Hard times to bring budget utes to fore?

The country still needs utes … if they’re cheap and tailored foremost for real work, a distributor says.

POLITICAL push to get the country moving again with toil-intensive job creation schemes will give ute sales an old-fashioned stir-up.

Providing, that is, they are models created to the ‘old-school’ formula that puts worksite punishment ahead of weekend play.

That’s the view of an advisor for a distributor which has good reason to hope budget back-to-basics models will rise to the fore over the next 18 months proves accurate. 

Russell Burling speaks for Dealer Direct Wholesale Limited, the national distributor for India’s Mahindra and Mahindra, whose smallest traydeck, the Pik-Up, has just under a major refresh, which beyond the easily-recognised restyling also runs to a major re-engineering for improved refinement.

With pricing starting at $24,990 and spanning to $34,990, P:ikUp stands as the cheapest load-up choice in the New Zealand market with clear terrain now that a Chinese competitor no longer has a rival model here.

Meantime, the PikUp line has doubled in count, with addition of four rear-drive single and double cab with choice of tub and cab chassis. All run a 103kE/320Nm 2.2-litre turbodiesel and with six-speed manual, though an auto will arrive later.

Range enhancement for a vehicle that has been here for seven years already might attune sweetly with perception that massive changes to our economy from the coronavirus that will unavoidably impact deeply on employment and spending habits.

russell burling

The models were signed off for NZ consignment before coronavirus was known about, but the effect of lockdown and restrictions set to maintain in the aftermath leaves Burling thinking “we’ve made a really good call.”

Government’s intent to keep the economy on the boil is a positive and he sees ongoing opportunity from its preparedness to fund big dollar shovel-ready public projects as those efforts will require new equipment.

However, he contends those at worksite level will be more choosey and won’t be spending large.

That’s an opportunity for Mahindra to promote the reliability, functionality and value aspect of its budget-minded products, which beyond PikUp also span other off-road configured models plus passenger vehicles.

But it’s also a sign that those other makes that have concentrated effort serving up big expensive doublecabs will be caught out. 

This new world demands tools, not pleasure craft. “A lot of those (expensive utes) are not required and not needed. We need tools now and that’s what we offer.”

Does that mean an end to the market condition of the past five years, when new passenger sales have been so skewed toward utes that the Ford Ranger has been the country’s top selling vehicle for several years? 

“It’s hard to exactly say it’s finished, but certainly the demand will be less. Everybody in business is going to take some pain through this (coronavirus).

“You need utes, but you need utes that do jobs. Do you need all the high-end stuff going forward? Probably not as much.”

Sales data from as far back as late last year seems to support thought the glory days are waning for ego-polisher models that can cost more than $90,000, with the likes of the dominant Ford Ranger maintaining market share but with smaller volumes.

Quite possibly anxiety with the big players will have grown since, not only because of emergent prediction of new vehicle sales halving this year but also with cancellation of Field Days. 

Promotions around the mid-July Mystery Creek event historically spike annual registrations counts and major players will have stocked up large, with consignments built and shipped before the virus closed down their plants in Thailand. If demand has cooled, do they have too many vehicles? That’s surely why Holden has more Colorado variants than anything else in its pre-closure stock clearance.

Potentially, then, there might be some sweet deals ahead, but perhaps the glam models won’t turn the heads of those set to engage in the public works programmes set to unroll. 

“They need work utes,” contends Burling. “If you’re going into back country on pest control, you need hose out floors and rubber mats, not high-end carpets.” 

Though Burling sees the new rear-drive PikUps as being valuable to volume, it’s likely the singlecab 4x4 will remain as the type’s biggest seller. 

“It’s ideal for possum hunters, farmers, those in construction … it’s a really  good product. A sharp tool for that market.”

This interview also gave opportunity to briefly drive the entry PikUp, the singlecab chassis that is new for 2020. This level comes in the S6 trim, which provisions for ‘function and value” rather than the S10 fitout, that lifts to what the maker describes as a more SUV-like spec.

Even so, the budget layout is not as rudimentary as previously. The interior benefits from ergonomic improvements, better plastics and a more dedicated approach to fit and finish than was apparent in the preceding line. The S6 also now takes better equipment: Cruise control, Bluetooth phone connect, upgraded seats with arm rests and, on the driver’s side, height adjust. You need by S10 to achieve sat nav and a reversing camera, both running through a touch screen not availed in the cheaper choice.

Option packs to suit rural, trade and fleet buyers can be created from an options list that’s now more comprehensive. A which compatible steel bull bar with bash plate, brush rails, snorkel, tow bar, canvas seat covers and so on. All in tune with a work-first ethic that also reflects in it being tailored to tote a payload of up to 1065kgs with a 2.5-tonne braked towing capacity. 

The demonstrator also had a light-weight but sturdy alloy deck, sourced from Australia, as an option to a steel type, and was trialling a wheel and tyre pack yet to be signed off.

The driving experience does not disguise that this is a working ute and performance is adequate, nothing more, though the engine seems perkier in the low and mid-range. However, the effort to reduce mechanical and road noise is obvious, even if the engine remains a dominant background voice during phone discussions at 100kmh. 

Notwithstanding that Mahindra’s plants are also currently closed by the virus, expect to see more activity from Mahindra going forward, as PikUp stands as the only existing model not due complete replacement.

The new Thar, a Jeep Wrangler lookalike (to the point where the grille design had to be replaced to appease the Americans), is coming and so too the Scorpio sports utility.

Mahindra also stands to benefit from having a major shareholding in SsangYong, with all the latter’s engineering and technology development having effecting shifted out of South Korea to India.

The Ssangyong brand itself, however, seems in parlous state – having failed to make profit for years, its future seems to hang in the balance from Mahindra having in April curtailed plans to invest a further US$423 million in a bid to make the Korean brand profitable by 2022.

It’s direction to SsangYong to seek “alternate sources of funding” has not yielded anything useful and conjecture now is that the South Korean government might yet direct Hyundai to subsume the SUV specialist marque, to thus avoid the embarrassment of it seeing it fail.

Mahindra’s involvement with SsangYong does not reflect locally, with the Korean marque operating with a separate distributorship.

Subaru e-boxer a balancing act

Subaru acknowledges a toughening economic condition has affected prepping a sales expedition for its first electric-assisted cars.

 EVER imagined entertaining a hybrid car that perfectly conforms to New Zealand conditions and expectation?

Subaru New Zealand stakes this ability within argument for why the long-awaited e-boxer editions of the XV and Forester will resonate well with Kiwi buyers. Hence a ‘made for our environment’ catchphrase standing tall in the marketing pitch that also encourages this as a better way of keeping New Zealand beautiful.

The Auckland-domiciled distributor also cites high customer excitement since last week’s announcement of the national selection ($42,490 XV Sport, and Forester Sport and Premium, respectively at $47,490 and $54,990). 

Seems hundreds of interested car buffs have been contacting the distributor directly, or via dealers, to signal strong enthusiasm to acquaint with Subaru’s first foray in electric driving. 

For their part, Subaru NZ is keen to enforce cars taking the 12kW electric motor (and 118V battery) paired to the existing 110kW/196Nm 2.0-litre flat four, which combine to drive all four wheels via a slighty recalibrated version of the range-wide constantly variable transmission are not getting a soft serve, in sense that these editions are true to Subaru tradition.

Maintaining all core strengths our market associates with the brand was critical, the brand says. It asserts they will be capable of achieving everything any other Subaru does. In short, there’s no dilution of that famous DNA and this is the start of a new journey for the brand, the first step toward a more sustainable future.

And while accepting that the hybrid system the cars carry is a walk on the mild side when it comes to considering what else is becoming available from a global car market pushing ever more into electrification, it nonetheless assures the ‘self-regenerative’ set up (translation: It’s old school and cannot quality for electric car status because there’s no facility for external recharging) will achieve tangible and easily-attained improvements in economy and emissions.

Wallis Dumper and daile stephens (below)

Still, many questions remain. Is Subaru already behind the times with a drivetrain that others in the car-making game are treating as a sunset tech, why hasn’t the Outback also achieved this option and, gosh, when supply is set to be limited, how easy will it be to secure these models? 

Here’s the outcome of a sit down with Subaru NZ managing director Wallis Dumper and marketing manager Daile Stephens.

MotoringNZ: Let’s start by exploring the sales expectation. You’ve already indicated the hybrid are in limited supply - just 20 examples a month and the first full shipment not coming until September – and also signal allocation is being managed through head office. What can customers expect from all this?

Dumper: Covid-19 created some operational disruption and yes, we needed to change the business model a little bit for this car. Our dealers only ever run on a months’ stock; we’re not like other brands. Hybrid supply is tight and, based on our research, we know we can sell every one. The last thing we want is having one or two dealers buying them all, so we have gone to an allocation system to ensure we can spread them fairly.

Stephens: Our dealers still buy the cars from us. The phase we are going through now is a pre-launch: The dealers have demonstration cars (from June 1). It’s about trying to be a responsible distributor and maintaining careful management of our inventory.

MNZ: You’ve gone on an economy drive before with diesel and that proved short-lived (2013 to 2017);. What makes this hybrid pitch any different?

Dumper: I don’t think it’s about thrift, it’s about capability and satisfying an emergent need. It’s a mild hybrid, we’re not pretending it’s anything more, but this is about evolution of the brand and we have to go that way.

Stephens: Diesel was a lot different. This (hybrid) is a clearer pathway to a more sustainable future. We were late to the diesel party anyway, it was over-priced and it was always going to be a tough ask, to be honest. 

:With diesel we weren’t really set up for success where with this (hybrid) we feel we are. We feel we are priced thereabouts with many, though acknowledging that one is particularly sharp, and the return from our focus group suggests we have it right with the $5000 premium we’ve set for hybrid. We’ve had hundreds and hundreds of registrations over the last week which suggests there is a desire and hunger for hybrid. We didn’t see that around diesel. There’s a completely different feeling around this (hybrid) product that wasn’t there with diesel. 

MNZ: Your Outback is a key model here and yet there’s no word on when, or if, it will go hybrid. Any news on that and how much urgency is there for that car to adopt this system? 

Dumper: There’s not a lot of urgency. From what we can see the smaller style of cars are more popular as hybrid and EV types.

Stephens: Given that Outback has been one of our most commercially successful vehicles it would be awesome to have one (a hybrid variant) if that was an option. As far as we know, there’s nothing on the horizon. But something might be going on, but is being kept secret. It might go to full electric for all we know.

MNZ: The motoring world is moving fast toward electrification and, in the overall scheme of things, going hybrid is a small-scale adoption. Really, too, Subaru could be seen as a slow mover; others have had hybrid for years. So how long before it engages at a higher level?

Stephens: We (Subaru Japan) announced in February that by 2030 at least 40 percent of the models that will be available globally will be electric or hybrid. By the mid 2030s there’s another goal of applying electrification technologies to all all Subarus sold worldwide. There’s a clear pathway.

Dumper: Within a couple of years we might be able to challenge that. As for being a late adopter? Yes, we’re late at adopting part of it but we also know there are still a lot of brands that do not have what we have. Some of them are much bigger brands than ours.

MNZ: Given that this is an adoption of Toyota technology, are the brand’s fortunes in this regard tied to Toyota’s own programmes?

