, but at this stage, they are only coming to Europe, the Middle East and Latin America, so Australia is not an immediate priority. Fiat Australia has been contacted for comment to see if there are any future launch plans for the Grizzly.Fiat’s line-up in Australia mainly consists of diesel-powered vans like the Scudo and the Ducato, along with petrol and electric variants of the 500 hatchback. The addition of SUVs could reignite the brand’s potential Down Under offer increased diversity, following consistently declining sales. There are limited details available on the Grizzly so far, other than it will measure at less than 4500mm long, placing it in the small SUV category, and that it will come in petrol and fully-electric set-ups.It was also be available in either a standard SUV or a sportier fastback shape.This means it lines up as a rival to the popular Korean duo of the Hyundai Kona and Kia Seltos, which also now boast electrified set-up choices. It will also take on the strong-selling electric-only BYD Atto 3 compact SUV.Despite its small stature, Fiat said there will be high levels of interior and storage space to give it substantial practicality. The car has all-round boxy proportions, with the fastback variant showing off a more poised look than its sibling. Both cars have  the same standout head and rear light designs, which features unconnected straight lines of LEDs. The Grizzly will make its official debut in the second half of this year. These models are the latest from Fiat as it looks to increase its footprint globally, following the launch of the Grande Panda compact SUV, which also comes in electric and mild-hybrid set-ups. It is also yet to be made available in the Australian market.

The electric vehicle revolution is in full swing after another standout month in Australia. There were 21,303 EVs sold in May 2026, as they continue to take hold at the expense of petrol- and diesel-powered cars. SUVs remain the dominant player in the electric segment, accounting for nine of the 10 best sellers.Tesla’s smashing May performance was headlined by 5605 sales for its Model Y SUV, cementing its position as the leading EV in Australia.The Model Y also claimed the title for the best-selling car in Australia last month.  The Jaecoo J5 EV had its best month on sale since it hit Aussie showrooms at the start of this year, selling 2126 units, up from less than 700 in April. This makes the J5 the best-selling small SUV in the country currently, even outselling its closely related and cheaper petrol sibling, the Chery Tiggo 4. The Geely EX5 also surged up the sales charts, achieving 1814 sales, while the BYD Sealion 7 experienced another bumper month, with 1538 sales. The Zeekr 7X rounds out the top five following a continued solid performance since its introduction late last year. BYD’s budget EV trio the Atto 3, Atto 2 and Atto 1 shifted more than 2000 units between them.The BYD Seal (580) is the only non-SUV on this list.Every car in the top 10 selling EVs for May is primarily built in China, with none coming from legacy brands. Some of the other EVs to miss out on a top 10 spot include the MG4 as well as Kia's EV3 and EV5 duo.Top selling electric cars May 2026

The once-mighty Chrysler brand appears to be on the cusp of a product-led comeback with the appearance of an all-new mid-size SUV at last month’s Stellantis Investor Day.But the covers weren’t pulled off a physical car, rather the sharp-eyed enthusiasts at moparinsiders.com may have spotted one of the three new models scheduled to appear for the brand by 2030, hiding in plain sight within the presentation given by Stellantis Group CEO Antonio Filosa and Head of North American Brands Tim Kuniskis.The presentation confirmed Chrysler’s sole current model, the Pacifica people mover, would be joined by three new arrivals competing in “high-volume compact SUV segments”.Designed to reinvigorate the brand, they are set to “increase affordability with sub-$30K entry points” and “deliver multi-energy options for freedom of choice”.The goal? A 60 per cent growth in sales volume from 143,000 units last year to around 225,000 sales in 2030.And the car moparinsiders believes it has spotted is a production version of the two-row, five-seat Airflow crossover-style SUV scheduled to arrive in 2027.Appearing in a video supporting the powertrain section of the presentation, a Chrysler crossover was spotted and the publication believes it matches descriptions of the Airflow provided by journalists who recently attended a private preview inside Stellantis’ Product Design Dome in Auburn Hills, Michigan.Chrysler showed a pure-electric Airflow Concept at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in 2022. But this car appears to be a more upright and angular design rather than the organic, curvy look of the concept.The nose features vertical LED headlights, an 'illuminated wing' badge in the centre and a full-width LED lighting strip above with the rear end showing long vertical tail-lights on each corner.Chrysler has confirmed the Airflow will ride on Stellantis’ new scalable ‘STLA One’ platform, which opens up the possibility of multiple powertrain options and the video vehicle shows a front transversely-mounted internal-combustion engine .Moparinsiders has theorised it could be the turbo-petrol ‘Hurricane4’ engine already used in the Jeep Grand Cherokee with the group’s EP6-based turbo hybrid system and a pure-electric system also in prospect.The Stellantis Group’s ‘Fastlane 2030’ initiative includes introduction of more than 60 new or redesigned vehicles globally by 2030 (23 in North America). The emphasis on North America is a clear rebalancing of the corporate scales at Stellantis, with former CEO Carlos Tavares widely perceived to have favoured the group’s European brands including Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Citroen, Opel and Peugeot, with his successor Filosa now leaning into its US nameplates - Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram.Chrysler’s new positioning statement is “Practical, Reliable, Comfortable Mobility for Everyday Life”, the brand looking to target the 35 per cent of buyers it believes look first for these brand attributes.

