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Hints, Surprises and Wows From Detroit.
Detroit. Motor City. The once thriving city once again hosts its annual Motor Show, the North American International Auto Show and, as expected, the unexpected has been unveiled, as have some truly good looking cars.
Hyundai showed off its Santa Cruz concept; it’s a design that Hyundai doesn’t have available and would certainly attract interest around the world, being a Crossover Utility Vehicle or CUV. 
Pitched between a ute and a tray-back SUV, the stunning design is aimed at “Millennials”. “The Santa Cruz Pickup concept meets the unspoken needs of a growing Millennial lifestyle we call ‘Urban Adventurers’,” said Mark Dipko, director, corporate planning, Hyundai Motor America. “This new crossover allows them all the expandable utility they need throughout their active week, from work-life professionalism, to social interests, to a whole variety of outdoor pursuits, without the typical compromises they have come to expect from the industry’s current product offerings.”
Motive power would be, at this stage, a 2.0L diesel, with over 400 Newton metres of torque, matched up with Hyundai’s well proven 4WD system and showcases Hyundai’s innovation by having an expandable load bed and tailgate extension. Hyundai research also shows a swing away from traditional utility style SUVs in the US; women who buy more than half of all CUVs sold in the U.S., now account for only 10 percent of pickup sales. Hyundai also unveiled its 
Sonata Plug-In Hybrid; with a 9.8kWh lithium ion battery, the Sonate should have a 35km all electric range. A 2.0-litre Nu four-cylinder GDI engine coupled with the electric motor allows the Sonata Plug-in Hybrid to operate just like the Sonata Hybrid once the onboard battery charge is depleted. Sonata PHEV’s Nu engine produces 115kW and 190Nm of torque and the total system output is 150kW at 6,000 rpm.
Ford showcased its anniversary GT40; to be sold under a new, umbrella organisation called Ford 
Performance, the sleek, low slung two seater may be powered by a twin turbocharged 3.5L engine, producing over 600 horsepower. A team of designers, headed by Todd Willing, the head designer for Ford Asia Pacific, penned the edgy yet curvy beast. Built from weight saving carbon fibre, the GT40 features an active rear spoiler and upwards swinging doors. There’s two other vehicles released as well; a Shelby Mustang GT350R and a ten speed automatic Raptor. The Mustang will be powered by a 5.2L flat plane V8, pushing over 500 horsepower to the ground via a six speed manual and limited 
slip diff. Aimed at primarily track users, there’s been a weight shedding program, including carbon fibre wheels, removing the rear seats, radio and aircon. The Raptor will have a 3,5L V6 EcoBoost twin turbo engine, multiple drive modes, an aluminuim body and that ten speed auto was codeveloped with General Motors.
Honda (Acura in the US) went back to the future with a long rumoured car, the NSX. Taking styling cues from Lamborghini, Aston Martin and Ferrari, the mid mounted, twin turbo hybrid 
engine is expected to pump out 550 horsepower via a nine speed automatic. There’s, apparently, a range of driving modes, including “Quiet” (presumably a more electric mode) and prices are said to be at around $150, 000.
Although Holden will close as a manufacturer, its much vaunted design studio showed why GM will keep it running, with two utterly different concepts being show. An almost Barina sized, glass roofed, electric car, the Bolt bookended the Buick Avenir, a large car with plenty of tech, such as a twelve inch touchscreen, wireless mobile device charging and wifi hotspotting. It will roll on 21 inch diameter wheels and will seat four in sumptuous comfort. 
The projects were started and finished in the Port Melbourne based design studios. Again, no confirmation as to whether either will go into production.
Staying with General Motors, there’s a school of thought that says a two door, four seater car rumoured to be coming to Australia will be the Corvette, not, as some think, the Camaro. The latter hasn’t been engineered for right hand drive although it would be a logical and ideal match for Ford’s Mustang. Stefan Jacoby, head of GM’s International Division, wouldn’t be drawn on exactly what it would be, saying only “We will bring a true sports car to Australia for the brand Holden,” “It will be something which fulfils the requirement of a true Holden sports car.” Expect it to arrive in 2018.