Dumper: It’s not Toyota technology. Our engineers in Japan are adamant that it is our own. The manufacturer also makes product for Toyota and, yes, Toyota has shareholding in Subaru and, yes, there is product sharing. And they are both self-generating. But ours is quite different. Look at what they do with Lexus, it’s not the same.

MNZ: For all their strengths, your drivetrains have been easy targets for criticism in respect to economy and emissions. The boxer engines tend not to be top performers for output and economy and being paired with a CVT gearbox and symmetrical all-wheel-drive system also has a consequence. Is that why the economy gains claimed for your cars (14 percent for the XV in urban, seven percent overall, and nine percent combined and 19 percent urban for Forester – when comparing to the 2.5 – but according just to in-house and Australian ADR81/02 standard as it has not yet been certified under the WLTP regime) are less extreme that those cited for, for instance, those Toyotas that avail in hybrid and none-hybrid forms?

Stephens: We do loads of fuel economy comparisons and, more often than not, we are in the top few against our competitors. Pre-2008 yes, we could be criticised on fuel economy, but not since then, not with the technology we have now. Unfortunately, there is a hangover of perception versus reality. But we believe we are up there with everybody else 

Dumper: We want to be all-wheel-drive, that’s part of our DNA. Likewise with our boxer engines. We have the pricing where it needs to be and we can hold the pricing. We’re only a little bit above one of the world’s largest manufacturers (of hybrids) and a lot of other brands that have this technology are dearer than us. Our story is sustainable.

MNZ: What do you say to those people who might wonder if this is just an exercise of developing a Green vibe that might be challenging to prove. Overseas’ testing of these models has indicated that it is not entirely easy to achieve the cited economy improvements. Plus of course, even if the targets are hit, it will likely take years of ownership to recoup the $5000 purchase premium through pure fuel savings?

Stephens: It’s a package. We are not claiming to be the best from an economical perspective at all; we’re quite up front that it is a mild hybrid. But we are also positioning that it is 100 percent Subaru and we say there are benefits from it being hybrid. The customer will decide what is best for them. It is more economical than a (purely) petrol Subaru. You might find that there is a competitor with hybrid that offers better economy. But against that you have to trade off the benefits of what we offer with all-wheel-drive, all the safety features and other things, and in doing so perhaps you are only going to be saving an extra $100 over six months. We’ve done our research and we are comfortable. We’re not trying to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes in respect to how economical it is. We’ve never said this is the nest of the best; it is the beginning of our journey.

MNZ: Subaru Japan said on Monday it might well produce 150,000 fewer cars this year. What does this potentially mean for NZ?

Dumper: It will impact us. But when we went into (Covid-19) lockdown we knew would have to change our forecasts. We have chosen not to order some cars. The last thing we want is to have too many cars.

MNZ: The Motor Industry Association has suggested the new car market will be down by at least 40 percent this year – what’s your view?

Dumper: I think it could even be 50 percent; the third and fourth quarter of this year will be tough with the Government telling us there will be 10 percent unemployment. And I think next year is going to be really tough. The worst is yet to come. 

MNZ: Your 2019 sales were ahead 2.8 percent year-on-year versus 2018 and allowed an all-time record number of Subaru SUV sales. Do you expect to maintain the same market share that was achieved in 2019?

Dumper: If the market halves, we’d like to hold our market share. The market is sure to change and it will get a big messy.

Stephens: We believe there are pockets of people out there who still want a new Subaru. Some might have come through this (coronavirus) and think, well, ‘we’ve got through this let’s buy ourselves the car we’ve always wanted.’ There might be people who might have used public transport and now are thinking they don’t feel so safe doing that before. We know of a dad who handed down his Forester to a child and he went off to the dealership to buy himself a new one. But it is a crystal ball question.

MNZ: Does Subaru have any strengths that might give it a better chance of in NZ than some other brands; is it tough enough to weather this challenging economic condition? 

Stephens: Our brand position is in between the Europeans and the mainstream brands; we’ve the one you step into on the way to going to the Europeans like an Audi. Likewise, when times are tough, people might trade in a Euro for a Subaru.

Subarus are seen as a vehicle for someone who wants to be a bit different and we believe we have a high ground based on technology and safety. There is quite a lot of desirably out there in respect to our product, we achieve strong consideration and strong conversion. So, we think that we can weather the storm – perhaps with less sales, but enough to maintain our market share.

Dumper: We run our business very lean and tight and we have done this very successfully for a long time. We outperform glamour brands with our return on sales and have for decades. We have more than doubled our business in the last decade and had to employ just four or five more people.

Focus ST: Automatic for the people

It’s been COVID-19 delayed and is $500 dearer than initially signalled but the fourth generation Ford Focus ST hot-hatch has launched.

THE new Ford Focus ST is more powerful and roomier than its predecessor and delivers a significant increase in technology.

And it also gains a new status as the sharpest Focus variant among gen-four following recent confirmation that development has been halted on a successor to the all-wheel-drive RS rocket ship.

Originally scheduled for a first-quarter introduction, the made-in-Germany Ford Focus ST has weathered the COVID-19 delays to join the Fiesta ST, Mustang models and the Ranger Raptor under the Ford Performance banner.

Pricing is $59,490 (back in September a $58,990 price-tag had been advised) and the Focus hot-hatch recipe combines five-door functionality with a high output 2.3-litre four-cylinder turbo engine, front-wheel-drive and a new seven-speed sports automatic transmission with paddle shift.

Ford New Zealand sees automatic transmission as the overwhelming customer preference in this market. There is a six-speed manual with rev-matching function available in most markets including Australia.

It’s the first time a Focus hot-hatch has been offered with only two pedals – a move that widens its reach in the market to deliver something that Honda Civic Type-R and Hyundai i30 N rivals can’t and positions the Focus ST as a Volkswagen Golf GTI competitor.

The previous Focus ST had a 2.0-litre turbo engine. The fourth generation features the all-aluminium 2.3-litre unit derived from the previous RS model with twin-scroll turbocharging, an electronic wastegate and anti-lag system. It develops 206kW at 5500rpm (an increase of 22kW) accompanied by a substantial jump in torque to 420Nm (up from 360Nm) available between 3000-4000rpm.

The sharpening of the Focus also applies to the chassis tuning with 19-inch alloy wheels shod with bespoke 235/35 Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres and suspension that lowers ride height by 10mm compared to standard Focus models.

A torsion beam axle is standard on mainstream Focus models but the higher riding Focus Active and the ST model have an independent rear suspension and the ST debuts a new Continuously Controlled Damping (CCD) system.

The CCD system monitors suspension, steering and braking inputs at 2 milli-second frequency to adjust damping responses. 

A Borg Warner electronically controlled Limited Slip Differential (eLSD) plays a key role in applying 420Nm of torque to the road. The system can pre-emptively adjust torque distribution using inputs from powertrain and vehicle dynamics sensors.

Ford says the electric power-assisted steering (EPAS) system is 15 per cent quicker than the standard Focus with just two turns lock-to-lock. And there is ST-specific steering knuckle geometry for sharper responses.

New software titled Steering Torque Disturbance Reduction has the target of reducing torque steer when applying 206kW and 420Nm to the tarmac.

Upgraded brake hardware includes larger 330mm front and 302mm rear ventilated discs with red painted callipers and Ford has developed a new electronic brake booster to provide more consistent pedal feel.

The Selectable Drive Modes offer Slippery, Normal, Sport and Track settings that adjust the eLSD, CCD, EPAS, throttle mapping, automatic transmission shift scheduling along with electronic stability control (ESC) and electronic sound enhancement (ESE) settings. In Track Mode the eLSD delivers maximum traction and the intervention of the ESC system is delayed.

A dedicated Sport button on the steering wheel allows direct access to Sport mode while the Mode button allows drivers to scroll through the Drive Mode options.

Exterior detailing includes a wide honeycomb grille, ST specific bumpers and side skirts, a rear spoiler, LED adaptive headlights, daytime running lights and tail lights.

Colour choices are Ford Performance Blue, Frozen White, Magnetic (grey), Race Red and Agate Black. Ford NZ had originally signalled a $500 premium for the searing Orange Fury seen here but has decided not to charge a premium for prestige paint.

Cabin highlights include heated Recaro sports seats with leather and suede trim and ST logos. The flat-bottom and heated ST steering wheel is trimmed with perforated leather.

Ford Performance instrumentation is standard including shift lights for when the paddles are being used. With the arrival of an automatic transmission the ST adopts the rotary e-shifter and an electronic park brake.

Standard equipment includes keyless entry and push-button start, LED ambient lighting, dual-zone climate control, rear privacy glass and heated power-folding exterior mirrors with puddle lamps. 

Interestingly Australian customers get a premium Bang and Olufsen audio as standard but Ford NZ has opted for a six-speaker system.

The Focus ST is equipped with the SYNC 3 infotainment and communications platform with 8.0-inch touchscreen, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility while Siri and voice-activated text messaging can be accessed via steering wheel controls. Satellite navigation, a 180-degree rear-view camera and wireless smartphone charger are standard.

Along with a five-star ANCAP (2019) rating the Focus ST safety and driver assist roster includes Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) with Cyclist and Pedestrian Detection, Blind Spot Information System (BLIS) with Cross Traffic Alert, Lane Departure Warning and Lane Keep Assist and Hill Launch Assist.

Because the automatic model has been selected for the New Zealand market Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) with Stop & Go function is standard.

Tesla, Dyson fuel EV conjecture

Recent reports remind that the electric car batteries we have now are just an intermediary.

is the China-market model 3 set to debut a breaktrhough battery?

WITH electric cars, it all comes down to the battery – and with batteries, it all comes down to what’s next.

In which case, intriguing news from two quarters. First and most recently, there’s James Dyson. In opening up more fully about the promise about the Dyson car we’ll never see, the British magnate leaves impression that while it was doomed on cost, the cancelled seven-seater known only by its codename, N526, was at least showing huge potential in respect to operability. The promise of offering double the range of a Tesla Model X reminds of the potential from solid state battery technology that the car world is aiming to implement.

Speaking of those ‘T’ cars … the other figure of the moment is, of course, Mr Loony Tunes himself.

Accepting that it’s becoming increasingly obvious that not everything Elon Musk says can be trusted as fact, there’s still good reason to take genuine interest what he seems set to have to say on occasion of the ‘Battery Day’ that was supposed to occur today but has now been deferred to some time in June, and might now be staged over several days … and in Texas, rather than California. Welcome to Elon’s world, right?

Much like the “Autonomy Day” that happened last year, Tesla is planning to give presentations to investors, which are livestreamed, about its latest development in powertrain and battery technology. 

What’s getting pundits excited is the realisation of something Musk has long teased rivals and investors about – a low-cost, long-life battery.

Such a device is now said to be developed to the point where it is intended to insert into Tesla’s staple Model 3 sedan, albeit initially just in the cars coming out of the brand’s new plant near Shanghai whose function is to purely build stock for sale in China.

There is emergent evidence to suggest the new battery might be the breakthrough to bringing the cost of EVs in line with petrol cars, and allow EV batteries to have second and third lives in the electric power grid.

