CAR ADVICE

Toyota has taken the wraps off its new urban-focussed electric vehicle, the diminutive C+pod. Powered by a small rear-mounted electric motor with 9.2kW and 56Nm sending drive to the rear wheels, the C+pod has a claimed top speed of 60km/h. Power for the electric motor comes via a 9.06kWh lithium-ion battery, giving the C+pod a claimed range of around 150km.

The 2021 Hyundai Palisade has just landed in Australia, offering buyers a viable seven- or eight-seater alternative to other large SUVs like the Toyota LandCruiser, but for those who don't necessarily need proper off-road capabilities and a body-on-frame construction.

The Land Rover Discovery Sport is no stranger to Australians, having gone on sale here in 2015. The Mercedes-Benz GLB, however, is much newer having gone on sale in 2020. Both occupy the medium-SUV class, and both fall into the ‘prestige’ sub-segment of the category. So, which is the better of these two flexible family freighters?

UPDATE, January 1, 2021: The hardcore, flagship Ford Bronco might not be badged 'Raptor' after all. An email sent to a member of the Bronco6G forum from Michigan-based automotive parts supplier Axis Automation details a number of upcoming internal-combustion and all-electric vehicles for which the company is producing components, including a 'Bronco Warthog', codenamed U725.

Skoda is one of the few remaining brands to have a passenger car as its best-selling model. You may have already guessed that it’s the Octavia. At the end of November 2020, the Czech brand had also yet to join those manufacturers whose SUVs outsell all of their passenger cars. That’s all but guaranteed to change in 2021 with the arrival of the Czech brand’s latest SUV, the Kamiq (pronounced Kammick).

It seems like an eternity ago that General Motors executives from Detroit shocked Australia by announcing the Holden brand would be axed on the last day of 2020. Now that day has come. The announcement in February 2020 that Holden was pulling out of Australia altogether – less than three years after closing its local factories and amid its weakest sales in more than 60 years – came moments before the world was gripped by the coronavirus crisis.

Whelp, 2020 sure has been a doozy. But beyond the suggestion that 2021 can only be an improvement, just what will the new calendar bring? At CarAdvice / Drive, we're in for a massive year - where we'll see the launch of the new Drive.com.au platform and a coming together of our two great mastheads. What's more, we will shortly announce the details of the 2021 Drive Car of the Year program, so make sure you stay tuned for that!

There was plenty of global news in 2020, which will go down in the history books for the year an invisible virus brought the world to a standstill. But while the automotive industry wasn't immune to the impacts of Covid-19, there was still plenty of news to cover. As many Australians endured through lockdowns, there were five news stories which dominated on CarAdvice. Here are the top five news articles for 2020.

After months of rumours and spy shots, a trio of official teaser images of the 2021 Hyundai Kona N have at last been released, ahead of the Hyundai performance SUV's anticipated unveiling in the coming months. Three Christmas-themed images published on Hyundai N's Instagram page – one of which is captioned "A new N is coming to town..." showcase an upcoming N performance model, wrapped in the same conspicuous 'camouflage' that adorned the i30 Sedan N in teaser images released in November 2020.

Modern Classic Review – the CarAdvice team take time away from Australia’s new car landscape to look at machines we consider true modern classics. What’s more, we’ll try to turn our focus to cars that haven’t quite fallen out of reach in terms of scarcity and affordability. Is there something on your radar? Let us know what modern classics you would like to see the team review.

We've all heard about it: pulling the rug out from international travel has caused Australian tourists to look inward. Not spiritually, but geographically. Places like Aspen and the Andes might be out of reach at the moment, but domestic travel is shaping up to boom over the next twelve months for many Australians.

The 2021 BMW M5 CS has been teased, ahead of its full unveiling in January 2021. A short walkaround video posted to BMW M's social media pages provides the first glimpse at the upcoming M5 CS, revealing its copper-finished kidney grilles, M8 Competition First Edition-derived daytime-running lights, and its 20-inch, forged aluminium alloy wheels, which wear a gold finish and hide carbon-ceramic brake discs clamped by red calipers.

Physical manifestations of virtual concept cars are nothing new by now. The latest brand to join the party is Ford, with an e-sports-ready race car designed and modelled in physical form. Released under the Team Fordzilla umbrella, the P1 concept owes its design to the team's Twitter followers. A series of polls determined how the car would take shape, with users voting for what they’d like to see from the end product.

This is the Volkswagen T-Cross – it’s the newest and smallest member of the Volkswagen T-name SUV family. It’s light on size, and pretty light on frills – and so begs the question, that as an urban runabout, do you really need any more? Well, we’ve got this one for the next few months as part of our long term fleet, to find out!