Chinese cars have entered “uncharted territory”, according to Vice President of Geely Group Li Chuanhai.Chuanhai explained that as Chinese automakers became global entities, they could no longer rely on challenging the status quo of so-called legacy brands, but would have to innovate on their own if they want to move the industry forward.“Franky, the Chinese automotive industry has reached its current position by standing on the shoulders of giants in the century-old automotive industry,” he said.“But now that we’re taking the lead, we have entered uncharted territory. How do we innovate in uncharted territory? I think our logic for innovation needs to change."He said Geely was well positioned to provide multiple power options, such as as petrol, hybrid and EV, across many markets, but there would still be the need to innovate further in the future.“Geely adheres to its energy diversification strategy. Our Thor hybrid, SEA EV, i-HEV, and green methanol developed over 20 years have created a complete ecosystem covering pure electric, hybrid, range extender, methanol, and charging/battery swapping. We’ve successfully explored every path to provide global users with more choices,” he said.Chuanhai outlined some investments Geely was making including collaborations with “more than 50 universities on basic research”. He said this “may not yield immediate returns” for the group, but that innovation required “adequate resource investment, effective ecosystem collaboration, and sufficient talent density”.Chuanhai earmarked the success of its premium Zeekr arm as evidence Geely had moved beyond its challenger status.“We don't have the time to build the brand story that century-old established brands have accumulated over time,” he said.“New energy and intelligent technologies have brought us opportunities for brand advancement. However, we also believe that the foundation for brand advancement lies in safety, chassis and powertrain—areas that best reflect our core professional capabilities."He said the brand is aiming for Volvo’s ultimate safety, Lotus’ ultimate handling and Horse Powertrain’s ultimate performance.He said the 750,000 units Zeekr has delivered in its short existence have an average selling price of more than the equivalent of $62,000, comparatively very high for a Chinese brand, with the national average being a little over half that ($35,000).“The essence of Chinese automotive globalisation is not about low prices and high volume, but about being rooted in technology and driven by brands, ultimately moving from simply selling cars to defining the future of automobiles,” he said.“We hope that Geely's experience can serve as a model for Chinese automakers going global, and we believe that China's automotive industry is fully capable of winning respect and establishing a firm foothold in the world.”Next for Geely in Australia will be its EX2 fully electric hatchback, which will be followed by the Emgrand EM-i plug-in hybrid sedan. Zeekr will launch its flagship 9X plug-in hybrid large SUV before the end of the year, alongside the 7GT fully-electric performance wagon.In 2027, the much-hyped 8X large five-seat hybrid SUV will arrive, with Geely also plotting a yet-to-be confirmed three-row hybrid SUV offering.

BYD has finished second in Australia's new-car sales race for the second consecutive month, delivering more vehicles than long-standing household names like Ford, Kia, Hyundai and Mazda, and trailing only Toyota in terms of total sales.

China’s XPeng has opened the door to dealers as the factory-backed operation pushes ahead in Australia.Despite its ongoing legal stoush with previous distributor TrueEV, XPeng’s new fully factory-backed operation is promising a seamless transition for prospective buyers and current owners.The company said it has appointed dealers and opened offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, and has sent its location finder live on its consumer website.XPeng is also promising its parts and service network is fully operational with a new warehouse for spares in Melbourne and the ability to cover cars in most states, in what will no doubt come as a relief for existing G6 owners.A spokesperson for the new factory-backed XPeng operation said the company is “building for the long-term in Australia”.However, they could not yet provide information on when the customer-facing locations will go live, or provide an update on timing for new cars hitting the ground.Previous distributor TrueEV is taking the new factory-backed operation to court for unconscionable conduct for allegedly tearing up its distribution agreement and undermining its operations to the point it was forced to de-list some dealers, making it impossible to sell vehicles.Since the brand’s establishment in Australia in 2024 under TrueEV, it has only offered a single model, the pre-facelifted version of the G6 mid-size electric SUV.Plans to expand this catalogue to include the G9 large SUV, X9 people mover, and potentially the Mona M03 sedan have not yet come to fruition, although the new factory entity lists the facelifted G6 on its new website with only expressions of interest open for the time being.XPeng will need a boost once its legal woes are behind it, as the delayed model roll-out has no doubt cost the brand potential market share in Australia as our new-car landscape becomes increasingly competitive.Its primary rivals, BYD, Zeekr and Tesla are soaring in the sales charts off the back of their respective line-ups of desirable and keenly priced electric models, with BYD leaping up the charts in large part thanks to its plug-in hybrids.XPeng does not yet provide registration data to VFACTS or the EV Council so it is hard to tell how many examples of the current G6 are in the country.The incoming updated G6 is a significantly updated vehicle underneath despite a mild aesthetic update from the outside.It includes a larger set of screens inside (consisting of a 10.2-inch digital dash and 15.6-inch multimedia touchscreen), a more powerful processor and larger battery capacities with longer driving ranges.The brand said at the launch of the updated car in China last year that it was 34 per cent new and included a total of 81 feature updates.The outgoing car was priced from $54,800 before on-road costs in base form, featuring a 190kW electric motor in a rear-wheel-drive layout.While the new entity will no doubt update its pricing strategy with the incoming G6, a similar price point would still make it a competitive offering when measured against the current Tesla Model Y (from $58,900), Zeekr 7X (from $57,900) and BYD Sealion 7 (from $54,990).