Tesla has made clear in the past of its desire to deliver batteries designed to achieve outcomes well beyond the capabilities of today’s types. That conceivably would easily outlast the usable life of a car then, having done so, enter a second-life as a powerwall home installation or integrated into a larger commercial undertaking, to fulfil Tesla's goal to achieve the status of a power company.

Recent reports say this has been jointly developed with China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology and deploys technology developed by Tesla in collaboration with a team of academic battery experts recruited by Musk. 

The batteries differ to today’s types by relying on innovations such as low-cobalt and cobalt-free battery chemistries, and the use of chemical additives, materials and coatings that will reduce internal stress and enable batteries to store more energy for longer periods.

According to reports, Tesla also plans to implement new high-speed, heavily automated battery manufacturing processes designed to reduce labour costs and increase production in massive “terafactories” about 30 times the size of the company’s sprawling Nevada “gigafactory” — a strategy telegraphed in late April to analysts by Musk.

Tesla is working on recycling and recovery of such expensive metals as nickel, cobalt and lithium, through its Redwood Materials affiliate, as well as new “second life” applications of EV batteries in grid storage systems, such as the one Tesla built in South Australia in 2017.

Reuters news agency reported exclusively in February that Tesla was in advanced talks to use CATL’s lithium iron phosphate batteries, which use no cobalt, the most expensive metal in EV batteries and also the most controversial ingredient, due to the associations with child labour being used in cobalt mining in the Congo, a primary source.

CATL also has developed a simpler and less expensive way of packaging battery cells, called cell-to-pack, that eliminates the middle step of bundling cells. Tesla is expected to use the technology to help reduce battery weight and cost.

the model 3 is already positioned as tesla’s core volume model.

Reports say CATL also plans to supply Tesla in China next year with an improved long-life nickel-manganese-cobalt battery whose cathode is 50 percent nickel and only 20 percent cobalt.

Tesla now jointly produces nickel-cobalt-aluminum batteries with Panasonic at a “gigafactory” in Nevada, and buys NMC batteries from LG Chem in China. Panasonic has declined to comment.

Taken together, the advances in battery technology, the strategy of expanding the ways in which EV batteries can be used and the manufacturing automation on a huge scale all aim at the same target: Reworking the financial arithmetic that until now has made buying an electric car more expensive for most consumers than sticking with carbon-emitting internal combustion vehicles. 

The cost of CATL's cobalt-free lithium iron phosphate battery packs has fallen below $US80 per kilowatt-hour, with the cost of the battery cells dropping below $US60/kWh, the sources said. CATL’s low-cobalt NMC battery packs are close to $US100/kWh.

The car industry cites that $100/kWh for battery packs is the level at which electric vehicles reach rough parity with internal combustion competitors. 

It was an inability to achieve anything like this that caused Dyson to axe his project. Indeed, in an interview with Britain’s ‘The Times’ newspaper, he was pretty frank about how the only figures that looked good for his car related to performance and range –  the same sort of get-up-and-go of a performance combustion engine SUV of similar size and almost 1000kms on a single charge.

Sounds tasty? Perhaps not so much given the car would have cost well over $300,000, Dyson has admitted. Hence why, after putting around $150 million into the gig – which he could afford (all this information comes from an interview he gave on occasion of topping Britain’s rich list, with an estimated value of $NZ3.2 billion) – he pulled the plug last October, by which stage they’d reached the point of having a running prototype – still unseen - plus styling concepts of the finished interior and Range Rover-ish exterior, both of which were shown off to media.

The whole point of the Dyson car was, of course, to show the potential of the proprietary solid state battery tech that is core to the inventor’s homeware products. The challenge of transferring this to an automotive product was huge, but the tests had been promising.

That range was a huge wow. Website Autoblog says that, assuming that the ultimate figure was based on Europe’s WLTP standards, it would have been an impressive jump from Tesla’s Model S’ 610km and almost doubling the long-range Model X’s 510 km (the latter also a seven-seater). 

There’s more. Current lithium ion batteries lose oomph more quickly when stressed  - which is what high speed driving does – and also operate most effectively in a narrow ambient temperature band; range drops off especially when it get icey outside.

Comment from Dyson suggests his car wasn’t so affected. He told ’The Times’ the model sustained great performance “even on a freezing February night, on the naughty side of 70mph (110kmh) on the motorway, with the heater on and the radio at full blast.”

Even though his batteries are more compact than current lithium ion cells, the weight issue wasn’t resolved: The car had an alloy body, yet still weighed 2.6 tons. Yet it could clock 0-100kmh in 4.8 seconds (about half a second more than the long-range Model X), with its top speed apparently reaching 200kmh (50kmh shy of the Model X’s). This is all coming from the twin 200kW electric motors rated with 400kW and 650Nm of torque.

Even though the Dyson car is no more, its spirit lives on. The founder said the 500-strong team are already working on various other projects, and that he is open to the idea of letting car makers tap into his company’s batteries, He’s not adverse to taking a second look at making cars again some day. But only if it becomes commercially viable. 

The Times ran this image of james dyson and his stillborn electric car

Special K entering the EV-sphere?

Kia building a Porsche Taycan competitor? Imagine.

SHOCK news for anyone imagining Kia’s electric vehicle aspiration settles where it presently plugs, with the compact Niro.

 Latest from the Hyundai sub-brand is that while it still stick true to running the battery assault primarily with crossovers, the future fare will be much more adventurous – in shape and technology.

 Particularly exciting is talk about a product coming out next year; a high-riding luxury crossover with a sedan-esque shell that it is specifically targeting high-performance electric cars.

 While yet unseen in production form – indeed, it doesn’t even have a name at present (the in-house designation is simply ‘Kia CV’) – the shape of the newcomer model mightn’t seem wholly unknown, as the brand has let slip that it will draw strongly off the concept seen here.

This is the Imagine, a styling study that made quite an impression on its global unveiling at the 2019 Geneva motor show.

The car that will emerge is described as Kia’s first dedicated electric vehicle – to draw distinction from Niro and Hyundai’s Kona EV being very close in terms of engineering make-up, no matter that Kia uses a different battery to enable range superiority.

Even so, it’s not a 100 percent Kia in that it is going to base off Hyundai’s E-GMP platform which will underpin the parent’s own electric SUV, labelled the ‘45’. 

Indeed. being scalable, the new platform will be the launchpad for a whole host of electric Hyundai and Kia models. The latter said last week it is planning to have 11 EVs on sale in the next five years. Hyundai has indicated similar aspiration, though it has yet to cite an exact target number. 

What’s also hugely interesting about the Imagine’s showroom equivalent is that it will be set up to use an ultra-fast 800-volt battery system that could bring 15 minute EV pit stops to the masses.

To date, the only production EV with that capability is the Porsche Taycan, which with a peak charge of 270 kiloWatts can achieve a charge of five percent to 80 percent in about 20 minutes. That’s with the right kind of charging network in place, of course; you’re talking about 300kW charging stations.

Kia is talking about its car will have a range of just over 300kms, which is hardly going to impress Tesla-rati and in fact isn’t a lot more than a Niro. But, then, it could be sitting in the replenishment phase for much less time. And it will also be ludicrously quick, with 0-100kmh in under three seconds vowed for the hottest version. That’s comparable to the Taycan and the fastest Teslas and, obviously, a lot faster than any other car Kia has ever created.

There’s one small disappointment about the project in that the identity behind the concept is no longer with the company. Luc Donkerwolke has just resigned as chief design officer of Hyundai Group, citing personal reasons.

When Imagine was unveiled, the 54-year-old was then Kia’s head designer and, when questioned a year ago about the feasibility of Imagine hitting the street, he was quite confident it could do so with minimal change.

“I don’t see anything that’s really not feasible. There are some cost-related issues that have to be validated, but it hasn’t been done by designers who don’t understand how to build a car for production.”

Donkerwolke was lured to South Korea in 2016, having been with Volkswagen Group for 22 years. He was lured to Seoul with the promise of a free reign to set the design pathways for Hyundai and Genesis; he achieved this with radical effect, not least after achieving in 2018 the role he now leaves, a job that pulled Kia into his portfolio, succeeding Peter Schreyer.

MX family spans well beyond roadster

A history of Mazda’s MX models reminds that this monicker has attached to more than just the world’s best-selling roadster.

These are the MX models we know best … but the entire family is much, much larger

IN a year that sees Mazda celebrate its centenary, the Japanese firm is also looking to the future with the debut of its first all-electric production vehicle – the Mazda MX-30.

With customer deliveries expected to begin in early 2021, the MX-30 is a unique, stylish and versatile crossover EV; a stand-out addition to the Mazda line-up.

Yet why does it wear the MX moniker? This piece supplied by Mazda takes up the story:

A badge made most famous by the MX-5. Well, a look back through Mazda’s history highlights that the MX name pre-dates the world’s best-selling roadster and in fact has been used more than a dozen times across a broad spread of production, concept and racing Mazdas.

Mazda explains that the MX prefix is given to a car that takes on a challenge to create and deliver new values without being confined by convention regardless of vehicle type.

When it was revealed in 1989 the Mazda MX-5 was exactly this kind of car, as the automotive industry as a whole moved away from the affordable sports car, Mazda defied convention to create a perfect modern reinterpretation of the classic rear-wheel drive roadster.

More than three decades later the MX-5 needs no introduction, but the first car to wear the MX badge is less famous, however there’s no forgetting it once you’ve seen it.

1983 MX-02

1985 MX-05

1987 MX-04

1987 MX-04 ROADSTER

MX-03

MXR-01

Revealed in 1981, the Mazda MX-81 Aria concept car was created by Italian styling house Bertone, who using Mazda 323 running gear created a futuristic wedge-shaped hatchback.

With its gold paint, huge glasshouse and pop-up lights it stood out at the Tokyo Motor Show, but with its recessed square steering wheel, TV screen cockpit and side swinging front seats, it was arguably the interior that was the most radical. A one-off concept that certainly met the defy convention ethos of MX models, it led to a future relationship with Bertone, while things like the high-mounted taillights and pop-up headlamps appeared in future Mazda production cars later in the eighties.

Next in the MX lineage was the 1983 MX-02 concept car, a big flat sided five-door hatch with large windows, aerodynamic rear wheel covers and flared in door mirrors. Unique features included rear wheel steering and a windscreen head-up display.

The one-off theme continued with the 1985 Mazda MX-03, which again was a radical looking concept car, but this time it was a defy convention sports car that was powered by a triple rotor 315ps engine. Conceived purely as a concept, this low-slung coupe, was pure futuristic exuberance, with a cabin that featured an aircraft style yoke rather than a wheel, plus digital displays and a head-up display, its technology tally also including four-wheel steering and all-wheel drive, while the long low body delivered an aerodynamic Cd figure of just 0.25.

While the MX-02 and MX-03 shared some of the same futuristic design cues, the MX-04 was completely different. Revealed at the 1987 Tokyo Motor Show, the MX-04 was a front-engine rear-wheel drive sports car chassis that had removable fibreglass panels, but not just one, but two different sets, allowing the car to switch from a glass dome roofed coupe to a beach buggy style open sided roadster. 

Powered by a rotary engine this barmy shape-shifting sports car was never a serious contender for production, but little did outsiders know that Mazda was already developing the MX-5, and just two-years later, the most famous car to wear a MX badge arrived.