2021 will be a year of electrification for Volvo, as the brand pledges to have only electric, hybrid and mild-hybrids by the second half of the year. Along with axing diesel engines completely from their lineup, Volvo is also introducing a more efficient 'B-Series' mild-hybrid range of petrol engines across the range.

A chronic shortage of vehicles to sell - namely SUVs and Amarok - hurt Volkswagen in 2020. The signs are good for 2021, though. Volkswagen Group was down 21.5 per cent in Australia for the first 11 months compared to 2019, but it's not all bad news. Firstly, 2019 was a solid year for the brand, and secondly, the drop was almost entirely related to not actually having enough vehicles here to sell.

Toyota weathered the storm of 2020 fairly well, with sales down ever so slightly, though not significantly. With the GR Yaris as the headline-grabber of the year, the true volume was left up to models like the RAV4 and newly introduced Yaris Cross light SUV.

It's been a big year for Tesla, certainly on the stock market where its share price continues to soar, in the process elevating Elon Musk to the position of of second-richest person in the world, behind only Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos. What we don't know about Tesla, is how many cars it sold in Australia, with the American automaker opting out of industry reporting.

Can’t really sugarcoat it, can you? If you’re in the market for a new light car, or city runabout, they’re not all as cheap as they once were. Everything creeps up over time, but in the case of the 2020 Toyota Yaris range, that creep-up happened almost overnight, as the cheap and cheerful previous generation made way for this all-new car.

The Hyundai Motor Group has detailed its plans to add a dedicated hydrogen fuel cell sub-brand, following in the footsteps of a similar electric division, announced in August 2020. The new company arm, dubbed Htwo (styled as HTWO), continues Hyundai’s existing background in hydrogen fuel cell development, which reaches back over 20 years.

German tuner Abt Sportsline has unveiled its high-performance take on the new-generation 2021 Audi S3 hot hatch, two months after the Audi model's sales launch in Europe.

I’m now well over three months into my 2021 Kia Sportage long-term loan, and if I had a dollar for every time someone asked me ‘Is it pronounced sport-arj or sport-edge?’ I would be a very wealthy woman. For this review instalment, I’ve chosen to examine the Sportage’s around-town credentials, given the holiday period is fast approaching and, once it hits, I plan to be anywhere but the city.

Suzuki sold out of cars in 2020 and is currently scrambling to get more stock ready for 2021 after recent updates to the Swift and Vitara. As Australians avoid public transport in the wake of the coronavirus crisis – and shift back into safe, reliable and affordable cars – Suzuki dealers were left almost empty, except for cars that had 'sold' signs on them.

Subaru has struggled in 2020, falling by more than 20 per cent. The industry as a whole on average has receded around 15 per cent. The main reason for the brand's decline is aging product. 2021 could change its fortunes, however. Subaru is set to launch its all-new Outback, new BRZ sports car and new Levorg performance wagon all in 2021. MORE: Everything Subaru

Although SsangYong has been travelling through some murky corporate waters in 2020, there are some important updates coming for the Korean SUV manufacturer in 2021. The seven-seater Rexton four-wheel drive SUV is due for a shot in the arm, with a significant facelift bringing a bolder new look, with other updates yet to be confirmed. SsangYong's local arm has confirmed it for Australia, with timing yet to be announced.

Skoda almost halved the downturn felt by the market as a whole – dropping 8.8 per cent year-to-date against a strong 2019. In real terms and in a challenging climate, the Volkwagen sister brand is going relatively well in Australia. 2020 saw the injection of quality new models – updated Kodiaq arrived, as did new Kamiq – which came a little too late to make a big impact on sales figures.

The Escape is Ford's all-new medium-SUV contender. Like the excellent, recently launched Ford Puma, it represents the brand's second attack on the ever-burgeoning category. Like the Puma, expectations are high. Not just from us here at CarAdvice, but also the brand itself. It needs to diversify its portfolio and begin selling into different segments. At present, the bulk of its sales are from the pick-up/cab-chassis segment courtesy of the Ford Ranger. Is the Escape up to the task?

Struggling South Korean car maker Ssangyong says it is “business as usual” and will continue to sell and service cars in Australia – despite filing for bankruptcy just days prior to Christmas 2020. Ssangyong has been in financial pain for years and Indian conglomerate Mahindra and Mahindra had been trying to sell its majority shareholding in the company over the past six months.

Rolls-Royce sold 40 cars in Australia in the months leading up to December 2020 – only eight short of its total at the same point in 2019. The main event for 2021 will be the arrival of the second-generationGhost sedan, which debuted in September 2020. Shortly thereafter, a Ghost Extended variant – featuring a lengthened body – followed.

