Spy Shots

The Toyota 4Runner is set to return to Australian showrooms next year - and CarsGuide has exclusive photos of it during top-secret testing.Photographer Phil Williams of the Centralian Advocate newspaper caught a convoy of disguised Toyotas in the outback this week.We've published spy photos of HiLux prototypes before but this is the first time its twin-under-the-skin, the new generation 4Runner, has been caught on camera in Australia.It is pictured towing a loaded trailer in durability testing south of Alice Springs. Locals say the Toyota team has been there for several weeks.The 4Runner was last sold in Australia between 1984 and 1996 priced between $40,000 and $48,000. It was dropped from the line-up locally because Toyota chose to import the family-sized Prado seven-seater SUV instead.That proved to be a wise move as the Prado became one of Australia's top-selling recreational vehicles, as a cheaper entry point into Toyota's heavy duty four-wheel-drive range than the LandCruiser. However, its price has risen over the years.As Australia's appetite for 4WDs continues to grow, Toyota, the biggest seller of SUVs, has found the need to introduce a more affordable model.The new generation vehicle is a little different to the 4Runner as we knew it. Back in the 1980s it was initially marketed as a cosy two-door, five-seater ute with a fixed canopy, designed to appeal to surfers and young couples keen on camping. The second model was available with four doors and five seats.But it has grown up since then and is now available as a seven-seater, putting it among the most affordable family-sized, heavy-duty 4WDs.In Australia its most likely rivals will be the Holden Colorado7, Isuzu MU-X, Mitsubishi Challenger and the coming Ford Everest. It is tipped to carry the Fortuner badge, as in overseas markets.All of these vehicles are made in Thailand and based on their ute siblings. The Toyota is built on the next-generation HiLux platform. Toyota Australia has not confirmed the Fortuner is coming to Australia but CarsGuide understands it will be in local showrooms by the end of 2015, soon after the all-new HiLux goes on sale in October, priced about $45,000.

The luxury brand aims to double annual sales with a high-riding rival for Rolls, Maserati and Lamborghini.Bentley is promising to rewrite the rules for high-end SUVs as it readies an ultra-luxury flagship for the road.Rolls-Royce is planning a similar super SUV, most likely based on its $645,000 Wraith coupe, and Lamborghini and Maserati both have SUV plans in the works. Bentley is several years ahead with its contender.A camouflaged prototype is turning test laps at the Nurburgring in readiness for a public unveiling next year and company chief Wolfgang Durheimer exclusively reveals to CarsGuide that it breaks new ground on the SUV front."I'm convinced we have a game-changer. We will create a new layer in the SUV segment, right at the very top," he says."We are now in the final test phase. That is including a challenging off-road phase." Durheimer is serving his second stint in the top job at Bentley. He originally gave the green light to the SUV program - when it was only an ugly concept called the EXP 9 F - and says it has progressed as he planned."In only my third day back I was able to drive the first prototype. The company has moved on, in a good direction," he says.The Bentley boss has also served time at Porsche and can see parallels with the impact of the original Cayenne, Porsche's first SUV, on his current company."It's a step change in two directions. A situation we have never been in before. We have never had an SUV before and there has never been an SUV like this before." He predicts SUV sales of about 3000 a year, which would more than double Bentley's annual results.This year alone the company has logged a 25 per cent increase in global deliveries."The best years for Bentley are yet to come. We are again on the road to setting a new record." He believes Bentley has an untapped market for its SUV among the existing owners of its luxury sedans, coupes, and convertibles."Most have at least one SUV in the garage already," he says. Durheimer will not be drawn on engines or specifications, but gives a solid hint on pricing."It will be below the ($662,858) Mulsanne. We already have a flagship but, in terms of the market sector, it will be the SUV flagship."