And the next cars to wear the MX badge were also production models, both cars built on the MX-5’s success and offered very different coupe styles.

MX-3

MX MICROSPORT

MX SPORT TOURER

MX-5 SPEEDSTER CONCEPT

MX-5 SPYDER CONCEPT

MX-5 SUPERLIGHT CONCEPT

MX CROSS SPORT

Sold from 1992 to 1993, the Mazda MX-3 was a four-seat coupe hatchback that disregarded the convention for normal hatchbacks to offer buyers something far more stylish and sportier, while it further earnt its MX badge by being available with the world’s smallest mass-produced V6 engine. The larger MX-6 coupe conveyed big premium coupe style for family saloon money, but in the 1990s arguably the most radical car to wear the MX badge was the Mazda MXR-01.

After the rotary powered Mazda 787B took victory in the 1991 Le Mans 24 Hours, the FIA promptly banned rotary powered cars, leaving Mazda looking for a new car for the 1992 World Sportscar Championship at very short notice.

A solution arrived in the shape of the incredible Mazda MXR-01 prototype race car. Based on the previous seasons Jaguar XJR-14, the British firms’ withdrawal from sportscar racing, allowed Mazda to adapt this radical Ross Brawn designed prototype and fit a Mazda badged V10 Judd engine. Famed for its incredible grip and downforce, just five examples where built, but sadly the collapse of the World Sportscar Championship at the end of 1992 spelt the end of Mazda’s world level motorsport programme and denied the MXR-01 the chance of success.

Into the 21st century the MX moniker returned to adorn concept cars, all of which stayed true to the MX ethos of delivering something new by challenging convention: the 2001 MX-Sport Tourer concept was a radical MPV concept with freestyle doors and sweeping body design, that highlighted the fact an MPVs did not have to be boxy or dull, something the resulting Mazda5 proved. In fact, the 2004 Mazda MX-Flexa was a concept that was even closer to the final ground-breaking Mazda5 production car, sharing its popular sliding rear doors.

The 2002 MX-Sport Runabout concept previewed the modern look of the second-generation Mazda2, while the 2003 MX-Sportif was the concept that previewed the first generation Mazda3, which was a big step forward from the outgoing Mazda 323.

The MX-MicroSport was a US focused hatchback concept, revealed at the 2004 Detroit Motor Show, but the nineties MX concept that really started Mazda on the road to another success story that set it apart from other brands, was the 2005 MX-Crossport.

Inspired by the Mazda RX-8 sportscar this was a sporty looking SUV concept with sculpted wheel arches, slender headlamps and bold shoulder lines that previewed the Mazda CX-7 - a pivotal car that established the fact that Mazda could build a stylish, sporty SUV with car like dynamics to rival the best SUVs from premium brands. A car that established a lineage of award-winning SUVs that leads to today’s CX-5 and CX-30 - the MX-Crossport sat at the start of this SUV success story.

And now with the arrival of the ground-breaking MX-30, it’s appropriate that the MX name returns to a production model – as Mazda’s first production EV, the MX-30 is a car that represents a new chapter in Mazda’s history.

2021 MX-30 - MAZDA’S ENTRY INTO THE ELECTRIC SCENE

MIA welcomes wage subsidy, trades training

The Budget brings good news for the auto industry, a core involver contends.

NEW Zealand’s troubled new vehicle industry is pleased with the contents of today’s Budget.

The country’s level 4 lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic has proved disastrous for the industry, with sales down 90 percent during April and little likelihood of things being much better this month.

Motor Industry Association chief executive officer David Crawford said that for the new vehicle market to flourish, the New Zealand economy needs to be strong – and that is going to be a challenge in the current environment.

“A Budget that focuses on jobs while supporting businesses was what I was looking for,” he said.

In that regard the MIA was pleased to see in the budget a $4 billion business support package that included a $3.2b extension of the wage subsidy scheme, and a $1.6b free trades training package.

The wage subsidy scheme has been extended for another 12 weeks from mid-June, and Crawford said this extension will benefit those companies where revenue remains low.

The MIA also strongly supported the trades training package, which aims to open up opportunities for those who have lost their jobs or need to up-skill for a new career.

“We are delighted to see these two initiatives in the Budget,” said Crawford.

Holden NZ signals stock going fast

With Level Two allowing a return to car dealerships, how long have you got to buy a new Holden and what’s left?

commodore has taken a public pounding - yet stocks are low now

 RESUMING the business of getting out of … well, the business … marks Holden New Zealand out from all other car distributors that today resumed some semblance of trading normality.

Transition today into Level Two of the Government’s coronavirus crisis restrictions regime has allowed General Motors’ Australian maker to join most other major marques in welcoming the public back into showrooms.

Where Holden stands out is that it is a brand with no future, owner General Motors having announced its demise in February, so that buying time is limited.

For all that, Holden NZ is still guarded in detailing how much longer it has to go and exactly how much stock there remains to be moved.

Trax (above) and Acadia have also been a popular runout product

The Auckland distributor is only prepared to identify that its inventory is declining quickly.

It also cites that only the Colorado utility remains in reasonable availability, whereas crossovers and sports utilities were shifting faster and just a modest count of Astra and Commodore cars remain.

“We have a reasonable supply of new Colorado, both 4x2 and 4x4, as we head into the annual Fieldays sales campaign which usually takes place in June,” said corporate affairs manager Edward Finn.  

“There are some Commodore and Astra variants remaining, but for those customers who would like a new Holden SUV, Trax is almost sold out, a small selection of Equinox remain and there are limited numbers of Acadia.” 

Actual counts in respect to specific models and any thoughts about how long before these will be gone for good is not being shared, however.

When GM announced on February 17 that Holden was a goner, the inference was that full wind-down would still take until 2021.

However, it could be a quicker death. For instance, just a handful of Holden New Zealand’s staff at the East Mangere, Auckland, office will escape a mass redundancy that hits at the end of June. Those staying beyond then are involved in parts distribution and warranty care. Holden has to maintain parts supply and support for years yet.

colorado stockpile was built up for the now-abandoned fieldays

Conceivably, it might not be too much longer before Holden dealerships start either mothballing showroom space or finding other brands to fill it. A sobering situation in a market condition that, thanks to the virus, is predicted to drop 40-45 percent on the 2019 volume.

It is probable all shipments of Holden product to New Zealand have finished. So, what’s here now and still unregistered is all there will be.

The Covid-19 lockdown that virtually stopped all car sales for the month of Level Four and still had restrictive impact during the fortnight of Level Three that followed had cruel impact on Holden.

The brand had just begun the major run-out programme to clear its inventory when coronavirus struck. 

Obviously, few new cars were moved in April, when the shutdown allowed just three trading days: The April tally was 90 percent down on the same period of 2019. To give an idea of what that means, bear in mind that Colorado achieved as the second strongest selling ute for April … on the back of 38 registrations.

So what’s left and how long have prospective buyers got? Finn was apologetic:

“The best advice is for people who are considering the purchase of a new Holden is to contact their nearest authorised dealer and find out exactly what is on offer.”

Kamiq Scoutline adds tough edge

The baby Skoda crossover now hitting NZ has a new sibling with enhanced outdoorsy attitude.

NO sooner has Skoda settled its new Kamiq into local showroom life than the parent has announced another variant that the local distributor agrees would conceivably be tasty to Kiwis.

The baby Kamiq crossover is a fitting choice to debut a new brand initiative of a tough-looking Scoutline trim level.

It’s a different recipe to the Scout trim that is becoming more familiar to New Zealand buyers.

Whereas Scout models – and for us, that’s been the Octavia for several years and a just-introduced Superb – get all-wheel-drive for a degree of off-seal ability, the Scoutline is all about dirt-treading imagery.

Changes are therefore entirely to do with enhancing the styling without touching engineering.

Accordingly, Kamiq Scoutline retains the same front-drive layout and drivetrain choices that install in the 85kW 1.0-litre $30,990 Ambition, and 110kW 1.5-litre $36,990 Amibition Plus and $42,990 Monte Carlo models that have just landed here. Europe also sees a diesel and a manual gearbox as alternate to the direct shift transmissions NZ sees.

To make the Kamiq look more like an off-roader, Skoda has given the Scoutline matte black wheel arch surrounds, a new front spoiler and a rear diffuser designed to look like underbody protection, plus extra silver flashes. There are also LED tail-lights and tinted rear windows. It rides on 17-inch wheels as standard, but 18-inch versions are on the options list.

The Scoutline model also has exclusive interior trim decoration. In Europe ash wood effect is standard, with a darker shade available as an alternative. The front seats come with a new upholstery choice made of breathable fabric and microfibre suede and stamped with a Scoutline badge. Other touchpoints like the steering wheel and gear lever are leather-trimmed, while the interior also gets three-colour ambient lighting and LED reading lights.

The spec appears to be around the same level that affords with Monte Carlo, with reversing sensors, LED headlights, a 9.2-inch touchscreen, smartphone connectivity and cruise control. 

Production begins in two months, while conceivably means that the Sportline could be available to right hand drive markets by early 2021.

With the compact crossover sector having been a hot spot – at least prior to coronavirus lockdown – and consumers showing no concern about buying into product that, regardless of what the look suggests, is suited far more to the street than sludge, it would seem a car that Skoda NZ might give serious consideration to.

So how keen is it? Well, it’s not off the table, says brand boss Rodney Gillard.

“We can see the merit. At this stage we are sticking with the three variants we have but it’s a possibility.”

Skoda’s rapid rise in New Zealand has put us in Skoda HQ’s good books and, Gillard says, is a factor as to why it gets priority over most other right-hand-drive markets, including Australia and South Africa.

“So, while at this stage that (Scoutline) is not available to us, when and if it does become available we will absolutely give it consideration.”

Meantime, he anticipates good demand for the Kamiq variants already here and says early interest reminds that the one of the car’s attributes is being  a particularly good poster child for the current Skoda look.

“It really demonstrates the strength of our styling.”

GR Corolla? Toyota NZ’s revved

The big sleep might be ending, with talk about Toyota reviving an old-school favourite. What’s the local distributor’s reaction?

SPECULATION about Toyota Japan prepping a Gazoo Racing version of the Corolla sounds sweet to a local brand boss.

When asked for his thoughts about the potential of any such programme, Toyota New Zealand chief operating officer Neeraj Lala was unequivocal: Bring it on.

 Talk about the potential of a GR Corolla that would be a direct heir to the celebrated 4AGE 1.6-twin cam AE86 and GT Corollas of the 1980s has re-emerged on strength of a tweet sent out by Toyota America to media.

A message relating that the NZ-confirmed baby GR Yaris hot hatch is not a starter Stateside, the American operation raised flags – and hopes – by adding “it’s time the U.S. got a hot hatch to call its own.” 

Commentators saw that as a green light for Corolla, purely on strength that the brand’s top seller is the only other conventional hatchback in the Toyota line-up.

Sounds thin? Well, then consider what might be construed from this sole comment from Lala: “We are working hard on confirming this model, and would love to have it here in NZ.”

Interesting choice of words, right? Does ‘confirming’ mean there’s definitely something going on? Or is this just mischief?