Light It Up For Safety.
I’ve been in and around motorsport for close to fifteen years now; a massive, huge, ginormous part of motorsport is the safety aspect, with engineered in crash absorption, roll cages, harnesses and more. In a retail environment, car salespeople will talk about ABS, energy adsorption, traction control, airbags and the like however true road safety is STILL up to the driver. Only the person behind the wheel presses the accelerator, steers the wheel, presses the brake, uses the indicator and, when it’s dark, turns on the headlights.
Or do they?
Modern cars come with a headlight switch with Off/Auto/Low Beam/High Beam, with the Auto linked to a sensor that reads light levels; so, for example, when going into a tunnel, they should come on by themselves and go off when back in daylight. It does seem that too many drivers leave that switch in the Off position, so, when it’s dark or foggy or raining or all three, they have a car that is unseen to other drivers on the road. Early mid January saw a deluge start in South Australia (going a LONG way to helping the brave fire brigade members) and move east towards and over Sydney. Starting mid afternoon Saturday 10 January and continuing well into Sunday, Sydney and a good proportion of New South Wales were under grey skies, with solid light rain and mist greeting drivers. Disturbingly, a disproportionate number of drivers chose to ignore safety by not using their headlights. Here’s a video from overseas showing just how much easier it is to see vehicles with headlights on during a rain spell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndD0Jtlg0YU
http://www.wikihow.com/Drive-Safely-in-the-Rain offers up some simple, common sense, tips when it comes to driving in the rain, covering not just using headlights but driving to the conditions, having good tyres etc.
Quite simply, a good driver is one that understands that safety is more than simply adhering to a speed limit; common sense, courtesy, an understanding of the ability of yourself AND the vehicle you’re driving, driving appropriately for the conditions and utilising CORRECTLY the equipment your vehicle is fitted with go a long, long way to being a safe driver. Because a speed limit sign says 110 kilometres per hour doesn’t mean you SHOULD drive at that speed if the weather is composed of howling rain, three metres of visibility and an inch of water on the road. A safe driver would drive at a velocity lower than that. They’d also ensure that headlights are lit, windscreen wipers are engaged and the interior demisting system is working.
See here how the silver car blends nicely into the background, whilst the darker coloured car, illuminated, stands out much more clearly.
Using headlights, is it REALLY that hard to do?
Movers and Shakers: The Numbers from 2014.
Cardigan wearers around the country have erupted into cheers of joy after news of their favourite car, the Toyota Corolla, was the highest selling car in Australia for 2014. Meanwhile, there were tears of red and blue as figures for the once mighty Holden and Ford brands showed that, in 2014 at least, the love affair was over. The red lion delivered just 106000 cars whilst the blue oval found just 79703 new homes, its worst result in 23 years and the tenth year in a row the numbers have fallen. Industry analysts were heard to mutter that it was all Tony Abbott’s fault whilst others complained that it was the Kardashian family’s fault because they’d sucked all of the usable oxygen from the atmosphere, making people hallucinate and believe that an SUV was actually pink, flew and had a curly tail. What’s notable about the Ford sales disaster (even with a $200 offer put forward by an attractive brunette) is that it’s across the board, not just the once indomitable Falcon and trusty Territory.
The last time the bird car led the list was in 1995, with a sniff over 81000 being parked in new driveways, whilst 1985 saw the blue oval peak at just under 171000.
Toyota’s Japanese nemesis, the name challenged Mazda (relying on simple numbers rather than alphabetical wordy type stuff for names), is well placed for a tilt at the crown, with 100700 numbered cars leaving dealerships, but they themselves are under threat from Korea’s Goliath, Hyundai. A mere 700 veehickles separated the two at year’s end and with new models an updates due for 2015, there’s little doubt that the car version of Samsung is on a charge. Back to the T and M brands: Corolla and 3 swapped the lead three times in five months after July, when the T car finally slipped past with a mammoth lead of……21 sales.