The 2016 Nissan GT-R hybrid supercar will be as distinctive as its ancestor. Just as the latest Godzilla film epic has hit the screens, testing has begun in Europe on the first prototypes of its automotive namesake, the Nissan GT-R.When the next GT-R premeieres in 2016, expect a hybrid supercar capable of catapulting to 100km/h in less than 2.5 seconds.Insiders predict a car with a twin-turbocharged V6 making 440kW abetted by a 115kW electric motor, feeding through a hi-tech all-wheel-drive system.The car will continue as a coupe but with much smoother styling to improve its aerodynamic performance. It is also on a major weight-reduction regime - including use of lightweight carbon-fibre - to trim about 180kg."Of course we have a program to renew the GT-R. But we still have a little more to go. Then we renew it," says Nissan chief creative officer Shiro Nakamura."GT-R is a very important asset for the company." He says design work is well under way on a reinvention of a car that has become a global icon, promising a body that is just as distinctive as the current one.He rules out a continuation of the "gundam" theme - taken from Japanese animated robot series - but promises it will be another landmark car."It's the heritage of GT-R. When we design a new-generation GT-R we will design it as a GT-R. It must be an evolution." Nakamura designed the current GT-R and has taken personal control of the new one, partly because he understands the history of a performance car with its roots in the 1960s."My generation is the sports car generation. I'm designing it for myself. Most of the customers for the car are quite old, like me," he says. Surprisingly, Nakamura also reveals the next GT-R is likely to be repackaged as an Infiniti. Nissan's upscale brand is making good ground in the US but struggling in countries including Australia, where it has yet to achieve recognition among luxury buyers."Because of its price, performance and package, it would work well," he says.

The next-generation HiLux has been spotted again - this time testing in southern Europe.This could be the most important arrival of 2015. The all-new Toyota HiLux is expected to hit Australia in the first half of next year as the Japanese brands overhaul their pick-up propositions.It will land about the same time as the next Mitsubishi Triton and follows the recent overhaul of the Nissan Navara. All of the action is aimed at unseating the Ford Ranger - developed in Australia but built in Thailand - and its Mazda BT50 clone at the top of the work-and-play ute field.The current HiLux has been in the top three on the official Vfacts sales charts for more than a yearThe current HiLux has been in the top three on the official Vfacts sales charts for more than a year, sometimes even topping the Corolla and Mazda3 on the bestseller list. It's become much more important to Toyota than the locally made Camry, which is set for its final overhaul next year before the company ends its manufacturing here.The new HiLux is already in the sights of ute buyers, both private owners and companies with working fleets, even without a firm launch date here. Many are delaying a ute update until they see what the new HiLux brings. The obvious answer is a pick-up that's much bigger and more square-edged than Toyota's current model, reflecting a styling trend that's taking utes much closer to the full-sized workhorses sold in the US.Carparazzi has caught what seems to be a lightly disguised HiLux dual-cab four-wheel drive in trials in southern Europe. It's one of the most popular combinations in Australia but Toyota has always given buyers ample choices with more than 100 variants, from bare-bones workhorse to fully loaded escape machine.Carparazzi says the test car has an all-new look in the front end, including LED daylight running lamps for the first time. The bonnet is bigger and set higher, there is a roomier cabin and the wheel arches are less pronounced, perhaps pointing to a wider tray back.There is no news on engines or running gear but the long-term approach to the HiLux has always meant petrol and diesel power, rear and all-wheel drive. But there is certain to be some sort of hybrid in the future of the HiLux as Toyota continues the push on greening its fleet.

New version of Australia’s top-selling light hatch spotted wearing no disguise.

Thinly-disguised Ranger-based Ford Everest SUV spied testing.

The giant aero addition on the back of the latest Porsche test car can only belong to the extreme GT3 RS model.Carparazzi says the wing is unlikely to make production but it promises up to 50 per cent extra rear downforce and could be part of a track pack. Other keys to the RS package are wider tracks and a 0-100km/h sprint in about 3.5 seconds. 

...and now Benz is following with its MLC. This camouflaged test car does not look as brutal as the BMW and will get extra finessing before it goes public at the Detroit motor show early next year.This reporter is on Twitter: @PaulWardGover 

But the decision to use European Opels to add spice at Holden means the all-new Corsa could easily land Down Under with a GTC badge and a go-faster package to sit alongside the Astra-Insignia-Cascada crew already announced.This reporter is on Twitter: @PaulWardGover 

It's Jaguar's first SUV and, despite the clunky look of this cobbled-together test mule, it promises to be a game-changer for the Indian-owned British brand.It needs to be super special so it does not steal sales from its sister brand, Range Rover, but it gets a head start by sharing its base with the all-new Jaguar XE. It should be ready next year.What is it? Jaguar SUVWhy the fuss? It's Jaguar's first.When is it here? 2015How much? About $80,000This reporter is on Twitter: @PaulWardGover