Let’s not forget Toyota America’s interest in the concept of a hot Corolla has already been delivered in exactly that form. The highly-modified one-off special pictured here was a one-off created for the 2018 SEMA show in Las Vegas. 

Certainly, Lala and other TNZ high-ups are huge fanboys for Akio Toyoda’s aggressive expansion plan for its GR (Gazoo Racing) high-performance road cars.

NZ was amongst the first export customers for the GR Supra that has revived the brand’s most famous sports car and is also in the queue for the upcoming GR Yaris, a quasi-homologation homage to its World Rally Championship car 

If and when a GR Corolla does arrive, then don’t be surprised if it borrowed heavily from the GR Yaris, including using the blitzer baby’s 200kW/370Nm turbocharged 1.5-litre three-cylinder engine and all-wheel drive system.

In addition to Supra and Yaris, the GR clan will also include the next-generation 86 sports coupe – with the GR 86 nameplate – by the end of 2021 and also the GR Super Sport, a road-going version of the race car Toyota is creating to run in the Le Mans hypercar category expected to start in the 2021/22 season, though the category is looking precarious after Aston Martin froze its programme.

TNZ confirms Highlander in hybrid only

The V6 has served its purpose, but from now on petrol-electric efficiency makes more sense, distributor says.

EVERYTHING hinges on hybrid – that’s from Toyota New Zealand, in confirming today that the just-revealed next-generation Highlander will divest its V6 here and devote to petrol-electric purity.

Total commitment from TNZ to a new-to-type drivetrain that bumps a petrol V6 that continues in other markets and has been a mainstay here in the current and previous models is a safe call at the right time, local chief operating officer Neeraj Lala says. 

Pointing out that hybrids now account for one in three sales of new Toyota cars here, he said: “The introduction of another hybrid to our line-up further complements our focus on moving towards a low emission economy, while delivering our customers with a fuel-efficient large SUV.”

And that’s the whole point of the exercise. While the V6 models have been popular for their impressive power output, the engine has been increasingly tested to come up to speed in respect to economy.

That the current car has maintained healthy volume here has been increasingly due to its popularity as a rental car – where the seven-seat configuration lends favourability.

At same token, it has slipped in status with private buyers, to the point where Toyota and its fleet customers have found moving ex-rental stock into the used car forum a challenging exercise. All the more so, perhaps, now that the coronavirus crisis has destroyed tourism and thus forced operators into selling off stock.

“Toyota has now sold more than 15 million hybrid vehicles globally, including in excess of 17,000 in New Zealand,” Lala said.

"The all-new hybrid Highlander is the beneficiary of Toyota's global hybrid leadership, extensive experience in SUVs, and unrivalled reputation for quality, durability and reliability,"

On arrival in early 2021 the model will achieve immediate status as the first seven-seater hybrid SUV has had here with a Toyota badge – a distinction that separates it from the brand’s Lexus RX, which added a third row two years ago.
Married to a 2.5-litre petrol engine, it is of course a mild system – plug-in recharging has yet to enter the Toyota lexicon – and the cited total hybrid system power output is expected to be 179kW (whereas the new V6 has 218kW).  

The hybrid drivetrain marries to an intelligent AWD system that incorporates front and rear electric motors. The hybrid battery is located under the second-row seats.

The fourth-generation Highlander sits on the Toyota New Global Architecture GA-K platform, providing multiple benefits for dynamics, safety and styling, Lala says.

“The new Highlander is brand new from the ground up; a new platform for improved stability and handling, a new engine with class leading efficiency, new levels of safety and with a dynamic styling package.”

He says it will appeal as being “a significant improvement on the outgoing model, with improved efficiency and flexibility for families.”
Toyota says this has enabled engineers to develop a lightweight and highly rigid bodyshell with a low centre of gravity - features that provide the new SUV with nimble handling and comfortable driving around town and on the highway.

The new generation has advanced Toyota Safety Sense active safety technologies designed to help prevent or mitigate collisions across a wide range of traffic situations.

The new platform has also allowed designers to craft a longer, more distinctive body that delivers a more flexible interior with expanded cargo space and a more tailored ambience.

Toyota has sold more than 15 million hybrid vehicles globally.

Special Kei provided an enduring taste

Mazda’s first car was a cheeky little coupe. It’s never broken the two-door hardtop habit.

the enduringly awesome cosmo

MORE reminder of Mazda’s determination to never bend to car design and engineering conformity has come with reminder of how many two-door cars it has knocked out over the years.

The tenor of an in-house history of the company’s coupes, released as part of this being the brand’s 100th year, is a fascinating insight into its enduring commitment to this design style. 

Whereas many other Japanese makes committed more deeply to mainstream sedan shapes that were far more likely to win greater volume returns (that’s how Toyota, Mitsubishi and Nissan did it), Mazda always played beyond conservative tastes.

 That a conviction formed right at the start about how coupes best reflecting core brand philosophies remains adhered to now is a tribute to the make’s independent spirit. It hasn’t been a smooth road, but what a trip!

Agreed, that first offer, the R360 microcar designed for the domestic ‘kei’ category, is an utterly humble thing in comparison with the far more sporting products that have ultimately followed, but it nonetheless speaks clearly to Mazda’s intent to make cars that were attractive and visionary.

Of course, there was more. Mazda also identified that the best coupes around when it kicked into car-making in 1960 (having been involved in other industry, and starting out as cork supplier in the 1930s) were those that delivered performance-enhancing structures like rigidity, aerodynamics and weight reduction. These have also remained central elements of the brands product philosophy, wrapped up in the ‘fun to drive’ ethos that even the R360 was able to cheekily demonstrate, albeit less by virtue of its outright performance than the happy fact of it being the lightest in class.

Anyway, that made it an immediate bestseller, capturing 65 percent of Japan’s burgeoning microcar segment and 15 percent of the domestic market in 1960, the year of its launch.

Here’s the how the history unfolded from thereon, in the maker’s own words:

“The Mazda Carol P360 coupe, which had a longer wheelbase and a four-cylinder engine, joined the line-up in 1962 with comparable success.

Mazda’s first performance car was also a coupe, unveiled at the 1964 Tokyo Motor Show, the Mazda Cosmo Sport 110S would arrive on the market in 1967 as the world’s first production model with a twin-rotor engine. With space-age looks matched by the powertrain’s turbine-like sound, it was the beginning of an illustrious age of unconventional rotary sports coupes at Mazda. The Cosmo Sport also launched the brand’s international motorsport career.

However, the big international sales breakthrough would come with the Familia/R100 and Capella/616/RX-2 series – the respective forerunners to the Mazda3 and Mazda6 – along with the Grand Familia/818/RX-3. Mazda took its rotary engine global with these models starting in 1968, and their Italo-design inspired looks electrified buyers, quickly driving overseas unit sales into six-figures.

Even more stunning was the Mazda Luce R130 coupe introduced in 1969. Designed at Bertone by Giorgetto Giugiaro (who had also styled the first Familia), it was Mazda’s only front wheel-driven rotary model and is now a sought-after collector’s item. Slotted above the RX-2 and RX-3, the Luce R130 would make way in 1972 for the Mazda RX-4. Marketed as luxurious and sporty, the hardtop coupe version was available with an “AP” (anti-pollution) rotary that improved emissions and fuel economy. The engine would also see service on the RX-3 and Mazda Cosmo/RX-5 launched in 1975 in coupe and fastback format. Performance of the 110-135PS rotary RX coupes, with kerb weights in the 900-1,100kg range, was very respectable for the time.

The Hiroshima carmaker took this recipe for driving fun up a level in 1978 with the Mazda RX-7, whose unique wedge-shaped design featured a wraparound glass rear window. Under the bonnet of Mazda’s first truly mass-market sports car was a completely redesigned rotary engine. Propelling a lightweight structure with near-perfect weight distribution, it was exceptional to drive. Successful on the racetrack and rally stage, the RX-7 developed over three model generations into a high-performance twin-turbocharged super-coupé on par with the best the competition had to offer. With some 811,000 produced, the RX-7 remains the most popular rotary powered car in history.

Less well known is the Eunos Cosmo, a Japan-only luxury sports coupe built from 1990 until 1995. It was the only production model with a three-rotor engine; the 300PS twin-turbo “20B-REW” was also the largest-ever production rotary. The Cosmo introduced many new cutting-edge technologies, like the first built-in GPS navigation system and a touchscreen display.

Another domestic market model, the Autozam AZ-1, was remarkable in its own way. Weighing only 720kg, the exciting mid-engined kei coupe developed under Toshihiko Hira, MX-5 programme manager, had gullwing doors and a 9,000rpm redline – in a segment personified by utilitarian “boxes on wheels”.

This was typical Mazda, always seeking new ways of making its coupes look and feel special. The Mazda 929 coupe (1982-86), with its lowerable opera windows in the B-pillar, is yet another example. The stylish Mazda MX-6 (1987-97), meanwhile, had optional four-wheel steering. And the compact Mazda MX-3 (1992-98) was available with the 1.8-litre K8 engine, the world’s smallest mass-production V6.

Even back in those days, Mazda dabbled in crossover designs, widely considered a 21st-century phenomena. The Mazda 323F (1989-98) made a family friendly five-seater out of a wedge-shaped sports coupe with pop-up headlights, while the Mazda Xedos 6 (1992-99) walked the line between luxury coupe and mid-sized saloon. And the Mazda RX-8 (2003-12), a two-row “quad coupé” with freestyle doors yet, again demonstrated the company’s sophistication when it came to refreshing coupe design.

Today Mazda continues to push design convention with models like the Mazda MX-5 RF (“Retractable Fastback”). As with the previous generation MX-5 Roadster Coupe, the RF’s one-of-a-kind power hardtop gives the world’s most popular roadster the comfort of an enclosed cabin, while concept cars like the Mazda RX-Vision and Vision Coupe demonstrate how stunning coupe design influences the Kodo: Soul of Motion design philosophy that delivers the award-winning styling you find across the whole Mazda range, something demonstrated by the 2020 World Car Design of the Year winning Mazda3.”

Skoda shows off big Greenie

The electric Skoda destined for New Zealand has been unleashed in an appropriately green land.

THE covers - well, camo - are still on, but a lot of details have nonetheless come out about Skoda’s first electric vehicle for international markets, the Enyaq iV.

Even though the car is still under disguise, a media preview effort that involved taking it to Ireland - because, in addition to the ‘E’ also referencing ‘electric’ and the ‘q’ conforming to an in-house naming practice, Enyaq derives from the Gaelic girl’s name Enya (which means ‘fire’ and ‘kernel’), plus green is Skoda’s colour and Ireland is the Emerald Isle – to release video, images and a ton of spec information – there’s been little holding back on detail.

For instance, Skoda has confirmed a car earmarked for sale here within two years will come with the options of three battery sizes, five power variants and a driving range of up to 500 kilometres. It also provisions in rear-drive in entry form and four-wheel-drive further up the range and a performance all-paw RS edition with 225kW is on the cards.

The car, of course, bases off the common underpinnings and drive units developed by Volkswagen for the ID.3 hatch and ID.4 crossover and also heading to SEAT, for the el-Born: Also already cited as a local starter.

Where it prices is anyone’s guess, but in size Skoda’s EV slots between the Karoq and the Kodiaq, being 4648mm long, 1877mm wide and 1618mm tall, on a 2765mm wheelbase.  

