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The ultimate 50th-anniversary celebration and fastest-ever GTI hot hatch will not be arriving on our shores – but New Zealand will nab a handful. Despite the best efforts of the local division, the Volkswagen Golf GTI Edition 50 is officially off the table for Australia. The reasons come down to a frustrating combination of overwhelming European demand, and a clash with local design rules (ADRs) . Adding a sting to the news is the fact that Australia’s neighbours across the Tasman will actually get a small allocation, as different rules allow them to take the current cars. The absence of the Edition 50 means Australia misses out on the most powerful production Golf GTI built to date. MORE: Volkswagen confirms Golf and T-Roc Hybrids, but key details still unknown Volkswagen Australia Passenger Vehicles Product Manager Todd Ford was blunt about the outcome, stating: “Unfortunately not, no; we desperately tried.” ...

The vast majority of sales in the premium mid-size SUV segment is with EVs, though the Tesla Model Y and Zeekr 7X are clear favourites. One Australian new-car segment has become dominated by electric vehicles (EVs) , with the top three sellers in the over $65,000 mid-size market now electric, squeezing out segment stalwarts like the Lexus LX, Audi Q5, BMW X3, and Mercedes-Benz GLC. Reigning supreme, and Australia’s top-selling EV overall, is the Tesla Model Y on 6719 recorded sales to the end of April this year. Following in the segment is the Zeekr 7X with 2698 sales despite launching only last year and supply constrained. Finally, the Kia EV5 has proven popular too, with its 1942 sales, edging out other strong sellers like the Lexus NX (1874) and Mazda CX-60 (1804). MORE: Australian new-car sales in April 2026 – EV sales share breaks another VFACTS record Overall, the 20 electric options account for about 61.3 per cent of sales overall so...

The sixth-generation BMW M3 will depart international showrooms with a six-speed manual version of the track-focused CS, but it’s sad news for anyone not in the US. BMW will farewell the current M3 sports sedan with a driver-focused, limited-edition CS Handschalter that pairs the lightweight grade with a six-speed manual for the first time. The manual-only, rear-wheel-drive, specially-tuned version of the M3 is expected to be the last new addition to the line-up before the next-generation model, set to offer petrol and electric options, debuts. Only available in the US, the BMW M3 CS Handschalter will be produced in “very limited numbers” from July, priced from USD$108,450, which is USD$10,250 cheaper than the global M3 CS – exclusively offered with an automatic and all-wheel drive – in the US. The all-wheel-drive M3 CS was listed at $249,900 plus on-road costs when it was last sold in Australia in 2024. MORE: BMW M3 EV to be similar ...