News

Kia's Sportage has scored a win in this year's "Australia's Best Cars awards". At the Australian Automobile Association's annual presentation, the Sportage SLi AWD petrol took home the chocolates in the 'Best SUV under $40,000' category.

At the recent Australia's Best Cars awards, Land Rover owned the all-terrain 4WD category - again. For the fourth year in succession, the Land Rover Discovery 4 collected the award for 'Best All-Terrain 4WD Award'.

After giving the Landcruiser and RAV4 the 'Altitude' limited edition treatment, Toyota have announced that a similar package is now available for the Kluger.

Mazda Australia has confirmed that the new SKYACTIV-G 2.5 litre petrol engine will be added to its popular CX-5 SUV range. It will replace the SKYACTIV-G 2.0 litre petrol engine on All-Wheel Drive (AWD) Maxx, Maxx Sport and GT models.

The final dash of the 2012 Australian OffRoad Championship (AORC) turned into a final 'splash' as heavy rain forced a readjustment to the course and the format of the Mitsubishi Electric Lockyer Valley 300. Race organisers, the Brisbane Sporting Car Club, were forced to make hasty changes after rain on the Friday night and throughout Saturday.

After being a notable winner in past Dakar rallies, Mitsubishi will take on a much bigger role at the 2013 running of the annual endurance rally, signing on as official vehicle supplier to the event.

For the final round for 2012, the Australian Off Road Championships head to a new location in Queensland's Lockyer Valley. With three different round winners so far, the 2012 season finale is set to be one of the most hotly contested AORC rounds ever.

The annual SEMA auto industry aftermarket trade show in the US is where the major auto manufacturers get a chance to cut loose with their creativity and unleash one-off customs and limited edition models. Mazda used this year's SEMA show to present a trio of custom vehicles based around the CX-5 compact SUV.

At this year's SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) auto industry aftermarket trade show in Las Vegas, Mazda presented four customised CX-5 compact SUVs, with one of the quartet created for actor and race car driver Patrick Dempsey.

In the USA, Jeep's Wrangler 'Moab' edition has picked up the "4x4 of the Year" award presented by the editors of '4-Wheel & Off-Road' magazine. This is the second consecutive year that the Jeep Wrangler has won the prestigious award.

Jeep's Wrangler model has been awarded the 'Hottest 4x4 SUV' award at the 2012 SEMA auto industry aftermarket trade show in Las Vegas. This is the third consecutive year the Wrangler was recognized as the 'Hottest 4x4 SUV' at SEMA.

While Australia has witnessed 'Top Gear Live' before, it has never hosted a 'Top Gear Festival' - until now. In March, 2013, Sydney will be only the second southern hemisphere city to host a Top Gear Festival.

Holden used the Australian International Motor Show (AIMS) for the first public showing of their new off-roader - the Colorado 7 - which will be available locally from December.

The transfer of the retired US space shuttle Endeavour to its new home made worldwide news, and Toyota was involved in the journey.

Kia have unveiled the restyled version of their successful Sorento SUV at the Australian International Motor Show (AIMS), with the new version now available in Australia.

Volkswagen's Touareg came full circle at the Paris Motor Show, with VW using this year's event to mark a decade since the Touareg made its debut at Paris with a commemorative edition, the Touareg 'Edition X'.

For 2013, the all-purpose land Rover Discovery 4 will feature a number of new options and luxury features, but for serious aficionados, the most notable upgrade for the MY13 Disco is the new 3.0-litre turbo diesel engine.

The 2012 Australasian Safari concluded with a short dash along the beach from Kalbarri to Geraldton. At the finish, victory in the gruelling eight-day 3,500 km off-road marathon through Western Australia went to Safari veterans, John Hederics and Kees Weel.

The penultimate leg of the 2012 Australasian Safari saw no major changes at the head of the field, but some of those who had suffered time penalties in earlier legs made sure they ended their Safari on a positive note with some fast times and impressive driving across Leg 6's three stages.

At the end of five days of the 2012 Australasian Safari, John Hederics and Kees Weel in the Holden Colorado continue to hold a comfortable lead over Rob Herridge and Sam Hill's Subaru Forester, but the stars of the day were those who had been beset by mechanical problems earlier.

After spending the first few legs within touching distance - sometimes literally - of the WA coastline, Leg 4 of the 2012 Australasian Safari saw the competitors head inland into true outback territory.

Jaguar Land Rover will celebrate 50 years of James Bond at the 2012 Paris Motor show by displaying one of the Land Rover Defenders used in Albert R. Broccoli's EON Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, and Sony Pictures Entertainment's upcoming motion picture SKYFALL.

Leg 3 of the 2012 Australasian Safari hit the dunes in one of the most challenging stages in the event's history. Over a huge 410km, the hits kept on coming. After Bruce Garland retired on Leg 2, it was the turn of overall leader Geoff Olholm to strike trouble this time around.

It was a long, hard and eventful day on Leg 2 of 2012 Australasian Safari, which comprised 491km of competitive stages through coastal station country from Kalbarri to Carnarvon. The day was hardest for Safari veteran Bruce Garland, who made a reluctant decision to retire after a collision with a fence post on Leg 2's opening stage.