Chery’s Tiggo 7 Pro SUV – stacked with features but lacking driving finesse.

Driving Chery’s Tiggo 7 Pro SUV – available in three 1.6-litre turbo seven-speed dual clutch automatics – I tested the mid-spec Elite front wheel drive at $39,990 drive-away and the top grade Ultimate all-wheel-drive at $43,990 drive-away – both stacked with features a panoramic sunroof, power tail…

Chery’s Tiggo 7 Pro SUV – best value in the Urban front drive with $3,000 bonus.

Driving the new Chery Tiggo 7 Pro SUV today. Chery’s initial arrival here under an importer was marred by an asbestos recall and poor safety scores and it eventually left our market. However, after an absence of eight years it relaunched late last year as a factory backed franchise with the small C…

Closure of Holden Museum in Echuca a sad day for fans of the marque.

I’m always amazed at the sentiment still shown for Holden despite the General Motors brand ceasing local manufacture in 2017 and leaving altogether in 2020. Its easy to forget the Holden brand in 1958 held 50.3 percent of our total car market. So, it was sad news for Holden fans when the Echuca Nat…

Hybrids the market choice over battery electric vehicles in the first quarter

In the three months to March 31 petrol electric hybrid vehicles (or HEV’s) and battery electric vehicles (BEV’s) continue to gain sales traction however HEVs remain the more popular choice representing nearly 12 percent of the market. On the other hand, sales of pure electric BEV’s in the quarter r…

Maserati Grecale Trofeo SUV - subdued styling but this is a wolf in sheep’s clothing

I spoke earlier of the Maserati Grecale Trofeo SUV – the flagship of the three model Grecale range at $206,000 drive-away. Distinguished over the two lower grades by four drive modes instead of three, height adjustable adaptive air suspension, an electronic diff lock and larger brakes. What is surp…

Maserati Grecale Trofeo SUV - flagship Italian class with performance to match.

Driving Maserati’s top seller, the Grecale SUV, now representing 75 per cent of the Italian sports manufacturers sales. In three models from $135,700 drive-away, starting with the GT, the Modena, then the flagship Trofeo, Italian for Trophy, which I’m driving today. The styling a little non-descrip…

Mazda addresses firm ride complaints on its CX-60 SUV with a free customer fix.

A few months back I complained of the harsh ride quality on Mazda’s new CX-60 SUV. I wasn’t on my own with the criticism and after numerous media and customer complaints Mazda adopted a production change from last October with softer rear dampers with owners of vehicles built prior to this date off…

New Honda Accord around the corner with hybrid drivetrain and more tech.

A new Honda Accord is due here in a few weeks – the second longest running automotive nameplate in Honda history first arrived here in 1977 however in recent years sales of the longstanding run-out model have dropped to a trickle. The all-new 11 th generation model will feature a more advanced hybr…

Audi Q3 40 TFSI Quattro Sportback SUV - A little pricey but just so good

Audi Q3 40 TFSI Quattro Sportback SUV - Best selling premium compact SUV