Car News

Mazda Australia claims to have completed its "standard safety revolution" after adding autonomous emergency braking (AEB) as standard to its CX-3 small crossover last week. The company has progressively made its Smart City Brake Support - Forward (SCBS-F) system standard on its core passenger and SUV range, putting it at the pointy end of the market. As of now, the Mazda 2, Mazda 3, Mazda 6, CX-3, CX-5 and CX-9 all have AEB standard.

Kia Australia is using the Stinger to reel in fleet customers, displaying a pre-production Stinger GT at a recent Melbourne fleet manager's conference. When local Commodore and Camry production wraps up later this year, companies previously tied to Australian large cars will have the ability to look elsewhere.

Yet another special-edition Subaru has quietly arrived in recent weeks, with the 2017 BRZ Sports Pack special edition on sale from $36,694 before on-road costs. Like other BRZ specials before it, the Sports Pack doesn't add any engine upgrades over the standard car, though there are several visual and equipment upgrades to give the Toyota 86 twin a little more street cred.

A 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT has gone head-to-head with a hot-rod coupe on one of Europe's finest drag strips, Santa Pod Raceway, and it's every bit epic. The 6.4-litre V8 Hemi-powered Jeep produces 344kW and 624Nm, which is helped along with launch control and all the high-performance technologies on offer.

It's hardly a secret at this point that SUVs are the driving force behind the Australian new vehicle market - even though the top two vehicles are actually utes. In 2017, these (often nominally) higher-riding options have in fact eclipsed sales of regular passenger vehicles - by which we mean sedans, hatches, wagons, people-movers and sports cars.