Renault's sales in 2020 decreased by more than 70 per cent compared to the year prior, amid overall dwindling sales in the automotive sector. Notably, the French marque announced it would farewell its Clio hatchback from the Australian line-up in August 2020, after it managed only 23 sales in all of 2020 before getting the axe.

Like many brands in the luxury SUV segment, Range Rover experienced decreased sales volumes in 2020, likely due to the challenging market conditions brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. The British brand has shifted 3376 vehicles year-to-date (up to the end of November 2020), compared with 5013 over the same period in 2019 – a 33 per cent decline.

Just like any other prohibitively expensive luxury item, there will always be an excess of imitation supercars – some, however, are considerably more convincing than others. Pagani Zonda This Pagani Zonda knock-off is underpinned by a £100 (approximately AU$180) Ford Granada chassis from Britain.

Some cars you simply drive. Point A to point B conveyances that do little to elicit much in the way of emotion. Others make a mid-level statement – a four-wheeled extension of personality and standing.

Ram Trucks Australia has endured 2020. The brand has finished up the year 15 per cent higher year on year, despite the pandemic and bushfire season. The bulk of the brand's sales performance in 2020 comes courtesy of the entry level 1500 Express model. In 2021, Ram Trucks Australia will be offered a new suite of new product – including a 523kW supercharged version of its Ram 1500. MORE: Everything Ram

The next-generation Jeep Grand Cherokee has been spied testing on US roads, ahead of its expected debut sometime in 2021. Images captured by our spy photography partners reveal the fifth generation of the American brand's large SUV will mark an evolutionary step over its predecessor in the styling department, taking cues from a range of Jeep's newer models.

"In 1972, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum-security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them....maybe you can hire The A-Team."

Porsche largely defied the COVID-19 downward trend for new car sales, down just 1.2 per cent year-on-year. The stars of the show were again the SUVs, with Macan and Cayenne accounting for a remarkable 83 per cent of total Porsche sales. Proving the appetite for 'coupe' style bodies exists, the arrival of the Cayenne Coupe in 2020 has seen sales of the wagon-bodied Cayenne take a hit.

Peugeot looks to be avoiding the headwinds of 2020. It sold a similar number of cars as it did the year before, down less than three per cent – in a market that has receded over 10 per cent on average. In 2020, the brand launched its all-new 2008 small SUV (pictured above), and refreshed its 308 small car range. Next year, Peugeot plans to introduce an electrified plug-in hybrid version of its most popular vehicle – its 3008 medium SUV. MORE: Everything Peugeot

MORE: Everything Nissan

With overall sales down by almost a third in 2020, Mitsubishi will be no doubt he hoping for a turnaround in 2021. While updates to the Eclipse Cross SUV, and Outlander PHEV in late 2020 helped maintain momentum, 2021 should see some bigger introductions.

As a non-native manual driver who’s more at home doing the supermarket run than laps of the track, I figured the 2020 Ford Fiesta ST wouldn’t necessarily be my speed (pardon the pun). How wrong I was. In my week with the Fiesta ST, I tackled everything from errands in the rain to dirt roads and winding beachfront freeways, and never had to sacrifice the car’s inherent sense of fun.

For somewhat of a niche brand, Mini had a pretty impressive year in 2020. Sales of the six-door Clubman were up over 24 per cent and many other models were limited purely by supply. The brand recently saw the arrival of the hardcore JCW GP model as well as a refreshed Countryman SUV. But, while a number of product updates are expected from Mini in 2021 (Cooper S facelift for one...), the brand's local arm remains tight-lipped about exactly which models will be launched in the new year.

MG is having a bumper year. The brand is up over 70 per cent year to date, with its total sales figure reaching four digits for the first time ever in 2020. Also in 2020, the brand launched its first electric vehicle in Australia, the ZS EV. It is a small SUV, and is currently the cheapest electric vehicle on sale in Australia.

Mercedes-Benz cemented its place as Australia's leading luxury carmaker in 2020, its 26,350 passenger vehicles sales to the end of November placing it well ahead of arch rivals BMW and Audi. Almost half of those sales comprised just two models – A-Class and GLC-Class – underscoring the buying public's taste for small cars and medium SUVs.

These days, if you want to make an SUV stand out, you need to do something special. And no, not just a cool name and some flash styling accoutrements. For a car to grab your attention these days, it needs special traits of engineering and performance.

McLaren cars are a niche proposition at the best of times and yet, despite a financially difficult year for many, the marque managed to somewhat maintain its sales foothold in 2020, only losing around 25 per cent of ground. As of November 2020, McLaren had managed to shift 59 cars compared to the 79 it sold in the same period the year prior.

