Toyota Aurion News

Five years ago, this month, Holden became the final carmaker to withdraw from full-vehicle manufacturing in Australia. Predictably, since then, prices of locally-made “metal bumper bar” and high-performance models have soared. Yet – almost unbelievably – there are some increasingly rare Australian classics that are still within reach. Here’s a list of our top five. But you better get in quick!

Once a common sight in Australian driveways, the family sedan is now an endangered species following the recent confirmation that the once-popular Subaru Liberty would join the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon in the history books

Toyota has announced that it will shut the doors of its Altona manufacturing plant on Tuesday October 3, following 53 years of manufacturing on Australian soil.

Drive-away is the go when it comes to new car deals in October.

This will go down in automotive history as one of the weirdest automotive recalls of all time.

Toyota has given the second-generation Aurion its final facelift ahead of the brand’s local manufacturing operations coming to a close in 2017.The changes come just two weeks after the locally-made Camry was updated, but the also-Altona-built V6 model’s changes are far less significant than those applied to the four-cylinder Camry, which has so far outsold the Aurion by more than 6:1 this year.The Aurion model lineup has also been consolidated, with the previous mid-spec Prodigy trim level dropped and the sports-flavoured Sportivo has been scaled back to a single variant.Where the Camry scored a comprehensive styling upgrade, the Aurion makes do with the sheetmetal and basic styling at both ends the model has worn since the second generation arrived in 2012.However, the new AT-X now comes with the chrome-free grille from the Sportivo, while the Presara scores a new grille design and the same 17-inch alloys as the new Camry Atara SL.The Sportivo’s look is now more discrete, with a more subtle body kit and the black 18-inch alloys from the new Camry Atara SX.At the top of the range, the Presara adds a unique grille design and lip spoiler, LED headlights and fog lights and new design 17-inch alloys. Larger 18-inch alloys can be optioned, however.All models in the Aurion range now come with a 4.2-inch information display for the driver, improved mobile phone connectivity and keyless ignition, along with front parking sensors added to the existing rear ones.These additions join the dual-zone air-con and reversing camera present on the outgoing model.The AT-X also retains its 6.1-inch touchscreen multimedia screen, as does the Sportivo, with the Presara still sporting 7-inch screen that brings satnav with real-time traffic updates.The Presara also continues to feature safety tech not available in lower model grades, including rear cross-traffic alert, lane departure warning and blind spot monitoring.All Aurion variants continue with the same 200kW/336Nm 3.5-litre V6 petrol engine and six-speed automatic transmission the model has used since 2006. The Sportivo is still the only model to get paddle-shifters.Pricing for the entry-level AT-X and mid-spec Sportivo is unchanged at $36,490 and $40,990 respectively. The top-spec Presara model has jumped slightly to $50,440, which Toyota says is a result of metallic or pearlescent paint being made standard.

Japanese brands are bringing down prices before the end of March - and the Koreans are in step with them.

Australia is still a nation of gas-guzzlers even though new data shows tailpipe emissions have fallen to their lowest since records were first calculated 10 years ago. Small-car specialist Suzuki topped the latest car emissions study while Jeep ranked last among the Top 15 brands.Figures released by the National Transport Commission show the average emissions for all new cars sold last year fell to 192 grams per kilometre compared to 252g/km in 2002.But our cars are still pumping out 45 per cent more carbon-dioxide compared to those in Europe (132g/km) and we’re not far behind the gas-guzzling capital of the world: North America (231g/km).Although small cars and SUVs have overtaken the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon as our family favourites, Australians have been relatively slow to adopt more efficient vehicles because we are the fourth cheapest developed country in the world for petrol and the sixth cheapest for diesel.“There’s no doubt that one of the biggest factors that drives the European result is their substantially higher fuel taxation,” said the executive director of the Australian Automobile Association, Andrew McKellar.For example, the petrol price average in the UK last year was 217.3 cents per litre compared to 146.6 cents per litre in Australia. Fuel excise in Australia is also among the cheapest in the world: 38.1 cents per litre versus the UK’s 59.3 cents per litre.“Australian car buyers still tend to favour size, power and performance over fuel economy,” said Mr McKellar. However, the study should not be a “black mark” for motorists because Australians are more reliant on the motor vehicle.“In Europe, when you want to travel between cities it’s not uncommon to catch a high-speed train,” said Mr McKellar. “Australia obviously doesn’t have that network so we depend more on cars, and ones that can be driven comfortably over long distances.”The NTC figures also reveal private buyers are doing more to save the planet than are government and businesses. The average emissions of vehicles bought by private buyers last year was 186g/km compared to 198g/km for businesses and 210g/km for government fleets.This is partly because government purchasing policies have favoured Australian-made vehicles, which aren’t as efficient as equivalently-sized imported cars.Toyota has the most efficient locally-made cars, with the Camry and Aurion sedans producing an average of 179g/km, ahead of the Ford Falcon sedan and Territory SUV (213g/km).Despite manufacturing the Cruze small car alongside the Commodore, Holden’s emissions were the highest of the local makers (237g/km), according to the report.Indeed, none of Australia’s three manufacturers figured in the Top 10 list of the most efficient car brands.Top honours went to small car specialist Suzuki, whose average fleet emissions was 158g/km, ahead of BMW, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai.Toyota, Ford and Holden ranked in the bottom of the Top 15 brands, with Jeep ranked highest among the group (226g/km).Toyota may have the largest hybrid model range but it was penalised by its high proportion of commercial vehicles and SUVs.Meanwhile the locally-made Ford and Holden six-cylinder cars outweighed the improvements in with their imported four-cylinder cars.The study covered only the Top 15 brands as they represented 92 per cent of vehicles sold in Australia in 2013.Meanwhile, Australia’s regulations for carbon dioxide vehicle emissions lag European standards by more than six years.The latest “Euro 5” rules, as they are known, aren’t due to be enforced in Australia until November 2016; they were introduced in Europe in September 2010.Europe is targeting even stricter standards by 2015 (to an average emissions rating of 130 g/km) before limboing to just 95 g/km in 2020.The European target for light commercial vehicles such as utes and vans are 175 g/km in 2017 and 147 g/km in 2020.The Top 15 most efficient car brands in AustraliaSuzuki 158 g/kmBMW 158 g/kmVolkswagen 162 g/kmMercedes 165 g/kmHyundai 175 g/kmHonda 176 g/kmSubaru 181 g/kmMazda 184 g/kmKia 184 g/kmMitsubishi 191 g/kmNational average 192 g/kmToyota 203 g/kmFord 205 g/kmNissan 209 g/kmHolden 212 g/kmJeep 226 g/kmAverage CO2 emissions by brand in 2013.Source: National Transport CommissionThis reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling

