Hot hatches

Cupra Australia has announced a new special edition for its most popular model, the Cupra Formentor, before its previous Rojo Edition has even sold out.

A new variant has been added to the top of the range for Abarth’s new electric ‘hot hatch’, with the 500e Turismo variant coming in hatch and cabriolet body styles.

The BMW Australia range has been subjected to a significant pricing increase for the second time in 2023, with only a few variants managing to escape the bump.With some models’ pricing increased by as much as $9000, the pricing adjustments have been applied to almost every model except for the non-M 4 Series, which had its pricing adjusted quite recently, as well as the brand’s electric SUV iX models.Also excluded from the pricing adjustments are the updated BMW X5 and X6 SUVs, which had new prices confirmed in February this year to reflect a change in specification.At the time, the increased pricing for the X5 and X6 range was bumped up by $8000 over the old model (to start from $134,900 before on-roads for the X5 xDrive30d). Electrification and tech updates are the main changes for the new 2023 models.The only model in this round of pricing updates to have a feature or specification change is the X7 xDrive40d which gains a light-up 'glowing' kidney grille.In January, BMW Australia adjusted pricing across the range by thousands of dollars for each model, with some up by as much as $11,500, though models that had increased prices were also subject to updates like the addition of head-up displays in some variants or heated steering wheels in M models.A spokesperson for BMW Australia told CarsGuide the adjustments still aim to ensure competitive pricing for its customers.“BMW constantly reviews its pricing structure throughout the year, taking into consideration a number of different factors,” they said.“However, we always aim to ensure our products remain appropriately positioned and represent a competitive pricing proposition in the market for our customers.”A full list of pricing updates can be found below.2023 BMW 1 Series pricing before on-road costs2023 BMW 2 Series pricing before on-road costs2023 BMW 3 Series pricing before on-road costs2023 BMW 4 Series pricing before on-road costs2023 BMW 5 Series pricing before on-road costs2023 BMW 7 Series pricing before on-road costs2023 BMW 8 Series pricing before on-road costs2023 BMW X1 pricing before on-road costs2023 BMW X2 pricing before on-road costs2023 BMW X3 pricing before on-road costs2023 BMW X4 pricing before on-road costs2023 BMW X5 pricing before on-road costs2023 BMW X6 pricing before on-road costs2023 BMW X7 pricing before on-road costs2023 BMW Z4 pricing before on-road costs2023 BMW iX pricing before on-road costs2023 BMW XM pricing before on-road costs

The Toyota GR86, Supra, Corolla and Yaris GR could all be joined by even more go-fast siblings as Toyota’s new boss has hinted that his predecessor has the time to remain involved in developing sports cars.

The hot hatch class is in crisis.

Cupra says Australia's warm welcome to the brand has allowed to to secure additional supply of its headline-grabbing electric hatchback.

A British tuning company Mountune, best known to Australians for a recent partnership with Ford for the Focus and Fiesta, is officially making Australia its newest base of operations.

Honda says it will continue to offer traditional family-orientated passenger cars like the iconic Civic small car and Accord midsized sedan for the foreseeable future, even though the coming ZR-V midsized SUV is set to become the brand’s local bestseller.

The last of the petrol-powered N cars from South Korea may be upon us this year, if a global teaser from Hyundai is anything to go by.

The historic hot hatch icon, the Volkswagen Golf GTI, has been absent from Aussie showrooms for some time, but the brand's local arm has now announced its return.Taken off sale here in early December 2022 due to production changes, the Golf GTI is now bac