We bust our guts bringing you the latest and greatest cars as soon as we possibly can, but we’re a bit behind the curve with this one. The Benz Patent-Motorwagen was the world’s first internal combustion production car, its name inspired by the fact Karl Benz received the German patent for this radical new invention in 1886. And on a recent Mercedes Benz Classic event in Germany, CarAdvice had the chance to experience this near-exact replica.

Christmas always means there's overall less car news hitting the wires, but that doesn't mean you can't get your daily car fix – complete with a little tinsel. Here are the top five fun Christmas-themed car videos to enjoy while you put your feet up and recover from a long lunch with family and friends. This short and sweet video from BMW M gives the people what they want: cars doing donuts in the snow around a large Christmas tree.

On behalf of the entire team here at CarAdvice / Drive, we would like to wish you and your family a safe and happy Christmas.

Meet one of Australia’s cheapest cars. The 2021 Kia Picanto S starts from $15,190 plus on-road costs, or $16,990 drive-away. That’s for a white car with manual transmission, the exact example in these photos. For Kia, it doesn't get any more affordable than this. Automatic transmission and metallic paint push the price to $17,990 drive-away and beyond. Give or take a difference of $200 to $300 compared to its closest rivals, this is one of the cheapest tickets into a brand-new car.

We've grown accustomed to seeing them hanging from rear-view mirrors the world over, but few people have stopped to consider how and why the now-iconic pine tree air freshener came to be. The origins of this car fixture can actually be traced all the way back to 1952, when it emerged as the brainchild of a German-Jewish chemist called Julius Sämann.

Many know him as 'Mr GT-R', but Hiroshi Tamura has always had a Nissan Z car of some form in his life, and they've always been mean, extra-ordinary versions. The first was a used example of the race-focused homologation 240ZG, chosen because its pointy fibreglass snout reminded him of Japan's iconic Shinkansen – known to most of the world as a 'bullet train'.

Volvo has confirmed it will unveil its second electric vehicle (EV) on 2 March 2021, as reported by industry publication Automotive News. While few details of the upcoming EV have been released by the Swedish brand, it has confirmed the model will ride on the same Compact Modular Architecture (CMA) as the brand's first EV, the Volvo XC40 Recharge small SUV, and the Polestar 2 electric sedan, marketed under Volvo's spin-off performance brand.

If would be pretty fair to say that we tend to talk a lot about features and technology in cars, and generally approach the inclusion of which with a ‘more is better’ type of appraisal.

It seems only fair that as Toyota expands the reach of its Gazoo Racing performance arm globally, more market-specific models will appear. This kind of thinking could see rally-inspired, overlanding versions of the HiLux and LandCruiser reach Australian showrooms. In Malaysia, however, it sees the GR treatment applied in a very different way.

The 2021 MG HS range has been expanded for 2021, with the addition of an entry-level Core variant for the new year. Priced from $29,990 drive-away, the Core retails for $2000 less than the existing 'base' HS variant, the Vibe, with first examples scheduled to arrive in MG showrooms in January 2021.

Mazda is an interesting case study in Australia, in that it has the highest percentage of private customers of any of the top ten mainstream brands. That's probably why its downturn of 15.8 percent lines up so closely to an overall 16 percent drop for the market. Mazda's figures generally closely resemble that of the market as a whole more so than any other brand.

Maserati fared better than most premium car makers in 2020, with sales down just 4.7 per cent compared with the same period last year. The manufacturer sold 422 cars to the end of November 2020, only 21 less than the amount shifted over the same period in 2019.

In 2020, Lotus sold 48 vehicles, a decline of eight per cent compared to last year – not so surprising for a high-performance sports brand during a testing time. There's something to look forward to next year though, and it's set to arrive in Australia in mid-2021.

You can have any Toyota Corolla you like as a hybrid, except for the top-spec sedan. That’s a slightly odd line-up, but when it comes to the four-door Corolla, instead of focusing up high, could basic be best? The 2020 Toyota Corolla Ascent Sport hybrid sedan is the cheapest ticket into Toyota’s hybrid range – with a boot. For those with a preference for sedans, this is where the game starts.

Lexus has remained inside the top 20 best-selling brands in Australia this year as the luxury car sector continues to reveal mixed results on the sales charts. Sales for the Japanese brand were down 13 per cent compared to the same period last year, shifting 7689 units to the end of November 2020 –1202 less than over the same period in 2019.

Nissan Australia has issued a recall of 299 examples of its 2020 Nissan Juke, due to incorrectly-labelled jacks. The recall notice, lodged with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), says the jacks – which are used to lift the vehicle off the ground to change tyres – do not comply with Australian safety standards. Nissan says the omission of a correct instruction label could potentially cause an accident if a vehicle is not jacked correctly by the operator.

UPDATE, December 23, 2020: Toyota has released further details of the LandCruiser 200 Sahara Horizon special edition, confirming 400 units will be built, priced from $131,896 before on-road costs. Differentiating the Horizon from the standard 200 Series Sahara is a dark front grille, black headlight surrounds, smoked foglight surrounds, Horizon badging, a heated black leather steering wheel, black headlining and chrome trim accents.

Apple has its eye on the automotive industry, with insiders telling news outlet Reuters the tech giant wants to begin production of a vehicle in 2024. Nicknamed 'Project Titan', the self-driving electric car planned by Apple is said to be back on track, having been on and off since the idea first emerged in 2012.

Nissan has released drive-away prices on selected models in the new Navara ute range – two months before the updated model is due in local showrooms. However, the offers are only available to business buyers – or ABN holders – which means about 75 per cent of customers will be asked to pay full price. The 2021 Nissan Navara range will start from $32,990 drive-away for the most basic cab-chassis two-wheel-drive SL powered by a single turbo 2.3-litre diesel (120kW/403Nm).

The Hyundai Veloster has been discontinued in Australia. Hyundai Australia confirmed to CarAdvice today the asymmetrical three-door coupe has entered the run-out phase late in the third quarter of 2020 (around September), around after its local launch in the third quarter of 2019.

UPDATE 23-December-2020: The 2021 Lada Niva Travel has been officially shown on the Lada website and social media channels. Production has commenced at the Togliatti factory, with the new car featuring a revised front end, and LED tail lamps on all variants. An off-road model includes a standard snorkel, unpainted body cladding and all-terrain tyres, where the mechanical underpinnings remain the same.

Mazda has treated the 2021 Mazda CX-30 small SUV to an assortment of updates in Japan, though whether we'll see the changes flow over to Australian models next year remains unclear. Mirroring updates introduced for the CX-30's Mazda 3 hatch and sedan sibling last month, the changes relevant to Australian buyers centre around the small SUV's breakthrough SkyActiv-X petrol engine.

It was a big year for LDV, which saw 2020 sales leap 33 per cent over its result in 2019. This was led by the T60 ute, which has no scheduled updates coming in 2021. Stock of the recently-launched Deliver 9 large van will be bolstered in Q1, and other markets have seen a minor facelift to the smaller G10 van and people mover which may flow on to Australia. MORE: Everything LDV

Years don't get much bigger or more important for Land Rover, which launched the all-new Defender across the globe in 2020. 2021 continues that theme of icon re-imagining, with the short-wheelbase Defender 90 joining the existing Defender 110 range. MY21 Defenders will also get a new range of drivelines, which includes a 3.0-litre six-cylinder diesel replacing the current 2.0-litre four-pot D200 and D240 variants.

Lamborghini was hit hard by the pandemic in 2020, down 26.8 percent to the end of November. The Italian manufacturer sold 101 cars in the first 11 months of 2020 against 138 over the same period in 2019. Not even Urus was enough to prop up sales in Australia. Even long-time rival Ferrari was down this year though, over the same period.

Kia says 2020 sales scaled back by just under 10 per cent during 2020, in a year where no one quite knew what was in store for the market. While the new Sorento added some much needed fresh metal to showrooms, there's more to come. Kia has confirmed that alongside the current diesel and incoming V6 petrol models, petrol-electric hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions will also join the range.

Refreshed earlier in 2020, it’s hard to argue the case that the 2020 Mitsubishi Express SWB automatic wasn’t in line for an update. 2013 was the last time we’d seen the Express nameplate locally, and this time it’s a Renault Trafic under the skin. The 2020 variant landed Down Under in one GLX specification, but with the choice of short- and long-wheelbase platforms. There is also the choice of a manual and an automatic, but each transmission is mated to a different engine.

Ferrari Australia has recalled 140 examples of its 812 Superfast from model years 2017 to 2020 over an issue that could see the rear window detach from the rest of the car. The recall notice, lodged with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), says "incorrect bonding of the rear window may lead to decreased adhesion of the rear window to the rear hood".

Powertrain details of the upcoming 2021 Hyundai Ioniq 5 electric vehicle have leaked, ahead of its full debut in early 2021. Information published by Hyundai's Austrian arm – and subsequently discovered by The Korean Car Blog – reveals the Ioniq 5 will launch in Europe in limited-run 'First Edition' trim, offered solely with a 58kWh battery enabling a 450km range on the strict WLTP test cycle.

Smart, the automotive brand best known for its pint-sized, subcompact cars, has confirmed it is developing an electric SUV that will be small on the outside, but big on the inside. According to a LinkedIn post from the brand's Vice President of Sales, Marketing & After-Sales, Daniel Lescow, Smart's first SUV "won't just be any SUV". "It will be exceptional – instantly recognizable as smart, ultra-modern, sophisticated and advanced in connectivity solutions," Mr Lescow said.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has allowed Mitsubishi's conditional 10-year warranty offer to stand, ruling that it does not prevent competition in the automotive repair and servicing industry. The consumer watchdog announced that is had not objected to an exclusive dealing notification lodged by Mitsubishi in regards to its recently-announced 10-year, 200,000km extended warranty.

Tesla's global network of high-speed Superchargers could soon be accessible to electric vehicles from other manufacturers, according to a recent claim from the company's CEO, Elon Musk. Previously, Superchargers have only been available to Tesla owners, but the American car maker has indicated in the past that it would be open to making the network accessible to other manufacturers, pending a cost-sharing agreement was in place.

The 2021 Ferrari SF90 Spider has been caught testing on the road, just weeks after the model was first unveiled. The hard-top convertible is powered by a plug-in hybrid 4.0-litre turbocharged V8 engine, with the powertrain producing a total of 745kW and 800Nm, aided by three additional electric motors producing 162kW.

Mazda has added two more models to its burgeoning heritage restoration program. The second- and third-generation Mazda RX-7 join the first-generation Mazda MX-5 in having range of factory parts made available as part of its heritage parts program.

Jeep's current showrooms around Australia are stocked with relatively fresh metal, including an updated Compass, new Gladiator and the reasonably-new Wrangler. The 'JL' Wrangler range is set for a shake-up in 2021, with a new blacked-out Night Eagle specification joining the ranks. The Sport S also returns as the cheapest Wrangler variant, which is currently priced from $51,950 in Limited (two-door) configuration.

Jaguar didn't have a stellar year in terms of sales in 2020, but hopefully a refresh of some key models will change that in 2021. The mid-sized Jaguar XE and large XF sedans will both receive a facelift, as will the brand's top-selling model, the E-Pace SUV. Performance fans will see an update to the powerhouse F-Pace SVR SUV in Q2, joining a facelifted version of the standard F-Pace, though timing for the latter has yet to be confirmed.

Isuzu had a strong year considering the market challenges, with sales of the D-Max ute reaching its highest monthly result ever in November 2020 – up 52.7 per cent year-on-year. Isuzu made it into the Top 10 selling brands for the first time ever, despite having only two models in its range (attracting 2943 sales, up 36.2 per cent), largely on the back of the arrival of the new D-Max ute.

Hyundai has already started its ambitious rollout of 18 new models in 18 months – with the recent Hyundai i30 facelift, new i30 Sedan, new Palisade, and updated Santa Fe – but the onslaught will gain momentum next year. Among the mainstream models there will be a new Hyundai Tucson mid-size SUV (pictured above and below), a new Sonata sedan, the Ioniq 5 (its first dedicated electric car) and well as lots of sporty N Line or high-performance N variants.

The Hyundai Santa Fe has had its biggest update since the current-generation model went on sale in 2018 – and it has coincided with price rises of up to $3500. The update is distinguished by a bold facelift and new wheel designs, but the big news is inside the cabin and under the bonnet. Key changes include advanced safety tech across the model line-up, a new more-efficient alloy version of the 2.2-litre turbo diesel – now matched to an eight-speed twin-clutch automatic and all-wheel drive.

Isuzu Ute Australia has issued a recall of 690 examples of its new 2021 D-Max dual-cab ute due to a seatbelt fault. The recall notice, lodged with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), says the rear seat seatbelt pretensioner locking tab may be defective and will not tension properly.

Porsche has confirmed it will contest the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2023. The German manufacturer will contest the series under the new LMDh regulations, eschewing the much-vaunted hypercar category that has already attracted entries from Toyota and Peugeot. The new LMDh category – essentially a replacement for the WEC’s existing LMP2 category – allows for hybrid drivetrain and bodystyle freedoms which must be married to a spec chassis from one of four suppliers.

MG will launch its all-electric sports coupe in late 2021, according to a new report from the December 9, 2020 issue of Autocar magazine. What's more, the report specifically states the model will be offered in right-hand-drive markets including Australia. The MG brand – which was synonymous with small and affordable sports cars throughout much of the 20th century – is yet to build a performance-oriented product under current Chinese SAIC Motor ownership.

The 2021 Audi A3 hatch and sedan won't arrive in Australia for up to 12 months, the company has announced. Audi Australia confirmed to CarAdvice the new-generation A3 hatch and sedan won't touch down on Australian shores until the second half of 2021 – some 12 months after the hatch was initially due to arrive late in the second half of 2020, and six months after the sedan's initial scheduled arrival date of the first half of 2021.