None of us wants to crash our shiny new car but, if we do, we want to know we're safe. That's where the Australian New Car Assessment Program's standardised crash-testing analysis is invaluable, providing comparable ratings for vehicles of all types.The ANCAP site notes that a one-star car is twice as likely to kill you as a five-star model. Carsguide examines ANCAP's results to find the best of breed in each segment. It's worth noting the advanced software in some cars that readies the vehicle if a crash is imminent are disabled during the official tests. Cars are scored out of 37 points after the following tests.FRONTAL OFFSET TEST: The subject vehicle is accelerated to 64km/h and rammed into a deformable alloy barrier to simulate a head-on crash. To increase the severity and reproduce real-world conditions only 40 per cent of the car hits the wall - equating to a driver swerving to avoid an oncoming vehicle.SIDE IMPACT TEST: The T-bone hit rams a 950kg trolley into the side of the car at 50km/h. The sled has an alloy face to simulate the front of another vehicle, which deforms and absorbs some of the impact.PEDESTRIAN TEST: Simulates the results of hitting a pedestrian at 40km/h. The test assesses adult and child impacts, given their heads and limbs strike different areas of the car.POLE TEST: This is the most demanding test in the ANCAP repertoire. Trees and poles don't deform, so all the crash energy is transferred to the vehicle. The car is put on a sled and propelled towards a fixed steel pole at 29km/h.SAFEST SMALL CARSAUDI A3 36.41 See reviews of this carOfficially the best small car to occupy in an accident. Impressively, the windscreen pillar didn't move after a 64km/h hit with the concrete block.  HONDA INSIGHT 36.39 See reviews of this carIts score reflects a 3mm movement of the pillar in the frontal offset test and "slight risk" of serious leg injury for driver and passenger.   BMW 1 SERIES HATCH 36.33 See reviews of this carThere's a slight risk of serious chest injury for the driver in the frontal and side crash test and a slight risk of serious leg injury for the passenger in the frontal crash.   SAFEST MEDIUM CARSMERCEDES B-CLASS 36.78 See reviews of this carTops the charts with the highest score of any car in ANCAP database. Technically there's a 4mm movement of the front pillar and a slight risk of injury to the passenger leg closest the door.  BMW 3 SERIES 36.76 See reviews of this carBarely behind. It showed a 1mm movement of the pillar and there was a slight risk of serious injury to the driver's and passenger's legs.VOLVO V40 36.67 See reviews of this carThe only loss of points occurred during the frontal crash test, with a slight risk of serious injury to the front occupants' legs closest the door and the driver's chest.SAFEST LARGE CARSTOYOTA AURION 36.59 See reviews of this carFirst place in this class makes it the only locally built vehicle in any top-three line-up. There's a slight risk of lower leg injury for driver and passenger.   BMW 5 Series 36.53 See reviews of this carNot a bad place to be in the event of an accident either. It blitzed the side impact tests and only lost fractions of points in the head-on hit.    VOLVO S60 36.34 See reviews of this carSweden maintains its safety credentials. The passenger compartment stayed intact with only a 1mm movement of the front pillar.    SAFEST COMPACT SUVS SUBARU XV 35.53 See reviews of this carLike the slightly lower-riding Impreza, the XV scored highly in all crashes, with a slight risk of injury to the front occupants' chests and legs.    HOLDEN TRAX 35.18 See reviews of this carThe surprise packet. One of the smaller cars in the class has only a slight risk of serious leg injury for those in the front in a head-on crash.   Skoda Yeti 34.67 See reviews of this carDepite being one of the older examples in this segment, the Yeti still rates well for safety, with only a slight risk of serious leg injury for those in the front in a head-on crash.    SAFEST MEDIUM SUVSVOLVO XC60 36.53 See reviews of this carANCAP says the cabin 'held its shape extremely well" in the frontal test, with the pillar shifting just 3mm. There was a slight risk of serious chest and leg injuries to the driver.  FORD KUGA 36.33 See reviews of this carA solid second, posing a slight risk of serious chest injury for both front seat occupants. The front pillar moved 15mm.   HONDA CR-V 35.91 See reviews of this carPlaced well despite being penalised for the foot-operated park brake moving upwards and back. Structurally there was only a 2mm movement of the pillar.  SUBARU FORESTER 35.64 See reviews of this carTested this year, it scored highly in all crashes, with a slight risk of injury to the front occupants' chests and legs.   SUBARU OUTBACK 35.52 See reviews of this carFills the brand's quinella. Crashed in 2008 and at the time topped the charts as the safest vehicle ANCAP had tested. SAFEST LARGE SUVSMERCEDES-BENZ ML 36.34 See reviews of this car Luxury SUV has a slight risk of serious chest injury for driver and passenger in the head-on hit and a slight risk of serious leg injury for the passenger. The pillar moved 2mm. RANGE ROVER 36.19 See reviews of this carBig Brit has a slight risk of serious chest injury for the driver and the pillar shifted by 15mm.   NISSAN PATHFINDER 35.73 See reviews of this carSlight risk of serious leg injury for the driver. Unlike the other two, it applies to the upper leg as well as the expected lower-leg hits. Docked points for a marginal pedestrian impact result.

