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The Toyota GR Corolla is bringing some efficiency and structural updates that are set to sharpen up the Japanese hot hatch.The Kia EV4 sedan will be the first EV4 body style to arrive, with its production in South Korea meaning it's easier to get here first.Closely related to the EV3, the EV4 is longer, wider and taller than a Tesla Model 3.Built in Slovakia and set to arrive later, the Kia EV4 hatch will mirror the sedan in many ways, aside from being shorter.As with the sedan, a a 58kWh Standard Range or 81kWh Long Range pack are confirmed internationally.Want to know what other new models are due in 2026? Check out our rolling coverage by clicking on the links below. Best EVs Australia 2026Best Ute Australia 2026Best 4x4 Australia 2026Best New Cars 2026 AustraliaBest Family Cars Australia 2026Best Hybrid Cars Australia 2026Best SUVs Australia 2026

Leapmotor to take on BYD's Atto 2 and Toyota's Corolla Cross.

Hyundai has reportedly started preparations for production of its forthcoming Santa Fe range-extender electric vehicle (REEV).As reported by ETNews, the South Korean carmaker currently plans to complete development of the new vehicle’s combustion engine and engine control unit (ECU) by the first half of 2026.It’s reported that mass production of the Santa Fe REEV will commence towards the end of 2026 at the company’s forthcoming Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America facility.The US will be the target initially due to the success of the Santa Fe in that market, with global sales expected for 2027.At this stage it’s unclear whether Hyundai plans to offer the Santa Fe REEV in Australia. It’s currently offered with either turbo-petrol or hybrid powertrains.No details about the Santa Fe REEV’s powertrain have been confirmed yet, but it’s believed to offer double the driving range of the Ioniq 6 (up to 614km of range). This theoretically means a total driving range of 1200km could be on offer.Like other REEVs, it’s understood the primary driving force will come from either one or two electric motors, with a petrol engine acting purely as a generator to top up the battery pack.REEVs are becoming increasingly popular in the Chinese market and while the Holden Volt and BMW i3 REx were among the first REEVs to ever be offered in Australia, there’s now the Leapmotor C10 REEV.It’s understood Genesis is also working on REEV technology and is planning to launch a GV70 REEV in the near future. The brands could be sharing the development work.In addition to this new REEV powertrain for the Santa Fe, it’s expected there’s an imminent facelift due which will address some of the complaints about its exterior design.This could include a redesign of the horizontal low-sitting tail-lights. A recently spied prototype showed what appeared to be vertically oriented units, skirting the edges of the vehicle’s tailgate.New LED headlights and daytime running lights were shown too, ditching the current model's H-shaped look.The updated Santa Fe will likely also introduce the company’s new Pleos Connect infotainment software which is more software-defined than current operating systems and will offer over-the-air updates, among other things.More prototypes of the updated Santa Fe, potentially with the new REEV powertrain, will likely be spied ahead of its expected reveal next year.

Mazda's EV and hybrid onslaught detailed

Audi’s China-only brand AUDI has just debuted its next vehicle in concept form — the E SUV.Audi is living a double life releasing cars you’ve never seen nor heard of in China under its AUDI brand. Yes, all uppercased and without any sign of the familiar four rings. It’s been a massive success, so far. When AUDI launched the E5 Sportback in September, the company received 10,153 orders within the first 30 minutes of the books opening. Impressive even by Chinese standards.Now AUDI is offering a taste of its follow up act for China with the E SUV Concept, which was unveiled at the Guangzhou Auto Show over the weekend.The E SUV Concept is an SUV version of the E5 Sportback, which is expected to be formally named the AUDI E8 SUV when it goes into production.The E SUV Concept shares similar styling to the E5, with its signature giant LED trapezoidal lighting from and rear, but brings its own flavour with an SUV coupe design.Industry publication Car News China reports that the E8 will also use the same Advanced Digitised Platform (ADP) as the E5 and also use tech from Audi’s joint venture partner SAIC’s IM Motors brand.Car News China predicts the top grade E8 will be equipped with 800V architecture, along with a 109kWh battery with a range of up to 700km (CLTC).Single-motor rear and dual motor all-wheel drive variants will be available with the latter producing a combined 500kW with an estimated 0-100km/h sprint coming in under five seconds.We don't know what the cabin of the concept looks like, it makes sense to assume the interior is much like the E5 Sportback with an expansive curved screen that traverses the dash of a minimalist but luxurious looking cabin.The Chinese launch of the E8 is expected in early 2026. As for when it comes to Australia, unfortunately that's very unlikely to happen. The closest Australians can get to driving and Audi E8 or E5 is through one of IM Motors products currently being sold in Australia. IM has arrived in Australia as a luxury sub brand of MG. The current line-up includes the IM5 sedan and IM6 SUV. The top-of-the-range IM6 Performance comes in at $80,990 and comes standard with a 100kWh battery with up to 505km of range, dual motors for all-wheel drive making 572kW and 702Nm, and 800V architecture.  