It is also classed as an SUV, though realistically that’s just a convenience. The message from commentators who got to see and drive it is that, because of the massive battery pack within the floor, there isn't a great deal of ground clearance so don't expect to go very far off-road in it.

However, it is designed to tow (if only up to 1200kg) and will is as roomy as the Kodiaq, with a big cabin – made all the more spacious by the lack of a transmission tunnel – and a 585-litre boot. Unlike some other electric SUVs, there isn't a storage area under the bonnet.

If Skoda NZ entertains taking the full range, then conceivably Enyaq would provision in more variants than virtually any model it presently sells here.

The line starts with the 109kW Enyaq iV 50, driven by a rear-mounted electric motor (so, rear-wheel drive) with a 55kWh battery pack and a maximum driving range of 340 kilometres.

Above this is the Enyaq iV 60, also rear-wheel drive but with a 62kWh battery and a 390km driving range, then the Enyaq iV 80, the highest choice in the rear-motored set. It has an 82kWh battery offering 150kW and up to 500 kilometres’ range.

Beyond this are dual-motor all-wheel-drive 80X and RS variants, also with the 82kWh battery pack, but with a second electric motor driving the front wheels. In this form the 80X has 195kW and the RS another 30kW more. The extra grunt comes at expense of range, but not greatly, with 460km claimed. The RS is the only variant that Skoda has announced a 0-100kmh time for; claiming it’ll smash that in 6.2 seconds. That’s 0.8s better than the fastest current Kodiaq, the RS. 

Fast charging is also promised with an 80 percent 'fill' possible from 40 minutes at a 125kW DC-powered station … provoding, that is, you’re talking about the 82kWh models. The onboard 11kW charging unit will enable users with a suitable domestic wallbox to replenish the battery charge in six to nine hours, depending on battery size.

Skoda wouldn’t allow photos of the interior, but media noted it doesn’t have the usual Skoda instrument displays, but instead takes a small digital display ahead of a two-spoke steering wheel plus an augmented head-up display that projects onto the windscreen, as in the Volkswagen ID.3. A centrally mounted freestanding touchscreen sits atop the dashboard, and this will come in two sizes, 10- or 13-inch, depending on model.

Skoda’s bent for practicality reveals with decent interior storage, including a generous console between the front seats. It gets a large wireless charging pad that can charge two phones simultaneously. Oh yes, and it has the trad umbrella. 

Skoda has a wide variety of specification grades, starting with Studio, available in the Enyaq 50 alone. Additional Loft, Lodge, Suite and Eco Suite trim levels will be available on the 60 and 80 models, and Eco Suite features more sustainably sourced materials. The 60 and 80 versions will gain the largest touchscreen display, a 13-incher. 

The car taken to Ireland was an Enyaq 80 and even with four adults on board, it was determined to have plenty of performance to offer with the typical instantaneous pick-up that is associated with electric motors.

What stood out for invitees was the smoothness of the ride over secondary road surfaces. Said one Irish publication: “It impressively soaked up larger bumps and the damping effect was equally polished, despite the lack of air suspension. How much that will differ in cars fitted with the largest 21-inch wheels remains to be seen, but running on 19-inch rims (also wearing winter tyres), it left a positive impression.”

RS rush kicking in from August

Coronavirus has slowed but not stymied intent to deliver the updated RS4 and RS5.

the rs5 updates start at the front

THIRD and fourth quarter arrival scheduling has been confirmed respectively two RS models especially popular with Kiwis.

The timings for the RS5 Sportback and RS4 Avant wagon has been shared along with a novel invitation to media. 

The liftback will be here for public consumption from August – though a solitary press car comes next month - while the load-all is even later.

Those timings also come with suggestion the $157,900 Sportback could be in more limited supply, at least initially, than the $153,500 wagon, whose production availability is described in a communique as being “much better. 

A spokeswoman later communicated that RS5 supply will be down to “a handful” on first arrival, but with steady stock later.

Supply constraints are hardly unusual with the RS models but, of course, the situation has become massively exacerbated by the global coronavirus pandemic, which caused car plants in Europe to close as early as March. However, Audi has since slowly resumed production from mid-April.

If not for that, the cars could conceivably have been coming out around now. NZ’s status as a high-level and easily-pleased RS fanbase usually ensures we get to the top of the list for right-hand-drive production, which appears to have just begun when the Covid-19 crisis hit.

the rs4 has been notified as a Q4 arrival

Audi NZ has listed the RS4 for some weeks but only provisioned the RS Sportback specification sheet yesterday with an invitation for NZ media to participate in a media question and answer session running from an RS skunkworks in Germany tomorrow morning.

The programme requires an early start – it’s at 4am, our time – but live attendance has been excused, with participants being allowed to submit up to three questions via a provisioned URL.

It sounds like fun, as it involves racing driver Frank Stippler and Rolf Michl, head of sales and marketing for Audi Sport GmbH, and is tagged as being an interactive test drive from the Nurburgring racing circuit, where the Audi Driving Experience Centre bases and cars are tested.

Provision of the RS5’s local market detail comes three months after Audi Germany released the images of the refreshed RS5 seen today. It comes with confirmation that focus will restrict simply on the five-door shape, with Audi NZ saying is has no intentions for the two-door Coupe.

This will also be a busy week for RS information sharing, with the local operation saying it will have more to share about the RS6 and RS7 later this week.

The RS5 Sportback in the image showcases the most expensive of the 20-inch alloy wheel styles; those matt bronze hoops are $4000 a set, as opposed to $1000 to three other styles in alloy. In its standard form, the new RS5s ride on 19-inch wheels wrapped in 265/35 rubber.

cabins come in for some revision

The flash rims a trifling splurge compared to some other options, all the same. The most expensive enhancements are carbon ceramic brakes, at $16000, and a carbon styling pack, valued at $13k.

The incoming editions are mechanically unchanged, for the most part, from the pre-facelift models that have been here since 2017 and 2018.

So, the same 2.9-litre biturbo V6 is pressed into service, the maximum power's still 331kW and the torque still peaks at 600Nm, from 1900 to 5000rpm, and it’s all driving all four wheels through quattro four-wheel drive with a rear-axle 'Sport' differential and an eight-speed Tiptronic automatic gearbox.

Yet that transmission has been recalibrated to improve shift times, while the quattro system is also given a bit of a rework, though it continues to favour a 40:60 front-to-rear-torque split, sending as much as 85 percent of torque to the back axle when required. Zero to 100kmh times range from 3.9 to 4.1 seconds.

What’s obviously changed is some of the styling. The refresh delivers a revised front end, which features reshaped air intakes and an enlarged grille for a more aggressive look. Audi says that the three implied air vents above the grille are inspired by the 1984 Audi UR Quattro. There are new lighting signatures at both ends and altered bumpers, too.

The dynamic handling system picks up two driver customisable modes (RS1 and RS2) in addition to the comfort, auto, and dynamic modes. 

engine outputs don’t alter

Nappa leather seats, a head-up display, and a even sportier suspension package with hydraulic roll and pitch stabilisation are on the menu.

The 12.3-inch 'Virtual Cockpit' dashboard has been refreshed, as have the graphics on the 10.1-inch infotainment touchscreen.

This RS4 is 45kg lighter than pre-facelift car, supposedly through a reduction in sound-deadening. The adaptively damped suspension has been reworked, too, to enhance ride comfort.

If the standard RS concoct doesn’t seem fiery enough, then perhaps ABT Sportsline, a motor racing and auto tuning company that mainly deals with Audi and the related primary Volkswagen Group brands, can help.

Abt Power S has delivered a rework package for the  2.9-litre biturbo V6 that bumps up the power to 395kW and torque to 680Nm. 

A kit that is cited as being specific to the RS4 – though surely it would work for the RS5 as well - liberates this sort of punch through an Abt Engine Control (ABT) high-tech unit, an additional water-cooler package and a revised air intake cover. You can even go further by adding an optional Abt intercooler to the mix, though it’s potentially more for well-being as Abt says it won’t change the wallop.

Abt doesn't say what this sort of hike in power does for 0-100kmh times, but pundits reckon it is reasonable to expect it to be as fast, or maybe even faster, than its larger RS6 sibling, which'll run 0-100kmh in a claimed 3.6s.

Want to know more about the Abt partnership and the work undertaken with the RS4? Watch this video.

Hybrid XV, Forester running lean

Those long-promised thrift-minded hybrid Subarus are finally here …just not in strength.

CONFIRMATION that the first Subaru cars with a hybrid drivetrain have finally arrived has come with caveat of limited supply.

The national allocation of e-Boxer versions of the XV small crossover and Forester medium sports utility editions is a trickle; just 10-20 units a month.

 Also confirmed is pricing, with the XV Sport at $42,490 and Forester Sport and Premium respectively at $47,490 and $54,990 – all therefore $5000 more expensive than respective existing petrol versions in equivalent specification and trim.

As per non-hybrid editions, the new models are all-wheel-drive and have a continuously variable automatic transmission. 

The limited availability excludes demonstrators, with dealerships from June 1. IT’s highly probable those cars might be sought by customers, as first stock for general sale won’t come until September at the earliest.

Subaru Japan’s inability to supply the models to this market until now has been a massive issue for the national distributor.

The addition of an electric motor and lithium-ion battery to abet the car’s classic Subaru 2.0-litre petrol engine was seen by Subaru New Zealand as the perfect tool to ease lingering consumer perception that the marque’s trademark horizontally-opposed engines fall short as economy or emissions champs.

 Subaru NZ began spruiking the technology three years ago and initially thought it would have it in early 2019. It then reset that timeframe, with thought NZ might piggyback on the introduction to Australia, which occurred last December.

The reduced count might not be a factory inability to provision more.

It could also be that, with the car market expected to be down by around 40 percent year-on-year as result of the initial and ongoing impact of the coronavirus, Subaru NZ has chosen to keep the national allocation under closer control.

Certainly, it has broken from convention in deciding that it will take direct control of e-Boxer allocation. General inquiries and sales arrangements are directed through a bespoke website, www.subaru.co.nz/eboxer, and customer-bound cars will apparently allocate from its Auckland head office.

Even so, it definitely wants to stir up interest. It has also come up with a finance deal that secures the models for $99 per week (over an unspecified period) through Subaru’s Accelerator Programme via Heartland Bank. Additional information will be available about this offer and will be emailed to those that have registered to find out more on June 1. 

The models use the same e-Boxer powertrain, a 2.0-litre horizontally opposed four-cylinder engine developing 110kW at 6000rpm and 196Nm at 4000rpm (5kW shy of its petrol counterpart in the XV) mated to a synchronous electric motor good for 12kW/66Nm.

Subaru has cited that the XV Hybrid has potential to deliver a 14 percent improvement in fuel efficiency over the equivalent petrol model on the urban cycle and a seven percent improvement on the combined cycle. The Forester Hybrid will offer improvements of 19 and nine percent respectively compared to 2.5-litre petrol variants. 

The hybrid tech comes from Toyota, which has shareholding in Subaru and is a technology partner in Fuji’s electric drive programme that positions the hybrids as a stepping stone to plug-in electric fare.

