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GWM local ride and handling program to kick off this year, may also incorporate ADAS systems improvements.

Hyundai has teased images and video of its Insteroid - a wild concept based on the brand’s Inster electric hatch.Looking like something that’s just arrived back from an apocalyptic future the Insteroid is a pumped up beast. And if you hadn’t worked it out, Hyundai says the name Insteroid comes from the combination of 'Inster' and 'Steroid' to emphasise the meatiness of this concept hatch.Due to be revealed to the world globally in April 2025, the Insteroid features massive wheel arch air vents, 21-inch wheels and signature pixel LEDs.Then there’s the monstrous rear wing the likes of which we’ve only seen on Hyundai's Pikes Peak racers such as the Ioniq 5 N or World Time Attack cars. Could the Insteroid be Hyundai’s hint of its next Pikes Peak entry for the event in June?What’s more possible is the Insteroid continuing Hyundai's recent tradition of creating one-off wild cars to demonstrate the company’s fun take on vehicles.“Insteroid is designed to boost the emotional experience of electric cars,” the brand said.“Equipped with fun details, it offers plenty to discover; every element – from the control buttons to the instrument cluster, the rear spoiler to the brakes – reflects Insteroid character.”At the same time, Hyundai also uses such concepts to gauge public reactions towards cars or ideas it may be thinking of actually sending down the production line.Back in 2022 Hyundai unveiled its N Vision 74 concept which was based on its 1974 Pony Coupe. The reaction was so overwhelmingly good from the public Hyundai announced in 2024 the model would go into production.Hyundai’s announcement of the incoming Insteroid concept follows the recent teasing of similar shadowy images of cartoon-ghost motifs on interior controls ahead of the Seoul Mobility Show in April. Whether these images are connected to the Instroid is yet to be seen, although the Inster is called the Casper in its South Korean home market.   In Australia, Hyundai's Inster will launch in the next few weeks and serve as the Korean brand's rival to small affordable electric SUVs such as the BYD Dolphin, GWM Ora and MG ZS EV.

MG will take another swipe at Tesla and XPeng by launching the IM electric car sub-brand in Australia this year.

The Corolla Cross gets a GR-Sport variant with a handful of genuine tweaks, but will Australia ever see it?

Pricing and specifications for a special ‘A90 Final Edition’ Toyota Supra GR have been announced in Japan where the asking price will nudge the equivalent of A$160,000 and we now know if it will ever see Australian shores.Back in November of 2024 Toyota confirmed it would end the current generation (the A90) of the Supra GR in 2025, but along with the sad news there was a treat as well - a Final Edition version would be made, plus a less powerful Track Edition.Now the specifications and pricing has been announced for the A90 Final Edition with the coupe coming with a Japanese list price of A$159,465. Only 300 of the A90 Final Edition will be made with about half going to Japan and the other half most likely headed towards Europe.Unfortunately for die-hard fans of the nameplate, Toyota Australia has confirmed to CarsGuide no examples of the Final Edition are earmarked for Australia.It’s a shame - the A90 Limited Edition is very special with bigger brakes, a more rigid body, suspension upgrades and high grip tyres.The A90 Final Edition also gets a lot more grunt with the inline six -cylinder twin-turbo petrol engine getting a big bump from 285kW to 324kW.All A90 Final Editions will have an eight-speed manual gear box sending drive to the rear wheels.For disappointed Australians Toyota still has something you might like very much - a Track Edition of the Supra GR.Due by the middle of 2025 the Track Edition won’t come with an increase in power over the current 285kW but will land here with upgrades to improve dynamics.These include a reinforced rear subframe rubber mounting for sharper steering, stiffer rear underfloor bracing, a larger anti-roll bar, negative front camber adjustment, re-tuned electronic shock absorbers, re-tuned active differential and power steering and larger front brakes.There’s also improved aerodynamics in the form of a carbon fibre ducktail rear spoiler, and front underlip tyre spats aero flaps.Pricing for the Australian Track Edition will be announced closer to its arrival in the coming months but as a guide the regular version of the Supra GR lists from $86,295 (before on-roads) for the entry-grade GT. While this might be the final A90 Supra, a next-gen model is expected to follow with hybrid power. So it's not over by any means for this iconic sportscar.