Toyota cancelled another of its upcoming electric vehicles last week -in this case it was its luxury arm Lexus and the LF-ZC sedan leaving it even more exposed to the premium Chinese EV assault.So, are we seeing the fall of an empire here with Toyota or does the Japanese giant have a secret plan?Toyota's axing of the Lexus LF-ZC sedan isn’t surprising, it’s very much in keeping with the company’s change of plan to pursue hybrids rather than EVs in the short term.In 2021 Toyota held a global address announcing that it would launch 30 new EVs by 2030. Well, we are now only about three and a half years away from the end of the decade and Toyota has only launched about three and a half  EVs - the bZ4x, Toyota HiLux, C-HR, and the longer version of the bZ4x - the Touring. The reason is a change of direction. Two years ago Toyota revised its plans and decided that the uptake of EVs wasn’t as strong as many had expected and decided to double down on hybrids instead.The decision made sense - the world was experiencing a slow down in the adoption of EVs and Toyota delayed pouring A$100 billion into the development of 30 new models.Toyota Australia's Vice President Sales at the time Sean Hanley told CarsGuide in January 2025 that the company had read the market accurately after all.“The plain truth is that demand for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in markets around the world is not living up to the hype,” he said.Hybrid sales were booming and Toyota changed plans and went back to doing what it had pioneered - hybrid powertrains. But March 2026 saw the world change again with the war in Iran and the Strait of Hormuz being blocked and preventing oil from being shipped through the channel. About 20 percent of the world’s oil and natural gas is transported through the channel and by the second month of the blockade the world’s petrol and diesel prices skyrocketed, particularly in Australia which sources its refined fuel from countries such as Malaysia which are supplied with oil from the Middle East.With this turn of events consumer interest in electric vehicles picked up again.Sales of EVs had gone from being down year-on-year by 61.9 per cent for cars (sedans and hatches) and down 12 per cent for SUVs in January 2025 to up by 77.4 per cent for cars and up by 150 per cent for SUVs.So why is Toyota still axing EVs? Well, never underestimate Toyota. The brand may look like it’s suddenly behind the eight-ball after a huge geopolitical change and it may also look like the victim of a surprise attack from a multitude of appealing Chinese electric offerings from brands such BYD and Zeekr, but Toyota is the world’s biggest car manufacturer and you can bet it either has a plan… or it can buy one.There are several possible plays going on here in my opinion.First, Toyota is probably banking on the spike in EV interest to fall once the conflict is over and believes consumers will return to hybrids. This is probably the most likely scenario, although I doubt people will return to buying petrol and diesel cars now without thinking about it as they did in the past. The fuel crisis has been a major catalyst in the switch to EVs.A second scenario is that Toyota is close to a solid state battery breakthrough and is holding off EV development until an affordable and practical example can be made, but this seems less likely.Toyota finding the solid state holy grail of batteries seemed like a possibility five years ago but Chinese carmakers such as Chery, BYD and battery maker CATL are reportedly already testing the tech in prototype form before an expected market launch between 2027 and 2030. When the solid state battery breakthrough comes it will be thanks to a Chinese carmaker - with recent commentary from Toyota itself placing doubt on the idea of the technology ever being ready for mass production.And third, which is probably going to happen, Toyota may decide to take the vehicles it produces in joint-ventures in China  and launch them globally.Toyota already has two major joint ventures in China - one with Guangzhou Automobile Group (GAC) and the other with First Automotive Works (FAW).Toyota-GAC models include the bZ7 fastback along with Chinese versions of the bZ3X and bZ4X.And before you scoff at Chinese Toyotas, just look at the bZ7. To my eyes this is one of the most beautiful Toyotas from the past decade which isn't hard considering the brand is famous for making what some people consider whitegoods on wheels.And with the changing of the guard in Australia, Toyota locally now appears to have decided which plan to go they'll pursue.Toyota Australia's new Vice President of Sales, John Pappas has a slightly different take on the situation than his predecessor and appears to be embracing the possibility of the company using its global manufacturing reach to sell cars into the future. “So the beautiful thing, the benefit of being such a global company like Toyota, and being in around 180 markets all around the world, and having so many manufacturing plants, that enables us to assess - whether it's sourcing of the vehicle, spec, powertrain.”  The future may prove to be a bit of scenario one to start and then into scenario three with Chinese made Toyotas. Either way the world’s biggest car brand has plenty of options to survive and thrive.