List of Australian Car Clubs and Specialists, New Car Releases and Owners' Car Reviews for Aussie motoring enthusiasts
Way back at the beginning of May we reported that Fiat was well in the running to purchase GM’s European brands of Opel, Vauxhall and Saab … a move that would catapult it into second spot on the world rankings of car manufacturers. However at the end of May talks between GM and Fiat broke […]
The big news in America at the moment is the dropping by General Motors and Chrysler of around 3,000 new car dealers. General Motors has around 6,000 new car dealers spread across the country and plans to terminate up to 2,000 of them and the official announcement is expected soon. Chrysler is said to be […]
Perhaps we should take a break in the midst of all this doom and gloom and spend a few moments in a different era … an era when cars were big and no one worried about fuel consumption. So let’s go back to a year before I was born … it’s 1950 and the Hudson […]
Each month the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries releases sales figures for the previous month and each month since the sale of new cars began to decline the statement that accompanies those figures has grown shorter and shorter. This month it took just seven paragraphs to state the obvious and try and put a brave […]
Toyota has been one of the success stories of the automotive industry for many years now. In fact they haven’t had a net loss in something like 40 years but oh what a loss they have recorded this year. The figures have just been released and they are HUGE … BLOODY HUGE The loss is […]
While automotive companies around the world are struggling to survive in the current economic climate there’s one in Italy that’s poised to take a giant leap to the second biggest global car maker behind Toyota. Only a few years ago Fiat was on the brink of collapse but in 2004 its fortunes began to change […]
Yesterday General Motors officially announced that it was dropping the Pontiac brand from its line-up and cutting around 21,000 jobs in the Pontiac plants in the United States. Sadly that’s very bad news for Holden who build the Pontiac G8 at their plant in Adelaide. Holden had hoped to build around 30,000 G8 models a […]
New car sales continue to fall according to figures released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries. The March 2009 figures show a decrease in sales of 17.1 percent compared to March 2008. 75,650 passenger cars, SIVs and commercial vehicles were sold last month. “This result is certainly down on a year ago but the […]
Last week, Ford Australia bit the bullet and recalled over 83,000 Ford Territory vehicles in the culmination of what was a fairly busy seven day period for motor vehicle recalls in Australia. Alfa Romeo recalled 174 Brera, 159 and Spider automatics fitted with the 3.2 litre V6 engine because of “Insufficient braking ability on cold […]
Holden has announced that it will reduce output at it’s Elizabeth plant by cutting out the afternoon shift. Workers on the afternoon shift will be retained but will operate on a week on, week off basis with the morning shift. The Australian managing director of Holden is expected to make an announcement about the moves […]
This week the automotive news from America hasn’t been all that good … unless you were the head of General Motors. Sure he got let go but then who would care about not having a job when you’re slipped a cheque for $US29 million as you walk out the door? Ford … the one company […]
Ford is looking to recall 83,534 non- turbo Ford Territory vehicles built between February 1, 2004 and December 31, 2008. These vehicles are at risk of developing a brake fluid leak that may reduce brake effectiveness. Ford is contacting all known Territory model owners by mail and for further information you should see your local […]
If you were interested in cars in Australia during the 1960s and 1970s then you knew of Peter Wherrett – a motoring journalist who took motoring to television in the form of Torque … a very popular programme that ran on ABC television for years. Peter passed away today aged 72 and the world of […]
In America General Motor’s auditor doubts that the company can survive and its shares drop below $2.00. In Japan more car makers are asking the government for a hand out and in Australia Toyota still tops the sales figures but demand for new cars begins to fall. Official VFACTS data released by the Federal Chamber […]
In the United States Ford reports that their sales are down by over 40% in February and GM’s sales are down by 53% … in Sweden car sales in February are down by over 31% with only 14.603 cars sold and no storage space remaining for new cars. Toyota is begging for a bailout from the […]
The continuing impact of the global financial crisis forced a downturn in new vehicle sales during January but the industry hopes new fiscal measures will help stabilise the market. Official VFACTS data released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) shows that 67,079 passenger cars, SUVs and commercial vehicles were sold in January; down […]
Well we knew that was happening anyway but just how bad has the drop been in January? Reuters is reporting that Ford’s sales in January are down 42.1 percent. General Motors has reported a drop in January sales of 49 percent, Toyota has dropped 34 percent and Nissan is down around 30 percent. Now let’s […]
You can find some classic cars in some very unusual locations. One of my sons and I went to a small historic engine display today and there on the other side of the car park were these two beautiful Ford Mustangs.
Last month Toyota took the top sales spot from GM on a world-wide basis. This month Toyota decided to cut back it’s global production by 20%. That means that Toyota will cut back on last year’s production figures of 8.2 million vehicles to 6.5 million vehicles. I’ll let you do the maths but when you […]
It’s an unusual way of saving fuel but the new Kia cee’d ISG (Idle Stop & Go) models offer up to 15% fuel savings Kia has come up with new and very different way of saving fuel and even the name is a little unusual. Called Idle & Stop Go – or ISG for short […]