Car News

It's what Australia's banking industry has been fearing, with the government finally releasing its report on the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry, with car dealers put on notice. The near-500-page report includes 76 recommendations made by Commissioner Kenneth Hayne QC, which the government is expected to accept in their entirety.

Mazda Australia has issued a recall for the 2015-19 model-year MX-5 sports car, over concerns auto-equipped examples could have faulty transmission software. The company reports affected vehicles may have Transmission Control Modules (TCM) that could incorrectly interpret the electrical signal from the gear selector. If the condition occurs, the automatic transmission could downshift unexpectedly, "increasing the risk of a loss of vehicle control and potentially resulting in an accident".

Suzuki has killed its range-topping Baleno GLX Turbo, replacing it with a naturally-aspirated model wearing the GLX badge. Where the now-defunct Turbo (above) was powered by an 82kW, 160Nm three-cylinder turbocharged engine, the new Baleno GLX will make use of the same 1.4-litre naturally-aspirated four-cylinder engine as the wider range.

The automotive news wheel is always turning. If you’re not constantly checking CarAdvice – which you should be doing, by the way – it can be easy for some headlines to slip through the cracks. To make sure you haven’t missed anything important, we’ve gathered what we reckon are the hottest news stories from this week, right here. Check them out, and let us know what caught your eye.

Abarth is marking its 70th birthday, at least in Europe, with special badging standard across the entire range. At the launch event at the Monte Carlo rally, the company said these badges will make all vehicles registered this year "unique and exclusive". As far as the 124 Spider goes, the specially-designed badge seems to be the only change of note.