Car News

Another year, another special-edition Lotus. Say hello to the 2017 Lotus Exige Race 380. A track-only version of the already-hardcore Exige Sport 380 revealed last November, the new Lotus Exige Race 380 has been specifically developed for race teams and privateers to compete in the marque’s global one-make series, the Lotus Cup, as well as a variety of other clubman championships.

The chief executive of lobby group and peak body for car companies in Australia has called on the federal government to scrap not just the luxury car tax (LCT), but also the five per cent import duty affecting some vehicles. Tony Weber, who heads the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), recently labelled the government’s current position on the tariff as “foolish” and called the polarising LCT — long a thorn in the industry’s side — devoid of merit.

Renault’s volume-selling Kangoo van has received a heart-transplant as part of its 2017 makeover with a new, more powerful, more efficient engine doing the grunt work of the popular light commercial.

Mercedes-Benz has committed to offering its F-Cell range of fuel-cell models in the short term, but the longer-term future of the technology appears to be bleak, based on comments made by the company’s chief at the 2017 Detroit motor show.

Hopes that the 2020 Ford Bronco would revive the design of the model that ended production in 1996 have, potentially, been dashed by a person who claims to be a Ford designer. The person stated on a Reddit Ask Me Anything session that the new Bronco "will be very similar to the current Ford Everest" and will have four passenger doors, unlike earlier Bronco models, which had two.