Car News

There are good days at the office, and then there are days where your only job is to thrash a pair of McLaren supercars around a scenic, coastal circuit. The team at Autocar has been putting the 720S head-to-head with its more expensive, track-focused sibling lately, but the comparison has been purely numbers-based. In the final instalment of the four-part series, Dan Prosser throws science to the wind and flogs the two cars around around a track to see which is more fun.

German manufacturer Opel and its British sister Vauxhall have committed to no less than eight all-new or refreshed models before 2020, with a focus on growth segments. Of these eight models, three will be all-new versions of the Corsa light hatch, Vivaro van, and the successor to the Mokka X small crossover, the former two scheduled for launch next year, while the latter will hit the European market in 2020.

Volkswagen customers are the most loyal in Australia according to a new survey by Roy Morgan, putting the German brand ahead of other non-luxury marques like Toyota, Mazda and Subaru. According to the June quarter's edition of the Automotive Currency Report, 61.5 per cent of Volkswagen owners said they would be looking to buy their next car from the same brand, ahead of Toyota (59.6 per cent) and Mazda (57.5 per cent).

Daimler, parent company of Mercedes-Benz and Smart, is reportedly considering starting a 50-50 joint-venture ride-hailing service with Chinese carmaker Geely. Sources have told Bloomberg the ride-hailing system would be for the Chinese market. Daimler is reportedly considering using vehicles from its Denza electric car brand, which itself is a joint venture with BYD and produces EVs based on the first-generation B-Class.

Porsche plans to build 20,000 Taycans each year, with deliveries to Europe and the USA commencing late 2019. Early indications are that production run may fall short of demand. While refusing to be pinned down on actual numbers, a representative from Porsche Australia told CarAdvice they'd received hundreds of ‘expressions of interest’ before anyone has actually seen the car, let alone driven it. There's strong interest from current Porsche owners, but also from those new to the brand.