Welcome back to your weekly wrap up of car news and reviews, where we find all the bits that matter and condense them down into one easy read
It’s perhaps not surprising to learn that time passes quickly when you are trying to dodge a potentially lethal air-borne virus but bloody hell, is it almost February?
A lot has happened in a short space of time, as manufacturers grow irritated with falling behind schedule and buyers feel the same about waiting six months or more for their new car.
The Kia EV6 will start from $67,990 before on-road costs in Australia
We’ve also seen a lot of details emerge for some important new cars including pricing for the new Kia EV6 and got inside word on what engines will be available for the new Ford Ranger Raptor.
But what about the cars that are already here? Well despite the public holiday this week we published seven reviews this week covering everything from eight-seater SUVs to tradie utes – so take your pick.
It’s been a fun week and we’ve even added a few surprises from the Chasing Cars team to our news effort so I encourage you to take a look.
Toyota has been forced to stop production of the Land Cruiser 300 Series temporarily
Toyota flags further delays for Land Cruiser 300 and more
It’s no secret that Toyota, like all car manufacturers, is struggling to get enough semiconductors to build its cars at the desired rate right now and that problem has been compounded by the overwhelming demand for new cars in 2022.
In an admirable moment of transparency, Toyota gave us another update on its production schedule this week which has seen more delays added in January.
The latest delays specifically affect popular models such as the Land Cruiser 300 Series, Land Cruiser Prado, Land Cruiser 70 Series, the new-generation Lexus NX midsize SUV, Corolla hatch and sedan along with the Yaris Cross small SUV just to name a few.
Thankfully these earlier delays have meant planned assembly line interruptions in February will not go ahead, which is good news for car buyers.
Australian buyers will be waiting up to six months to score a new Hyundai i20 N
Hyundai i20 N wait times revealed
After launching globally late last year, the Hyundai i20 N has been quite a hit all over the world and its Aussie sales numbers are showing no signs of slowing down.
Given the industry-wide shortages, we reached out to Hyundai to find out just how long it would take to get your hands on one as demand is outstripping demand quite considerably.
Hyundai says 333 i20 Ns are either sitting in dealer lots or on a boat heading to Australia but with 495 orders currently in place, you’ll be lucky to get one right now.
If you place an order right now, Hyundai says you’ll be waiting around six months to get your hands on one so good luck.
Ford unveiled the Bronco Raptor which has enhanced its off-road capability yet again
Ford Bronco Raptor unveiled
The Ford Bronco Raptor was unveiled this week, replicating a formula of dialling up the brawn and off-road credentials that has worked incredibly well for the F-150 and Ranger.
Ford added a host of upgrades and new features to make the Bronco Raptor even more capable across roads and when blasting through sand dunes at speed.
These include taller shock towers, a reinforced underbody, bash plates and heavy-duty axles sourced from the Bronco DR race truck which has widened the track by 218mm.
Ford has shoehorned a 3.0-litre twin-turbo petrol V6 engine under the bonnet and its engineers are targeting a power output of over 400hp (298kW) when it goes on sale.
Sadly, the Bronco is no closer to coming to Australia in factory form, but given that it and the Ranger share a chassis, we expect many of the upgrades seen here to be found on the new Ranger Raptor when it’s unveiled later this year.
We reviewed the Toyota Hilux in a more affordable specification paired with a manual transmission
All the cars and SUVs we reviewed this week:
We gave you guys a treat this week as videographer Alek Hoskins got in front of the camera for the first time to talk about his GWM Ute Cannon-X long termer.
Alek’s got big plans for his budget bus over the next six months including a tow test and some hardcore off-roading. He also touched on some things he likes and dislikes about this new ute a month into the ownership experience.
In our ongoing side mission to review cars that people don’t buy a lot of – but really should – we nabbed the keys to the new Volvo V60 Cross Country to find out if it’s worth the extra bucks over a Subaru Outback and if it’s actually better than its SUV equivalent.
Next up, it was time for the Hyundai Palisade in the new Elite grade where we investigated this new mid-spec grade that could actually be the pick of the bunch.
The Toyota Hilux is Australia’s best-selling vehicle, but does it live up to the hype? We had a look at the mid-tier SR5 grade to find out if it’s good bang for your buck.
Contributor and family man Iain Curry, who you might remember from the EV Challange, reviewed the Kia Sorento GT-Line diesel and loved its bank for buck but raised some concerns with the seven-seater’s safety suite.
The Toyota Sequoia isn’t a Land Cruiser but it sure is closely related to one
Other car and SUV news we covered this week:
- Ford is currently knee-deep testing the Ranger Raptor and our sources tell us it will come with both a petrol and diesel turbo-V6 options – and we have a good idea what those might be.
- The fully-electric Kia EV6 midsize SUV has been priced from $67,990 before on-road costs and will go on sale in February. It will be released in a choice of three grades with the full-fat GT arriving in Q4 of this year.
- Toyota in North America unveiled its third-generation Sequoia which is essentially a full-sized SUV alternative to the Land Cruiser 300 Series. The pair share a chassis but the US-only big bus also scores a hybrid drivetrain which the Landy is yet to get down under.
- Land Rover launched its hybrid offensive this week, and will soon offer the Ranger Rover Sport, Evoque, Velar and Land Rover Defender all with plug-in hybrid powertrains in Australia.
- Ford released more details of the Ranger ute explaining all the smart new features they’ve integrated into the tray and inside the cabin to make it a more user-friendly ute.
- Rumour has it the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado will get a facelift in August 2022 with the release of its successor now pushed back until 2024.
- We at the Chasing Cars office are a bit fan of track days and believe they can have a big impact on driver’s ability and confidence on the track and on the road. We complied our experiences and explained we think it’s worth your time and hard-earned cash.
- Mitsubishi announced the long-awaited successor for the ASX small SUV will arrive in 2023 sitting on a Renault platform armed with a plug-in hybrid option.
- The Nissan Navara Pro-4X Warrior exploded onto the scene late last year touting its considerable re-engineering by Melbourne-based tuning house Premcar. Buyers have taken to its off-road charms with 1000 expected to roll out of the factory by March.
- The Honda Civic Hybrid is likely coming to Australia later this year and it’s rumoured to be armed with healthy outputs of 158kW/315Nm thanks to the decision to pair the electric motors to the larger 2.0-litre engine instead of the 1.5-litre.
- Peugeot has given its 5008 range a reshuffle for 2022, giving the GT petrol grade the boot but replacing it with a new GT Sport which is more expensive but comes with a better gearbox and doesn’t require any pricy option packs to be properly plush inside.
Keyword: This week on Chasing Cars: Land Cruiser 300 delays, i20 N stock issues and Bronco Raptor revealed