According to multiple reports, Hyundai and General Motors are in the final stages of a deal that could see the two car brands exchange the basis for their models, including electric vans and American utes.

Haval updates its plug-in hybrid mid-size family SUV which could be headed to Australia.

BYD says it's just getting warmed up in Australia, promising a "proliferation of product" with a focus on "utes and SUVs" as it seeks to make good on its promise to dethrone Toyota at the top of the new-car sales charts. The brand currently has six models in Australia – the Dolphin, Atto 3, Seal, Sealion 6, Sealion 7 and Shark 6 ute – but says it will launch two new models this year, with the roll

At the start of this month Jeep’s parent company Stellantis announced the iconic Grand Cherokee large SUV would be discontinued in Australia.While axing the second best-selling model of a brand that was already struggling might seem like a good way to accelerate the demise of Jeep in Australia, it won’t. That’s because Jeep has something left that many brands have never had. Stellantis's Grand Cherokee announcement was both a shock and unsurprising at the same time. It was like hearing that your professional stunt actor friend had broken every bone in their body again, but they would probably be alright. It was coming and so was the Grand Cherokee’s axing.The surprising part of the Grand Cherokee's demise was that the new-generation version had only just arrived in Australia - well it was less than two years ago in 2023 with the 4xe plug-in hybrid variant following later in the year.What’s thrown most people is that the Grand Cherokee had a hugely successful past in Australia. In 2014 it was the best-selling large SUV under $70K, beating even Toyota’s Prado for the year with 16,582 sold.A big part of the previous-gen Grand Cherokee's allure was the price which, thanks to the strong Australian dollar, meant you could get into an entry grade Laredo for $47,000. Compared to the Japanese models which dominated the market at the time the Grand Cherokee felt like a lot of car for the money.Big, luxurious, comfortable and with a range of engines that stepped all the way up to a high-performance Hemi V8 in the SRT, many buyers found the Grand Cherokee more desirable than a Mazda CX-9 or Toyota Kluger and more affordable than SUVs with Mercedes-AMG, BMW M or Audi RS badges.That was it in a nut shell. Grand Cherokee was a flash in the pan for Australia that led to a surge in growth for Jeep, but there wasn't much to follow it up. Apart from a disastrous reliability record for the Grand Cherokee which saw recall after recall. Even after this new fifth-generation Grand Cherokee launched the 4xe was recalled in the United States due to 13 separate fires.If you’re superstitious then you’d believe the Grand Cherokee was cursed.Parent company Stellantis would not go into why the Grand Cherokee was pulled from sale in Australia other than to say it was looking for a more relevant model for the market.“As we look to right-size the Jeep product portfolio to match local market dynamics and customer preferences, we’ve made the difficult decision to pause availability of the current model Jeep Grand Cherokee  in Australia,” a Stellantis spokesperson said."While the Jeep Grand Cherokee will continue to be sold in many countries around the world, this decision allows us to focus our efforts on placing the right products in the right segments that can have the greatest relevance for our customers."Of course as any PR person would say Jeep remains committed to Australia, the spokesperson told us."The Jeep brand remains fully committed to the Australian market and Stellantis continues to invest heavily in its global product portfolio,” the brand’s spokesperson said.'Committed' as long as there’s a business case for staying is what this really means and there’s nothing wrong with that logic.Why Jeep will likely stay in Australia isn’t because a new model like the new electric Wagoneer S is just around the corner. It's because Jeep offers something many brands don't have - a lifestyle identity. Jeep’s Wrangler off-roader is central to this ethos and the connection the SUV has with cultural identity is important in its lineage back to the World War II Willys Jeep and forward to 21st century adventurers and the perceived freedom that goes with the lifestyle. The appeal is almost a rebellious one against the wrapped-in-cotton-wool safety standards of less adventurous SUVs that are seemingly secure so as to cut off all contact with the outside world. The Wrangler on the other hand has doors and a windscreen that can literally be removed. That emotional ingredient is a quality only some car brands have. Ford has its Mustang,  Toyota has the LandCruiser, Nissan the Patrol and even Subaru has the WRX . All offer more than just transport but membership to a club.Of course there needs to be regular buyers who give the brand huge spikes in sales, as was experienced by the Grand Cherokee.And while sales of Jeep's other models aren't outstanding among rival brands, they don't appear to be dangerously low either. Last year's total sales amounted to 2377 and that was 492 for Compass, 151 for the Gladiator, 646 for Grand Cherokee and 724 for the Wrangler.Citroen, which is also owned by Stellantis but imported through a different operator - Inchcape - was pulled out of Australia last year after selling just 147 vehicles.So we know where the line is and currently Jeep is not in danger of crossing it. Still, the brand needs another model to boost sales again and it's unlikely to be the just-arrived Avenger EV which will be up against more affordable small electric Chinese SUVs.So while Stellantis searches for another hit model, Jeep will be supported by the emotional engagement and identity it brings to those drawn to a life of adventure, even if their real life is mainly spent in an office or in traffic. 

