CAR ADVICE

The new Fiat 500 – now an electric car – is due to arrive in Australia later this year with a price tag more than double that of the outgoing, petrol-powered model. The 2023 Fiat 500e electric city car is slated to cost close to $55,000 drive-away when it arrives in Australian showrooms later this year – double the price of the most expensive petrol-powered version. Information published in a third-party industry pricing guide indicates the new 500e will cost $52,500 plus on-road costs – more than double the price of the flagship version of the petrol-powered Fiat 500, at $25,800 plus on-road costs. The 500e price – which will near $55,000 drive-away once government charges and dealer delivery fees are included – is $10,000 higher than anticipated, based on pricing overseas. The Fiat 500e is priced similarly to electric cars such as the BYD Atto 3 Extended Range ($51,011 plus on-road costs) and Hyundai Kona Electric Elite ($54,500 plus on-road costs) – however these vehi...

A Mazda executive has provided the clearest indication yet the long-mooted rear-wheel-drive, six-cylinder replacement to the Mazda 6 sedan is not on the radar – for now. Plans for a rear-wheel-drive replacement for the Mazda 6 mid-size sedan – on the same underpinnings as the CX-60 and CX-90 large SUVs – have taken one step further back from showrooms. Reports out of Japan in recent years have claimed plans are underway for the six-cylinder engines and rear-wheel-drive ‘Large’ architecture below the new CX-60, CX-70, CX-80 and CX-90 SUVs to underpin a replacement for the decade-old Mazda 6 sedan. However subsequent reports out of Europe over the past 12 months have poured cold water on plans for such a car, amid a decline in sedan sales globally, and Mazda’s focus on its more profitable, Large platform-based SUVs. A Mazda executive has now all but ruled out plans for any other vehicles on the Large architecture apart from the four SUVs already confirmed – dashing hopes fo...

There can’t be many car companies with the audacity to turn their most iconic production model into something completely at odds with the original. But that is exactly what Porsche has done in creating the new 911 Dakar. After nearly 60 years of production, the world’s most enduring and celebrated sports car has been transformed into a high-riding four-wheel-drive performance off-roader fit to traverse gravel roads, sandy deserts, and other rugged parts of the outback. It is a move Thomas Krickelberg, director of the 2023 Porsche 911 Dakar , says was spawned by fond memories of the German carmaker’s celebrated Paris-Dakar Rally winning 953 and 959. But unlike those two specialty rally models from Porsche’s motorsport division, the 911 Dakar has been conceived as a regular production model. It won’t be produced in big numbers. Officially, only 2500 are planned. And with a starting price of $491,400 before on-road costs, or about $140,000 more than the 911 Carrera 4 GTS ,...