Car News

UPDATE, 21 April 2021: Pricing and specifications for the 2021 Maserati Ghibli Hybrid have been announced. Click here to read the full story. 17 July 2020: Maserati has unveiled its first-ever hybrid vehicle – and promises it will still sound like a sports sedan, despite being powered by a four-cylinder engine. The 2021 Maserati Ghibli Hybrid will retain its distinctive exhaust note, but come with the fuel economy of a diesel car.

Audi is out to prove electric cars don’t need to be boring, or slow. The German car maker has released details on the Audi E-Tron S electric SUV range ahead of its Australian arrival in the second half of next year. It promises sports-car performance – with a 0 to 100kmh time of 4.5 seconds – and has an “overboost” mode that delivers a phenomenal 370kW/973Nm output for up to eight seconds, designed for safer overtaking.

The new Porsche 911 Turbo promises to accelerate as fast as a Bugatti Veyron – formerly the world’s fastest car – when it goes on sale in Australia later this year. The Porsche 911 Turbo is claimed to be able to complete the 0-to-100kmh dash in 2.8 seconds – the same time recorded by a Bugatti Veyron in 2007 – and 0.1 second slower than the manufacturer claim of 2.7 seconds for the new-generation Porsche 911 Turbo S.

The 2021 Volvo XC40 plug-in hybrid will arrive in Australian showrooms in August, priced from $64,990 plus on-road costs. The Swedish car maker has confirmed dealers have started taking orders ahead of the first deliveries from next month. "The first cars start arriving as early as August and our dealers have been given the appropriate information to start assisting customers," said Volvo Australia spokesman Greg Bosnich.

A new digital instrument display could give Lotus owners an advantage on weekend track days, or outline to drivers where they went wrong. The digital dash has been developed by Lotus as a plug-and-play system for owners of Elise and Exige V6 models built after 2008. With 4000 race tracks pre-loaded, the digital cluster uses GPS technology to record lap times, providing real-time feedback and allowing drivers to download the data to a laptop for greater scrutiny and analysis.