Australian New Car Buyer

In this issue of Australian New Car Buyer, our newmodel coverage includes everything from Hyundai’s cheap and very cheerful i30 to Lamborghini’s million-dollar (really, by the time you get it on the road, that’s pretty close to what it costs) Lamborg

One of Australia’s most accomplished motoring writers, over three decades, John is a long-time contributor to Wheels magazine, where he is a Car of the Year judge, and publications in the USA and UK. He lives in Bergamo, Italy, and covers new Europea

In Australian New Car Buyer, we include trade-in values for every model in our Showroom section. These are provided to us by Redbook, Australia’s leading authority on used car values. Each model we test includes three- and five-year retained values,

Alfa Romeo’s Giulia is aggressively priced and generously equipped. It deserves to disrupt your Audi A4/BMW 3 Series/Mercedes C Class buying decision. Start money is $59,895 for the 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbopetrol Giulia, with 147kW of power and

Audi’s current A3 range, like its predecessors, shares its architecture and most of its componentry with parent brand Volkswagen’s Golf. Prices for the five-door A3 Sportback start at $35,900 for the 85kW 1.0-litre turbopetrol threecylinder/ seven-sp

It might not look like it, but this is Ferrari’s answer to the Toyota Prius. Well, sort of. The Italian supercar maker has been forced to join the rest of the car industry and downsize its engines to meet strict new emissions regulations in Europe. A

Falcon is now dead and buried so the European-designed and -built Mondeo is, effectively, Ford Australia’s new flagship family and fleet car. There are three spec levels (Ambiente, Trend, Titanium), available in hatch or wagon, with a choice of two t

Ford’s Kuga has now been renamed the Escape, the name it carries in most other world markets. The 2017 range range opens with the 110kW 1.5-litre turbopetrol/six-speed manual/front-wheel-drive Ambiente, priced at $28,490. The six-speed auto is $29,99

Holden’s VFII Commodore will see the car through until its demise in October 2017, when Holden ceases manufacturing in Australia. The VFII Commodore sedan range opens with the 3.0-litre V6/six-speed automatic Evoke, priced at $35,490. The Evoke Sport

Holden’s VFII Commodore SS 6.2-litre V8/six-speed manual sedan costs $47,490. The six-speed auto SS is priced at $49,690. The SS-V Redline is priced at $54,990 (man) and $57,190 (auto). SS and SSV variants are also available as the Sportwagon, with t

The Hyundai Santa Fe Series II features seven seats in all models. The lineup opens with the frontwheel- drive 138kW 2.4-litre directinjection four-cylinder petrol/sixspeed manual Active at $39,350. The six-speed auto is $41,850. Active X, with a 199

Named after a famous Spanish fighting bull from the late 1800s, the Huracán is Lamborghini’s current “junior” supercar. It also shares familial DNA with Audi’s R8. Huracán is powered by an upgraded version of its predecessor’s 5.2-litre naturally asp

Mazda’s mid-size 6 is available as a sedan and wagon. Prices start at $32,490 for the 138kW 2.5-litre fourcylinder petrol/six-speed automatic Sport sedan. The Touring is $37,290, the GT is $42,690 and the top-of-therange Atenza is $45,390. Wagon vers

The CX-3 gives Mazda an offering in the hotly contested compact SUV segment. With a choice of two fourcylinder engines — 77kW/250Nm 1.5-litre turbodiesel or 109kW/ 192Nm 2.0-litre naturally aspirated petrol — the CX-3 is up against more than 20 conte

Mazda’s CX-9 range starts at $42,490 for the 170kW 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbopetrol/six-speed automatic/ front-wheel-drive Sport. CX9 Touring, with the same drivetrain, is $48,490. All-wheel-drive models include the GT at $61,390 and the Azami at

Now in its fifth iteration, the W205 Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedan, priced from $61,400 for the C200, is as large as its big-brother E-Class was just two generations ago. Yet it is the S-Class flagship that has provided inspiration for today’s BMW 3 Se

Anthropologists know it refers to a nomadic people of Middle Eastern origin but Nissan hopes Qashqai (pronounced “kash-kai”) becomes the byword for compact SUVs in Australia. Like the successful Dualis it replaced, the five-seater crossover is design