Australia's oldest wheel manufacturer will invest $5.5 million over the next nine months to secure a contract to supply car giant Toyota for another 10 years.The new wheels will be fitted to all local and export versions of the Toyota Camry and Aurion sedans from 2015 to 2022, although some models will have them from as early as next August.Adelaide-based ROH wheels, which once supplied all four local car makers -- Toyota, Holden, Ford and Mitsubishi, but of those now only supplies Toyota's car assembly line in Melbourne -- has already begun the ground works at its Woodville North plant to make way for new hi-tech machinery.ROH will be one of only about 20 wheel manufacturers in the world to use "flow forming" technology, which makes alloy wheels lighter yet stronger, saving aluminium in the production process and contributing towards better fuel economy in cars.Once the new machinery is operational the ROH factory will be able to produce 480,000 alloy wheels a year, with most of them being freighted interstate to Toyota on six B-Double trucks each week.ROH general manager Bill Davidson said his company had worked closely with Toyota on the new technology after adopting the Japanese manufacturer's production efficiencies. "Toyota is always about constant improvement, a better way to do things," said Mr Davidson. "They just don't walk in here and demand a cheaper price, they help you find ways to achieve it."Mr Davidson said Toyota continued to source Australian-manufactured wheels even though the car maker can import them more cheaply from China (as Holden and Ford do). "Toyota believes in supporting local suppliers as much as possible, even if it might cost them a little more," said Mr Davidson."But the benefit for Toyota is that they take efficiencies we have found in a high-cost environment and take them to other factories around the world where they can make even bigger savings because they're producing higher volumes."Contrary to perception Toyota cars have more local content in them than Holdens. The Toyota Camry is made up of 65 per cent local parts, compared to 50 per cent for the Commodore and just 30 per cent for the Cruze, according to figures supplied by the car makers. The Ford Falcon sedan and Territory SUV have 70 per cent local content."Flow forming" technology has only been used in mainstream wheel manufacturing for about three years, having been pioneered by a German company, Mr Davidson said.But the manufacturing equipment ROH will use will come from Japan.  The new production efficiencies will mean that 11 contractor positions will be no longer be required, trimming ROH's workforce from 154 to 142.At its peak 10 years ago ROH employed more than 450 workers and had three press lines running 20 days a month. It now has one press line running nine days a month.  "You never like to let people go but unfortunately this is the price of survival," said Mr Davidson. "We have to adapt."Cheap Chinese wheels have all but "crippled" the wheel manufacturing industry here and overseas, said Mr Davidson. "So we've had to work bloody hard to stay afloat and move with the times."An unexpected bonus, the Toyota project also helped ROH find new efficiencies when manufacturing its regular steel wheels. "We're producing wheels here at 25 per cent less cost today than we were 10 years ago," said Mr Davidson.While ROH has received some government assistance in the past it says it has not used taxpayer funding to help pay for this new deal. ROH is waiting on the outcome of a Clean Technology Grant application, but the scheme is likely to be scrapped by the new Coalition Federal Government.This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling