Australian New Car Buyer

In the previous issue of the magazine, I suggested that 2022 might not be a great year to buy a new car or SUV, because Covid-related production issues have led to a shortage of new vehicles, at the same time as demand from buyers is very strong, so

Joshua Dowling is the National Motoring Editor at drive.com.au and a World Car of the Year judge. Joshua is renowned for his consumer-first approach and you can also read his regular rants on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling. In this issue, he tests the BMW i

In our tests on the following pages and in the Showroom, we have used symbols to give you a quick indication of the strengths of each car, and star ratings to indicate in more detail how each car stacks up in its class. Here’s what the symbols and st

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,

EDITOR Bill McKinnon DESIGNER Kate Atkinson CONTRIBUTORS John Carey, Joshua Dowling, Phil King, Byron Mathioudakis, Peter McKay, Dave Morley, Andrew Chesterton ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES (02) 9887 0642 ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Martin White CHAIRMAN/CEO Prema P

Alfa Romeo’s Giulia is aggressively priced and generously equipped. It deserves more attention against its German rivals. Start money is $63,950 for the 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbopetrol Giulia Sport, with 147kW of power and an eight-speed automati

Alfa Romeo’s first-ever SUV can be had with a turbocharged 2.0-litre petrol engine, producing 147kW and 330Nm, or a performance chipped version with 206kW/400Nm, both with an eight-speed auto and all-wheel drive. The range kicks off at $64,950; the S

BMW’s first built from the ground-up electric SUV, the iX, fits between the X5 and X6, so it’s a big unit. Despite its proportions, this is a five-seater only. Out of the box, the BMW has the driving range to challenge Tesla and the luxury to rival P

BMW’s seventh-generation 5 Series range opens with the $102,400 520i, with a 135kW/290Nm 2.0-litre turbopetrol four, matched with an eight-speed automatic. The $122,400 530i, tested here, has a 185kW/350Nm 2.0-litre turbopetrol four. Six cylinder pow

BMW’s first X5, launched in 2000, immediately became the benchmark against which all other SUVs have since been judged. This fourth generation opens with the 170kW/450Nm 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel/eight speed automatic/all-wheel drive xDrive

Fact: Ferrari’s new plug-in hybrid sports car has an electric motor that’s more powerful than the V12s of the brand’s earliest road cars. The compact axial-flux e-motor in the 296 GTB has an output higher than the 2.0-litre V12 of the famed 166 racer

The Ford Escape makes a serious pitch for the performance buyer, with a 183kW/387Nm 2.0-litre turbopetrol standard across the range and 0-100km/h in under six seconds. No rival offers anywhere near that amount of performance; in fact most are decided

Honda’s CR-V, the world’s top-selling SUV, lost its way for a while but is now back in serious contention with the fifth generation since 1997. Priced from $35,300 drive away for the Vi front-drive auto, the latest version has expanded its repertoire

Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 mid-size electric SUV is available in two variants. Ioniq 5 2WD, as the name implies, has a 160kW/350Nm electric motor that drives the rear wheels. It’s priced at $71,900. Ioniq 5 AWD, tested here and priced at $75,900, has a 155kW

Meet the Hyundai i20 N, the South Korean car maker’s first pint-sized hot hatch. It’s the smaller sibling to the Hyundai i30 N, which is a Volkswagen Golf GTI rival. Priced at $32,490 plus on-road costs, the Hyundai is about the same as a Ford Fiesta

The i30N received a significant update in mid 2021, designed to sharpen its performance credentials and, at the same time, make it more appealing to a wider audience. An eight-speed dual clutch automatic option is now offered in the base model, at $4

Electric drivetrain technology has progressed to the point where 200km and beyond is now an achievable range, so if you live in a capital city, an electric car is certainly a viable option as your daily driver. Hyundai’s Ioniq is a three model line-u

Jaguar aimed ambitiously high with its I-Pace mid-size luxury SUV. “The target was to create the best electric vehicle on the planet,” says Jaguar technical design director, Wolfgang Ziebart. I-Pace matches the now discontinued Tesla Model X for perf

Kia’s Cerato hatch range opens with the 112kW/192Nm 2.0-litre petrol S, with a six-speed auto, priced at $25,990. Sport is $28,090 and Sport+ is $31,140. The 150kW/265Nm 1.6-litre turbo/seven-speed dual clutch automatic GT i $35,790. Cerato sedan is