After more than a few months of dissent from industry voices regarding the new emissions laws brought about by the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES), one senior executive from Australia’s most popular new car brand says it’s time to ‘get on with it’.Toyota Australia Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Franchise Operations Sean Hanley says the effects of the NVES, which increasingly penalises brands for selling more polluting cars year-on-year, says the effects of the rules won’t be seen in showrooms until the end of the decade.The initial stages of the NVES are already in effect, with brands incentivised via credits to sell cars that produce lower emissions, and given penalties for cars that produce more CO2.For Toyota, that means one of its most popular models, the HiLux ute, is in the firing line along with big off-road SUVs like the LandCruiser and smaller Prado.But Hanley says it’s not the end of the world. Just because cars like the HiLux are popular now, that doesn’t mean they’ll always be.“You'd be shocked, but not all customers who drive utes need utes, right?” Hanley told CarsGuide.“And they may say, ‘well, in actual fact, as a company, I probably don't need to be driving that Prado, I could probably do this in a RAV’, for example.“So, you've just got to narrow down in the future to customer requirements. What does the customer want? Because as you navigate new vehicle efficiency standards, decarbonization, regardless of what market you're in, you have to decarbonize. You just have to. That's not a debate.“That's why, when people ask about new vehicle efficiency standards, my standard answer is we support new vehicle efficiency standards. The targets are tough. They're real tough, but we support the notion, because you have to. It's not a choice.”Toyota’s hybrid SUV mentioned by Hanley, the RAV4, is also amongst the most popular cars sold in Australia, though even its current generation will need to lower its emissions over the years to meet NVES requirements.We asked Hanley when he thinks the impacts of the NVES will be generally seen in the Australian market - significant changes to model line-ups and pricing.“2029, ‘30,” Hanley says, “2029 is a long way away, right?”“So any commentary around NVES right now, it's just speculation, to be quite honest.“I mean, we accept the notion of an NVES, but we're not hiding from the fact that the targets are extremely challenging. They're hard, but in reality, you've got time.”By 2030, Hanley said he expects to see a much higher percentage of hybrid electric cars in the market, as well as plug-in hybrid making up a more significant share of new car sales, but importantly he says BEVs will more steadily approach the eventual market share they’ll rest at.“Despite popular opinion, Toyota is actually saying Toyota EVs will grow over the next four, five years.“Probably thinking around 30 per cent would be where I see it . But give or take, it could go to 40 right?“That would be the top end, but it certainly will be more than 10 per cent you've seen or the less than 10 per cent you see today.”In any case, Hanley expects global product offerings to change enough that the NVES limitations won’t negatively impact the Australian market as much as expected by the time they become much harsher.“Product portfolios will change dramatically between now and 2029 so anything that people are speaking about NVES really, it's just speculative stuff.“It's here. Get on with it. We've now got to work within the frameworks of what we know today and get on with it," he said.