Car companies typically focus on selling vehicles customers want to buy. But Volkswagen openly admits its newest model is unlikely to be a big seller.

BYD's flagship SUV has already been given buff before its even launched in Australia, Car News China reports.The Chinese brand has announced an upgraded version of its Sealion 8 seven-seater large SUV that is launching very soon in Australia.It will be the largest and most expensive BYD that has been introduced to the market so far. BYD sells the Sealion 8 in China with electric and plug-in hybrid variants, but it will be solely available as a plug-in hybrid when it hits Aussie shores.The plug-in hybrid option Australia will get comes with a 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine that produces a total output of 400kW and 668Nm.The new Sealion 7 gets 115kW from the four-cylinder engine and paired with electric motors, offers a 0-100km/h time of 4.3 seconds.This new version will boost range, with the 36.5kWh battery boasting an electric-only range of 175-215km via the more lenient CLTC testing system. The Australian bound versions can drive a climbed 152km using the slightly more stringent NEDC test cycle. Other updates include a re-designed front grille, bamboo wood trim, while there are improved driver assistance features. There is an all-electric version of the Sealion 8 in China that has a dual-motor set-up. The front motor produces 230kW, while the rear motor makes 580kW, to achieve a 0-100km/h time of 3.9 seconds. It has a massive 101kWh lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) battery that provides a CLTC range of 670km for the top-tier variant. BYD is growing its presence in Australia as they target a top-three place in the market by the end of next year, according to BYD Australia boss Stephen Collins.Both its Sealion 6 plug-in hybrid SUV and Sealion 7 all-electric SUV have been well received in Australia with strong sales figures. The comparatively larger Sealion 8 will be priced competitively to its main rivals, between $65,000 and $75,000. Jaecoo’s Omoda 9 plug-in starts from $61,990, as a five-seater. But the Sealion 8 will also have to take on the Kia Sorento, which is a dominant seller in the seven-seater segment. Its plug-in variant starts from just over $70,000.Another challenger will be the seven-seater variant of the Mitsubishi Outlander plug-in, which starts from under $70,000.It is unclear whether this new Sealion 8 will be seen in Australia, with the original variant still yet to hit showrooms. BYD has not confirmed whether it will bring the electric version of the Sealion 8 to Australia, but it is rapidly expanding its line-up into new segments.

New Chinese brand GAC says it has a secret weapon to crack the competitive Australian market, saying it has learnt from Toyota and will launch with vehicle quality that matches that of the Japanese giant.

Volkswagen has conceded defeat in the fight against Ford’s Ranger Raptor.Just weeks away from revealing the details of the second-generation Walkinshaw collaboration on the Amarok ute Volkswagen Australia commercial vehicles boss Nathan Johnson has played down the notion that it will ‘attack’ Ford’s performance ute hero.“We're just trying to enhance the Volkswagen Amarok appeal in terms of what we're doing,” Johnson told CarsGuide. “We're not trying to go and say that we're gonna attack Raptor. Raptor works in its own space and we'd be silly to kind of just say that we're coming after Raptor because Raptor is such a part of the Australian psyche, everyone wants one.“We've gotta play to our own tune here and work what we think will work for Amarok. And I think we've got a pretty good package that's coming.”Volkswagen Australia first partnered with Walkinshaw for the so-called ‘W Series’ Amaroks in the final years of the previous generation ute. While there was always a plan to continue, the two parties haven’t rushed the development of this new iteration, spending more than two years developing the new hero model for the Amarok line-up.“ It's taken a while from face value because we spoke about it quite early on,” Johnson said. “Because to be quite honest with you, the day that we launched Amarok, the first question I had in an interview as a product manager was ‘when is the Walkinshaw Amarok coming?’”While he ruled out a direct challenger to the Ranger Raptor, Johnson was adamant that the long development time will result in a vehicle that is unique in the market and will have its own appeal.“ I think it's a very different scenario ,” he said. “The previous Amarok we were coming to the end of production and it was very different in terms of how we worked on that car and how we pushed it.“This one was very different in terms of, we'd only started production. We're taking a very different approach to this car in terms of the previous one we had to obviously… compromise on a few things that we really wanted to do with our car. With the time period we had and we could have made some decisions to move down different routes, but it probably would've compromised the end product and so forth. So we made the decision not to.“Whereas this time around we've got time, we've got time on our hands and we've been working with Walkinshaw a long time on this to make sure that we can assess everything and make sure that we are working with the right partners, developing all the different bits, the components of the car, and then actually doing a really strong testing program.”Volkswagen reportedly finalised the design of the new Walkinshaw Amarok earlier this year, in April, and has been testing since then.

Our best look at the next-gen Sorento's design yet.