Only with PHEV – or full electric – can Subaru achieve status as an electric car maker. The hybrids don’t qualify for that status. As in Toyota hybrids, the aim isn’t about allow any particular electric-only urge.

While three driving modes are available - Motor Assist EV, Motor Assist electric plus petrol engine and petrol engine only – and the system has capability of swapping between configurations depending on driving conditions, it will only enable pure electric at under 40kmh and range is limited to several kilometres. 

Subaru NZ managing director Wallis Dumper has enforced that the derivatives have the same DNA as all the NZ-new Subarus launched before them - with no compromise in their performance or their capability.

“Forester and XV have both been huge successes in our range and we know there is pent-up demand for hybrid variants among our Subaru owners, who are some of the most loyal customers in the industry.

“We are not letting COVID-19 get in the way of letting them access these new models - we just need to do things differently.”

“We believe the e-Boxer Hybrids are worth the wait as they are perfect for New Zealand. Sure, global demand and production constraints have tested our patience, however it’s more relevant than ever to have a hybrid in our model line-up.”

.

New Highlander hybrid revealed

Here’s the new Toyota Highlander – but you won’t see it in the metal for a little while yet.

DETAILS about the hybrid system set to drive the next-generation Highlander have been revealed.

In giving insight into the new-to-type drivetrain that Toyota New Zealand has previously affirmed will be a sole choice, thus bumping a petrol V6 that continues in other markets, the brand has also provisioned a first look at the new styling.

The Palmerston North-based brand has yet to offer any comment on the car and its timing. Toyota Australia, whose launch timings general chime with ours, has said it is set to land in the first half of 2021.

This will be the first time a hybrid powertrain has been offered on new Highlander here. Married to a 2.5-litre petrol engine, it is of course a mild system – plug-in recharging has yet to enter the Toyota lexicon – and the cited total hybrid system power output is expected to be 179kW (whereas the new V6 has 218kW). 

Toyota also cites “excellent fuel economy and low emissions” without being too specific. The hybrid battery is located under the second-row seats.

The hybrid drivetrain marries to an intelligent AWD system that incorporates front and rear electric motors.

The fourth-generation Highlander sits on the Toyota New Global Architecture GA-K platform, providing multiple benefits for dynamics, safety and styling.

Toyota says this has enabled engineers to develop a lightweight and highly rigid bodyshell with a low centre of gravity - features that provide the new SUV with nimble handling and comfortable driving around town and on the highway.

The new generation has advanced Toyota Safety Sense active safety technologies designed to help prevent or mitigate collisions across a wide range of traffic situations.

The new platform has also allowed designers to craft a longer, more distinctive body that delivers a more flexible interior with expanded cargo space and a more tailored ambience.

Toyota has sold more than 15 million hybrid vehicles globally.

Time for cash for bangers

Vehicle scrappage – new car distributors say today’s massively depressed market provides the right climate for action.

Bangers for cash schemes have proven effective overseas.

 FACED with a remainder of 2020 which is going to see demand for new vehicles remain tepid at best, distributors have turned to the Government for help.

They’re seeking fast-tracked introduction of new policies to boost demand - incentives to compel the public to buy into fuel-efficient vehicles allied with others to remove old polluting and potentially unsafe vehicles from the scene.

The Motor Industry Association, the organisation that represents the new vehicle industry, is leading the push.

What spurs this all the more is a dire registrations outcome for April. A sector in lockdown put 90 percent fewer new passenger and light commercials vehicles into public use than it managed in the same month of last year. Year-to-date the market is down 32 percent.

“The Government can play a decisive role in lessening the economic pain we are feeling,” said chief executive David Crawford.

The removal of older vehicles from the roads is hardly unknown. The United Kingdom and many European countries in particular have such ‘bangers for cash’ programmes in place, usually with the dual aim of getting rid of older and more polluting vehicles, improving safety and, of course, stimulating sales of newer – ultimately brand-new – new vehicles.

david crawford

New Zealand has no such thing and this has contributed to the average vehicle age approaching 15 years. For example, the average of vehicles in the United Kingdom is just over eight years, and in Australia and the United States it is just over 10 years. The average age here now is, in fact, higher than it was before NZ accepted used import cars. Lowering the fleet age was given as a reason why ex-Japan used cars were allowed here.

Around four million vehicles are thought to be registered in New Zealand. It’s thought around 68 percent are less than 18 years old. Twenty-one percent are aged between 18 and 27 years. That means we have at least a million vehicles on our roads aged more than 20 years and with exhaust emissions many times higher than modern-day vehicles, and potentially with safety issues as well.

Saus Crawford: “We all know we have an old fleet with numerous polluting and unsafe cars roaming our roads.

“We believe it is time for the Government to provide financial incentives to remove the vehicles which are older than 20 years of age and/or where their exhaust emissions standards are the equivalent of Euro 3 or less.” (Euro 3 is a globally-recognised emissions standard introduced, first in Europe, in 2006).

He added such a move would be in line with New Zealand’s new road safety strategy and the Government’s climate change objectives.

For all that, scrappage is an issue that various administrations have considered for years.

the higher the quality of the fleet, the better the safety standard

Two trials were conducted by the Ministry of Transport, the first in 2007 and another in 2009. The first was in Auckland where owners of old clunkers were invited to hand in their vehicles in return for $400 worth of free passage on the city’s bus and train services. A total of 253 vehicles were scrapped. Organisers determined the benefits of the trial exceeded its $102,800 cost.

The second trial was in Wellington and Christchurch, where owners were paid the scrap metal value of their vehicles plus $250 worth of public transport passes. They also went into a draw to win a new Toyota Corolla.

A total of 349 vehicles were collected, but officials decided the whole thing was not cost-effective due to the low number of vehicles received and the relatively low overall social and environmental benefits relative to the trial’s cost.

Since then nothing else has been tried.

That’s been in stark contrast to other parts of world where scrappage schemes have been introduced. In the UK, for example, the Government introduced a scheme in 2009 where owners of old cars were offered the equivalent of around $6000 to get rid of them. Various car companies have also implemented their own scrappage schemes, most recently in 2017.

Last year our Government looked at a total of 11 potential new policies aimed at reducing New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions – and one of those was the introduction of some form of scrappage scheme. Incentives considered included supply of public transport passes, and credits towards the purchase of either a cleaner car or some other form of transport such as an e-bike.

older cars are also generally more problematic for exhaust emissions

But that idea didn’t progress much further, with the Government opting instead to concentrate on the so-called feebate scheme that would financially encourage motorists to buy low-emission vehicles via rebates, and discourage purchases of more fuel-hungry vehicles via fees.

The only thing that happened in relation to scrappage was a statement from Associate Transport Minister Julie-Anne Genter that the subject had been passed on to the NZTA, and that she expected to hear back from the organisation in a few weeks.

That statement was in October last year.

Meanwhile New Zealand’s vehicle fleet is getting progressively older – average age was 11.7 years in 2000, 14.4 years in 2017, and today 14.9 years. Should we be proud of this?

some car brands in the uk remain avid advocates of scrappage.

Ute outlook Pt 3: The big Blue

Our national obsession for utilities, especially family-minded dual-cabs, knows no bounds. The market is booming at the moment, and filled with plenty of strong options. Yet surely you’re also keen to know something about what’s coming up next, when and from whom? Here’s the final section of our three-part analysis.

will there be a new Raptor? It’s still unknown.

My, how the motoring world goes around.

Back in 2011 when Ford Australia unveiled the T6 Ranger ute that it had designed and engineered all by itself, it flew journalists to some God-forsaken place in South Australia’s Flinders Range for the big reveal.

In among the Rangers at the launch event was a Volkswagen Amarok. The Ford people explained that the VW was there because during the Ranger’s development they had benchmarked their new ute against it.

High praise indeed for the Argentine-built ute produced by Germany’s Volkswagen Group. And the benchmarking worked, too – Ranger immediately became one of the world’s most popular one-tonne utes.

In New Zealand it is the topselling ute, consistently edging out its arch-rival Toyota Hilux. In fact it is the top selling new vehicle full-stop – last year there were 9485 of them registered, well ahead of Hilux’ 7126 sales and way ahead of the most popular passenger vehicle, the Toyota Corolla with its 6804 sales.

And Amarok? The hard truth is that the Volkswagen has struggled. It account for just 1 per cent of the Kiwi commercial market last year, with 653 sales. And that figure was less than 1 per cent of the Amarok’s global sales of 72,500 last year, which in itself was very modest when compared to the hundreds of thousands of sales recorded annually by the likes of Hilux and Ranger.

Given the very high costs of development of any new-generation vehicle, it made sense then that Volkswagen Group would look to forge an alliance with another manufacturer to share development of the next Amarok.

That’s what has happened. Last year the group signed a contract with Ford Motor Company to develop new light commercial vehicles.

current ranger has been vital for ford nz

In other words, instead of Ford using the Amarok as a benchmark during development of a brand-new T7 Ranger, it is now developing the next-generation Volkswagen ute.

Under the terms of the new alliance, Ford is responsible for creating the two ute models, while Volkswagen Group is responsible for development of both brands’ next-generation vans.

The ute project is being led by Ford’s Australia-based Asia-Pacific Product Development Centre, and it is already well advanced. Unofficial word is that the new Ranger will be launched late next year, and the Amarok slated to arrive in 2022.

Although both companies – Volkswagen particularly – are currently spending a fortune electrifying their future vehicles, this isn’t going to apply to the utes. Instead, Ford is concentrating on developing a range of suitable petrol and diesel engines for Ranger and Amarok.

Media reports out of Australia suggest that instead of being powered by the current 3.2-litre five cylinder diesel, which won’t meet latest emissions regulations, the new Ranger will feature a 3.0-litre single turbocharged Power Stroke diesel V6.

The latest version of this lightweight engine is under the bonnet of the F-150 pick-up in USA, and in that application it offers 186 kilowatts of power and 597 Newton metres of torque.

There’s also talk the Ranger will also get a 2.7-litre twin-turbocharged ‘Nano’ EcoBoost petrol V6 that debuted in 2018 aboard the F-150 in the US, and it develops 242kW and 542kW. But at this stage it seems unlikely this petrol Ranger will become available for New Zealand.

 There’s no word yet as to whether the new Amarok will feature the same powertrains as the Ranger.

Parts 1 and 2 of this series can be found in the news section.

amarok has been a solid performer and the v6 is admired. will it continue?

Future-looking Volvos coming, ready or not

The next XC90 coming here is designed to carry a feature considered the key to unlocking fully automated driving.

How Lidar sees the world.

THE next generation of a Volvo car strongly supported by Kiwis will avail within three years with technology crucial to enabling safe automated driving – but whether it can be used effectively here then is far from certain.

The Swedish car brand’s local distributor has confirmed it is line for the next XC90, a large seven-seater luxury sports utility, debuting an advanced self-driving suite using lidar.

Lidar is a radar that – as the acronym suggests – uses light detection and ranging to measures distance using pulsed laser light to generate a highly accurate 3D map of the world around the car. 

Lidar sensors are considered by many automakers and tech companies an essential piece of technology to safely roll out autonomous vehicles.

Because? Just like human-driven cars, vehicles enacting autonomously must face traffic congestion, potholes, trees and numerous other obstacles. Lidar is the technology that works as an ‘eye’ and to opportune accuracy gains far beyond the level from existing radar and camera technology that’s already in operation and increasingly commonplace, especially in luxury brands.