Although Toyota looked the goods in 2014, like endless views of Miley Cyrus’s wrecked balls, even they got a bit on the nose. It was the third year in a row we saw the numbers tumble for the big T; they’ve been on the down pointed slope since ’08, when over 238K Toyotas were sold, in 2014 that tumbled to 203500. Adding to the fire is the sheer and simple fact that we Aussies can’t be stuffed buying Aussie cars (not that’s to be an issue soon) with less than one in ten cars bought being kangaroo flavoured. A mere decade ago, in 2005, it was one in four. How times change…
Ford, however, is due to see a complete revamp of their range over the next two years, including the release of the Mustang, finally engineered at the factory for right hand drive; for blue oval fans, this can’t come quick enough. For followers of the red lion, it’s still unconfirmed if the GM brand will send their tudor down under. The same goes for Chrysler/Dodge with some beautifully shaped vehicles available in the states, along with some hi-po mumbo. Personally, I’ve crossed everything that’s crossable to hope they move some metal down here.
2015: What's On Offer?
It would be remiss of me to open this without an acknowledgement of the terrible fire situation occurring (as I write) in South Australia and Victoria. There’s been stock loss, properties destroyed, vintage cars burnt and, terribly, an animal hostel razed with horrendous loss. Our thoughts are with the families and owners.
A bit of news that came out of late 2014 that already has affected car buyers was the Free Trade Agreement signed off between Australia and Japan. Subaru immediately took advantage of this, by reducing their prices across their range, with savings up to a few thousand dollars being made available. At the time of writing, there was no word if Toyota were planning on doing the same.
Even better news for motorists overall was the sudden and dramatic drop in fuel prices, due, allegedly, to an oversupply of oil. The cynics amongst us would question this but there’s an undeniable benefit for metropolitan based drivers. However, it does appear to be mainly restricted to city dwellers only, with nowhere near the drop expected in regional areas. In some areas of Sydney, petrol (E10) was down to below $1.10 but still over 20c higher in regional areas.
Ford Australia released their final ever Falcon late in 2014; the FG-X has already been given negative reviews in some quarters for its exterior design, balanced out by positive drive reviews, especially for the reborn XR8. The main complaints in regards to the design appear to be centred around the resemblance to Mitsubishi’s Lancer (itself in dire need of a reskin) at the front and a Jaguaresque rear light cluster. All drive reviews have been nothing but glowing so far…we shall see.
2015 also takes us closer to the eventual shutdown of the Australian car making industry, with some pundits tipping an earlier than scheduled closure. In one respect, this would be a good thing, bringing us the promised American and European metal earlier, but, of course, the downside is the situation of unemployed Aussie car workers. Out of this came a discussion as to whether we should consider changing to driving on the right side of the road. Predictably, this was howled down, as the argument became fragile when it was pointed out most European countries, such as the U.K., drive on the left.
Electric car maker Tesla promised an expansion of their presence in Australia; with the first Australian deliveries taken by customers in December of 2014, the company announced that they would have a dealership in Melbourne and Brisbane, with a network of charging stations being set up along the eastern seaboard. With the stations designed to be independent of mains power by being solar charged, the company is looking to establish its technical cred.
Ford’s Mustang returns to Australia, however, for the first time, in factory right hand drive form. Powered by a range of engines, including a grunty turbocharged four cylinder (trust me, it’s nowhere near as bad as you think), presales here have been phenomenal. Holden has yet to confirm what we’re due to get, aside from sourcing at least three cars from Opel.
On the Australian motorsport scene, a new category called Formula Four launches in the second half of the year whilst February sees the Bathurst 12 Hour get underway, with over 50 entries and including a huge international presence, going head to head with the test weekend for the relogoed V8 Supercars, on the same weekend, at Sydney Motorsport Park.
There’s plenty more to come as the year ticks by and, as ever, Private Fleet is here to help you into your next car.
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