SUV

Hyundai has detailed its largest combustion SUV, the Palisade, before it goes on-sale in Korea. Expected to arrive in Australia some time in 2025, the three-row SUV ditches its diesel powerplants for an all-petrol based offering, including a new powerful hybrid model with the Toyota Kluger, Kia Sorento and Nissan Pathfinder in its sights. The new-generation Palisade is bigger than its predecessor: 65mm longer (5060mm), 5mm taller and wider, riding on a 70mm longer 2970mm wheelbase. The Palisade rejoins a busy seven-seat segment with the brand also offering the Ioniq 9 electric car and smaller Santa Fe in Australia.In Korea, the Palisade is available in a nine seat configuration with a three-wide front bench. Normally, that would be unlikely for Australia but Hyundai has engineered a twin centre airbag for safety, so it may get in. It is otherwise a seven seater with two front, two middle ‘captain’s chairs’ and a three-wide rear bench.The interior has been completely overhauled in the style of the smaller Santa Fe, with upmarket trims such as Calligraphy getting twin curved 12.3-inch displays, with the centre working as the multimedia touchscreen. Upholstery comes in a variety of colours with top-spec variants getting the choice of black or brown leather in Korea. Huge 21-inch alloy wheels are available optionally. Helping keep the ride plush are the first adaptive dampers ever fitted to a non-N Hyundai SUV. The technology is borrowed from Genesis models. Under the bonnet you’ll find a 2.5-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder in place of the old 3.8-litre V6, while the more efficient diesel is effectively replaced by the new hybrid system. Petrol alone, the Palisade develops 210kW. The hybrid’s 1.65kWh lithium-ion battery and electric motor bumps this to 249kW with combined driving range in excess of 1000km. Electric car-like features include vehicle-to-load (V2L) along with ‘Stay Mode’ that allows the car to idle for long periods of time without compromising on air-con effectiveness. Australian pricing is yet to be confirmed but in Korea, Palisade prices have jumped by up to 15 per cent. If we apply that same increase to the flagship Calligraphy model ($81,719) today, it’s possible a new AWD hybrid could be pushing $95,000 before on-road costs.

It’s a year that will likely go down as an historical turning point for the Aussie new car market. With local manufacturing now a tiny spec in the rear view mirror, the long-predicted new wave of Chinese challenger brands built into an automotive tsunami in 2024.

With Australia's four-wheel drive segment more competitive than ever before, deciding which off-road SUV to buy has become an increasingly complicated task.

I feel like 2024 was the eye of the storm. It’s the year, which sits between a big surge of electrification, yet before our market will be hit with a big shake-up with at least 12 new manufacturers entering the fray in 2025.

The most popular model in the Cupra stable gets another plug-in hybrid variant but this time with the snazzy features of its top petrol grade. Is it a model we need?

At the start of 2024 we asked the question ‘is Jeep lost?’ and the answer has categorically come back in the affirmative. The American brand is, to put it bluntly, in trouble and there doesn’t appear to be an obvious solution.

The Mitsubishi Pajero Sport has always been a quiet achiever in a market full of vehicles that generate more excitement, that have greater cache with the car-buying public, and sell better than the Pajero Sport. It generally moves less than half the units top-sellers such as Ford Everest and Isuzu MU-X move in the same amount of time.

Lexus has reopened order books for the NX450h+, the plug-in hybrid hero version of the brand’s most popular model in Australia.

Kia is on a massive electric vehicle offensive. The South Korean brand has just added the Tesla Model Y-rivalling EV5 mid-size SUV to its electric car line-up, joining the bigger EV6 and EV9.

Ford has rolled out massive discounts across its vehicle range, including on Australia’s best-selling vehicle.  Variants of everything from the low-volume E-Transit to market-leading Ford Ranger ute are on special, with the family-favourite Everest SUV also on offer.