With Lidar Volvo is promising it will deliver fully autonomous vehicles which can navigate highways. With the emphasis on the last word. This is not designed to enable full-time hands-off driving in any other scenario. City streets, country roads, carparks, your driveway, the beach … no, too hard. There will still be a steering wheel, still the need for a driver.

Volvo has been at the forefront with its highway pilot system, which in current form uses radar, cameras and software to read road conditions well enough to be a semi-autonomous aid. It fits as standard to most product now.

However, the new system, developed with a highly secretive Silicon Valley start-up, Luminar, is a significant world-first step beyond that ability, Volvo New Zealand general manager Coby Duggan says.

What’s unveiled now potentially feeds off a trial Volvo conducted on part of Tauranga’s motorway back in 2016 that became first official trial of an autonomous driving system in this country in real world conditions.

In that test, the trial car – also an XC90, but the current model – used a more sophisticated version of the self-drive technology presently available in production models to navigate the road.

Driver intervention was minimal, only required to u-turn at the halfway point of the 15km journey. What impressed onlookers and trial partners the Ministry of Transport, NZTA, Trafinz and the maker was how the car operated seamlessly and safely alongside other vehicles.

At that time the smarts were just in Beta form – the car had to be smartened with software brought in from Sweden (on a memory stick), with an expert from Gothenburg head office to operate it.

Much progress has since occurred with the ‘Drive Me’ development programme, including an initiative in Sweden that saw 100 families testing fully autonomous vehicles on public roads. 

Now comes the overnight announcement of the lidar integration being set for production. 

Volvo, whose parent is Chinese giant Geely, says this latest advance will be part of a hardware package for vehicles on its second-generation of the Scalable Product Architecture that underpins all current models.

Coby Duggan

That programme kicks off with the next XC90, which Duggan says is set to avail here in late 2023, a year after international release.

Volvo’s confidence in the new system is such it has immediately assured it will take full liability should anything go wrong.

It says the lidar package might initially start out an option, but will eventually become a standard feature.

Either way, Duggan says it is probable all new XC90s will carry the core electronic elements – and presumably at least the lidar housing - regardless of how prepared export markets are for automated driving.

Luminar and Volvo have not revealed how much this version of highway pilot might cost. Luminar has previously said its Iris lidar unit will cost less than $NZ1600 per unit for production vehicles seeking full autonomy and about $NZ800 for version used for more limited purposes like driver assistance.

Will New Zealand be ready for this? Hard to say. Realistically, it would likely only prove useful on motorways built to latest design standard and in perfect order; as Tauranga’s was. Roadworks, congestion, confusing markings … these remain a challenge even for tech in its most advanced form.

All the same, from a legislative perspective, NZ is well-placed for the ‘if’ and ‘ when’ of autonomous driving and there seems to be a healthy consumer interest in hands-free driving.

“So, yeah, I think we are getting there. Yes, we still need to understand more about what needs to happen in infrastructure terms to make sure the cars are able to perform as they are intended to.

“Yet we’ve always said the NZ is quite open to this and is receptive to an uptake of new tech.

“From a legislative perspective it is well prepared and NZ customers certainly seem to be keen to explore what’s available. But I also think the condition of the roads will also be pretty critical and there’s probably lots of work yet to be done in that respect.”

Of course, NZ standing out as a particularly tasty test site for real world AI driving only carries so much currency - the reality remains that ours is a small country so generally has to wait its turn.”

Current XC90 is a top seller for Volvo NZ

In some respects, it’s no different to where NZ finds itself with electric vehicles; makers appreciate our high level of renewable energy and identify the infrastructure is reasonably good, yet still have to give bigger markets priority.

“In some respects it would be nice to think we could be at the forefront but the reality is … we won’t necessarily be landing those cars first.”

Even so, in broad terms and regardless that it’s too early to unwrap where we place in Volvo’s planning, the tech is great to see and he anticipates his office and the sales network will receive plenty of customer inquiry.

It’s going to be a learning experience for everyone. “The more that we know about the technology in advance of the car arriving then the more we can start that education process.”

It’s not as if owners will be going in cold. Current Volvos are, like most modern luxury cars, equipped to engage semi-autonomous hands-off operation in specific conditions and for short duration.

“The notion of autonomous driving in the first instance is about making the most boring and the most unsafe aspects of driving safer and more convenient. There is obviously a piece of that depending on the infrastructure being what it needs to be, but obviously this (new) tech takes it forward.”

Volvo is hardly first to seek to adopt Lidar; the advancement here is as much as anything else in the packaging of a system that sends out thousands of laser pulses every second, these colliding with the surrounding objects and reflecting back to create a 3D point cloud. An onboard computer records each laser’s reflection point and translates this rapidly updating point cloud into an animated 3D representation. What has kept lidar off cars is cost and the ungainliness of the set-up: Who wants a car with a bucket-sized rotating device – requisite for a 360 degree view - installed on the roof or bonnet?

Luminar’s sensors are sited within the car’s roofline.

Well, no-one. Luminar’s solution is to forgo looking anywhere but ahead. So it’s sensors are fixed in place with a 120-degree horizontal field of view. This allows Volvo plans to integrate Luminar's iris sensors into the car's roof just above the windshield, where it will have a good view of the road ahead of the vehicle. The whole thing is really compact, about the size of really thick sandwich.

Luminar CEO Austin Russell says the announcement also represents years of work bringing down the cost of its technology. Luminar's technology is built around a relatively exotic type of laser operating at 1550nm. The fluid in the human eye is opaque to light at this frequency, allowing lidars to use higher power levels without running afoul of eye safety regulations. That helps Luminar's lidar achieve an impressive 250-metre range. 

The downside is that transmitting and receiving a 1550nm laser light requires the use of unusual and expensive semiconductor materials like indium-gallium arsenide (yeah, we also hope that one never comes up on The Chase). That's in contrast to conventional 905nm lidar systems that can be made using ubiquitous silicon-based components.

The perception software equally crucial to making it all work is still under development. The aim is to activate it wirelessly once it is verified to be safe in individual geographic locations. Volvo says it will continue to expand the capability of the software such as pushing up the maximum speed a vehicle can travel while driving autonomously. But it enforces this is primarily for highways. 

Even so, that’s a big step. And, yes, over time, updates over the air will expand the areas in which the car can drive itself. But Luminar enforces a safe introduction of autonomy is a gradual introduction – quite a different message, then, than we’ve heard from a certain someone in the electric car business.

Luminar’s Lidar packaging is a breakthrough

Ute outlook: Part 2 – the big team

Our national obsession for utilities, especially family-minded dual-cabs, knows no bounds. The market is booming at the moment, and filled with plenty of strong options. Yet surely you’re also keen to know something about what’s coming up next, when and from whom? Here’s part two of our three-part analysis.

Are you ready for Renaut’s Oroch Duster?

THE Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance is a massive strategic partnership that currently produces better than 10 per cent of all the world’s new vehicles.

That’s a lot of vehicles – close to 11 million a year, in fact – so it makes sense that the alliance has various technology-sharing agreements in place to take advantage of economies of scale. Such as sharing platforms and powertrains for its next generation of vehicles, for instance.

When it comes to one-tonne utes, the first brand-new model to emerge from the Alliance is going to be the Mitsubishi Triton. And a likely special feature of the model, which will probably be launched in 2022, will that it will be electrified.

Probably not pure electric though – that would be a step too far, given the traditional towing and 4WD rock-hopping needs of utes.  But it is known that research is progressing into whether the Triton will become available as a petrol-electric hybrid or as a PHEV.

Triton is a vitally important model for Mitsubishi. It’s the brand’s second-biggest selling vehicle worldwide behind the Outlander, with close to 200,000 annual sales. In New Zealand it is the biggest-selling Mitsubishi by a country mile – last year 5319 of them were registered, close to double the number of Outlander sales.

Current generation Triton has done Mitsubishi proud.

So in every respect it is important that the new Triton continues the model’s great reputation – and potentially  enhance it via the Mitsubishi becoming the first ute manufacturer to add electrification to its lineup.

Mitsubishi has been investigating the feasibility of a hybrid ute for some years now, and in fact it revealed such a vehicle – a diesel-electric concept called GR-HEV – back in 2013 at the Geneva Motor Show.

While there was no updated concept ute at the Tokyo Motor Show late last year, it was made clear a brand-new Triton is under development – and that Mitsubishi will be the first member of the Alliance to produce it.

Said the company’s chief operating officer Ashwai Gupta at a media briefing: “It’s a matter of each brand’s business decision as to when they will launch (a new ute), but as far as Mitsubishi is concerned...we are going ahead with development of a Triton successor.”

Mitsubishi has already achieve big sales success with its Outlander PHEV, so it is obvious that this plug-in technology is one that the brand is now considering for light commercial use. But it may well be that a more traditional series or parallel hybrid system will be chosen.

Next ute off the Alliance rank will be the Nissan Navara, which is also likely to be offered with the choice of an electrified version. But as with Mitsubishi, no decision has been made on which direction this electrification will take.

The new Navara will probably arrive in 2022. The current model has already received a final refresh, and the New Zealand lineup has just been bolstered via arrival of a version called N-Trek Warrior which was developed by Australian firm Premcar.

N-Trek edition is expected to lift current Navara’s status

In New Zealand, Navara is the most popular Nissan, with its 3305 sales last year beating both the Qashqai and X-Trail SUVs.

At Tokyo last year, the brand’s global head of light commercial vehicles Francois Bailley said for Nissan to consider any form of electrified power, a ute must be able to deliver power, torque and towing abilities.

“We’re looking at different technologies, from full EV to PHEV and so on. But we don’t think our customers will tolerate any compromise in terms of towing, payload, range. We must supply the same capabilities as the internal combustion models.”

Interestingly though, Nissan has already produced an electric ute.  Nissan-Dongfeng, which is a 50:50 joint venture in China, last year launch a new ute called Rich 6, which is based on the Navara and offers the equivalent of about 120kW and 420Nm.

Renault, the third member of the Alliance, already sells two utes on various interenational markets – the Navara-based Alaskan, and a small half-tonne ute called Oroch that is built off a compact SUV called Duster.

Renault New Zealand has been banging on for some years now that it intends importing the Alaskan, but it’s never happened.  Now it is more likely that if a Renault one-tonne ute does enter the Kiwi market, it will now be a brand-new model based off the new Triton.

It also seems likely the Oroch will get here before that. Renault NZ has confirmed that the Duster will arrive in New Zealand during the fourth quarter of this year, and there is talk that the ute version will arrive soon after.

And what about the Mercedes-Benz X-Class? Will a second generation of that ute, which is currently built off the Navara and assembled alongside Navara and Alaskan in Spain, also be built off the new Triton? Or will there be another X-Class at all?

The answer is no.  Mercedes-Benz has been badly burned by being the first luxury manufacturer to enter the world of the one-tonne ute – and as a result ithas announced that X-Class will be axed from the end of this month.

In a statement, the brand simply said: “In our global product portfolio, the X-Class is a niche product which plays a great role in a few markets.” In other words, It hasn’t been selling in anywhere near sufficient numbers – so is being dumped.