CAR ADVICE

While the all-new MG 4 is being considered for Australia, it will not replace the current model and likely use a different name if it is confirmed for local showrooms. The 2026 MG 4 electric hatch for Australia is likely to be an updated version of the current car, not the all-new model with the same name revealed overseas in recent weeks. While the new electric hatch will replace the current MG 4 in China amid slow sales, MG has confirmed the three-year-old car will remain available in Australia and the United Kingdom, among other export markets. However the new MG 4 is under consideration for Australia, where it would likely be marketed under a different name – such as ‘MG 3 EV’ or ‘MG E5’ – to differentiate it from the current MG 4 if it is greenlit for local sale. MORE: 2026 MG 4 electric hatch revealed, Australian plans for new generation unclear Chinese-market, new-generation 2026 MG 4. “MG Motor Australia is reviewing this new model and considering it for...

Australia might be among the last markets to still offer the Mazda 2 light hatchback and CX-3 SUV with reports indicating both models’ discontinuation in Japan. The Mazda 2 hatch and Mazda CX-3 SUV are reportedly close to reaching the end of the road in Japan. Japanese publication Creative Trend reports production of the Mazda 2 and CX-3 will conclude for their home market by the end of the year, after more than a decade on sale. Drive has contacted Mazda Australia for comment on the local future of the Mazda 2 and CX-3. MORE: Mazda on verge of exiting sub-$30,000 new-car market after more than 60 years The CX-3 is expected to be replaced by a new-generation model by 2027 with optional hybrid power , while the future of the Mazda 2 is less clear. In recent years, Mazda has axed its CX-8 and Mazda 6 in Japan before announcing their discontinuation in Australia some months later – while other models, such as the CX-5 2.5-litre turbo, remain available here but a...

The US President has declared he had no qualms in making consumers pay more for their cars. US President Donald Trump has told media he “couldn’t care less” if recently announced tariffs put the cost of new vehicles up – with the impacts expected to be felt globally, including Australia. Mr Trump previously confirmed a 25 per cent tariff on vehicles and parts imported into the United States (US) will be applied from April 3, 2025. Speaking in a press conference from The White House in Washington, the president denied reports in The Wall Street Journal and other outlets he had requested car makers not to increase prices for US consumers. “No I never said that”, he said, as reported by NBC . “I couldn’t care less if they raise prices, because people are going to start buying American-made cars.” MORE: Trump locks in US tariffs, ignoring Ford, General Motors and Stellantis The US is the world’s second largest new vehicle market behind China, with almost half the 15.9 ...

With self-driving cars inching closer to reality, experts have revealed the first places you’re going to see them in Australia, and it’ll be sooner than you’d think. Image: iStock/metamorworks While the idea of self-driving cars was previously reserved for the likes of science-fiction films, the automotive and transport industry is inching closer to making them a reality. Though fully autonomous vehicles have started to become a fixture in other countries like the US, Australian experts say they could be introduced to local roads on a smaller scale in the near future. RELATED: Will we ever see self-driving cars in Australia? In a July 2024 9 News report, the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads tested a fully autonomous vehicle dubbed ‘ZOE.2’ – developed by the Queensland University of Technology and Queensland’s Department of Transport – on roads around Mount Isa in north-west Queensland. Amit Trivedi, Queensland Transport and Main Roads project lead, told 9...

Victorian-based Premcar – which builds modified Navara and Patrol Warrior models for Nissan – has entered the South African market with a new version of its Navara Pro-4X Warrior ute. The Nissan Navara Warrior program has expanded globally, with South Africa set to receive a modified version of the Navara Pro-4X inspired by the Australian creation. Nissan and Premcar – the Victorian-based firm behind the Navara and Patrol Warrior, and formerly responsible for Ford Performance Vehicles – have announced the Navara Pro-4X Warrior will launch in South Africa in late April 2025, but it won’t be the same car available in Australian showrooms. Instead, the South African version of the Pro-4X Warrior has been toned down over the ute sold in Australia, with the modifications applied at the “bakkie’s” local assembly plant in Rosslyn, rather than at a separate facility. MORE: Hardcore Nissan Patrol Warrior offered with low rate finance offer – but not for long The Australian-...

Electric and plug-in hybrid specialist BYD has delivered its 40,000th car in Australia after it launched in mid-2022 – a feat arch-rival Tesla achieved three years after its volume-selling Model 3 arrived. BYD has recorded more than 40,000 deliveries in Australia, two-and-a-half years after it launched under its current independent distributor with the Atto 3 electric SUV. EVDirect – the distributor of BYD cars in Australia – has confirmed it delivered its 40,000th BYD vehicle this month, 30 months after it started importing models from the Chinese electric and plug-in hybrid-focused brand. It has beaten its arch-rival Tesla , which is understood to have sold its 40,000th electric car in Australia sometime in the second half of 2022 after it initially launched in 2011 with its low-volume Roadster sports car. MORE: Twice as fast as Tesla – BYD releases ultra-fast 1 megawatt electric car charging The Tesla Model S followed in 2014, along with the Model X in 2017 – ...

Skoda’s second electric vehicle for Australia is months away with a price closer to the popular Tesla Model Y than its Enyaq sibling. The 2025 Skoda Elroq electric SUV is set to start from less than $60,000 before on-road costs when it arrives in local showrooms from July. The Elroq is smaller than the Model Y -sized Enyaq introduced locally in late 2024, and is closer to a BYD Atto 3 , Kia EV3 or Hyundai Kona Electric . Unlike its larger sibling, the Elroq is taking far less time to reach Australia – due a few months after the first European arrivals – and will carry a more competitive price tag. A single ’85 Special Edition’ variant is set to be available initially, which new Skoda Australia director Lucie Kuhn told Drive “should be” priced below $60,000 before on-road costs. MORE: 2025 Skoda Elroq electric car revealed It would make it considerably cheaper than the Enyaq – which starts from $69,990 – yet better equipped, with features such as a 360-degree ca...

If you’ve got an EV home charger installed, you’d better go check the fine print on your home insurance, as Drive has found there’s no guarantee you’re covered even if it was put in by a sparky. One of the biggest barriers to the electric vehicle transition is there being enough places to charge, which is why EV home charger options are becoming more popular. But what if you’ve bought an EV, had a charger installed at your home according to Australian Standards and fitted by a licensed electrician, and your insurance still won’t cover you if something goes wrong? Drive understands that not all insurers are willing to provide cover in the event of a fire if the charger itself is not supplied by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), or in other words, the car maker. Is it worth installing an EV home charger? Posting on a Facebook group for EV owners, one person said they had been told by the Royal Automobile Club of Queensland (RACQ) that they were only covered fo...