Kia’s top selling Picanto starts at $15,990 with a 62kW 1.25-litre four cylinder/five-speed manual. GT Line, with extra equipment and sporty bling, is $17,440. The auto adds $1600 to S and X-Line. Picanto GT, with a 74kW 1.0-litre turbo triple/five-s

Kia’s fourth-generation Carnival people mover starts at $47,480 for the 216kW 3.5-litre V6 petrol/eight-speed automatic S model. Si grade is $52,980, SLi is $57,780 and Platinum is $65,580. The 148kW 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel is available i

Kia’s compact Seltos SUV opens at $27,290 for the 110kW 2.0 litre petrol/continuously variable auto/front-wheel drive Seltos S. Seltos Sport is $30,290 and Sport+ is $33,790. All-wheel drive models start at $37,290 drive away for the 130kW 1.6-litre

Kia’s fourth generation Sorento seven-seater SUV kicks off at $47,650 for the 200kW 3.5-litre V6 petrol/eight-speed automatic/front wheel drive S model. Sport is $50,270, Sport Plus is $54,850 and GT Line is $62,070. A 148kW 2.2-litre four cylinder t

The base Discovery Sport P200 R-Dynamic, tested here, with a 147kW 2.0-litre turbopetrol/nine-speed automatic/all-wheel drivetrain costs $69,546. That’s a circa $6500 hike from 2020, so the Land Rover has now lost its once considerable value for mone

This is the third generation of Mazda’s popular small car. The Mazda2 hatch is offered with a 1.5-litre/four-cylinder naturally aspirated, direct-injection petrol engine across three spec levels: Pure, Evolve and GT. Pricing starts at $21,390 for the

Now in its fourth iteration since 2004, the Japanese built Mazda 3 hatch and sedan series is nowadays a wholly more upmarket proposition, trespassing on the Volkswagen Golf’s turf. Pricing starts from $26,540 for the 114kW/200Nm 2.0-litre Pure six-sp

Mazda’s mid-size 6 is available as a sedan and wagon. Prices start at $35,120 for the 140kW/250Nm 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol/six-speed automatic Sport sedan. The Touring is $39,520. GT SP, with a 170kW/420Nm 2.5-litre engine, is $47,320 and the t

The CX-3 is Mazda’s offering in the hotly contested compact SUV segment. Powered by a 110kW/195Nm 2.0-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine, the CX-3 is up against more than 20 contenders including Honda’s HRV, Nissan’s Qashqai and the Kia Stonic.

Evolution is the name of the game for one of Australia’s most popular SUVs. Starting from $32,190, the front-wheel drive Mazda CX-5 Maxx vies with Subaru’s Forester and Toyota’s RAV4 for safety honours in this class, with autonomous emergency braking

Mazda’s CX-8 SUV slots between the mid-size CX-5 five-seater and family sized CX-9 seven-seater. There are four model grades: base Sport front-wheel drive from $39,990, Touring from $46,890, GT from $56,390 and the Asaki from $59,790. Standard fare i

Mazda’s CX-9 range starts at $45,990 for the 170kW 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbopetrol/six-speed automatic/front-wheel-drive Sport. CX9 Touring, with the same drivetrain, is $53,590, GT is $63,090 and Azami is $66,290. All-wheel-drive adds $4000 to e

Some car makers want to make a big statement with their new EVs, so they go for styling that’s different to your olde worlde internal combustion engine (ICE) car or SUV. The nerdmobile – Nissan’s Leaf being a prime example – and the futuristic techno

The W213 Mercedes E-Class is an exceptionally sophisticated, complicated piece of rolling digital technology. Great. But as a car, is it any good? We’re in the base-model 145kW 2.0-litre turbopetrol E200, priced at $103,016. The 155kW E300e plug-in h

The shape of things to come from Mercedes-Benz has a familiar form. The German car maker’s first pure EV, the EQC 400 is, surprise, surprise, a family sized SUV, priced from $124,300, or $141,300 for the more; uxurious Sport model. While SUVs are hug

Mercedes-Benz fourth generation GLE range opens with the 300d at $115,781. It’s powered by a 2.0-litre turbo diesel four cylinder, with a healthy 180kW of power and 500Nm of torque. The GLE 450 at $129,181 is powered by a 3.0-litre turbopetrol in-lin

The base ASX 110kW 2.0-litre petrol/five-speed manual front-wheel-drive ES is $24,490. With a continuously variable automatic (CVT) transmission it’s $26,740, while in ES-L specification, with CVT as standard, it’s $28,190. MR, also with CVT, is $28,