As of November 2020, Honda had cornered 3.2 per cent of the Australia new-car market for the year, down from 4.1 per cent the year prior. The bulk of these sales went to two SUV models – the larger CR-V and the smaller HR-V – which ranked as the brand's first and second top-selling cars, respectively.

It was a case of steady as it goes for SUV brand, Haval, in 2020. No new models arrived last year, though the very tail end of 2019 saw an update to the H2 small SUV filter into showrooms. H2 sales more than doubled during 2020, and the brand as a whole grew sales by almost 90 per cent over the year. The pace is set to pick up in the new year.

Welcome to the world of the superfan. Sure, you can see the concert and buy the t-shirt, but these people are already backstage and on a first-name basis with the lead singer’s mum. Superfans are plugged in, switched on and ready to take whatever comes their way to heighten the emotional fandom experience. We’re talking next-level engagement. But a bootlegged acoustic album of unreleased collaborations with Sting is minor-league compared to a limited edition, hardcore automotive product.

Great Wall Motors (GWM) had a quiet 2020, with its segment-cheapest Steed tallying up just shy of 1700 sales, and not receiving any significant updates. This might all change however, with the arrival of the all-new GWM Ute Cannon. It's already on sale in 2020, but will have an opportunity to shake up the segment in 2021.

Not long after the Toyota Prado crept into the space (price-wise as well as size-wise) that used to be occupied by the LandCruiser, Toyota filled the gap with the Fortuner. In many ways, though, the 2021 Toyota Fortuner GXL could be thought of as the one Toyota 4WD offering that hasn’t dominated the market.

Holden might be gone but General Motors will live-on in the form of GMSV and Chevrolet. General Motors Specialty Vehicles (GMSV) is a factory-backed operation with a direct line to Detroit, but the vehicles will be converted locally to right-hand-drive by the same outfit that transformed Holden Special Vehicles for more than three decades. The GMSV line-up currently only has the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LTZ powered by a 6.2-litre V8 petrol backed by a 10-speed auto.

It's not the easiest task for car manufacturers – build a car that offers zero emissions, make it family-friendly, and ensure it’s not going to burn a hole in the consumer's pocket. Oh, and did I mention that looks are important, too? Turns out MG is giving this all-boxes-ticked approach a solid attempt, with the new ZS EV. While there is a perception that electric equals expensive, the MG is trying its best to show that this doesn’t always have to be the case.

UPDATE – 18 December 2020: VicRoads has returned 'WEPN' number plates back to owner Peter Hansen following public backlash. In June 2020, VicRoads warned Mr Hansen they had intended to cancel the number plates as they were deemed as being offensive, despite being fitted to his Holden Torana show car for a decade. See the original story below.

Isuzu Ute Australia has pledged a donation of $100,000 across three charities. The announcement names The Salvation Army, Beyond Blue, and Lifeline Australia as beneficiaries of the money. With many Australian families doing it tough in 2020, Isuzu says the support will help those experiencing both financial and emotional hardship. The Salvation Army has been helping Aussies for 140 years, with its support officers on the ground helping people each day.

Consumers now have more choice in the New South Wales compulsory third party insurance (CTP) scheme with the announcement insurer Youi has secured a licence to offer the mandatory cover to all NSW motorists. CTP insurance, also known as a ‘Green Slip’, is required by NSW law in order for motorists to register their vehicle in the state.

Hyundai's luxury brand Genesis will continue its expansion as a standalone range in 2021, and the number of showrooms will grow from one to three. Genesis launched two all-new models in late 2020 – the G80 limousine and GV80 large SUV – but they will be joined by more models in 2021.

The year 2020 marked the arrival of two fresh models for Ford – first, the overhauled Escape medium SUV in late 2020, followed closely by the all-new, European-made Puma compact SUV. The former only made up nearly 3 per cent of the brand's sales in 2020, outdone by Ford's more popular large, ute-based SUV, the Everest.

Fiat, like the majority of car manufacturers in this challenging climate were down but 30 per cent is fairly significant. While a number of new models are expected from Fiat in 2021, the brand's local arm remains tight-lipped about exactly which models will be launched in the new year. We do have word on the Abarth though, which is due to release the 595 Pista. It was expected to be here in 2020 but has been delayed, and is thought to be arriving now in 2021. MORE: Everything Fiat

With 2020 being a year like no other, it's difficult to make comparisons, particularly when a lot of people may be cutting back on luxuries. Ferrari sales year-to-date are down 22 per cent, selling a total of 189 units. 2021 is looking promising, with the hotly-anticipated arrival of the Roma – the first in a new family of Grand Tourers. It marks a new era for the house of Maranello, with the brand expecting 70 per cent of Roma buyers will be first-time Ferrari customers.

Professional gardeners don't use the typical off-the-shelf power tools you find in most backyard sheds. They use their line-trimmers and lawnmowers all day, every day, in the rain and in the heat, and the mass-market products simply wouldn't hold up to the kind of hard work their gear has to endure.

It’s tricky to pinpoint the moment an SUV – otherwise known as a Sports Utility Vehicle – loses its utility. Utility means many things to many people. For some it can be space for child seats, a boot to fit a small kingdom, or for others it’s simply interiors that can be thoroughly cleaned with a wet wipe. In this case, it’s safe to say the 2020 Hyundai Venue is a jack-of-all-trades, but a master of none.

When we’re not creating it ourselves, the CarAdvice team spends a lot of time finding and consuming motoring content from all over the world. Here’s a handful of the photos, articles, videos or social media posts that most caught our eye last week. Some of them are brand new, others have been online for a while. Enjoy them – just not too much, okay?

Australians are buying more cars made in China in 2020 than any other time in our automotive history. Official sales figures compiled by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industry (FCAI) show Chinese brands LDV, Haval, MG and Great Wall sold a record number of new vehicles up to the end of November 2020, despite a shrinking car market due primarily to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

An upcoming McLaren hypercar – believed to be called the Sabre – has been filmed testing near the manufacturer’s production facility in Woking, England. Posted to Reddit overnight, the video shows the low-slung coupe travelling slowly with surrounding traffic. The sound of the high performance engine can be briefly heard, however there is too much background and road noise to definitively substantiate the specific powertrain configuration.

Citroen's year has been challenging. Its sales figure is down over 50 per cent year to date. However, despite selling less cars than Ferrari at one point in 2020, the brand is committed to our market. Citroen plans to launch two new models – the facelifted C3 city car, and the all-new C4 small hatch.

There is plenty in store for BMW fans throughout 2021, as the brand continues its special-edition rollout of existing metal, and drops the first of its new-generation electric vehicle range in the form of the polarising iX and X3-based iX3. We'll see the powerhouse M3 and M4 models arrive locally soon after the new year, but joined by the mid-range, front-wheel-drive 128ti hot hatch variant in the 1 Series lineup.

Bentley had a moderate year considering the market challenges, with sales of the Bentayga SUV down about 16 per cent year-on-year. The luxury British marque has revealed an update for the Bentayga in 2021, although when it will be available on Australian shores is yet to be confirmed. What we do know is Bentley will offer both turbocharged V8 and V12 engine variants initially, but the updated plug-in hybrid option won't be made available in Australia in its current form.

A dilapidated Porsche 911 S Targa has been meticulously restored to factory condition, by Porsche, after spending nearly 40 years stowed under plastic sheeting. The 1967 model – which was the first of its kind to be delivered in Germany and is one of just 925 Targas from the era fitted with the 2.0-litre ‘S’ engine – originally served as a dealer demo in Europe, before being sold in 1969 to a customer in the US.

Volkswagen has released a limited edition of its Touareg SUV to farewell the 190kW/600Nm version of its 3.0-litre turbo diesel V6 – ahead of the arrival of Euro 6 updates with 170kW and 210kW outputs, and the requirement of an AdBlue additive. The 2020 Volkswagen Touareg Adventure is the last of the Euro 5 engines for this model locally, and arrives about 18 months after this generation of Touareg went on sale.

Audi had a solid 2020 despite the challenging conditions, with sales up 2.6 per cent to the end of November. That slight increase comes against a market decline of 16 percent over the same period. Primarily, Audi has spent 2020 making up for lost time, after taking a number of cars off sale last year due to the requirement to meet more stringent new European WLTP regulations.

Hyundai now has a proper, full-size family SUV – and it’s one of the few in the class available with seven or eight seats.

The European Union's highest court has broadened the definition of illegal emissions-cheating technology on Thursday, laying the groundwork for future lawsuits against Volkswagen Group. Defeat devices were previously only considered illegal if they manipulated emissions tests after the emissions were produced. The ruling now includes 'upstream' technology used in order to subvert government emissions tests – even if the claimed intention was to improve engine longevity.

Like the broader new car market in 2020, Aston Martin has taken a hit this year, no doubt a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sales are down 27.8 per cent year-on-year, but we're talking low volumes overall. The first examples of the British brand's first foray into the world of luxury SUVs, the Aston Martin DBX, touched down in late 2020, however deliveries are expected to get into full swing in the first quarter of 2021. Our early drives suggest Aston is onto a winner.

Alpine hasn't exactly enjoyed a stellar 2020, selling just five examples so far this year of its lone model, the gorgeous and totally charming A110 mid-engined coupe. Yet, the French brand could be about to experience a renaissance. While little has been confirmed for 2021, the fact that parent company Renault is rebranding its Formula One team to Alpine, suggests a portfolio soon to expand.